TURKEY TRIES TO ESCAPE ITS HISTORY
By Dikran Ego Eastern Star News Agency
Assyrian International News Agency
Nov 14 2006
Stockholm — While the negotiations between Turkey and the EU are
proceeding, something that Turkey doesn’t want to know about has
happened. On October 19th, 2006 the news about the discovery of a mass
grave in the village of Dara, outside Nusaybin, came out. When locals
were digging graves for some deceased villagers, an underground cave
was found. It turned out to be a mass grave.
The Turkish military, which came to the site, did their investigation
and as soon as they were done with it they attempted to silence down
the discovery and to forbid all spreading of information about it.
Despite this ban the news paper "Ulkede Ozgur Gundem" reported about
this discovery on October 19th 2006, with pictures of the mass grave.
Turkish authorities tried with every means to keep it from becoming
widely known. But the news paper that published the news dug further
into it and they come in contact with professor David Gaunt at
Sodertorn University in Stockholm. David Gaunt has done a lot of
research about Seyfo — the Assyrian genocide. The first results of
this research are now ready. He has published them in his first book
about Seyfo. David Gaunt has in his research used many different
sources but also Turkish sources that confirm this genocide.
Concerning the mass grave that was found David Gaunt has the following
theories:
If most of the bodies are male, this can indicate that they are the
remains of Assyrians and Armenians that were gathered in Nusaybin’s
prison on June 13th, 1915 and then murdered on June 15th, 1915.
If the bodies turn out to be mostly women, then they are most probably
the remains of catholic Armenians, that were victimized in a mass
murder on June 28th, 1915.
If the bodies are mixed of different genders and ages it is most
likely that they are the remains of Assyrians from Nusaybin.
Apart from these theories there are other possible answers to who is
buried in the mass grave.
The grave is located quiet a bit away from Nusaybin, but it is located
right outside the village of Dara, which was populated by Assyrians
and Armenians during Seyfo.
Because of the mass grave’s location the bodies are most likely the
remains of the 120 Assyrian and 150 Armenian heads of families that
were gathered on June 14th, 1915 and murdered outside the village.
IHD, Insan Haklari Derneði, a Turkish organisation working with human
rights issues, has in an open letter to the ministry of the interior
demanded an investigation of the mass grave discovery and answers to
the following three questions:
To establish if the mass grave has something to do with the deportation
of Assyrians and Armenians during the year 1915.
To clarify if the bodies belong to Assyrians and Armenians.
To clarify this, a group of experts consisting of historians, forensic
physicians and independent scientists has to be appointed.
It remains to be seen how the Turkish authorities will manage this
issue. Will Turkey dare to face its dark history?
–Boundary_(ID_8iZ7fIzUdWEz2WDvf4AODA)–