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Grandson Rüstem Polat expressed his thanks for Arınç’s condolences to the victims of the Dersim massacre during a meeting between the deputy prime minister and the European Federation of Associations of Dersim (ADDF), who was represented by long-time member Polat and Federation President Yaşar Kaya. The ADDF has vocally supported the Nov. 23 apology of Prime Minister Recep Tayyıp Erdoğan for the state-sponsored massacre of 13,806 Kurdish and Zaza Alevis in 1937.
“We were extremely pleased with the prime minister’s announcement; we were very moved by it,” Polat said to Arınç. “Let a parliamentary commission be put together. For years we have longed for such a development. Open the graves to us, let us pray, let us make offerings to the dead.” Polat’s statements echoed Arınç’s own calls last month for the founding of a parliamentary commission to revisit the Turkish state’s official account of 1937. “We are on the side of bringing to light the facts, even if this will be painful for us,” Arınç stated to the press on Nov. 19.
Arınç was just one of dozens of politicians and intellectuals who last month began a campaign for a new look at 1937. Public attention turned to the Dersim massacres in November when Republican People’s Party (CHP) deputy Hüseyin Aygün told Today’s Zaman on Nov. 10 that the government and then ruling CHP were responsible for planning the 1937 Dersim operation.
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