SİİRT - The Work has started for the construction of 8-storey buildings and luxury villas in Newala Qesaba, where hundreds of Kurds and Armenians are buried in mass graves.

 

New structures will be built in Newala Qesaba (Kasaplar Deresi), where many people were buried in mass graves including victims of unsolved murders and PKK members who lost their lives in armed clashes in different dates. Newala Qesaba, which has been the subject of many songs, books and films, is located close to the city center of Siirt and covers an area of 405 decares, according to the data of the Human Rights Association (İHD).

 

Newala Qesaba is known as a place where many Armenians, who were massacred in 1915, were buried. In addition, it is a place where PKK members who lost their lives in the armed conflicts that broke out after the 1980s and victims of unsolved murders are buried in mass graves. It is stated that one of the leaders, Mahsum Korkmaz (Egît), is among of the people who were buried there. According to some data, the remains of at least 300 Kurds are buried there. However, this number has never been fully clarified.

 

On April 22, 1989, the stream was excavated for the first time and the bones of 8 people were found within a few hours. Excavations were stopped on the same day by the order of the Governor's Office, and no work has been done in the stream since then.

 

ERASING MEMORIES

 

However, the stream was opened to construction over time. In the area turned into a garbage dump, a double road was built first. Later, reconstruction permit was given for the wedding hall. As this was not enough, the Police Academy was established in the area where people were buried in mass graves. Buildings and villas will now be built in the area where hundreds of Kurds and Armenians are buried in mass graves. For the new project, a signboard containing the details of the project was hung at the entrance of the stream. Dozens of villas, 8-storey buildings and swimming pools will be built within the scope of the project undertaken by War Construction. A sales office has also been established in the area where the buildings and villas will be built, and the office is surrounded by iron barriers.

 

HISTORY OF THE STREAM

 

Journalist Zana Aksu who is also the former Chairperson of İHD Siirt Branch, who has been working on what happened in the stream for years, stated that as the İHD, they filed a criminal complaint with the Siirt Chief Public Prosecutor's Office in February 2011 about the protection of the stream. Expressing that they estimate that there are about 300 remains in the stream according to the data they obtained from the applications, Aksu said, "However, despite all the official applications, neither an action was taken against anyone nor Newala Qesaba was taken under protection. The whereabouts of the 8 remains that were found was not clarified."

 

'SHAMEFUL'

 

Stating that the construction at the stream is a shame, Aksu said, "There was a demand to build a monument. But instead of honouring the people buried there, they built a police academy, a double road, a wedding hall. And now, multi-storey buildings and villas are being built. There are bones of hundreds of people under these structures that have been built and are being built. Saturday Mothers have a quest. It is unscrupulous to build a building in this area while people are looking for the bones of their loved ones. This decision needs to be reversed immediately." Emphasizing that the project on the stream covers a large area, Aksu called for awareness.

 

 

MA / Fethi Balaman