‘I’ve been Waiting for This Day for 23 Years Since Vartinis Set on Fire’

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Seven children of whom youngest is 2, eldest is 14 years old, a pregnant woman and children’s father were burned to death in their house.

Father Nasır Öğüt, spouse Eşref Öğüt, children Sevda Öğüt, Sevim Öğüt, Mehmet Şakir Öğüt, Mehmet Şirin Öğüt, Aycan Öğüt, Cihan Öğüt and Cinal Öğüt lost their lives in that house in Vartinis village of Korkut district in Muş province.

The only survivor is children’s elder sister, Aysel Öğüt.

Aysel Öğüt was 16 years old as she lost her family on October 2, 1993.

She survived by chance

Nasır Öğüt was making his living by farming and carpentry. He had eight children from his first marriage.

A short while after Aysel, his eldest child, got married Zülfinaz died. Nasır Öğüt got married with his second wife, Eşref Oran.

Aysel Öğüt had gotten married with her uncle’s son, had a kid and were living in another village. She went to Vartinis to visit her family on the day of the event.

She went to her uncle’s sister house since the house was small and her baby could have cried and disturbed others.

This is how by chance she survived being burned to death.

“I’ll collapse this place on you”

Military units carried out operation on rural area on October 2, 1993.

Residents of the village also got worried because of this operation because commander going to the village with funeral of the noncommissioned officer killed in the operation said, “I’ll collapse this place on you”.

In fact, some people didn’t stay in the village and left their houses. However, those who couldn’t have left their animals, couldn’t have carried children, so the ones who have small children like Öğüt family compulsorily stayed in the village.

First, vehicle sounds are being heard at night. Then, gunshots followed. The villages saw fire started at some places.

“They wouldn’t let us leave the house”

Aysel Öğüt explains the rest as follows:

“We wanted to get out of the house, but they wouldn’t let us. We could get out after an hour passed. A panzer was standing by in front of my father’s house.

“They wanted the men of the village to assembly in the municipality square. They brought the men to the square by making the sing the anthem. They made people chant “Damn PKK (Kurdistan Workers’ Party, long live Turkey”.

“I wanted to see my father and siblings but they wouldn’t let me near them.

“Men in the village were gathered in the square on bended knee with their hands on their heads while the houses were set on fire”.

they heard people yelling for help

Eyewitnesses explained that “the house was in flames and they heard people yelling for help”.

“There are windows of black iron in the houses, and gap between the irons is wide enough for a child to pass through”.

The eyewitnesses told Nasır Öğüt tried to get his children out of the window, yet the soldiers didn’t let him, and the children were stuck in flames.

“I couldn’t speak, haunted my dreams”

So, what happened to Aysel Öğüt afterwards?

She has lived a very long period of mourning.

“I went through very rough periods. There were times I couldn’t speak, haunted my dreams. I also received treatment”.

The lawsuit was brought upon Aysel Öğüt’s criminal complaint.

She went to the hearing yesterday with her son in his 20s.

A day before the summary judgement, she said “I have been waiting for this day for 23 years”.

Nevertheless, none of the defendants received any penalty, they all have been acquitted.

Aysel Öğüt now lives in her husband’s village very close to Vartinis. We wanted to speak all details with Öğüt but she was extremely sad because of the verdict, she was in no condition to speak. She explained what happened in the village as much as her lawyer Kadir Karaçelik did. (AS/TK)