Government owes apology for air raid in Uludere: CHP

ANKARA - Hürriyet Daily News

The families of Uludere victims told CHP leader Kılıçdaroğlu they only wanted justice at CHP headquarters in Ankara. DAILY NEWS photo, Selahattin SÖNMEZ

Main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu said the government owes the families of Uludere victims an apology. Kılıçdaroğlu met with the families of Uludere victims in Ankara yesterday at CHP’s headquarters.

Killing its own citizens by war plane is unacceptable, Kılıçdaroğlu said. “The government must pay this debt to you,” he said. The CHP leader said the party is ready to support the families of Uludere victims and indicated that people in Uludere work as smugglers because they have no proper job prospects and are poor. Kılıçdaroğlu said there is not enough investment in the region, but that the CHP favors investment and increasing jobs for local people. “Too many people died, too much pain is experienced in your region. A policy must be found to provide a solution to all of the [problems],” Kılıçdaroğlu said. “The tragedy of Uludere is the tragedy of all people in Turkey who consider themselves human beings.”

We just want justice
The families of Uludere victims told Kılıçdaroğlu they only wanted justice. They complained about the fact that they have seen no action from the government to find those responsible for the attack, including the person who ordered the targets be hit. The families said they felt this lack of action indicated the government’s position on the matter. Turkish planes crossed the Iraqi border in late December 2011 and killed 34 civilians smuggling things across the border, who they had mistaken for members of the Kurdistan Worker’s Party (PKK). Uludere villagers killed in the attack were mere “extras” in a broader ploy “orchestrated entirely” by the PKK, Interior Minister İdris Naim Şahin said May 23, adding that there was no reason for the government to issue an apology over the deaths. His remarks stirred criticism from many, including from AKP deputy chair Hüseyin Çelik. “We don’t think that the minister’s approach and tone are humane. It’s obvious that his approach and tone do not belong to the [AKP] and the [AKP] government,” Çelik said one day after Şahin’s comments went viral. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan offered no support for Şahin’s contentious comments on the Uludere raid, but said the debate over the incident should end. “[I am] ending the debate for good,” Erdoğan told reporters May 25.