Basbug dismisses villagers’ deaths as a sham

The remarks by Gen. Ilker Basbug, deputy head of the Turkish military, were published as an official military response to a query from a lawmaker about the grave, the Hurriyet and Milliyet newspapers reported.

The grave was discovered in November by villagers and a human rights group.

Lawmakers from Parliament’s Human Rights Commission, which is investigating the disappearance of the 11 villagers, have said the grave appears to contain the remains of people who went missing after being detained by soldiers fighting the terrorist Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK/Kongra-Gel).

After the villagers went missing, their families took the case to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg. The court in 2001 found Turkey liable for their deaths and fined the country $546,746.

Basbug denied military involvement, though, and said new claims of a mass grave were aimed at winning support for the terrorists, the newspapers reported.

"It is known that most of the claims against the state and security forces in the region are brought onto the agenda to get compensation through the channel of the European Court of Human Rights and to provide political support to the terrorist organization and its supporters," Hurriyet quoted him as saying. "It is thought that the recent claims about the incident in Kulp were organized professionally in this framework as well."

It was not immediately possible to confirm Basbug ‘s remarks.

Ali Akinci an official from Turkey’s independent Human Rights Association (IHD), which has long followed the issue, called Basbug ‘s remarks "unfortunate" and said the general should have waited for the results of a DNA test being conducted on the remains to be announced.