Thousands of innocent people were killed and tens of thousands of people were displaced in the massacre that took place on the Zilan Valley (Gelîyê Zîlan) within the borders of Erciş district of Turkey’s eastern Van province on 13 July 1930, 91 years ago.
Releasing a statement on the occasion of the Zilan Massacre, one of the most painful events in recent history, HUDA PAR Headquarters stated that the state should apologize for the massacre.
“The Zilan massacre, which started on July 13, 1930, is one of the most painful events in recent history. In this process, tens of thousands of innocent civilians living in Ağrı, Van, and the surrounding areas were massacred. The pain of the massacre, including women and children, is still fresh despite all the time that has passed. Although 91 years have passed since the atrocities that went down in history as the Zilan Valley Massacre, neither an apology, remorse nor a message of condolence was released on behalf of the state,” HÜDA PAR said.
"The inhabitants of the village were brutally murdered with machine guns and bayonets"
Drawing attention to the Zilan Massacre and what happened after it, HÜDA PAR continued as follows: “The looting, pillage, and massacre that lasted for months are one of the blackest spots in the history of the Turkish Republic. After the resurrection of Sheikh Said, a decision taken by the government of the time against the possibility of a new uprising tried to send tribal chiefs, sheikhs and scholars into exile unjustly. As part of the military operation launched against those who resisted the exile decision and took shelter on Mount Ararat, hundreds of villages in the region were evacuated, houses were burned, animals were confiscated, village residents were rounded up along the Zilan Valley, and their children were brutally murdered with machine guns and bayonets. Thousands of Zilan people were sentenced to starvation and misery in concentration camps, and hundreds of them died in prisons in different parts of the country. As a result of the bloody operation, the Zilan region was depopulated, and a significant part of the region was allocated to immigrants in the settlement policies followed in the following periods. The children of people who were displaced at that time have been residing in different parts of the country for about a hundred years. The grievances and rights violations experienced have not been compensated until today.”
"The state should face the massacre to get rid of this disgraceful shame"
Calling on the Turkish Republic to face the massacre, HÜDA PAR said: “On the 91st anniversary of the 1930 Zilan Valley Massacre, it is important to keep the social memory alive so that such suffering is not experienced again in this land. On this occasion, once again, we wish mercy to our people who were massacred brutally. In order to get rid of this disgraceful shame, the state must face this massacre, compensate the material and moral damages it has caused, say goodbye to the families of the victims, and condemn this inhumane massacre in the conscience of society and the state so that it will not happen again.”