Basbaglar massacre: Survivors recall tragic events 31 years later
Basbaglar massacre victims to be commemorated, Erzincan, July 4, 2024 (AA Photo)
On the evening of July 5, 1993, PKK terrorists descended upon the village of Basbaglar, located 220 kilometers (136.7 miles) from Erzincan city center. The terrorists gathered the women by the creek, looted their homes, took money, gold and other valuables, and then set the houses on fire.
The terrorists first killed five people by burning them in their homes. Later, they gathered 28 men at the mosque for evening prayers in an empty field near the village.
After delivering propaganda for a while, the terrorists executed the men by firing squad. Hundreds of empty shell casings were found in the area after the massacre.
The residents of Basbaglar, where the pain of the massacre remains as fresh as the first day, demand that the perpetrators be found and brought to justice.
Tomorrow, a commemoration ceremony for the 33 civilians killed by the terrorists will be held in Basbaglar, attended by government officials and political party representatives.
Ali Akpinar, a survivor of the massacre, recounted the events: “People were coming to our village in the summer. That evening, the joy of the day turned to sorrow. As the evening call to prayer sounded, the terrorists descended into the village from the direction of what is now the gendarmerie station. They took us from the mosque.
They gathered the women by the creek at the entrance of the village and took us to the spot, now a monument, where animals used to graze. They delivered propaganda for more than half an hour. Meanwhile, other terrorists were looting and burning houses, taking the women’s jewelry. After the propaganda, they fired hundreds of bullets at us.”
Akpinar noted that only he and two elderly villagers survived from the group gathered by the terrorists. He returned to the village two months after receiving treatment, saying, “The infrastructure, mosque, school, village rooms, and fountains of our village were destroyed. They wanted to erase our village from the map. I still carry a bullet in my left leg as a reminder of that day. I haven’t had it removed yet. I have been living with that bullet for 31 years.”
Ismail Ogun Kurucayli, 53, another survivor who escaped by hiding, said they feel renewed pain every July.
Kurucayli, who was 21 at the time, stated, “I had come to my village on leave from military service a day before the incident. I witnessed the terrorists entering the village during evening prayers and ran to a relative’s house. From the window, I saw them gathering in the village square. They started calling out men by name from their homes because the Basbaglar massacre had been pre-planned.”
Kurucayli lost his brother-in-law and cousins in the massacre, explaining that after delivering propaganda, the terrorists declared “open fire” and began killing people.
He mentioned that there were about 210 households in the village, of which 190 were burned. “When we came down to our village in the morning, we witnessed the true face of the massacre. We find the current fight against terrorism to be very appropriate; thankfully, our country has made progress,” he said.
