Turkey agrees to open Dersim tragedy archives

Turkish President Abdullah Gul has said he thinks it should not be a problem to unveil Dersim tragedy archives, adding that big nations don't afraid of their history, Today's Zaman reported. "I believe it should not be a problem to open archives of [Dersim tragedy]," Gul said in a response to a question asked through a YouTube World View initiative.

Gul said Turkey's history is a big one and that there were "bad and good periods" in the history. He added that there were sad events in the history of Turkey which could not be justified by modern day human rights practises. "This is what I think based on information I accessed," Gul stressed.

The much-debated Dersim massacre concerns the deaths of tens of thousands of Alevis at the hands of the military in 1937. According to a 1939 document Erdoğan revealed on Wednesday, 13,806 people were killed in operations carried out against the people of Dersim between 1936 and 1939.

He said big states, countries and nations are not afraid of their history and that Turkey is already opening archives in more disputed issues.

Turkish president yet warned against making these disputed issues what he said "daily subjects of debate." He said he believes that Turkish society is mature enough in this matter and that he thinks it should not be a problem to open Dersim archives to scientists and historians.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan apologized on Nov. 23 for the first time for the killings of nearly 14,000 people in a bombing and strafing campaign to crush a rebellion in the 1937-39.

The apology came at a tense time for relations between Turkey and its minority Kurds, and it sparked calls for Turkey to face another dark chapter of its history, the mass killings of Armenians in 1915.

Main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, whose party was ruling the country then, avoided a similar apology and said the issue must be left to historians to discuss not politicians.


/Trend/