The Maraş Massacre continues to be remembered as one of the bloodiest massacres in the history of Turkey. Forty-seven years on, as testimonies are still being heard, the scale of the massacre continues to horrify those who confront its reality. Those who lived through the massacre firsthand say that the pain and anger it created are felt as intensely today as they were on the first day.
The Maraş Massacre was not an isolated incident, as the government of the time claimed, but a well-planned attack, something that has become increasingly clear through research carried out over the years. Yet in Turkey, no one responsible for massacres, including Maraş, has been brought to justice. One of the individuals bearing primary responsibility for the massacre even changed his surname and went on to serve for years as a member of parliament.
Writer Aziz Tunç, drawing on years of fieldwork, revealed a little-known dimension of the massacre in his book ‘Beni Sen Öldür (Kill Me Yourself)’ by focusing on human stories and showing that massacres are not made up of numbers and statistics alone. Through Beni Sen Öldür, Tunç enables readers to witness the final moments of those who were killed, reminding us that the victims were not mere figures.
One of the most striking aspects highlighted in ‘Beni Sen Öldür’ is the reality that the massacre was also a massacre of women. Seventeen of those killed during the Maraş Massacre were women. Two of these women were murdered together with their babies.
Another atrocity of the Maraş Massacre was the disappearance of the bodies of nearly twenty people. Although it was established that they were killed, their bodies were never found, and they were never given graves. Five of those left without graves were women.
Women who were killed
Gülşen Ün
Gülşen Ün was at home when the massacre began. As she tried to protect her children from the attackers, she was shot and killed by one of them. During the attack, Gülşen, her husband Kamil, and one of their children were murdered.
Ümmühan Duman
Ümmühan and her husband were at home when the attacks started. As the assailants reached their house, her husband, Mahmut Duman, waited with a weapon in his hands, while Ümmühan tried to hide their children. Realizing there was no escape, Ümmühan turned to her husband and said, “They will not leave us alive. They will do worse than death to us. I cannot bear to see what they will do to my children. Do not give them the chance, kill me yourself.”
The attackers seriously wounded Mahmut and Ümmühan Duman and murdered their young child, Muhammed. Doctors in Kahramanmaraş refused to treat Ümmühan Duman, forcing the family to take her to another city. She received treatment there but died shortly afterward.
Güllü Ergönül
Güllü Ergönül was killed when her home in the Serintepe neighborhood was attacked. She managed to save her children but could not save herself. Her body was never found, and she was recorded among those left without graves after the massacre.
Fadime Boz
Fadime Boz was seriously wounded along with her family when their home was attacked. She died while being taken for medical treatment. Fadime Boz was never given a grave.
Zeynep Aydoğdu
Zeynep Aydoğdu was not killed during a raid on her home but was shot from a distance with a long-barreled weapon. After the massacre, her body was never found, and she was never given a grave.
Hatice Görür
Hatice Görür was shot and killed while trying to flee the massacre with her family, before she could even leave the street where her home was located. She was never given a grave.
Döndü Ünver
When an attack was carried out on her home, Döndü Ünver was trying to take refuge in another house together with her children and her husband. Realizing that the attackers were about to kill her husband, Mehmet Ünver, she walked toward them and said, “Kill the two of us together.” Döndü and her husband Mehmet were murdered at the same spot and buried in the same grave. The attackers also killed Döndü’s unborn child. Döndü’s daughter, Olcay, was taken by an officer who said he would raise her and initially resisted returning her to the family. He later withdrew and was forced to hand Olcay over to her grandmother.
Zöhre Yıldırım
When the attacks began, Zöhre Yıldırım and her husband sought refuge in the home of a Sunni neighbor. After an attacker reported seeing them take shelter there, the couple were beaten and murdered.
Hatice Yılmaz
Hatice Yılmaz was seriously wounded during a raid on her home. The attackers carried her outside while she was injured and killed her by crushing her head with a stone. Not content with killing her, they cut off her arms to steal her bracelets. The bodies of Hatice Yılmaz and her husband, Mahmut Yılmaz, were never found.
Zeynep Nergiz
Zeynep Nergiz was shot and killed by the attackers while trying to save her father during an assault on him.
Gülsüm Akırmak
While searching for her son, Gülsüm Akırmak encountered the killers and asked them where he was. Telling her, “Come, we will take you to him,” they took her with them and beat her to death.
Sebahat Işbilir
During the attacks, Sebahat Işbilir hid in a corner of her home. The attackers dragged her out of her hiding place and assaulted her with weapons such as axes and knives. While carrying out the attack, they also sexually assaulted her. During this time, Sebahat was forced to witness the murder of her mother and father. The attackers ultimately shot her in the heart, killing her.
Elif Balta
Those who attacked Elif Balta’s home were her own neighbors. Elif initially survived the attacks, but she was later captured by the assailants, beaten, and murdered by being burned alive. Her body was first buried in a cemetery for the unclaimed. After persistent demands by her family, her remains were returned to them forty-one days later. Soldiers attempted to take the Balta family’s children as “spoils of war,” but the family refused.
Fidan Suna
Fidan Suna was seriously wounded during an attack on their home. After the initial assault, as she was being taken to the hospital, attackers struck again outside the house and murdered her. Fidan was fourteen years old when she was killed.
Besey (Esma) Suna
Besey Suna was shot during the attack on their home. Not satisfied with shooting her repeatedly, the attackers began deliberately firing at her stomach after realizing she was pregnant. Gravely wounded, Besey was taken to the hospital but could not be saved.
Fatma Bilmez
When attacks began on Fatma Bilmez’s home, the assailants did not enter immediately. During the first assault, Fatma’s son Ali was murdered and thrown into a fire lit outside the house. The attackers later entered the home and killed Fatma and her son Hasan with axes and knives.
Cennet Çimen
Cennet Çimen was very elderly. While others in the house fled to take shelter elsewhere, she was unable to go with them. It was assumed that, because of her age, the attackers would not harm her. Instead, they stormed her home and attacked her with axes, gouging out her eyes with a screwdriver. When the body of eighty-three-year-old Cennet Çimen was found, the full extent of the brutality became clear.
The Maraş Massacre was not, as some claim, solely an Alevi massacre, nor was it an atrocity that targeted only Alevis. When viewed within the political context of the period, the massacre was carried out to prevent the Alevi Kurdish community from uniting with revolutionary struggle. Its target was not only Alevi Kurds, but also the Kurdistan Freedom Movement and the broader revolutionary movement that was gaining strength in Maraş and the surrounding region at the time.
Another essential dimension of the massacre is that it must also be recognized as a massacre of women and children. The systematic targeting of women and the treatment of children as “spoils of war” must not be overlooked.
That the same pain and anger are still felt forty-seven years later stems from the massacre’s many layers. The Maraş Massacre remains a planned and systematic crime carried out by the state, one that still awaits reckoning and confrontation.