First official apology for killings in Dersim

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan apologized yesterday "on the state's behalf" for the Dersim killings in the late 1930s, marking the first time a representative of the Turkish Republic had ever apologized for the attacks. He insisted that the Republican People's Party (CHP), which ruled Turkey under a single-party regime at the time, was responsible for the military operation in the rebellious Alevi-populated region, the present-day province of Tunceli, and must apologize. "If an apology is required on behalf of the state and if such precedents exist, I am apologizing," Erdogan said at a meeting of his Justice and Development Party (AKP). However, he said, "If someone is to apologize for and face up to this tragedy, it is not the AKP and the AKP government but the CHP, the author of this bloody episode, as well as the CHP deputies and the CHP chairman who hails from Tunceli." The CHP leader withheld any immediate reaction, but his aides promptly issued condemnations. Erdogan slammed CHP leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu for likening his stance on the Dersim killings to the Armenian diaspora's "genocide" campaign, saying he would "put in his place" anyone who would make such a comparison. Arguing that the bloodshed in Dersim reflected "the CHP mentality" of oppression, Erdogan said the Dersim killings had been planned in advance "with all pretexts tailored," contesting the official history line that a rebellion prompted the crackdown. He referred to an official report that called for "definitive action against the dangerous boil" of Dersim a decade before the crackdown and to papers that put the death toll at 13,800 in the period from 1936 to 1939, in addition to at least as many people forcefully resettled. Kilicdaroglu withheld any immediate reaction, but his aides promptly issued condemnations as the issue continued to stir intra-party tensions.