Exactly 33 years have passed since the Madımak Hotel, where writers, artists, and intellectuals attending the Pir Sultan Abdal Cultural Events in Sivas were staying, was besieged and set on fire on 2 July 1993. This massacre, in which 33 intellectuals and artists—the youngest 12 and the oldest 66—lost their lives, has been recorded as one of the gravest mass killings in the recent history of Türkiye. However, in the 33 years that have since passed, the background of the tragedy and its true organisers have not been tried. While the case files in which fugitive defendants were being tried were completely closed via the mechanism of the statute of limitations, the demands for justice and the accountability of public officials who had heavy negligence or responsibility in the massacre were systematically left unanswered. This process of impunity, in which the defence attorneys for the accused were rewarded in later years by being appointed to high-level positions in the Parliament and the Cabinet, has led families and lawyers to take their search for justice to the ECHR after domestic law was obstructed by the Constitutional Court.

'THE PERPETRATORS SHOULD NOT HAVE BEEN RELEASED'

Lawyer Günal Kurşun stated, "We must enforce the rule that the statute of limitations does not apply to crimes against humanity, and the perpetrators of the Sivas Madımak massacre, who were released last year, should not have been released." Kurşun explained the application process to the ECHR as follows: "Although 12 years have passed, the Constitutional Court has unfortunately been unable to make any decision on the matter. This situation shows us the reality that the Constitutional Court is no longer an effective remedy. A potential ruling of violation in this case will not only deal a major blow to the concept of impunity but will also contribute to the fulfillment of the sense of justice for our millions of citizens."

Eren Aysan, the daughter of the poet Behçet Aysan, who lost his life in the massacre, reiterated the demand for justice, stating: "Applying to the ECHR has become not a choice for us, but a legally inevitable responsibility. Moreover, as the daughter of a poet killed in the massacre, wanting my conscience to be clear when I lay my head on the pillow is a right after so much pain. We evaluate this not merely as a delayed trial, but as the de facto disappearance of the right to an effective remedy."

Aysan continued: "We expect the Court to evaluate the gravity of the event, the positive obligations of the state, and the ongoing problem of impunity together. Such a decision will be an important reference not only in terms of the Sivas Massacre but also in terms of how similar grave human rights violations will be handled in the future."

'THE CONSTRUCTION OF TODAY'S POLITICAL ATMOSPHERE'

Cuma Erçe, Chairman of the Pir Sultan Abdal Cultural Association (PSAKD), said: "This is not an ordinary commemoration ceremony for us; it is a way for Türkiye to confront its own history and a form of reckoning. We do not see 2 July merely as a day for us to mourn." Stating that Sivas is the turning point of the process that constructed Türkiye’s current political atmosphere, Erçe expressed: "For this reason, we evaluate Madımak as the mother of all the evils we experience today. Because that day was not confronted or reckoned with, the perpetrators and the mentality behind the massacres before and after Sivas have remained the same." Stating that "The basis of the femicides experienced today, the plundering of forests and living spaces, and the reactionarisation of the education system all lie in Türkiye’s inability to confront the reality of this massacre," Erçe concluded his words as follows: "In this struggle, it must be the common struggle of everyone who sees themselves as the 'other'. It is a historical responsibility to unite every line of resistance, to walk side by side, and to act jointly to force this country to confront its past. For this reason, our call is to everyone."

A COMMEMORATION MARCH WILL BE ORGANISED

The Pir Sultan Abdal Cultural Association has issued a call for the marches to be held today in Ankara and Sivas. Accordingly, a mass commemoration march will take place in Sivas today. On 4 July, a Sivas Massacre commemoration will be held at the Istanbul Bar Association. On 6 July, commemorations will be held at the gravesides, primarily at the memorial grave in the Ankara Karşıyaka Cemetery.

WE WILL HOLD THE MASSACRE ACCOUNTABLE

Zeynep Altıok, daughter of the poet Metin Altıok, who lost his life in the massacre, answered our questions on the 33rd anniversary of the massacre.

How do you interpret the High Court's persistent silence of 12 years and its abandonment of the file to the mercy of the statute of limitations stopwatch?

Following the "statute of limitations decision" in 2012, our objection to the Constitutional Court was not even taken onto the agenda. In this sense, the system uses this precedent to its own advantage, seeing its value. This stalling is both a basis that will bring a precedent-setting decision for the second case continuing over fugitive defendants, and an overt and manipulative tactic to consume "domestic legal remedies" in order to block this crime, in which the state is also complicit, from being taken to the ECHR!

