Revolutionaries killed in Kızıldere commemorated

* News: MA, Social media; Photos: Tayfun Mater, MA

Click to read the article in Turkish / Kurdish

The labor and democracy forces in Ankara met in the Karşıyaka Cemetery yesterday (March 30) to commemorate Mahir Çayan, the leader of the People's Liberation Party-Front of Turkey (THKP-C), and his friends, who were massacred in Kızıldere 50 years ago yesterday.

The group carried the pictures of the ones who lost their lives in Kızıldere and held banners that read, "We are coming like waves on their path in the 50th year" and "The history of joint resistance and revolutionary solidarity against fascism is our honor". The group walked to the grave of Mahir Çayan behind these banners and laid carnations on his grave.

The commemoration ceremony was attended by 68'ers Association, Revolutionary 78'ers Federation, Confederation of Progressive Trade Unions of Turkey (DİSK), Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP), People's Houses, Friendship Culture Association (DKD), Workers' Party of Turkey (TİP), Kaldıraç, United Struggle Forces (BMG), Student Collectives, 68'ers, Green Left Future (YSG), Socialist Refoundation Party (SYKP), Laborers' Movement Party (EHP), Student Initiative, Samsun Revolutionary 78'ers, HDP MPs Filiz Kerestecioğlu and Ömer Öcalan.

Mater: Revolutionaries never forget them

Speaking at the commemoration ceremony, Tayfun Mater, a 68's revolutionary himself, briefly stated the following:

"The development of Turkey's Revolutionary Movement and the emergence of hundreds of thousands were thanks to our ten friends. Thanks to their brave resistance... They died for Marxism, socialism, Leninism.

"It was, in fact, the beginning of an era when an era closed in Turkey in the true sense of the term, revolutionaries fully expressed themselves and they existed within society. They were our fellow leaders.

"We suffer for their loss. The peoples of Turkey have not forgotten them. You and revolutionaries all across Turkey have never forgotten them. Mahir, Hüseyin, Ulaş are still here as the slogans of hundreds of thousands".

'We live with our comrades' memories'

Poet Ahmet Telli, the Chair of the Revolutionary 78'ers Association, also made a statement during the commemoration.

Noting that the deceased revolutionaries were "the unforgettable heroes of the 68 generation, who never bowed down to the brutal attacks of the dominant class' fiercest attacks", Telli briefly said:

"Those who think this page of history was closed by the massacre of Mahir Çayan and his comrades are wrong. [Kenan] Evren was wrong, [Turgut] Özal was wrong, [Süleyman] Demirel was wrong in the very beginning. And the hegemons of today are completely wrong, of course".

Referring to the teachings and ideas of Karl Marx, Ahmet Telli said that "the tradition established by all those generations that have passed away wreathes the brain of those who live" and "especially at times of revolutionary crises, they worriedly ask the spirits in the past for help, wrapping themselves around with their names, slogans and clothes".

"When we look back on the past, we remember how tough a historical period we lived through," Ahmet Telli stated, adding: "We do not forget what kind of a program of annihilation we were subjected to as an entire revolutionary generation. Remembering the traps of division and falling apart that we fought against, we learn lessons from the mistakes".

Concluding his remarks, he said, "Our temperament resembles one another. We live with the memories of our comrades that we have lost. It is our tradition to mourn for them. Remembering the unfulfilled desire that they left us and never forgetting them is the main core of our existence".

After Ahmet Telli, Yeşim Biryan, speaking on behalf of university students, also made a statement and briefly said, "It was thanks to the brave resistance of our ten friends there that Turkey's revolutionary movement grew stronger. They died for socialism. It was the end of an era and the beginning of another process where revolutionaries were within people. People have not forgotten them. Revolutionaries in Turkey have not forgotten them. The slogan of Mahir, Hüseyin, Ulaş is still here thanks to you".

The revolutionaries were also commemorated in Rize, Adana, Mersin, Antalya and İstanbul. The ceremony to be held by the United Struggle Forces (BMG) in İstanbul was reportedly blockaded by the police.

About Kızıldere Massacre

Kızıldere is a village in Tokat province. On March 30, 1972, Mahir Çayan, Hüdai Arıkan, Cihan Alptekin, Nihat Yılmaz, Ertan Sarıhan, Ahmet Atasoy, Sinan Kazım Özüdoğru, Sabahattin Kurt, Ömer Ayna and Saffet Alp were killed in a raid by soldiers upon kidnapping three foreign hostages in order to prevent the execution of Deniz Gezmiş, Hüseyin İnan and Yusuf Aslan, the founding members of the revolutionary socialist organization People's Liberation Army of Turkey who were captured and sentenced to death following the military memorandum on March 12, 1971.

The revolutionaries in Kızıldere

One of the founders of People's Liberation Party Front of Turkey (THKP-C) Mahir Çayan, Revolutionary Youth (Dev-Genç) Chair Ertuğrul Kürkçü, Dev-Genç Central Executive Committee Member Hüdai Arıkan, People's Liberation Army of Turkey (THKO) militant Cihan Alptekin, a driver from the district of Ünye Ahmet Atasoy, Dev-Genç Secretary General Sinan Kazım Özüdoğru, Faculty of Political Sciences Student Association Board Member Sabahattin Kurt, THKO militant Ömer Ayna and the founder of "Air Force Proletariat Revolutionist Organization" lieutenant Saffet Alp. (EMK/SD)