Skulls And Bones Of Nearly 20 People Exhumed In Mass Grave In Kars

KARS - Skulls and bones of nearly 20 Turkish people have been exhumed in a mass grave in Derecik village in eastern province of Kars so far.
Turkish History Institution Chairman Prof. Dr. Yusuf Halacoglu told reporters on Monday that skulls and bones of nearly 20 Turkish people had been exhumed in the mass grave so far.
''During our excavations, we revealed that the region had experienced a mass massacre. We found bones of a baby. All of victims were civilian people. Dramatic incidents occurred in the region during the World War I. However, these issues should be taken by scientists. We have been carrying out our works on the basis of information and documents. We call on Armenians to prove their allegations on genocide. If they claim that Armenians were exposed to genocide, we invite them to take up the issue together. We are ready to share our documents. These issues cannot be resolved at parliaments. It is not duty of parliaments to resolve historical issues,'' he stressed.
Recalling that they had unearthed mass graves in ten different places so far, Prof. Dr. Halacoglu said, ''there were skeletons of Turkish people in these mass graves. If Armenians show us a possible mass grave of their people, we are ready to excavate it. There is not any document about intentional massacre of Armenians.''
Meanwhile, Prof. Dr. Abdusselam Ulucam from the Yuzuncu Yil University in eastern province of Van said that most of skeletons belonged to children and young women.
Confederation of Turkish Associations in Europe will erect a monument in the area of mass grave.
(UK) 30.06.2003