December 28 marks the 9th anniversary of the Roboski massacre. A total of 34 civilians, mainly young people, were killed in an airstrike by the Turkish army near the Kurdish village of Roboski in Şırnak countryside in 2011. The Executive Council of the Kurdistan Communities Union (KCK) released a statement marking the anniversary of the Roboski massacre, which includes the following:

"Nine years ago today, 34 young people from Roboski were killed by Turkish warplanes. We respectfully remember these people whose body parts had to be collected and transported away on mules. We renew our word to build a Free Kurdistan where borders have no meaning and people are not murdered for traveling from one place to another.

"Massacre on direct order of Erdoğan"

The colonial fascist Turkish state is responsible for hundreds of such massacres. It is normal for the state to kill Kurds. In fact, such murders are committed deliberately and planned to intimidate the Kurds by example. 34 young people were killed on Tayyip Erdoğan's direct orders. Therefore, the massacre was not investigated nor was anyone held accountable for it. The Kurdish people were threatened with this massacre. Allegedly, there was information that there might be an HPG fighter among the 34 people. Erdoğan was asked, 'Should we then kill the 34 others as well?" and he answered in the affirmative. Erdoğan is a ruthless, conscienceless murderer with no ethics or morals. He has given orders to for dozens of massacres. In 2006, during the uprising in Amed (Diyarbakir), he had said: 'Whether women, whether children, whatever is necessary will be done'. After these words, quite a few young people were killed.

"Without democratization and resolution of the Kurdish question, massacres will continue"

As long as Turkey is not democratized, the Kurdish question is not solved and there is no accountability for these massacres, these massacres and killings will continue. It is considered a right of rule to kill Kurds in Northern Kurdistan. Hundreds of Kurds have been killed in Rojava, South Kurdistan and Shengal due to Turkish airstrikes. Even Erdoğan's declared friend, Donald Trump, has called the Turkish state hostile to Kurds. Now the whole world considers the Turkish state as an enemy of Kurds and a country that slaughters Kurds. It is common knowledge that the Turkish state bases all its policies and diplomacy on hostility to Kurds.

"Families of those murdered are subjected to repression"

This state is such an anti-Kurdish regime that it even blames those it murders and treats the families of those murdered with repression. Not a single person has been punished for the Roboski massacre. But the relatives who demand accountability for the massacre are dragged to police stations and taken to courts. Some family members were detained, others imprisoned. Protesters have been arrested and thrown in jail. Erdoğan himself indirectly confessed to the massacre when he declared that every abortion was a Roboski. But he covered up the massacre because it would also affect his position. He said it was just an accident, as if 34 ants had been crushed.

"Accountability urgently needed to deal with trauma"

When mothers remember their children who were murdered in Roboski, they say, 'We can't sleep, we get sick.' As long as the murderers are not punished, these families will continue to carry this trauma with them. This situation torments the relatives every day, every month and every year. This state, which demands from the families even the money for the bullets with which their children were shot, does not demand accountability for the perpetrators who blew these young people to pieces. Kemal Kurkut was shot by the police in front of running cameras. The fact that the perpetrator received no punishment means nothing other than that murders of Kurds are not punished. This signals to police officers and soldiers that they are allowed to kill Kurds in a comfortable manner. This has been the reality for decades, even for a hundred years.

"Forgetting is betrayal"

The Kurdish people must not forget the Roboski massacre. The perpetrators must not be left in peace. Accountability for this massacre is best demanded through the struggle for democracy and the liberation of the Kurdish people. The perpetrators regard the Kurdish people as vermin that must be destroyed. The policy of impunity continues, as do the killings.

The Roboski massacre remains unforgotten. To forget it would be immoral. Forgetting means unconscionability. Forgetting means betrayal. Therefore, we will neither forget nor let it be forgotten. We will build a free Kurdistan and liberate the Kurdish people. In this way, we will make the murdered immortal. The colonial fascist murderers will drown in the blood they have shed."

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