The untried court years of 1 May 1977

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Eight women, one child, 24 men

Ranging in age from 11 to 60... Average age: 31.

Teachers (6), labourers (10), students (6), nurses (2), a caregiver, a security guard, an itinerant salesman, a counterperson, a film industry worker, and a police officer...

From Afyon, Antalya, Antalya, Antakya, Artvin, Balıkesir, Bursa, Çanakkale, Çorum, Dersim, Diyarbakır, Erzurum, Erzurum, Giresun, Iğdır, Istanbul, Istanbul, Istanbul, Istanbul, Istanbul, Istanbul, Istanbul, Manisa, Maraş, Mardin, Rize, Samsun, Sinop, Sinop, Sivas, Sivas, Tekirdağ, and Urfa...

Kadir Balcı, Niyazi Darı, Nazmi Arı, Hikmet Özkürkçü, and Hasan Yıldırım were killed by gunfire, while 29 others, according to their autopsy reports, died because they were crushed, or due to injuries incurred as a result of being crushed...

Ahmet Gözükara (34, teacher, Maraş), Aleksandros Konteas (57, labourer, Istanbul), Ali Sidal (18, labourer, Dersim), Bayram Çıtak (37, teacher, Sivas), Bayram Eyi (50, construction worker, Erzurum), Diran Nigiz (34, labourer, Mardin), Ercüment Gürkut (26, student, Istanbul), Garabet Akyan (54, labourer, Istanbul), Hacer İpek Saman (24, student, Istanbul), Hamdi Toka (35, itinerant salesman, Sinop), Hasan Yıldırım (31, Uzel factory worker, Manisa), Hatice Sarı-Altun (21, Istanbul), Hikmet Özkürkçü (39, student, Urfa), Hüseyin Kırkın (26, labourer, Çorum), Jale Yeşilnil (17, student, Istanbul), Kadir Balcı (35, counterperson, Rize), Kıymet Kocamış (25, nurse, Çanakkale), Kahraman Alsancak (29, Uzel factory worker, Balıkesir), Kenan Çatak (30, student, Iğdır), Leyla Altıparmak (19, nurse, Diyarbakır), Mahmut Atilla Özbelen (26, labourer, Antalya), Mehmet Ali Genç (60, security guard, Sivas), Mustafa Elmas (33, teacher, Tekirdağ), Meral Cebren-Özkol (43, caregiver, Bursa), Mürtezim Oltulu (42, labourer, Artvin), Nazan Ünaldı (19, student, Sinop), Nazmi Arı (26, police officer, Afyon), Niyazi Darı (24, student & labourer, Antalya), Ömer Narman (31, teacher, Erzurum), Ramazan Sarı (11, student, Istanbul), Rasim Elmas (41, film industry worker, Giresun), Sibel Açıkalın (18, student, Antakya), Ziya Baki (29, Uzel factory worker, Samsun), unidentified 35 year-old man...

They all lost their lives after 7.05pm on 1 May 1977, in Taksim Square.

The Crimes Against Society Bureau of the Istanbul Public Prosecutor's Office presented the indictment to the Istanbul 2nd High Criminal Court on 30 May 1977.

Named in the indictment were 98 people, among them directors of the Confederation of Progressive Trade Unions of Turkey (DİSK), who gathered on the square that day. They were ultimately all acquitted.

Not a single public official was amongst those put on trial.

The first name to come to mind at the mention of the 1 May 1977 trial is that of lawyer Rasim Öz. For 14 years he tirelessly pursued the case, calling again and again for those responsible for the massacre to be found.

The 27 people we spoke with as part of our project in which the friends and relatives of those who lost their lives on 1 May 1977 tell their stories stated that they were never subpoenaed to testify, and that they themselves had not pursued legal measures seeking justice for their loved ones who had died.

According to the autopsy reports, 34 people lost their lives on 1 May 1977. However, a new list compiled by Fahrettin Ergün Erdoğan of DİSK in 2010 determined this number to be 41. However, we only reached out to friends and family members of the deceased on the autopsy report, because there is still no information about those added in 2010, other than their names.

Survivors' demand

The last section of the indictment sums up the situation well:

"With regard to the manner of organisation [...] In this court case regarding the massacre that took place on 1 May, whose perpetrators have already been convicted in the public conscience and the universal sense of justice, and which caused 34 Turkish people to lose their lives, and 126 to be injured, 32 by gunfire and the rest in various ways, only a small portion of the accused have actually been called to stand trial before supreme justice.

