The Maraş, Çorum and Sivas massacres from 1978 to 1993 are measured not only by the lives lost but also by the deep wounds inflicted on the conscience of society. State negligence, the transformation of ideological hatred into organized violence and the targeting of innocent people left an indelible stain on the history of this country.
On the evening of December 19, 1978, the bomb thrown into the Çiçek Cinema in Kahramanmaraş was not an “event” but a flare-up for a pre-planned disaster. The lie circulated in the city immediately after the bombing: “Communists did it”, was the watchword of organized violence.
The houses of Alevi citizens were marked the day before. It was clear which door would be broken down and which house would yield a dead body. While women waited in fear in their homes, the screams of children filled the streets. Every footstep on the door of the houses was a reminder of the loss of trust.
Witness testimonies and historical studies show that the attacks were led by nationalist groups. The security forces were either absent or remained bystanders for days; the state was either incapable or willfully blind.
According to official figures, at least 111 people were killed, mostly Alevi citizens; unofficial sources put the number between 300 and 500. There was no official breakdown of how many were women and how many were men. This in itself is a disgrace.
But the testimonies are clear:
Women were killed. Pregnant women were killed.
They were killed in their homes, in front of their children, in their beds.
There were rapes during the attacks. This is not a rumor; it is a fact recorded in witness statements and human rights reports. Women's bodies were seen as the spoils of ideological hatred. This shame is still on this country's record.
A witness account summarizes what Maraş was in one sentence:
A woman pleads with her husband when she sees the attackers approaching:
“Don't leave me in their hands... Please, kill me.”
This sentence is Maraş.
It is where there is no state, where the law is silent, where humanity has abandoned.
This was not a “left-right conflict”.
Nor was it an “out of control crowd”.
This was an organized massacre of Alevis.
Not only people were killed in Maraş.
The possibility of living together, the sense of neighborhood and trust were also killed.
And Maras was no exception.
Two years later in Çorum (1980), the same scenario was staged again. Again Alevi houses were targeted, again neighborhoods were marked, again tales of “provocation” were circulated. In Çorum too, people were besieged in their homes and lynched in the streets. The state was again late, justice was again silent. The wound opened in Maraş continued to bleed in Çorum. According to official figures, 57 people were killed, hundreds were injured, businesses and residences were destroyed. The attacking groups were again ultranationalist elements.
Years later, the last link in this chain was Sivas (July 2, 1993). Metin Altıok, Behçet Aysan, Asım Bezirci, Muhlis Akarsu, Hasret Gültekin and other intellectuals attending the Pir Sultan Abdal Cultural Association event at the Madımak Hotel became victims of an attack organized by radical Islamist and nationalist elements. The hotel was set on fire; 35 intellectuals and 2 hotel employees lost their lives. The ineffectiveness of the security forces, the negligence of the state, the delay in stopping the events were clearly stated in later reports.
The intellectuals among those killed in Sivas were targeted for their humanist thoughts and as the voice of Alevi culture. These incidents, too, were motivated not only by individual anger, but also by social tension, discrimination and ideological hatred. The state's weakness and public responsibility were also revealed in official reports: inadequate security measures and flaws in preventing the incidents were found.
Today, if some people in this country still describe Maraş, Çorum and Sivas as “provocations”, “clashes” or “crowds out of control”, the problem is not the past, but the present. Because every massacre that is not confronted prepares the ground for new ones in the future.
Maraş, Çorum and Sivas are not closed chapters in history books.
These are the open files of how Alevis have been targeted in this country, how ideological hatred has turned into mass violence, and how state negligence has resulted in deaths.
And until those files are closed, no promise of “brotherhood”, no promise of “unity”, no promise of “halalization” is sincere in this country.
Today, Alevis are being targeted not only for their historical suffering, but also in the shadow of politics and social prejudices. Even within the CHP, Alevism has been portrayed as a “target” through Kılıçdaroğlu; Kılıçdaroğlu's presence has become a justification for attacks or political criticism against Alevis. This situation makes it even more difficult for Alevis to freely defend their identities and beliefs. Unless political institutions learn from the traumas of Maraş, Çorum and Sivas and recognize spaces where Alevis can be directly protected, historical wounds continue to reopen in contemporary forms.
The steps that need to be taken for Alevis are the following:
1. Official policies of confrontation and commemoration: Official remembrance of Maraş, Çorum and Sivas, and accurate accounts of the massacres.
2. Reparation and justice: Effective reparation to surviving victims and their relatives, prosecution and punishment of those responsible.
3. Education and awareness: Objective coverage of Alevi history, culture and massacres in the curricula.
4. Social equality and protection: Protection of Alevi citizens' beliefs and cultural practices; effective legal mechanisms against discrimination.
5. Pluralism in political representation: Increasing the representation of Alevis through their own identities and issues, and ensuring that their voices are heard directly and not only through parties.
6. Rights to civic space and places of worship: Official recognition and protection of Cemevis as places of worship; measures to prevent the destruction of cultural heritage.
Unless these steps are taken, the wounds of the past will not heal and the risk of similar suffering in the future will continue.