List of massacres in Turkey


The following is a list of massacres that occurred within the borders of present-day Turkey:

Ottoman Empire

Post-World War I (1919–1923)

NameDateLocationDeathsResponsible PartyVictimsNotes
Massacre in Marash1920Marash, Aleppo Vilayet5,000–12,000TurksArmenians
June 11, 1920Yeşiloba, Adana Vilayet64+ to ~200ArmeniansTurksReport which was given to Mustafa Kemal Pasha included 43 men, 21 women and tens of children. Other estimates are up to 200.
Karadeniz massacreJanuary 28–29, 1921waters of the Black Sea15Kemalists/Committee of Union and Progress Communist Party of TurkeyMustafa Suphi the founder of the Communist Party of Turkey and his 14 comrades were assassinated while they were being sent to Erzurum for trial
April 1–2 1921Cabar,Denizli83Kingdom of GreeceTurks

Republic of Turkey (1923–present)

NameDateLocationDeathsResponsible PartyVictimsNotes
Diyarbakir massacre1925Diyarbakir Province, Elazığ Province15,200 Turkish security forcesKurdsPart of Deportations of Kurds between 1916 and 1934.
Zilan massacreJuly 1930Van Province5,000–15,000Turkish security forcesKurds5,000 women, children, and elderly people were reportedly killed
1934 Thrace pogroms21 June-4 July 1934Thrace1Local peopleJewsOver 15,000 Jews had to flee from region
Dersim rebellionSummer 1937-Spring 1938Tunceli Province13,806–70,000Turkish security forcesAlevi Kurds/ZazasThe killings have been condemned by some as an ethnocide or genocide
Zini Rift Massacre6 August 1938Erzincan Province95Turkish security forcesKurds
Muğlalı incidentJuly 1943Van Province32Turkish security forcesKurds33 Kurdish villagers were extrajudicially executed by General Mustafa Muğlalı for allegedly smuggling livestock, one of them escaped.
Karahan village massacreOctober 1944Van Province6Turkish security forcesKurds6 Kurdish villagers were extrajudicially executed by General Mustafa Muğlalı. This was the second massacre of Muğlalı, with the possibility of more uncovered massacres having been committed.
Istanbul pogrom6–7 September 1955Istanbul13–30Turkish governmentprimarily Greeks, as well as Armenians, JewsThe killings are identified as genocidal by Alfred-Maurice de Zayas. Many of the non-Muslim minorities, mostly Greek Christians, forced to leave Turkey. Several churches are demolished by explosives.
Taksim Square massacreMay 1, 1977Taksim Square in Istanbul34-42Some unidentified armed peopleLeftist demonstrators, civilians-
Beyazıt massacreMarch 16, 1978Istanbul7Grey Wolves, Turkish deep state Leftist university studentsCemil Sönmez, Baki Ekiz, Hatice Özen, Abdullah Şimşek, Murat Kurt, Hamdi Akıl and Turan Ören were killed and 41 others were injured by a bomb that was followed by gunfire March 16, 1978.
Ümraniye massacreMarch 17, 1978Ümraniye in Istanbul5Communist Party of Turkey/Marxist–LeninistGrey Wolves affiliated workersGrey Wolves claim that the victims were badly tortured. Reaction to the aforementioned Beyazıt massacre.
Malatya massacreApril 17, 1978Malatya Province8Grey Wolves, SalafistsAlevi TurksGrey Wolves and salafists attacked Alevi regions of city after assassination of leaving 8 dead, including 3 children and 100 wounded. 1000 shops were looted and destroyed.
Balgat massacreAugust 10, 1978Çankaya, Ankara5Grey WolvesCivilians
Bahçelievler massacreOctober 9, 1978Bahçelievler, Ankara7Grey WolvesWorkers' Party of Turkey member students
Maraş massacreDecember 19–26, 1978Kahramanmaraş Province109Grey WolvesAlevi Kurds
Piyangotepe massacreMay 16, 1979Keçiören in Ankara7Grey WolvesCivilians
Adana high school massacreSeptember 19, 1979Adana Construction Vocational High School6Communist Party of Turkey/Marxist–LeninistGrey Wolves affiliated teachersMüslüm Teke, Yılmaz Kızılay, Davut Korkmaz, Ahmet Güleç, Özcan Doruk and Mustafa Karaca were killed by 2 Leftist men. Reaction to the aforementioned Maraş massacre where the Grey Wolves killed more than a hundred civilians.
Çorum massacreMay–July, 1980Çorum Province57Grey WolvesAlevi Turks
Ortabağ massacreJanuary 23, 1987Uludere in Şırnak Province8PKKCivilians
Pınarcık massacreJune 20, 1987Pınarcık in Mardin Province30JİTEM/PKK Civilians
Çevrimli massacreJune 11, 1990Güçlükonak in Şırnak Province27PKKCiviliansIn the massacre, 27 people were killed, 12 were children and 7 were women. 4 village guards died in clashes with PKK members, 1 PKK member was killed.
