Vartinis Massacre taken to Constitutional Court

Click to read the article in Turkish / Kurdish

Shortly after the 1st Penal Chamber of the Court of Cassation finalized the application regarding the Vartinis Massacre, where nine people, including seven children, were burned to death in Vartinis (Altınova) town in Turkey's Kurdish-majority eastern province of Muş on October 3, 1993, the attorneys of the Öğüt family have applied to the Constitutional Court.

As reported by Dindar Karataş from Mezopotamya Agency (MA), the attorneys applied to the top court on the grounds of "the violation of right to life" and "the failure to conduct an effective investigation."

The attorneys have requested that the hearing be held at an earlier date given the risk of expiry of statutory limitations, the then District Gendarmerie Commander Bülent Karaoğlu, found guilty by the Court of Cassation, be arrested and an effective investigation be conducted against the other soldiers whose acquittal has been upheld by the Court of Cassation.

'They are directly responsible for the deaths'

The application has noted that upholding the rulings of acquittal given for three soldiers means a right violation: "In the incident where these people were prevented from being taken out of the house during the fire and burned to death under torture and in public eye, the defendants who have been acquitted are directly responsible for the death of these people."

The application has said that "while security forces shall guarantee the safety of life and property of people, they burned innocent people to death, which openly violates the right to life," adding that "assigning the ones who carried out the act with investigating it was misconduct in office."

Referring to the decision to transfer the case to Kırıkkale for reasons of "security" as a violation as well, the attorneys have said, "Only one member of the 9-member family who lost their lives has survived. The families have experienced great trouble on the grounds that the file was transferred to a place which is a thousand kilometers away from them."

What happened?

The Chief Public Prosecutor's Office of the Court of Cassation indicated that there was no effective investigation or prosecution and demanded that a retrial be held in the Vartinis massacre case.

CLICK - State Officials Charged with Burning 9 People Acquitted

On October 2, 1993, nine people living in Vartinis village of Korkut district in Turkey's eastern province of Muş were burned to death in their house. The youngest of them was 14 years old:

Mehmet Nasir Öğüt, Eşref Oran, Sevda Öğüt, Sevim Öğüt, Mehmet Şakir Öğüt, Mehmet Şirin Öğüt, Aycan Öğüt, Cihan Öğüt and Cinal Öğüt.

At the final hearing of the case at the Kırıkkale Heavy Penal Court on March 1, 2016, all defendants were acquitted due to "lack of evidence."

CLICK - 'I've been Waiting for This Day for 23 Years'

'People prevented from putting out the fire'

The 1st Penal Chamber of the Court of Cassation has upheld the acquittal of all defendants, except for that of District Gendarmerie Commander Bülent Karaoğlu. The Chamber has concluded that Karaoğlu was responsible for the incident and overturned the acquittal.

The ruling of the Penal Chamber has indicated that while Karaoğlu was passing through Vartinis, he addressed the villagers and said, "We will come tonight and burn down your village."

The ruling also said that "at the night of October 3, at around 3 a.m., hundreds of soldiers came to the town as part of the operation and the haylofts, haystacks, barns, animals and several houses as well as the house of Nasır Öğüt were set on fire during the operation."

Noting that the ones who were at home at the moment of the incident were burned to death in the ensuing fire, the 1st Penal Chamber of the Court of Cassation said, "It is understood that the townspeople who wanted to intervene to put out the fire were not allowed by soldiers."

The ruling of the 1st Penal Chamber of the Court of Cassation has briefly explained Karaoğlu's responsibility in the massacre as follows:

"It is understood that the defendant, who was on duty as the Hasköy District Gendarmerie Company Commander, participated in the operation, as indicated in the witness statements; it is unimaginable that he would not participate in such an operation within his jurisdiction, considering that he was the District Gendarmerie Commander; given that the defendant was the most senior officer in the operation and given his remarks after the non-commissioned officer was martyred, it is understood that the fire occurred upon his order and instruction..."

Rhe 1st Penal Chamber of the Court of Cassation has concluded that the acquittal of the defendant is against the law as it was not considered necessary to hold him responsible and penalize him for the fire.

Karaoğlu will stand trial again on charge of "solicitation to aggravated murder." If the Kırıkkale Heavy Penal Court does not defy the ruling of the Court of Cassation, the trial will be held again. (RT/SD)