In Turkey's Kurdish southeast, pock-marked hope

Two years after a bookstore bombing rocked this community's faith in democratization, the owner – a former PKK guerrilla – has reopened his shop.

from the November 8, 2007 edition

Page 2 of 2

Page 1 | 2

Violence is nothing new to those living in Turkey's southeast. Still, the last few years have seen the Turkish government institute a number of political reforms in the region, and there was an initial belief in Semdinli and other places that the investigation of the case would benefit from that.

"There was some kind of hope that there would be a result out of the investigation of the bombing, but that hope was left unmet," says Emin Sari, a Kurdish political activist in Semdinli, whose name was among those found on the list in the trunk of the bookshop bombers' car.

The Turkish government's first response to Semdinli was decisive, with Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan promising to get to the bottom of the case. An aggressive prosecutor from the nearby city of Van, Ferhat Sarikaya, took on the case, but ran into trouble when he declared that top-level military officials had supported covert illegal operations in the southeast.

In the face of a powerful military, the government took Mr. Sarikaya off the case, saying he had overstepped his bounds. Turkey's Supreme Board of Prosecutors and Judges disbarred him for life.

Still, in June 2006, the two officers charged in the bombing were found guilty and sentenced to 39 years in jail. But this past May, Turkey's top appeals court quashed the verdict on procedural grounds and sent it to a military court. Observers in Turkey say the ruling could be the case's demise.

"It was a big chance to get to the bottom of rogue elements of the security forces doing violent, lawless activities in the name of counterterrorism, but the government made a mistake," says Emma Sinclair-Webb, a Human Rights Watch researcher on Turkey.

Despite the setback, there is still a sense of hope in Semdinli. The local authorities have responded by improving life in the dusty town, building new roads and a bridge.

Yilmaz reopened his bookstore with a cheeky new sign that incorporates a hand grenade into it and announces the shop as the site of the famous Semdinli bombing.

Several soot-smudged books – from a Danielle Steel novel to a volume about UFOs – are kept in two bookcases with glass doors, along with a teapot pierced by shrapnel.

Two small craters on the floor, marking where the grenades exploded, have been left untouched.

"I believe this is part of our history and I want it to be remembered," Yilmaz says.

1 | Page 2