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

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Süleyman Çelebi is one of the witnesses of 1 May 1977, and a former Chair of the Confederation of Progressive Trade Unions of Turkey (DİSK). He served as the Republican People's Party (CHP) MP for Istanbul's third electoral district in the 24the term. He talks to bianet about what happened on 1 May 1977 in Taksim, which he calls "a planned and organised incident," and how the DİSK has followed up on the case.

I leave the word to Süleyman Çelebi.

The First of May Square

"Should this be the First of May Square?" Kemal Türkler asked from the platform during his speech on 1 May 1977, and then I remember the sound of gunshots and sirens. Labourers yelled "Yes!" in a thundering voice, and in less than two minutes, the square had become a bloodbath. Hundreds of thousands of people started running in all directions.

Afterwards, we found countless cartridge cases in the square, and we handed them over to our lawyers. I am one of many witnesses of this. And also of the trial process. The critical point here is this: If you look back at the trials for the case from the martial law period and the 1980 military coup, you can easily mistake us for defendants in the case. This, even though the murderers' identities were obvious. It was organised by state agents and provocateurs, but we who were there to celebrate on 1 May are the ones who were put on trial. Under an annotation referring to our "roles during the communist festival," all sorts of charges were made against us and we were held responsible for the massacre because we had invited workers and labourers to the demonstration. We went on putting all our efforts into each stage of the trial process. When I was president of DİSK I set myself a goal to do all I could to uncover the perpetrators of the massacre. Later I also fought for this in parliament.

119 witnesses

I was on the Parliamentary Research Commission for Coups and Military Memorandums. We included 1 May 1977 in the scope of our work because it was one of the important steps leading up to the coup. Our work covered the incidents at Fatsa, Maraş and Çorum too.

We fought for the witnesses to be heard, for the perpetrators to be found. We in the commission presented a list of 119 witnesses, including the witnesses of 1 May 1977. This was a list extending from the prosecutor leading the investigation to security forces on duty in Taksim that day. However, only 15 of them were given a hearing. And that was done just for the sake of it.

The one thing that is blatantly obvious at the present stage is this: The perpetrators of this massacre have got away with what they did. In turn, this fact reveals the sheer magnitude of the incident. I am talking about an incident that was planned and organised. The crime scene was filled with evidence, there were hundreds of eyewitnesses, but for some reason, even though it's been 43 years, those with blood on their hands have yet to be identified. I have expressed numerous times that this massacre was committed by the hand of an organisation within the state, as a counterinsurgency.

Proposals rejected

All our proposals to bring the perpetrators of 1 May 1977 to justice and for those responsible to be made known were also rejected in parliament. The same thing happened in the past; all of this can all be found in parliamentary records. All proposals were turned down or were covered up. But we must not forget that this is a crime against humanity. There is no statute of limitations for crimes against humanity. Therefore, we are all still responsible for uncovering the identities of the perpetrators of this massacre.

European Court of Human Rights judgment

One of the most important developments in the process was the judgment of the European Court of Human Rights. Referring to 1 May 1977, the court emphasised the importance of Taksim Square in the collective memory, the death of the labourers there, and their commemoration, saying that there is something special about this place. With this decision, for the first time, a city square appeared in the European Court of Human Rights system as a subject. It was a decision of great importance. Of course, no one in Turkey abided by the decision. It is the state's responsibility to abide by this decision and find the perpetrators. And it is our responsibility to follow up and make sure they carry out this process. (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.

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Teacher Kenan Çatak, 31, died in Taksim

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Student-laborer Niyazi Darı, 24, died in Taksim

University student Nazan Ünaldı, 19, died in Taksim

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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

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Laborer Mahmut Atilla Özbelen, 26, died in Taksim

Factory worker Hasan Yıldırım, 31, died in Taksim

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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

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