Two hundred and fifty graveyards were destroyed in Lice’s Yolçatı village in the southeastern Diyarbakır province (southeastern Turkey), according to Arti Gerçek.
The Lawyers Association for Freedom (ÖHD) Diyarbakır Branch manager Av. Baver Mızrak made evaluations regarding the attacks.
According to the report, Mızrak pointed out that the attacks against the graves were “indicative of the hostility law against the Kurds” and that serious attacks have been made against the cemeteries in the past few months.
He pointed out that the attacks on graves, funerals and cemeteries increased after the end of the dialogue negotiations between the Kurdistan Workers Party, that Turkey says is a terrorist organisation, and the state between 2013 and 2015.
Mele Zeki Korkmaz, who served as an imam in Diyanet for 30 years, also said that those who remained silent against cemetery attacks were as sinful as those who did the attack.
Mızrak mentioned the examinations they made in Lice on May 29 in the cemetery where the attack took place. The place is usually attacked twice a year. They found that 250 cemeteries were broken. He explained that the attackers did not leave headstones on any grave and that they demolished their marbles, making the graves unrecognisable.
Mızrak emphasised that families who want justice can contact the ÖHD and that they “are ready to receive applications.”
“It is also our call to all non-governmental organizations, unions, intellectuals and writers. We are waiting for their solidarity to end these inhuman, non-religious and faithless practices,” he added.
Mızrak said they will make complaints to the relevant European Parliament, Council of Europe, United Nations and international organizations about the constant attacks against Kurds in Turkey.