"These principal perpetrators, the enemies of country and humanity who organised and carried out this massive, bloody disaster, will eventually be identified and tried and convicted by history and by infallible justice."

The loved ones of those who lost their lives on 1 May 1977, who, with a few exceptions, spoke out for the first time, demand that those responsible for the deaths be found, and that they no longer be able to live in impunity.

From the indictment

Plaintiff: Public Law

Aggrieved: Beyoğlu District Governorship, Istanbul Police Department, Directorate of Hotel Intercontinental, Directorate of Taksim Branch of Osmanlı Bank

Crimes

1- Indiscriminate murder of multiple persons using armed weapons
2- Setting off explosives in order to incite panic and thereby causing the death of multiple persons due to recklessness and imprudence.
3- Being in possession of armed weapons and other explosives at a meeting.
4- Bearing arms contrary to law number 6136.
5- Possessing explosive substances listed in the article 254 of the Turkish Penal Law.
6- Mass damage.
7- Active resistance towards and defamation of on-duty police officers.
8- Provoking and instigating the public to commit crimes.
9- Participation in conflict that led to death.

The case

Based on the indictment drawn up by the Prosecution Office for Social Crimes on 30 May 1977, a case was brought against 98 defendants at the 2nd High Criminal Court on 1 June 1977. The first hearing took place on 7 July 1977.

Panel of judges: Chief judge Ramiz Emre, members Ahmet Nuri Tanrıverdi and Hayri Tekin.
Council for the prosecution: Dr. İbrahim Çetin Yetkin.

18 lawyers defended the accused on behalf in DİSK.

Lawyers attending the first trial: Müşir Kaya Canpolat, Rasim Öz, Turgut Kazan, Ali Şen, Yalçın Öztürk, Mustafa Bahri Bayram Belen, Mustafa Özkan, Ercan Erdiner, Aykun Ergin, Yücel Top, Faruk Ergöktaş, Bilgin İnanç, Mahmut Sayatekin, İlhan Ongan, Turgay Yalçınyuva, Bozkurt Nuhoğlu, Halil Eraltuğ, Enver Nalbant.

Case handed over to military commission

By 31 October 1978, nine hearings had been held. With the tenth hearing postponed until 20 March 1979, the case was sent to the Martial Law Court, as martial law had been declared following the Maraş Massacre.

The following words were typed by Court Clerk Nurhan Ziyaretçi on the final page of the case file from the 2nd High Criminal Court:

"... It is decreed that:

Pursuant to the Cabinet Council decree regarding the martial law declaration in the province of Istanbul ratified by the Turkish Grand National Assembly (TBMM) in decree number 518 published on 27 December 1978 in Official Gazette issue number 16502, because it was found that the accused's action falls within the scope of that which caused the declaration of martial law (certain evidence of widespread violent action intended to eradicate the free democratic system, basic rights and freedoms granted by the Constitution) as stated in article 124 of the Constitution in accordance with article 13 of law 1402 as amended according to law 1728 (...) this case falls outside our jurisdiction and within that of the Martial Law Court, our court therefore in accordance with its standing resigns from this duty and assigns the court case to the Public Prosecutor's Office to be sent to the Martial Law Court..." (Nail Güreli, 1 Mayıs 1977, Türkiye Devrimcilerinin "İki 1 Mayıs" Belgeseli [1 May 1977, The "Two First of Mays". A Documentary of the Revolutionaries of Turkey], Ozan Yayıncılık, 2006, Istanbul).

14 years

The trials of 98 people from the organising committee as well as several unions and leftist groups, lasted 14 years. No one was sentenced as a result of these trials. The trial, in which no police or state officials were prosecuted, was eventually dismissed due to the statute of limitations.

The case began with 35 defendants—17 of whom were held in pre-trial detention, 18 of whom had been released pending trial. Three of the 17 detained were released before the first hearing, while nine were released during the first hearing on 7 July 1977. The case concluded on 20 October 1989 with the acquittal of all defendants. 1 May 1977 was part of the DİSK trial opened by the martial law court following the military coup of 1980 and the September 12th Trial, launched in 2015, in which Kenan Evren and Tahsin Şahinkaya, the generals behind the coup, were tried.

Turkey and the loved ones of those who lost their lives on 1 May 1977 are still waiting for the truth to be brought to light. (TY/APA/VK)

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