ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Kemal Kilicdaroglu, leader of Turkey’s main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) will visit the families of the 2011 #Roboski massacre# on Thursday, reported Turkish media. Tens of innocent Kurds were killed in the mass killing which was carried out by the Turkish army.
On December 28, 2011, 38 Kurds, mostly children between the ages of 13 and 18, were smuggling cheap petrol and cigarettes from the town of Zakho, across the border in the Kurdistan Region. They divided into groups to avoid being targeted by Turkish airstrikes – a strategy that would fail. Turkish jets bombed the group that day, killing 34 villagers.
Roboski is located in the Kurdish province of #Sirnak# in southeast Turkey (Bakur). The area had been the focal point of clashes between the Turkish Army and the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) – a Kurdish armed group struggling for increased rights of Kurds in Turkey.
Kilicdaroglu, who seeks the support of Kurdish voters, is visiting the families of the victims on Thursday, reported the opposition Sozcu news outlet.
The agenda of the opposition leader's unique visit to the Kurdish area has not been announced by the party.
The Turkish government and army have not apologised for the massacre but offered financial compensation which has been rejected by most of the families.[1]