ITF TURKEY REPRESENTATIVE DR.HİCRAN KAZANCI ISSUED A
MESSAGE ON THE 22ND ANNIVERSARY OF THE ALTUNKÖPRÜ MASSACRE
Today is the 22nd anniversary of the Altunköprü massacre
which took place on the 28th of March 1991 overwhelming all Turkmen with a deep
sorrow …
It is one the most
sorrowful days for Iraqi Turkmen …
Exactly 22 years ago on
the 28th of March 1991 Altunköprü, which is a picturesque Turkmen
town in the northern part of Iraq between Kirkuk and Erbil, was the scene of a
massacre which went down into the pages of history as a ‘black mark’.
102 of our innocent
Turkmen brothers, without discriminating between old, young people and children
were collected from their homes by Saddam’s military units. Children as young
as 8 and 10 were among them. No one knew where they were taken.
15 days later the
lifeless bodies of our 102 martyrs who had been shot for alleged insurgency
were found piled one on top of the other in a ditch in Kayabaşı.
The massacre of
Altunköprü is not the first nor the last such massacre to be experienced by
blameless and uninvolved Turkmen who never rebelled against the state.
Numerous massacres
against Turkmen living on Iraqi soil have taken place starting with the first
in 1920 with the establishment of the Iraqi State. Thousands of Turkmen men and
women, the young and old as well as children were martyred by these massacres.
It is not possible for
us to forget the crimes against humanity committed against the innocent Turkmen
nation.
On this anniversary of
the Altunköprü massacre I once more take the opportunity to bow in respect
before their saintly memories and may they rest in peace.
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