Families of the victims of the Roboski Massacre met for a commemorative event on the 10th anniversary of the massacre at the cemetery in the Kurdish village of Roboski in Turkey’s southeastern district of Uludere (Qilaban).

Co-chairs of the Democratic Society Congress (HDK) and the Democratic Regions Party (DBP), the spokesperson for the pro-Kurdish People’s Democratic Party (HDP) and the chair of the Union of Turkish Bar Associations were all present at the commemoration held on Tuesday.

34 villagers including 19 children, delivering goods packed on mules, were killed in an airstrike by Turkish war planes at the border crossing on 28 December 2011.

As no military or civilian official has ever faced court for the massacre, representatives of the ruling Justice and Development Party, until very recently, have continued with attempts to legitimise the massacre saying the military had acted on false intelligence that there were members of the Workers’ Party of Kurdistan (PKK) within the civilian group.

Speaking at the gathering, the chair of the Şırnak (Sirnex) Bar Association Rojhat Dilsiz called for justice that has remained out of reach for 10 years.

“Among the victims there were 13-year-old kids wearing nylon shoes. They were on the road to be able to buy winter shoes for themselves and their siblings. They were killed. We’ve all lived through the same trauma in the process that followed. We were here 10 years ago. If a permanent and fairly distributed prosperity and a peaceful healing is truly an objective in this country, the perpetrators of this massacre should face justice as soon as possible.”