WAN - Bedile Demirbacak, the last witness of the Sefo Creek Massacre, 81 years after it took place, said that soldiers made women bake bread after killing 33 people. 

 

It has been 81 years since the Sefo Creek Massacre, also known as the “33 Bullet Massacre” that took place on July 28, 1943 in Serav (Saray) district of Wan. Soldiers detained 33 villagers in Xerapsork, Êngiza Milan and Runexwir villages of the district on the grounds of “crossing the border and smuggling”. Mustafa Muğlalı, the then Lieutenant General assigned for border security, ordered the killing of the 33 detained citizens. The villagers were taken to the Sefo Valley (Geliyê Sefo) in the rural neighborhood of Koçkirana Jorîn (Yukarı Koçkıran) in the Qelqelî (Özalp) district and shot blindfolded and with their hands tied. Only one villager, İbrahim Keklik (Apê Îbrahîm), who was buried under the bodies, survived the massacre. After surviving, Keklik fled to Iranian Kurdistan. Keklik died there 4 months later. 

 

JUDICIARY OVERTURNS SENTENCE

 

Muğlalı, who ordered the attack, retired in 1947. Muğlalı was brought to court and put on trial after the change of government in 1950. During the trial, the testimonies of soldiers who witnessed the killing of 33 Kurds revealed Muğlalı's guilt. Muğlalı was tried for being responsible for the murder of 33 citizens and sentenced to death. Later, his sentence was reduced to 20 years in prison on the grounds of his age. The Military Court of Cassation overturned the verdict at the first trial and Muğlalı was released. Muğlalı died on December 11, 1951 before the second trial. After Muğlalı's death, no steps were taken to shed light on the incident. Some people who demanded the bones of their relatives were also put on trial. 

 

 

SEFO VALLEY STILL BANNED

 

It has been 81 years since the incident, but Sefo Valley is still banned as a “security zone”. Relatives of the murdered villagers have applied to the responsible institutions to go to Sefo Valley to retrieve the bones of their relatives, but their applications have been rejected each time.

 

7 RELATIVES LOST IN THE MASSACRE

 

Bedile Demirbacak (91) is the last witness of the massacre. Demirbacak lost 7 relatives, including her father and uncle, in the massacre when she was only 10 years old. Demirbacak, who has difficulty speaking due to her advanced age, told her testimony. Demirbacak stated that 33 people were killed for no reason. “My father, my father's grandfather, my father's uncle, my father's cousin... They detained 33 people in total. They came, took them away and massacred them. Before the massacre, our relatives who were detained sent us a message saying 'bring us mattresses, we are sleeping on concrete'. We prepared their mattresses and set off. Soon we saw two women coming to us crying on the outskirts of Kendalê Gîlê. One was my stepmother Gül and the other Gülbahar. We asked what happened? They told us that 33 of our relatives had been massacred in Koçkıran. 15 of them were from Êngiza Milan, 15 from Xirapsork and 3 from Runexwir village” she said.  

 

'WE WERE PREVENTED FROM GOING TO KOÇKIRAN' 

 

Demirbacak said that they wanted to go to Koçkıran as soon as they received the news, but the soldiers prevented them. Demirbacak said: “The soldiers blocked our way, we fled to a nearby village and the bodies were still there. Soldiers had often come and detained villagers before and released them after beating them. But this time they took them to kill them. No one from the state came to ask about us after the incident.” 

 

'THEY MADE THE WOMEN BAKE BREAD'

 

Pointing to the persecution they were subjected to, “Heso Captain did not allow us to take our bodies. On top of that, they forced the women of the village to bake bread for the soldiers. Every house baked bread for the soldiers and Heso Captain took it and distributed it to the soldiers. There was a one-room house in the village belonging to my grandfather where the soldiers went and stayed. One day there was an earthquake and the house collapsed. Then the soldiers left and never came back. May God not leave our rights to them” Demirbacak said.

 

 

MA / Bazid Evren