'If you can’t find the killers, you can’t remove the stain'

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Kani Beko, the MP for İzmir with the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP), was the Chair of the Confederation of Progressive Trade Unions of Turkey (DİSK) from 2013-2018.

Speaking to bianet about the incidents of 1 May 1977, Beko talks of what it means that the killers of the 34 people, whom he refers to as the "First of May Martyrs", have never been found, and of how every year DİSK commemorates those who were killed on 1 May 1977.

He says that if the state bears no responsibility for the massacre, it must find the perpetrators and put them on trial.

I leave the word to Kani Beko.

1 May in the history of DİSK

DİSK was founded in 1967 and carried out its first mass rally on 1 May 1976 in Taksim Square. Sinister forces turned the celebrations of 1 May 1977 to bloodshed, and 34 people lost their lives. From that day on, workers have called Taksim "The First of May Square" to honour the memory of the First of May martyrs.

After the celebrations of 1 May 1978, the military regime closed Taksim Square off to First of May celebrations as of 1979. Every year in our speeches to celebrate the First of May we, the presidents of DİSK, have commemorated the dead and declared at the top of our voices that their killers must be found.

'We never lost sight of Taksim'

After the 1980 military coup, the ban [on 1 May celebrations in Taksim] continued at a heightened level. Those who tried to celebrate the day in Taksim met with fierce police violence. Hundreds of revolutionaries were detained and dozens arrested in operations carried out in the lead-up to the day. Mehmet Akif Dalcı was murdered in 1989, as were Hasan Albayrak, Dursun Odabaş and Yalçın Levent in 1996. In 1990, Gülay Beceren, a student at Istanbul Technical University, was paralysed after being hit by a bullet.

After DİSK resumed its activities in 1992, the decision was taken to hold the 1 May celebrations in Taksim and we fought for this. The confederation fought determinedly to ensure the unity of labourers, workers, socialists and revolutionaries. It never lost sight of Taksim as the aim, and continuously raised this demand.

We continued this fight, paying a heavy price, between 2007 and 2009. Finally, the government had no choice but to open the square to workers and labourers. From 2010-2012, there was huge public participation in the celebrations held in Taksim in honour of the First of May martyrs, and it was with great joy that people reclaimed Taksim Square.

European Court of Human Rights judgment

In 2012, the European Court of Human Rights ruled against Turkey with regard to the unlawful barriers and prohibitions that the state had implemented for years. The court stated that the justifications provided by the state were not necessary or verifiable, and that the demand for a site for celebrations was covered by the right to hold meetings and demonstrations.

This judgment confirmed the true owners of this site that workers had fought for by tooth and nail. However, despite this legitimate and legal foundation, in 2013, the Justice and Development Party (AKP) government once again closed off Taksim to its true owners in a step that is martial law in all but name.

They showed that they did not recognise this judgment by attacking labourers and workers with water cannons and tear gas. This violence also continued in the Gezi Park protests.

DİSK carried out a great deal of research on the events of 1 May 1977, we held mass marches, we followed the trials, we wrote many articles highlighting the impunity [of the perpetrators]; but despite all our efforts, for 43 years, the perpetrators have not been caught or brought to trial.

'We have pursued this case for 43 years'

Lawyers who are connected with DİSK followed almost every step of the trial. We received support from our friends in Europe. The presidents of DİSK and of the unions connected to DİSK, together with our revolutionary-patriotic friends, have pursued this case for 43 years. However, we are faced with a deep state; and we know that that is why we have not seen any results.

There have been so many massacres in Turkey. Very recently, they murdered our citizens in the heart of Ankara, the capital of the Republic of Turkey. In Sivas they set our people on fire. People like Bahriye Üçok were murdered, people like Uğur Mumcu were murdered, people like Pir Sultan were murdered.

If you will not be the kind of state who investigates these massacres, if you will not bring the murderers of those killed in Ankara, or of the First of May martyrs, to justice, you will never be able to remove the stain that you carry. What's more, you will be inviting the massacres that will occur in the future.

If Turkey makes any claim of wanting to redeem itself in the eyes of the rest of the world, it will need to catch these killers and bring them to justice. Because as long as the perpetrators are not found, the first question that comes to mind is, "Did the state protect these people?" So find those killers. And by doing so you will go at least a small way towards easing the pain of the families of those who were murdered. (TY/APA/SD)

This text was created and maintained with the financial support of the European Union provided under Etkiniz EU Programme. Its contents are the sole responsibility of "IPS Communication Foundation" and do not necessarily reflect the views of the European Union.

CLICK - 1 May 1977 e-book is online

The voices of those who lost their loved ones: 1 May '77 and impunity

Political panorama of Turkey-1977

Film industry worker Rasim Elmas, 41, died in Taksim

Construction Worker Bayram Eyi, 50, died in Taksim

Teacher Bayram Çıtak, 37, died in Taksim

High School Student Jale Yeşilnil, 17, died in Taksim

Teacher Kenan Çatak, 31, died in Taksim

Teacher Ahmet Gözükara, 33, died in Taksim

Teacher Hikmet Özkürkçü, 39, died in Taksim

Student-laborer Niyazi Darı, 24, died in Taksim

University student Nazan Ünaldı, 19, died in Taksim

Teacher Ömer Narman, 31, died in Taksim

Laborer Ali Sidal, 18, died in Taksim

Counterperson Kadir Balcı, 35, died in Taksim

Student Hacer İpek Saman, 24, died in Taksim

Factory Worker Kahraman Alsancak, 29, died in Taksim

Laborer Hüseyin Kırkın, 23, died in Taksim

Student Ercüment Gürkut, 26, died in Taksim

Public order police officer Nazmi Arı, 26, died in Taksim

Laborer Mahmut Atilla Özbelen, 26, died in Taksim

Factory worker Hasan Yıldırım, 31, died in Taksim

Itinerant salesperson Hamdi Toka, 35, died in Taksim

Security Guard Mehmet Ali Genç, 60, died in Taksim

Factory Worker Ziya Baki, 30, Died in Taksim

Laborer Mürtezim Oltulu, 42, Died in Taksim

Teacher Mustafa Elmas, 33, Died in Taksim

Student Sibel Açıkalın, 18, died in Taksim

Laborer Diran Nigiz, 34, died in Taksim

1 May 1977 & Impunity

'The state is implicated in this crime, perpetrators must be put on trial'

'If you can't find the killers, you can't remove the stain'

'The perpetrators of the 1 May 1977 massacre got away with it'

Remembrance as a matter of dignity and the fight against impunity

Who is hiding the truth and why?

It is vital that we remember, and keep the memory alive

The untried court years of 1 May 1977