On the basis of universal law, what kind of precedent do you anticipate from the ECHR in terms of registering this case as a 'crime against humanity' and opening a breach in the culture of impunity in Türkiye?

In accordance with universal human rights law, we hope for a fair and precedent-setting decision in the face of the systematic lawlessness and irregularities in this case. In fact, if we consider that the true criminals in the Sivas Massacre were never tried, it is difficult to hope for a real retrospective gain of justice. However, this dimension, which continues over the perpetrators whose guilt has been established, is an important lever in terms of our country’s definition of 'crimes against humanity', retrospective applicability, justice, memory, and mechanisms of true confrontation, depending on the ECHR's decision.

As the doors of domestic law have been shut in your face so crudely, what does the ECHR process mean to you?

I believe that one cannot expect a real gain of justice when there are criminals who were never tried in this case, while the convicted murderers have been released. I hope that the ECHR process will bring an important result at least to record it in history with a decision that will clearly expose the reality of the precedent-setting lawlessness and injustice of our case. We will never give up the struggle.

• The then-Prime Minister Tansu Çiller stated in her declaration the day after the massacre, "Thank God, nothing happened to our citizens outside the hotel." (3 July 1993)

• The then-President Süleyman Demirel said, "The event is isolated. There is heavy provocation. As a result of this provocation, the public has been stirred up... Do not set the public and the security forces against each other." (3 July 1993)

• In the first indictment prepared by the Ankara State Security Court (DGM) Prosecutor's Office, the massacre was justified by the claim that Aziz Nesin's speeches and the participants of the festival "provoked the religious values of the public." (July 1993)

• Within the scope of the investigation initiated regarding the massacre, only 190 people were detained out of a crowd of approximately 15 thousand who were involved in the events. (1993)

• Dozens of defendants, who would later be confirmed to be among the primary perpetrators of the massacre, were released "pending trial" in the first hearings. Most fled. (1993-1994)

• It was alleged that the then-Minister of Justice from the Refah Party, Şevket Kazan, visited the massacre defendants in the Ankara Central Closed Prison. (1996)

• The address to which the court sent the search warrant for a fugitive defendant wanted with a Red Notice turned out to be the law office of Şenal Sarıhan, who undertook the representation of the victim families.

• It was alleged that the defendant Yılmaz Bağ married while he was being sought. (16 July 1993)

• It was alleged that Yılmaz Bağ's death was reported to the court 4 years later. (2006 – 2010)

• It was alleged that the defendant İhsan Çakmak married while he was being sought. (1999)

• It was alleged that the defendant İhsan Çakmak obtained a driver's licence while he was being sought. (2000)

• Zeynep Altıok was dismissed from her job due to her statements regarding the massacre.

• The death of the chief fugitive Cafer Erçakmak in his home in Sivas. (10 July 2011)

• Cafer Erçakmak receiving a pension while he was a fugitive. (1993 - 2011)

• Vahit Kaynar was released in Poland by paying 32 thousand dollars.

• Problems in extradition files from Germany.

• Faruk Ceylan, who was tried for burning the hotel, became a father in prison.

• Harun Kavak crossing the border with his own identity while he was a fugitive.

• Bans and police interventions brought to commemoration events.

• A kebab shop being opened under the Madımak Hotel. (1993 - 2010)

• The names of the murderers being written on the board of shame. (2011)

• Erdoğan saying "Best of luck" to the first statute of limitations decision. (March 2012)

• Symbolic hearings in court lasting "1 minute." (2010s)

• The massacre not being considered a "crime against humanity." (2012 and 2023)

• The 21-year delay of the State Inspection Board (DDK) report. (2014)

• The demand for the building to become a "Museum of Shame" being stubbornly rejected.

• Reactionary leaflets distributed in Sivas never reached the agenda.

• The Constitutional Court keeping the file on the shelf.

• The lawyers for the defendants rising in politics.

• Lawyers following the massacre case being threatened.

• Defendant Ahmet Turan Kılıç being pardoned by the President. (January 2020)

• Presidential pardon granted to the second life-sentence fugitive as well. (6 September 2023)

• The complete closing of the main case. (14 September 2023)

Note: This article is translated from the original article titled Katilleri tanıyoruz, published in BirGün newspaper on July 2, 2026.