MASS BURIAL OF POSSIBLE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE VICTIMS DISCOVERED IN TURKEY

PanARMENIAN.Net
04.11.2006 16:18 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Turkish Gendarmerie has instructed local villagers of
a southeastern region to keep silence about a mass grave, discovered
on October 17, that might contain remains of Armenian Genocide
victims. According to a Kurdish newspaper published in Turkish
Ulkede Ozgur Gundem, villagers from Xirabebaba (Kuru) were digging
a grave for one of their relatives when they came across to a cave
full of skulls and bones of reportedly 40 people. The Xirabebaba
residents assumed they had uncovered a mass grave of 300 Armenian
villagers massacred during the Genocide of 1915. They informed Akarsu
Gendarmerie headquarters, the local military unit, about the discovered
remains. Turkish army officers, according to the Kurdish newspaper,
instructed the villagers to block the cave entrance and make no mention
of the remains buried in it. The officers said an investigation would
take place. The newspaper reported on the developments and the Turkish
military’s attempt to hide the news. Journalists, who had arrived to
obtain more information, were denied access to the cave.

As the mass burial made news, local Gendarmerie made another visit
to the villagers. The latter were pressed to report the name of
the person who leaked the mass burial discovery to the press. The
villagers were warned not to show anyone directions to the cave.

The victims of the mass grave, according to Sodertorn University
History Professor David Gaunt, are most likely the 150 Armenian and
120 Assyrian males from the nearby town of Dara (now Oguz) killed on
June 14, 1915, reports Asbarez.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress