AFAD CAMP ALLEGEDLY BUILT ON ARMENIAN MASSACRE SITE
02.09.2015 09:47
According to a report by Fıratnews, the AFAD camp for Kobane residents
who fled ISIS and crossed the border to Suruc, is built on “Wargeha
Mezin”, the site where thousands of Armenians were massacred in 1895.
Suruc residents Bozan Demir (54), Ä°brahim Halil Kaya (58) of Armenian
origin, and Hakkı Fırat (60) of Kurdish origin claim that the AFAD
(Prime Ministry Disaster and Emergency Management Presidency) camp on
the Urfa road is built on the site where around 20 thousand Armenians
exiled from Erzurum, Erzincan, Malazgirt, Sivas, Cizre and MuÃ…~_
were brought to and massacred in 1895, during the reign of Sultan
Abdul Hamid II. Demir and Kaya, both of Armenian origin, related
what they had learned from their parents, and stated that the site
was known as “Wargeha Mezin”, adding that thousands of Armenians had
been slaughtered here.
Ä°brahim Halil Kaya, speaking of the great injustices inflicted upon
Armenians during the Ottoman period, said, “According to the stories
our parents passed on to us, in 1895, Armenians were banished from
their homes and forced upon the path of deportation. Those who manage
to survive the massacres dispersed across all corners of the world.
Like the women of Kobanê today, the Armenian women were left in
devastation. Thousands of Armenians exiled from Cizre, Malazgirt,
MuÃ…~_ and Sivas, were massacred between Urfa and Suruc. This route
is full of their bones.”
Bozan Demir added, “In fact, ‘Wargeha Mezin’ is the first camp of the
Armenians. When the Armenians were brought here, they were brought in
separate convoys, from places with no water. Thousands of Armenians
who were brought to the village known as Xelê osî Å~_irîf were
murdered by drowning when they rushed to drink water from a reserve
kept by the villagers for cattle.”