SIRNAK, Turkey – For the people of Roboski it does not matter that the deadly 2011 Turkish air attack may have been due to bad US intelligence. It still does not absolve the Turkish government, whose planes killed the 34 Kurdish villagers, they said.
"The United States shares responsibility in the massacre, but we also hold Turkey responsible because in the end it was they who bombed us," said Ferhat Encu, who lost his 15-year-old brother in the attack.
Documents recently publicized by whistleblower Edward Snowden claim that false US intelligence given to the Turkish government was to blame for the attack, which Turkey has said was a mistake.
On the night of December 28, 2011, Turkish jets bombed a snow covered mountain pass in eastern Turkey near the village of Roboski, where for decades poor Kurdish villagers had eked out a living smuggling cigarettes and fuel across the Iraqi border.
The attack killed 34 villagers, half of them teenagers. Turkey claimed it had information that rebels of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) were in the mountain pass that night.
“For decades, Kurds from Roboski crossed the border into Iraq to smuggle goods and the authorities knew that very well," said Hikmet Alma, who lost her brother in the bombing. “American involvement does not remove the Turkish government’s responsibility.”
Sinan Encu agreed. He lost his cousin and seven classmates that night.
"If the US is involved, we condemn them. But even if the Americans gave the Turkish military false intelligence, the Turks could prevent the bombing," he said.
Many locals were not surprised that the US had a hand in the attack.
In May 2012, the Wall Street Journal revealed it was an American Predator drone that discovered the men and boys heading toward the Turkish border into Iraq. The newspaper quoted US Defense Department sources as saying the Americans had reported a party crossing, but had left it up to the Turkish government do decide how they wanted to react.
The Turkish government has offered victims’ families compensation — which they have rejected — but has never apologized for the incident.
In January 2014, Turkey’s military prosecutor’s office said it would not file charges against five military personnel involved in the airstrike, saying they “committed a major error” but were following orders.
Siddik Encu, who lost many relatives during the massacre, did not believe the US was involved in any way: "Why would the United States have an interest in interfering in an area where there is smuggling?"
For the villagers, it does matter who was involved. They want justice.
“Ultimately, our dear ones died and are not coming back,” said Serdesht Aykut, a teacher who lost four students. “All we want is the persons responsible to be punished."
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