Hundreds gather to mark 33rd anniversary of Sivas massacre, renew justice calls

SİVAS

Hundreds of people marched through the central Anatolian city of Sivas on July 2 to mark the 33rd anniversary of the 1993 Madımak Hotel arson attack, which killed 35 people, most of them Alevi intellectuals, while renewing demands for justice and for the site to be officially designated a “Museum of Shame.”

An extremist mob set the building on fire during the four-day Pir Sultan Abdal Cultural Festival on July 2, 1993. The victims had traveled to Sivas to participate in panel discussions, sign books, perform music and attend other cultural events. Among the festival speakers was prominent author Aziz Nesin, whose presence fueled protests by extremist groups before the attack.

Relatives of the victims, representatives of Alevi federations and civil society organizations from across Türkiye, lawmakers, citizens and main opposition Republican People’s Party’s ousted leader Özgür Özel gathered in the city.

At the site, the names of those killed were read aloud, followed by speeches from representatives of various associations and civil society groups.

Addressing the crowd outside the building of the hotel, Özel said the “burning pain” endured for 33 years would only subside once justice was fully served.

Emphasizing that crimes against humanity should not be subject to a statute of limitations, he said his party would continue campaigning until the state officially recognized the building as a “Museum of
Shame” and designated July 2 as a legally recognized “Day of Shame.”

Relatives of the victims declined to lay carnations at the memorial corner inside the building, arguing that authorities failed to fulfill longstanding demands to convert the former hotel into a “Museum of Shame.”
Instead, they stood outside the entrance holding photographs of those who died before placing signs reading “Madımak Museum of Shame” on the building’s windows.

The legal proceedings over the massacre, including appeals and petitions filed by lawyers representing the victims’ families, continued for years. In 2014, two decades after the attack, the case was closed on the grounds that the statute of limitations had expired.