On the occasion of a cultural festival commemorating the Alevi scholar and poet Pir Sultan Abdal, who had been executed in the Ottoman Empire at the end of the 16th century, numerous intellectuals, poets, writers, artists and scholars of mostly Alevite faith came into the city of Sivas on 1 July 1993 - the birthplace of Pir Sultan Abdal - together.

On July 2, an Islamist mob (estimated at 20,000 people) gathered in front of the Madimak Hotel, where the intellectuals were staying, surrounded the hotel after Friday prayers, chanted slogans of hatred, and finally set fire to it. Intellectuals and two hotel employees lost their lives in the flames.

“Behind the massacre is the ISIS mentality”

On the anniversary of the Sivas massacre, the Executive Council of the Kurdistan Communities Union (KCK) Co-presidency remembered of the victims of the pogrom. A statement released on Sunday said: "Behind the Madımak massacre 25 years ago is the mentality of today's Islamic state. We commemorate those deeply committed and respected people who gave their lives to democracy on 2 July 1993. Those who carried out the massacre and are responsible for it should be condemned."

The statement continued: "On July 2, 1993, ultra-nationalist, radical Islamist fundamentalism killed 33 Alevi souls and friends in a pogrom. The goal of these killings was to expel the Alevi people from the ranks of resistance for the democratization of Turkey and thus to suppress their solidarity for the struggle for freedom of the Kurdish people.”

“Danger for further pogroms like Madımak is near”

KCK pointed out that; “There is a certain relationship between the mentality of the bloodthirsty community responsible for the Sivas massacre and the so-called Islamic State, which burns and beheads people alive. The religious faith - the morality, the conscience and the sense of justice of a society - is thus instrumentalized by unscrupulous, unethical and illegal practices. Once religion serves as a mask of nationalism in Turkey, it assumes an even more bloodthirsty and racially fanatical character. The pogrom of Madımak is not an isolated case. At present, the fundamentalist and nationalist mentality of AKP-loyal gangs and AKP-led communities is even more pronounced. For the same reason, we still have not left the danger behind, on the contrary: the danger for the peoples of Turkey to experience further massacres like the Madımak pogrom is near.

Therefore, on the anniversary of the massacre, it is not enough to condemn the murderers and lay a wreath at the scene. Certainly this should be done, but the most essential task for retributing this massacre and preventing further pogroms is to participate in the fight for the democratization of Turkey.”

“Enhance the fight against fascist dictatorship”

The statement by KCK added; “Intellectuals who were murdered on July 2, 1993 lost their lives because they were part of the fight for democracy. In order to express our loyalty to them, we need to engage more fully with democracy and strengthen the resistance to the fascist dictatorship.

Therefore, on the anniversary of the Madımak massacre, the Alevi population should take their place among the ranks of the fight for democracy. The guarantee for the existence of the Alevis is the democratization of Turkey."