The Roboski Massacre

On the night of December 28, 2011, Turkish warplanes carried out a bombing raid in the Uludere/Roboski district, killing 34 civilians, 18 of them teenagers and children.

The Turkish government initially claimed that the victims were armed guerrillas from the PKK (Kurdistan Workers' Party). The authorities later admitted that the victims were civilians engaged in cross-border trade on the border between Turkish Kurdistan and Iraqi Kurdistan.

Small-scale cross-border trade is common in the border areas of Kurdistan, divided by Turkey and Iraq. In Roboski, residents survive thanks to this trade, purchasing sugar, cigarettes, and gasoline in Iraqi Kurdistan, where these products are cheaper. The bombing was reportedly carried out based on information provided by US Air Force drones.

The first official investigation into the massacre was criticized and called "lacking credibility" by several international human rights organizations. On March 27, 2013, a year and a half after the massacre, the Turkish Parliament's Human Rights Commission approved a report that once again failed to shed light on the massacre. The report concluded that those who ordered the attack were not responsible and called the massacre an "accident."

Nine years after the massacre, the Roboski families continue to demand justice and truth. In 2013, the Roboski families invited international groups, associations, institutions, and individuals to join them in their pursuit of justice and truth, which will only be possible through true and lasting peace.

They gave voice, music and image to the Roboski families:

Modena City Ramblers, Seiyxdan, Cuentas Claras, Assali Frontali, Ruper Ordorika, Obrint Pas, 99Posse, Banda Bassotti, Eñaut Elorrieta, Zezi, Moni Ovadia, Petra Probst, Zapota, No Logo Studio

A Roboski Aileleri ile Dayanı¸s ma Derneg˘i production - World Culture Library - Talkingpeace

INFO: mail@bibmondo.it

Tel. + 393331836785

"I Remember" the film about the Robosky massacre

Selim Yıldı

• Born in 1985 in Van, Bahçesaray. Between 2007 and 2011, he worked as a construction worker while studying documentary photography at Istanbul Özgur University. His photographic work on the Kurdish press and refugee children has been exhibited at numerous festivals and art galleries. In addition to the photography workshop "Looking and Understanding from the Eyes of Children" in the tent city set up after the devastating 2011 Van earthquake, he has organized workshops with disadvantaged children in many places. He shot his first documentary film, "29," in 2013. In 2016, he won the Johan van der Keuken New Talent Award for his documentary film "I Remember" (Bîra Mı'têtın), about Roboski.