ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The body of a Kurdish man, who survived the Dersim Massacre by the Turkish army in the thirties, was buried on Friday - two days after he passed away.
Bego Polat was only a child when the Turkish army killed tens of thousands of Kurds in Dersim (Tunceli) province in southeast Turkey (Northern Kurdistan) between 1937 and 1938 after the Kurdish political leader Seyid Riza rebelled against the government.
Polat lost two sisters, a brother and his father in the campaign.
“Two of my sisters were with me. As soon as the fire exchange started, the head of one of my sisters, Hatice, was chopped off - even though I had my eyes on her to take good care of her. When the bullet hit her, I felt my hand become hot,” he said in a documentary produced by Rudaw in 2020.
“A piece of my hand [one of his fingers] and my sister’s head were chopped off. They killed both of my sisters. My little brother, who was just four years old, was killed two. They killed my father too,” he added.
Polat passed away on Wednesday after remaining under intense care at a hospital for a long time due to illness. His relatives and neighbours buried him in his hometown of Dersim on Friday.
It took until 2011 for the Turkish political leadership to formally apologise for the massacre. Many viewed his apology as a ploy to win over Kurdish votes.
Kurds annually commemorate the massacre on May 4.
Bego Polat was only a child when the Turkish army killed tens of thousands of Kurds in Dersim (Tunceli) province in southeast Turkey (Northern Kurdistan) between 1937 and 1938 after the Kurdish political leader Seyid Riza rebelled against the government.
Polat lost two sisters, a brother and his father in the campaign.
“Two of my sisters were with me. As soon as the fire exchange started, the head of one of my sisters, Hatice, was chopped off - even though I had my eyes on her to take good care of her. When the bullet hit her, I felt my hand become hot,” he said in a documentary produced by Rudaw in 2020.
“A piece of my hand [one of his fingers] and my sister’s head were chopped off. They killed both of my sisters. My little brother, who was just four years old, was killed two. They killed my father too,” he added.
Polat passed away on Wednesday after remaining under intense care at a hospital for a long time due to illness. His relatives and neighbours buried him in his hometown of Dersim on Friday.
It took until 2011 for the Turkish political leadership to formally apologise for the massacre. Many viewed his apology as a ploy to win over Kurdish votes.
Kurds annually commemorate the massacre on May 4.
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