The Ankara branch of the Alevi Democratic Association (DAD) issued a statement on the 45th commemoration of the victims of the Malatya massacre. “The Malaya massacre is a continuation of the policy of exile, corruption, misconduct and assimilation, which the state has been systematically carrying out for years. 

The Turkish state, which declared war on the oppressed people of Kochgiri and Dersim with its armed forces, carried out the same massacre in Malatya through the nationalist crowd. As a result of the attacks which started on 18 April 1978 and continued until 20 April, 8 people died.

As in other massacres, Malatya was ethnically and religiously cleansed. Looking at the history of the Alevi massacres in Malatya, one understands that the state and its cooperating gangs, worried about the existence of Alevis established in the center of the city and experiencing stable economic growth, decided to pressure the Alevi community to leave their place of residence. Religious and ethnic segregation and attacks began in the city center and gradually spread to neighborhoods and villages.

On the 45th commemoration of the victims of the Malatya massacre, we remember our martyrs with respect