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Daily News with wires
Oluşturulma Tarihi: Mayıs 06, 2009 00:00
MARDİN - After the murder of 44 people at a ring ceremony, questions weigh heavily on Turkey as it seeks to discover the motivation behind the horrific act. A group of men are detained, but systemic, social problems are receiving the blame
The massacre of 44 people at an engagement party in the village of Bilge in southeastern Turkey late Monday has left the nation questioning what could have motivated one of the worst cases of civilian violence Turkey has ever seen.
According to reports, at 9 p.m. masked gunmen entered a hall of the village in the Mazıdağı district of the Mardin province where an engagement ceremony was taking place and indiscriminately opened fire on those in attendance.
Officials are questioning whether a blood feud was behind the attack or if the fact that all of the village’s adult male population were village guards Ğ a civilian force armed by the state to aid in the fight against the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK Ğ led to the violence, which took place when some of the guards had left for an operation that night. Mardin’s deputy Governor Ahmet Ferhat Özen, the local administrator of Mazıdağı Aytaç Akgül and Interior Minister Beşir Atalay were quick to rule out a terrorist attack. Interior Minister Atalay, Agriculture Minister Mehmet Mehdi Eker and Justice Minister Sadullah Ergin flew to the region soon after the attack.
Officials were careful not to categorize the attack as a "blood feud," saying it was the result of "husumet," which can be roughly translated as "hostility," between the families.
In the attack, the gunmen killed 44 people and injured three others. Among the dead were six children and 16 women. Witnesses said the attackers numbered five or six people and that the gunfire lasted about 15 minutes.
Among the injured is a 3-year-old girl who is in a critical condition, reports said. Several people nearby the village thought the gunfire was normal, as there is a tradition of firing off weapons during such celebrations.
As they were leaving, the offenders shot at the tires of all the vehicles in the village in order not to be followed, wire services reported.
The first gendarmerie officers to arrive at the scene saw many bodies and the wounded were taken to nearby hospitals by ambulance.
Security officials cordoned off the village before imposing a curfew. Forensic specialists from Adana and Diyarbakır were sent to the region in order to aid their local colleagues in carrying out autopsies of the victims, reports said.
Interior Minister Besir Atalay told reporters in a televised press conference that eight people were detained following the attack and said it was unlikely that the incident was a terror attack.
Eyewitness accounts
"The local prosecutor has been working all night, listening to the accounts of eyewitnesses. Eight people have been caught and detained, and their weapons confiscated," Atalay said.
Most of the dead and the detained have the same surname and three of the women who died were pregnant, the interior minister said.
Doğan news agency reported that the engagement was between the daughter of the former muhtar (village head), Sevgi Çelebi and Hatip Arı, and that the attack took place when the guests were praying in two separate rooms before the formal engagement took place. The bride and the groom and the imam, who was leading the prayer, were also among those killed.
One witness, Abdullah Akan, from the same village, said he was among the first who entered the house after haring the gunfire and was shocked by what saw. "When I went in, there were bodies everywhere. In one room, there was the imam, with all the men behind him. They were all dead. In the other room, there were the women and the children. I have never seen anything like it."
"There were a few people, they broke into the house and started spraying the place with bullets, hitting both men and women, their faces were covered with masks," a 20-year-old female eyewitness who declined to be named told Reuters.
One survivor, a 19-year-old woman, told broadcaster NTV that the assailants ordered people to huddle in one room and then opened fire. Two boys who survived the attack without sustaining any injuries were in a state of shock and would not speak, reports said.
A 15-year-old girl who lost her father, mother and nine other close relat
According to reports, at 9 p.m. masked gunmen entered a hall of the village in the Mazıdağı district of the Mardin province where an engagement ceremony was taking place and indiscriminately opened fire on those in attendance.
Officials are questioning whether a blood feud was behind the attack or if the fact that all of the village’s adult male population were village guards Ğ a civilian force armed by the state to aid in the fight against the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK Ğ led to the violence, which took place when some of the guards had left for an operation that night. Mardin’s deputy Governor Ahmet Ferhat Özen, the local administrator of Mazıdağı Aytaç Akgül and Interior Minister Beşir Atalay were quick to rule out a terrorist attack. Interior Minister Atalay, Agriculture Minister Mehmet Mehdi Eker and Justice Minister Sadullah Ergin flew to the region soon after the attack.
Officials were careful not to categorize the attack as a "blood feud," saying it was the result of "husumet," which can be roughly translated as "hostility," between the families.
In the attack, the gunmen killed 44 people and injured three others. Among the dead were six children and 16 women. Witnesses said the attackers numbered five or six people and that the gunfire lasted about 15 minutes.
Among the injured is a 3-year-old girl who is in a critical condition, reports said. Several people nearby the village thought the gunfire was normal, as there is a tradition of firing off weapons during such celebrations.
As they were leaving, the offenders shot at the tires of all the vehicles in the village in order not to be followed, wire services reported.
The first gendarmerie officers to arrive at the scene saw many bodies and the wounded were taken to nearby hospitals by ambulance.
Security officials cordoned off the village before imposing a curfew. Forensic specialists from Adana and Diyarbakır were sent to the region in order to aid their local colleagues in carrying out autopsies of the victims, reports said.
Interior Minister Besir Atalay told reporters in a televised press conference that eight people were detained following the attack and said it was unlikely that the incident was a terror attack.
Eyewitness accounts
"The local prosecutor has been working all night, listening to the accounts of eyewitnesses. Eight people have been caught and detained, and their weapons confiscated," Atalay said.
Most of the dead and the detained have the same surname and three of the women who died were pregnant, the interior minister said.
Doğan news agency reported that the engagement was between the daughter of the former muhtar (village head), Sevgi Çelebi and Hatip Arı, and that the attack took place when the guests were praying in two separate rooms before the formal engagement took place. The bride and the groom and the imam, who was leading the prayer, were also among those killed.
One witness, Abdullah Akan, from the same village, said he was among the first who entered the house after haring the gunfire and was shocked by what saw. "When I went in, there were bodies everywhere. In one room, there was the imam, with all the men behind him. They were all dead. In the other room, there were the women and the children. I have never seen anything like it."
"There were a few people, they broke into the house and started spraying the place with bullets, hitting both men and women, their faces were covered with masks," a 20-year-old female eyewitness who declined to be named told Reuters.
One survivor, a 19-year-old woman, told broadcaster NTV that the assailants ordered people to huddle in one room and then opened fire. Two boys who survived the attack without sustaining any injuries were in a state of shock and would not speak, reports said.
A 15-year-old girl who lost her father, mother and nine other close relat