TKP: The Maraş Massacre is the clear face of this order

The Communist Party of Turkey (TKP) has released a statement on the 46th anniversary of the attacks carried out against people of Alevi origin and those with left-socialist views in Kahramanmaraş between December 19 and 26, 1978. 

Regarding the attack, in which at least 120 people were killed, 176 were injured, and hundreds of homes and businesses were set on fire and destroyed according to official figures, the statement included the words: "When we put an end to this bloody order of exploitation, we will fulfill our promise and hold those responsible for Maraş to account." 

The full text of the statement, made via the TKP's official X account, is as follows: 

“46 years ago today, we experienced one of the bloodiest massacres in the country's history. The massacre, which began on December 19 and lasted until December 26, and which the state stood by and watched, was carried out directly by NATO-fed MHP members. 

In the massacre targeting Alevis, revolutionaries, and communists in Maraş, at least 111 of our citizens were murdered according to official data alone; children were killed, women were raped, and for days, not a single intervention was made against these attacks.

It was precisely in this way that the country was surrendered to the trajectory desired by the bosses, to September 12, through these bloody massacres. 

Although everyone behind the massacre in Maraş was clearly known, they were protected and shielded by capital governments for years for this very reason. 

Now, exactly 46 years have passed.

This order, in which the murderers of Maraş could become 'faces of opening,' 'members of human rights commissions,' and members of parliament, is not the hidden face behind the massacre in Maraş, but its clear face!

When we put an end to this bloody order of exploitation, we will fulfill our promise and hold those responsible for Maraş to account…”