Turkey Peace Assembly organized a commemoration activity for victims of the Roboski massacre who were bombed by Turkish warplanes in the village of Roboski, in Şırnak's Uludere district, on 28 December 2011.

The activity titled “Roboski, our bleeding wound” was attended by representatives of Roboski families, BDP (Peace and Democracy Party) Istanbul executives and HDK (Peoples' Democratic Congress) executive board member Ender İmrek.

Making the opening speech of the commemoration activity at Şişli Cultural Centre, Peace Assembly Spokesman Hakan Tahmaz underlined that it would not be possible for the people of the society to live freely and to be with a clear conscience as long as the Roboski wound continues to bleed and the Kurdish question remains unresolved.

Tahmaz pointed out that the recent murder of three Kurdish civilians in Gever, Hakkari's Yüksekova district, has caused further pain to the Kurdish people and mothers who -he underlined- have no more lost their children thanks to the ongoing non-conflict environment for the last one year.

Speaking after, Tahir Elçi, President of Diyarbakır Bar Association, and a lawyer for Roboski families, said Roboski is a political matter but primarily concerned the humanity and conscience.

Peace will not come without justice, Elçi emphasized and noted that neither lawyers nor families of the victims knew about the course of the Roboski investigation for the last two years.

Elçi remarked that they don't expect the military jurisdiction to ensure a fair trial of the military officials responsible for the killing of 34 people and the violation of their right to life.

Elçi said it is important that the perpetrators of the Roboski massacre be punished in order for the achievement of peace between Turkish and Kurdish peoples in the country, and for the prevention of further massacres.

Speaking after, Felek Encü, mother of Erkan Encü, one of the children killed in the massacre, said the followings despite the difficulty she had in speaking; "My son was yet 13. I wouldn't even allow him to go out alone when it snowed, fearing that he might fall and hurt himself. I used to have him lie in a comfortable bed but he is feeling cold in the ground along with his 33 friends now. The Prime Minister is protecting the murderers of our children and not allowing them to be questioned. We are shedding tears of blood and we do not want other mothers to live the same, nor other children to die."

Another victim Nadir Alma's brother Hikmet Alma called attention to the ongoing massacres of Kurds for many years and said "Roboski is the summary of all these massacres". Alma underlined that they will not give up their struggle for justice despite all the repressive policies of the Turkish state, and called on everyone to attend the commemoration to take place in the village of Roboski on 28 December, the second anniversary of the massacre.