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THE REPORT
ON EXCAVATION OF THE MASS-GRAVES IN KARS - SUBATAN
One of the excavations of the mass-graves aiming to explore
the events happened in Eastern Anatolia betweeen 1915 and
1918 has been done in Kars-Subatan (Figure 1.) The opening
of the mass-graves in Subatan village which is situated near
Ani Örenyeri, on the boarders of Turkey-Russia, 28 kilometres
in the east of Kars was carried out on Governor of Kars, S.Filtekin,
the Mayor of Kars, Prof.Dr.Hursit Ertugrul, the president
of Atatürk University, Prof.Dr.Ahmet Cakir, the dean of Science
and Literature Faculty of the same university and Prof.Dr.Enver
Konukcu, Prof.Dr.Azmi Süslü from Ankara University, Prof.Dr.Metin
Özbek from Hacettepe University, Prof.Dr.Fahrettin Kirzioglu
From Gazi University, Prof.Dr.Metin Tuncel from Istanbul University,
Assoc.Prof.Dr.Abdüsselam Ulucam from 100.Yil University and
Ali Ercan, the director of Kars museum.
The excavations in Subatan village which has about 20-30 houses
of Moslem population today were carried out in accordance
with the oral statements of 120 year old Fariz Öztürk and
95 year old Duraga Öztürk who witnessed the events. They were
conducted in a 8x10 meter hole which was opened in the barn
in Köseogullari district (Figure 2). The first works were
started in A1 hole within the field divided into four separate
4-5 meter areas. The excavation which had been realized in
a wide surface first was narrowed down to the inner crosspoint
of A1 and B1 holes After having removed the 40 centimeter
earth, the first skeletons were found. It was observed that
most of these skeletons which were found with some personal
belongings belong to children between the age groups of 0-1.
Another group of skeletons which was found in 80 centimeters
depth in A1 hole displayed quite a shocking scene. These skeletons
which were located in the north-south direction must belong
to a mother and her daughter. The woman fell onto her right
side and embraced the child with her left arm. The two stroke
marks found on the head of the woman prove that they were
killed with an axe or some other sharp instrument. The first
stroke mark is not as deep as the second one. Both the woman
and the child were buried in their clothes.
The photograph taken on April 25 th 1918
Another skeleton group
was found in the south corner of A1 hole. Only a few of these
could be analyzed. As these analyses show, bodies were thrown
haphazardly. The rest of the findings were after of a belt,
a pair of ear-rings, a number of colored beads of a small
necklace; decayed wooden beams and were given to Kars Museum
to be displayed in the newly opened Genocide Section for exhibition.
According to the oral statements of the witnesses, Fariz Öztürk
and Duraga Öztürk whose statements are supported by the archive
documents, the massacre committed by Armenians happened in
the following way: The Tashnak-Armenian guerrillas who retreated
from Kars and Sarikamis attacked Subatan village where Turkish,
Armenian and Greek people lived together were captured wildly
without feeling pity. According to the photographs in the
archives and findings of the excavations, the women, children
and old men who had been killed with axes and bayonets were
left in the streets. The archive documents show that a total
of 570 people were murdered in the village. After the withdrawal
of Armenians, Turkish soldiers came to the district. The soldiers
with the help of survivors collected the corpses, which were
decayed and eaten by dogs, to an area and put them in a barn.
Due to the hard conditions of that time and lack of time,
the bodies were buried together. Some other mass-graves were
formed by collapsing the roofs of barns. The archive documents
and statements of witnesses show that in three separate mass-graves
in Subatan, there are a numbers of martyrs buried. In the
barn in Köseogullari district , more than 180, in Tiptip street
more than 25 and in the barn which is located in the south
of the village mosque more than 350 bodies are buried.
Prof. Dr. Cevat
BASARAN
Archaeologist
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