The Justice for Roboski, Peace for the Earth Association (Roboski-Der), founded in 2013 to seek justice for the 34 people from Roboski who lost their lives in a bombing by Turkish jet fighters on December 28, 2011, was closed with the last statutory decree.

In the five years since the massacre, the perpetrators haven’t been identified, and the families have been subjected to dozens of lawsuits and their search for justice was hindered.

The Roboski Monument in Amed’s Kayapınar district put up in memory of the deceased has been torn down by the police and the signs with the names of the deceased have been destroyed.

Roboski Association Chair Veli Encü spoke to the ANF on the matter and, stating that the state’s intolerance against Roboski families increased every day, said: “The then-Prime Minister Tayyip Erdoğan said ‘You say Uludere when you wake up and you say Uludere before you sleep’, expressing his dislike of the issue even being on the agenda. They added more upon our pain, and they did everything they could to increase it more. Looking at all this, they did everything in their power to cover up their faults, and have the matter forgotten. After the coup attempt, Minister of Energy Berat Albayrak said the massacre was committed by FETO and legal proceedings would begin. But we were taken into custody on the fifth anniversary of the massacre and they tried to stop the commemoration. It doesn’t add up, however you look at it. They act in insincerity and do insincere things.”

“THEY THINK WE WILL FORGET WHEN THEY REMOVE THE MONUMENT”

Encü said the families were deeply saddened by the trustee removing the monument and continued: “We saw it in the media. This incident increased the pain the families here feel even more. We are no longer surprised at what’s happening. The then-Prime Minister Erdoğan said ‘Roboski won’t be lost in the dark alleys of Ankara.’ On one hand, he said that, and on the other they are trying such measures to make the public forget. When we looked at photographs from the demolished monument, we saw that the signs with the names on it were broken to bits. They think without this monument, we will forget twhat happened. But they are wrong.”

“DON’T ADD TO OUR PAIN”

“How will you erase the memory of the pain?” asked Veli Encü, and stressed that removing statues and closing associations will not be enough to stop the struggle for justice. Encü said: “Everything they have said in the last five years is empty. We are not surprised by what happens anymore. We have gotten used to it. We will continue our struggle to the end. They should be sincere. They said the massacre was committed by ‘FETO’, so why are they so intolerant? Did the FETO remove the monument? We as the families want them to stop adding to our pain. The murderers of Roboski returned to the scene where the monument for the 34 is, without wiping the blood off their hands.”