Assyrian International News Agency
Investigator Accuses Turkey of Tampering With Assyrian Mass Grave
Posted GMT 4-27-2007 14:55:34

Istanbul — An investigation to clarify conflicting claims about the origins
of a mass grave found near the city of Mardin last year in Turkey’s
southeast ended in disappointment this week as historians traded accusations
and a Swedish expert denounced the excavation as an "expensive picnic."
The grave first came to light last October when villagers in the district of
Nusaybin reported that they had found a mass grave near the village of Kuru.
Turkish historians insisted that the grave dated back to Roman times while
some Westerners claimed it could be a mass burial site of Armenians, killed
around 1915 in a series of massacres that remain the subject of red hot
controversy today.
After the weekly news magazine Nokta published photos of the site and
international news agencies picked up the story, Sweden’s Soderton
University demanded an investigation.
Refusing collaboration:
Professor David Gaunt of Soderton, accompanied by Yusuf Halaçoglu, the
President of the Turkish Association of Historians (TTK), arrived at the
burial site together last Tuesday, April 24. The date is a symbolic day for
Armenians who commemorate "genocide" on that day, a characterization
disputed by most Turkish and many international scholars.
On examining the grave, Gaunt refused to collaborate with the Turkish
historians. It had been tampered with since it was first uncovered, making
it impossible to conclusively establish its origins or the circumstances of
the human remains.
"I have some photos of the grave, dating back to October, when it was first
found," Gaunt told the Turkish Daily News yesterday. "But the place I saw
was totally different from the photos."If proving that the grave is not
evidence of Armenian claims, it should have had serious protection, he said.
However, it is "full of mud.""My impression is that this grave is one in
which no scientific research can be carried out. The grave has undergone
numerous changes so it is unrecognizable," he said.
Soil sample conflict:
The Turkish Association’s Halaçoglu, however, said in response that no bones
were removed from the place and that the change was due to natural factors
such as rain. Gaunt in turn rejected that explanation, saying if indeed
scientific standards of protection were used "then it could not have been
affected by rain or anything else."The aim of this visit was to make a
preliminary survey to establish whether the site is suitable for
interdisciplinary investigations in the future by forensic medical experts,
archaeologists, physical anthropologists and historians. If such a decision
was taken, forensic experts would be engaged to assist the Turkish
Historical Society and the Institute for Historical Justice and
Reconciliation in their work.Noting that Roman pantheons have their own
entrance, which was closed in the grave, Halaçoglu emphasized that the grave
represents a typical Roman burial site.
It could not be a site, in his view, of alleged Armenian victims at the
hands of the Ottoman Empire. He also chastised Gaunt for flippancy, saying
if he is sincere about investigating genocide claims, he should have taken
soil samples that could prove the history of the bones. He also recalled
that Turkey has made an official proposal to Armenia to set up a joint
commission of historians to study such disputed events and all sides should
conduct their work impartially.Such impartiality is now impossible, an angry
Gaunt argued: "They gave me a shovel to dig and get some soil and some
little bones, which were impossible to work on and reach any scientific
conclusion. It is an archeological site. The process should continue slowly
and gently," he said "That was when I realized it was impossible to reach
any scientific conclusion. Why should I get soil samples? What happened to
those bones that are the real source for forensic research?"It could well be
a Roman grave, he said, but the point was to examine the remains of 38
bodies there and that is now difficult if not impossible."Our intention was
to understand how they got there, but I have heard that they were removed. I
cannot accept the claim that mud filled the grave naturally," Gaunt
explained.
Understanding the exact date:
David Gaunt also said it is scientifically impossible to understand the
exact date from the bones. "It is not possible to say the exact date with
scientific and chemical examinations. One can only merge the scientific
outcomes with the stories of the local people. Then maybe one may have an
answer close to reality."
Sait Yildiz, a Syriac local of Mardin, said Halaçoglu accused him of
manipulating reality and misinforming the media. Yildiz was at the site with
Gaunt and Halaçoglu the first time they went into the grave. "I was carrying
the photographs taken at that time," Yildiz said. "A villager came to me,
looked at the photos and confirmed that the grave looked like this the first
time he discovered it," he added, explaining that villager was the one who
first found the grave and reported it to the authorities.
The Swedish professor expressed his disillusionment, describing what
happened as "childish."
"This is the most expensive picnic I have ever attended," concluded the
professor.
By Onur Burçak Belli
Turkish Daily News
Emre Çaliskan contributed to this story.