Families and human rights organizations took action following the discovery of a mass grave of 28 PKK members who lost their lives in a clash in 1998 in Badýlgali Upland which is located 30 kilometers away from the Görentaþ (Gorandeþt) village of Çýtak district of Van. IHD, Van Bar Association and MEYA-DER members and families of 13 PKK members, coming from Batman, Mardin, Diyarbakýr, Kars Iðdýr, Þýrnak and Cizre at early morning hours, went to the mass grave area. While mothers left their children’s photographs on the grave, their mourning while looking for their children’s bones under stones wounded the feelings of all the people there. Mothers pointed out that their children were killed in an inhumane way and demanded an end to the bloodshed.

According to eye-witnesses' claims, a wide-scaled operation was launched by the Turkish army upon the appearance of guerillas in the region. 14 of the village guards, who were sent to the region as a Battalion as a part of the operation, were taken hostage by PKK members who announced soldiers that the hostages would be released if the army let their passing from the region. Despite the announcement, Cobra helicopters soon after raked the people in the region, killing 28 PKK members and 14 village guards in the clash. It is asserted that 28 PKK members were superposed and burnt, while the bodies of 14 village guards were taken by soldiers who came to the region soon after the clash. The burnt bodies of guerillas were afterwards found and buried in mass in a big hole dug by the villagers living in the region. (D.F.)