Sivas massacre

Sivas Massacre
Otel Madımak in Sivas, site of the Alevi massacre on 2 July 1993
Location	Sivas, Turkey
Date	2 July 1993
Target	Alevis
Attack type	Massacre, Arson
Deaths	37 killed (including 2 perpetrators)
Non-fatal injuries	51+
Perpetrator	Islamic fundamentalists

The Sivas massacre (Turkish: Sivas Katliamı, Madımak Katliamı) refers to the events of July 2, 1993, which resulted in the killing of 35 people, mostly Alevi intellectuals, and two hotel employees. Two people from the mob also died. The victims, who had gathered for a cultural festival in Sivas, Turkey, were killed when a mob set fire to the hotel where the Alevi group had assembled.

Attending the conference was a left-wing Turkish intellectual Aziz Nesin, who was vastly hated amongst religious Sunnis in Turkey as it was he who attempted to publish Salman Rushdie's controversial novel The Satanic Verses, in Turkey. Thousands of Sunni locals in Sivas, after attending Friday prayers in a nearby mosque, marched to the hotel in which the conference was taking place and set the building on fire. The Turkish government sees this incident as being aimed at Aziz Nesin only, yet most agree that the target was the Alevis since many of the Alevi victims in the fire were very important artists and musicians. One musician, Hasret Gültekin, the most important and influential bağlama saz player in modern time, was also killed in this fire. Gültekin is still considered a great loss for Turkish and Kurdish culture by Alevis and others.

The attack took place not long after traditional Friday prayers, when the mob broke through police barricades to surround the Otel Madımak, where artists, writers and musicians had gathered to celebrate the life of 16th-century Alevi poet Pir Sultan Abdal. The protestors were angered by the presence of Aziz Nesin, a writer who had translated and published extracts from Salman Rushdie's The Satanic Verses. The hotel was set alight, and the fire claimed 35 lives, including those of musicians, poets, tourists and hotel staff, while assembled police did nothing to intervene. Aziz Nesin was able to escape only because attackers initially failed to recognize him.

The event was seen as a major assault on free speech and human rights in Turkey, and significantly deepened the rift between religious and secular segments of the society. A day after the incident, 35 people were arrested. Then the number of detainees increased to 190. A total of 124 out of the 190 defendants were charged with "attempting to establish a religious state by changing the constitutional order" and were indicted on charges. The first hearing of the case, publicly known as the Sivas Massacre Trial, Ankara State Security Court No. 1, was held on 21 October 1993. On 26 December 1994 a verdict was reached in the case of the 124 defendants: 15 years in prison for 22 suspects, 10 years in prison for 3 defendants, 3 years and 9 months for 54 suspects, 2 years and 4 months for 6 suspects, and the acquittal of 37 of the defendants. Another 14 suspects were sentenced to 15 years in prison. The remaining 33 defendants were charged with 35 counts of murder. After lengthy court proceedings, the State Security Court sentenced the 33 defendants to death on 28 November 1997 for their roles in the massacre; 31 of these sentences were upheld in a 2001 appeal. When Turkey overturned the death penalty just over a year later in 2002, the sentences were commuted. Each defendant received 35 life sentences, one for each murder victim and additional time for other crimes. These 31 convicts are currently the only ones still serving time for the crimes; the other defendants were paroled early or released after completing their sentences.