Speaker of Turkey’s parliament refuses to accept questions on Sivas Massacre
A parliamentary question of deputy chair of Turkey’s main opposition CHP, Zeynep Altıok Akatlı, was rejected by Speaker of the Parliament, İsmail Kahraman.
In her recent question submitted to be answered by Justice Minister Bekir Bozdağ, MP Altıok-Akatlı asked about the latest stage reached in the case of Sivas Massacre, where MP’s father, author and poet Metin Altıok, was also killed 24 years ago.
The reason for Speaker to refuse accepting the questions of MP Altıok was ‘because it was too long and too personal’, said MP in a social media post.
MP’s questions were about the most recent number of suspects of the Massacre staying in jail; the number of suspects who have served their time and been released; number of suspects against whom there are still warrants of arrest; number of fugitive suspects who are known to be abroad; number of suspects sought with red bulletin, if any.
MP also asked about any current efforts of authorities in Turkey for bringing these suspects to justice and demanded the names to be revealed as well.
In a last note, she mentioned the ongoing ‘perception management’ taking place on social media with regards to ‘claimed innocence’ of some jailed suspects of the case. ‘Is there an effort in play for the suspects of Sivas Massacre to be released just as convicts of previous massacres and assassinations were released in the past’, MP asked.
On 2 July 1993 in Sivas, the Madımak Hotel where hundreds of people - children, authors, artists, intellectuals, and others - were staying during their visit to Sivas for the culture festival organized by the Alevi association Pir Sultan Abdal Association was set in fire by a large crowd of radical Islamists who had come in front of the hotel after their prayers in the mosque nearby. 33 people lost their lives as a result.