Thousands have gathered in Sivas today to commemorate 33 intellectuals who died in a fire set by an Islamist mob during an Alevi culture festival on 2 July 1933.

The people joining the commemoration of the victims, organized by Pir Sultan Abdal Cultural Association and the Alevi Bektasi Federation (ABF), have started their march to Madımak Hotel, the scene of the deadly fire in 1993.

67 institutions including political parties, unions, associations and democratic mass organizations are joining the commemoration to mark the 20th anniversary of the massacre, saying “We will not forget, nor let it be forgotten”.

“Everywhere Taksim, everywhere resistance” is one of the slogans often chanted by the people.

Among those joining the commemoration are PSAKD Chairperson Kemal Bülbül, DTK (Democratic Society Congress) co-chair Aysel Tuğluk, BDP (Peace and Democracy Party) deputy co-chair Yüksel Mutlu, BDP Mersin deputy Ertuğrul Kürkçü, ESP (Socialist Party of the Oppressed) deputy chair Fadime Çelebi, ÖDP (Freedom and Democracy Party) leader Alper Taş as well as representatives of a number of democratic mass organizations and institutions from across Turkey and northern Kurdistan.

Families and relatives of the victims are carrying the photographs of the people burned to death in the hotel.

On 2 July 1993, a group of radical Islamists calling for sharia and death to infidels gathered around the Madimak Hotel where the Pir Sultan Abdal Alevite Festival attendants were accommodated.

The demonstration which started under cover of protesting novelist, Aziz Nesin, who translated and published Salman Rushdie's The Satanic Verses and criticized Islam, turned into a violent attack and eventually the arsonists set fire on the Madimak Hotel.

Nesin was saved by security forces, but 33 other intellectuals and festival participants who stuck in the hotel, were killed. Security forces were criticized for not stopping the crowd.

Although a couple of perpetrators were arrested and after a 13-year trial were convicted they were soon released under an amnesty law known as the “rehabilitation project”.

The Sivas massacre targeted not only Aziz Nesin and The Satanic Verses but also Turkey's Alevi minority who are the second largest religious community in Turkey, although no official statistics are available.

One of the chief suspects in the massacre, Cafer Erçakmak, died and was buried in Sivas two years ago. Erçakmak, 72, had been hiding for the past 14 years.

On 13 March 2012, Ankara High Criminal Court dropped the Sivas massacre case due to statute of limitations.

Heavy security measures are taken every year on 2 July as thousands arrive in Sivas to commemorate 33 intellectuals in front of the Madımak Hotel. Commemoration activities in honour of those murdered are organized in many provinces around the country as well.