As Türkiye seeks to end PKK terrorism once and for all, memories of a vicious massacre committed by the terrorist group 33 years ago remain fresh.
On Sunday, families of victims, local officials and representatives of political parties convened in the Başbağlar village of the Erzincan province on the anniversary of the incident where 33 civilians were killed by PKK.
The massacre was allegedly an act of retaliation by the PKK over the July 2, 1993, deaths of people in a riot in nearby Sivas. The mob arson targeting Madımak Hotel, where several intellectuals and members of the Alevi community gathered for an event, was one of the darkest episodes of the decade marked by shady murders and PKK attacks.
“It is appropriate not to separate Başbağlar and Madımak and deem it as one pain of the nation,” Mustafa Şen, deputy chair of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party), said at the commemoration ceremony in the village. The AK Party and its ally, the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), oversee the “terror-free Türkiye” initiative nowadays. The initiative aims for the dissolution of the PKK. The PKK announced it would join the initiative and declared its dissolution last year. Parliament is expected to implement new laws offering leniency in sentencing of PKK members once the full disarmament is confirmed.
