DERSIM NATIVES FILE COMPLAINT AT ICC

tert.am
26.11.12

Dersim natives residing in Europe have filed a criminal complaint
against those who are responsible for the bloody incidents in the
predominantly Alevi region of Dersim, now called Tunceli, in the
early years of the Republic of Turkey, in the Prosecutor's Office in
the International Criminal Court (ICC) located in The Hague.

The Dersim natives, who currently reside in Germany, France, Belgium
and Holland, walked to the court on Friday, carrying placards that
read, "We want justice for Dersim genocide," and handed over the
300-page criminal complaint, Turkish Today's Zaman reports.

Speaking to reporters about the issue, lawyer Erdal Dogan said they
won't settle with the complaint and will go to the United Nations
Human Rights Council as well.

"This court tries crimes against humanity and genocide. Our Prime
Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan apologized, saying that what happened in
Dersim was a planned massacre. But he failed to do what is necessary
-- because the massacre carried out in 1937-1938 was to Turkify the
land and eliminate the land's Alevi identity," he added.

It is estimated that as many as 70,000 Kurdish Alevis were killed in
Dersim between 1937 and 1938.