İshak Sağlam issues a statement regarding the October 6-8 massacre

6 years have passed since the October 6-8 incidents, when many innocent people were killed by HDP/PKK supporters in the one of the most horrific incidents of violence committed against civilians in Turkey.

HÜDA PAR Chairman İshak Sağlam has made important evaluations on the occasion of the 6^th anniversary of the massacre.

Emphasizing that the biggest factor in the extent of the brutality of the attacks is the failure of law enforcement agencies to perform their duties, Sağlam said that officials who do not allow security forces to leave the police stations should also be held accountable.

“In order to correctly evaluate the attacks of October 6-8, it is necessary to examine the developments before them. The region was left to PKK under the name of the “Solution Process” back then. At that time, we warned the government about that, because we knew the PKK owns its existence to guns and would never lay down its arms. As a result, we witnessed the one of the most horrific incidents of violence committed against civilians in Turkey.”

Noting that the attacks were preplanned, Sağlam underlined that the groups which did not want to leave the region for a Marxist-Leninist organization were especially targeted in the incidents.

“All bearded men and women wearing headscarves were targeted deliberately”

Underscoring that Kobani was just a pretext for the attacks, Sağlam continued his remarks as follows:” The incidents of October 6-8 are perceived as if some spontaneously motivated marauders were on the street. We never judged it that way. There were a map and agenda created by global imperialism behind the scenes and these marauders were also used as pawns in the incidents. Yes, most of them were marauders, people with no sanctity, but they knew where to go, their goals were obvious. Although they stoned some government offices and security forces, there were especially attacks on people and groups who did not want to leave the region for a Marxist and Leninist organization. Our twenty-one offices were destroyed or damaged. Thousands of people were wounded. Our six members were brutally murdered. All bearded men and women wearing headscarves were targeted deliberately. It is clear that this goal is not the Kobani that it is said to be, but the attacks under the pretext of Kobani. Maybe when we look at the big picture, these events were a turning point in someone's ‘map of 22 countries will change’ program. The Muslim Kurdish people did not give them the opportunity. Maybe they paid a lot of price, they suffered a lot, but they also saw that this land would not be handed over to Marxists so cheaply.”

Noting that law enforcement officers were not doing their duty to prevent the attacks, Sağlam said that who left the streets to the attackers could not be ignored.

Sağlam said: “Yes, some of those attackers were tried and punished, but some of those who instigated them were never tried. Maybe we can count some of these recent detainees as instigators, but the main point is that they left the street for them. The attackers attacked right and left without any intervention for 3 days. At first, some people thought that they were marauders, they would perform some protests then they would leave the streets. In the second and third days of the incidents, people began to resist, shout, call, call the state to duty. On October 9, security forces took to the streets. Officials who do not allow security forces to leave police stations for 3 days must also be held to account.”

Underscoring that everybody taken part in the October 6-8 massacre should be held to account so that similar brutality does not happen again, Sağlam added: “We do not accept the closure of this case by judging a few people as ‘instigators’, it should not be closed. This is a huge event. If this is covered up, it will open the way for similar events in the future. If we do not want such incidents to happen in the future, the authorities who settled inside the state and left the streets to the attackers that day should also be tried.” (ILKHA)