Çetinkaya Store massacreDecember 25, 1991Bakırköy in Istanbul11PKKCiviliansThe PKK attacks a store in the Bakırköy district with Molotov cocktails, resulting in 11 deaths, including 7 women and 1 child.
Cevizdalı massacreOctober 21, 1992Cevizdalı in Bitlis Province30PKKCiviliansCevizdali village of Bitlis was raided during the nighttime, PKK militias killed 30 people, including 8 children, and wounded 20 others. Militias then burned whole the village by the news they received that soldiers are on the way to the village.
Sivas massacre
July 2, 1993Sivas35 Salafists, Grey WolvesAlevi and leftist intellectuals
Başbağlar massacreJuly 5, 1993Başbağlar, near Erzincan33JİTEM/PKK Civilians
August 14, 1993Digor, Kars17Turkish security forcesKurdish CiviliansOpened fire on Kurdish villagers by the Special Operation Department. 17 villagers including 7 children were killed and 63 were injured.
Vartinis massacreOctober 3, 1993Vartinis, Muş province9Turkish Armed ForcesCivilians
Lice massacreOctober 20–23, 1993Lice in Diyarbakır Province30+Turkish Armed ForcesKurdish CiviliansTurkish security forces attacked the town of Lice, destroying 401 houses, 242 shops and massacring more than thirty civilians, and leaving 100 wounded.
Yavi MassacreOctober 25, 1993Yavi, Çat, Erzurum Province38PKKCivilians
Ormancık massacreJanuary 21, 1994Ormancık, Savur, Mardin Province19PKKVillage guards and affiliated civiliansThe massacre may have been a chemical attack.
Kuşkonar and Koçağılı massacreMarch 23, 1994Kuşkonar and Koçağılı villages, Şırnak38Turkish Air ForceKurdish CiviliansThe government bombed and killed residents of villages who refused to join the government forces. The government spread pictures of dead children in newspapers and blamed the PKK. Turkey was condemned for carrying out the massacre of Kurdish civilians in the ECHR.
Gazi Quarter massacreMarch 15, 1995Istanbul and Ankara23JİTEM, Turkish deep state AlevisMore than 400 injured
February 15, 1996Güçlükonak in Şırnak province11JİTEMCivilians11 residents are shot and burned to death in a minibus by JITEM
Blue Market massacreMarch 13, 1999Istanbul13PKKCivilians
Operation Back to LifeDecember 19, 2000Turkey32Turkish security forcesLeftist prisonersDeaths include 30 prisoners and 2 soldiers
March 28–31, 2006Diyarbakır14Turkish security forcesProtesters14 Kurdish civilians including 6 children, 4 of them under the age of 10 were killed by the security forces in protests
Zirve Publishing House massacreApril 18, 2007Malatya3IslamistsGerman Christians
Mardin engagement ceremony massacreMay 4, 2009Bilge, Mardin44Village GuardsCiviliansReuters said it was "one of the worst attacks involving civilians in Turkey's modern history", declaring that the scale of the attack had shocked the nation.
Roboski airstrikeDecember 28, 2011Uludere in Şırnak Province34Turkish Air ForceKurdish CiviliansWarplanes killed who had been involved in smuggling gasoline and cigarettes in the area, villagers during an operation meant to target Kurdistan Workers' Party rebels. The government gave no information about the facts.
Suruç bombingJuly 20, 2015Suruç in Şanlıurfa Province34ISILSocialist Party of the Oppressed member university students
2015 Ankara bombingsOctober 10, 2015Ankara109ISILProtesters, civilians
Cizre basement massacreFebruary 7, 2016Cizre, Şırnak+178Turkish Armed ForcesKurdish Civilians178 civilians, dozens of them children, some of them as young as 9 were burnt alive in three basements. Turkish government reacted to the massacre by calling it "baseless terror propaganda", and covering it up by flattening the ruins and filling the basements up with rubble.
February 2016 Ankara bombingFebruary 17, 2016Ankara30TAKCivilian employees of Turkish Armed Forces and soldiers
March 2016 Ankara bombingMarch 13, 2016Ankara38TAKCivilians
2016 Atatürk Airport attackJune 28, 2016Atatürk Airport, Istanbul45ISILCivilians
2016 Turkish coup d'état attemptJuly 15–16, 2016Turkey 270–350Peace at Home CouncilCivilians and soldiersTurkey witnessed the bloodiest coup attempt in its political history on July 15, 2016, when a section of the Turkish military launched a coordinated operation in several major cities to topple the government
2017 Istanbul nightclub attackJanuary 1, 2017Istanbul39ISISCiviliansA gunman opened fire in the Reina Nightclub during New Year celebrations
2021 Konya massacreJuly 30, 2021Meram district, Konya Province7Mehmet AltunKurds
2024 anti-refugee riots in TurkeyJune 30, 2024 – July 2, 2024Various Turkish cities, predominantly Kayseri1Turkish protestorsSyrians