Turkey creates ‘Traitors’ Cemetery’ for dead coup plotters
Tucked into the back corner of a construction site for a new dog shelter in eastern Istanbul lies a freshly dug, unmarked grave - the first in the new “Traitors’ Cemetery,” created specifically to hold the bodies of coup plotters who died in the July 15 failed coup attempt.
In the week following the attempted coup in Turkey, which left about 290 people dead, the Istanbul municipality announced it intended to set up a cemetery specifically for those people who officials branded as traitors undeserving of a proper burial. About 24 coup plotters are believed to have been killed that night.
Authorities would “reserve a spot and call it a Traitors’ Cemetery. Passersby will curse them,” Istanbul Mayor Kadir Topbaş said in remarks carried by the Doğan News Agency. “May every passerby curse them and let them not rest in their tombs.”
The creation of the cemetery comes amid a widespread crackdown in the aftermath of the coup. Nearly 16,000 people have been detained, including about 10,000 military personnel, while displays of patriotism abound, with many Turks flying national flags from the windows of their apartments or cars and nightly pro-government rallies in cities across the country.
Turkey’s Directorate of Religious Affairs (Diyanet) issued a directive denying funeral prayers and services for those who died while trying to overthrow the government. Such prayers, it said, were intended for the faithful as an act of exoneration, “but these people, with the action they undertook, have disregarded not just individuals but also the law of an entire nation and therefore do not deserve exoneration from the faithful.”
Meanwhile, some campaigners and some theologians say a proper burial was a human right, whatever the deceased had done.
“This is a decision made hastily at the heat of the moment,” said Necip Taylan, a former lawmaker from the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) and retired professor from faculty of theology at Marmara University.
“We know the society is hurt by what happened,” he was quoted as saying by the Agence France-Presse.
“But there have always been traitors. It is nothing new, you can bury [the coup plotters] in a separate spot... I don’t think it is a good idea to create such a cemetery.”
Andrew Gardner, Turkey researcher for Amnesty International, said such moves were “contributing to what is a pretty poisonous atmosphere and a dangerous atmosphere” in the aftermath of the failed coup.
“Denying people religious services and decent burial is a basic denial of people’s rights. In any normal circumstances such statements would be unimaginable,” Gardner said.
Construction was quick. In two days, workers had built a low stone wall around a patch of land in the back of the site that will hold a new shelter for some of Istanbul’s many stray dogs. A black metal sign was put up July 25, with the words “Traitors’ Cemetery” in white.
The first - and so far, only - body arrived in an ambulance on July 25, the workers at the site said. No prayers were said and no ceremony was held for the burial beneath a dying pine tree.
The workers weren’t sure who was laid beneath the rough mound of earth, stones and broken pine branches, but local media said the first to be interred there was Mehmet Karabekir, a 34-year-old captain and father of two. His mother, they reported, refused to claim his body, so he was taken to the new cemetery.
Next to his lay three more graves - deep, open trenches dug out of the rocky ground with heavy machinery, waiting for new arrivals. The workers haven’t been told when more bodies might come.
All they know, workers said July 27, is that they were told to build a dry stone wall in a corner of the construction site, and dig some graves.
Videos
![](/cache_video/video_images/17/49315_3/ebrd.thumb-550x310.png)
Interview with Francis Malige, EBRD Managing Director
![](/cache_video/video_images/67/199285_3/april_24.thumb-550x310.png)
Armenians Commemorating 106th Anniversary of Genocide
![](/cache_video/video_images/67/199086_3/biden_genocide_v3.thumb-550x310.jpg)
Biden Under Pressure to Recognize Armenian Genocide - KTLA 5 News
![](/cache_video/video_images/17/48505_3/untitled_v4.thumb-550x310.jpg)
Governance and Oversight Capacities Account for Our Bank's Robust Management System - Philip Lynch, Independent Board Member at Ameriabank
![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/YsUfAAHX-Bs/maxresdefault.jpg)
'Mr. President, It Is Now in Your Power to Right Decades of Denial' - US Congressman Adam Schiff Urges Joe Biden to Recognize Armenian Genocide
![](/cache_video/video_images/17/48048_3/untitled.thumb-550x310.png)
Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh in Despair After Trauma of Military Defeat - France 24
![](/cache_video/video_images/65/193399_3/ef.thumb-550x310.jpg)
Interview with Kakhaber Kiknavelidze, an Independent Member of Ameriabank Board of Directors
![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/YgKLSoO1JU4/maxresdefault.jpg)
Only Terrorists Keep Hostages, Putting Forward Preconditions for Their Release - Edmon Marukyan
![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/GCXrePjX--E/maxresdefault.jpg)
Rep Adam Schiff Says Congress Should Recognize Artsakh
![](/cache_video/video_images/16/45838_3/un_v2.thumb-550x310.jpg)
UN's Guterres Issues Global Appeal to Make 2021 'Year of Healing'
![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/rzmd7RouGrM/maxresdefault.jpg)
NASA's Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover Landing Animations
![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/oCKNREhXAoo/maxresdefault.jpg)
Azerbaijan Uses Prohibited Phosphorus Chemical Munitions - Defense Army Video
![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/wVdiJ8AdQx0/maxresdefault.jpg)
Artsakh Defense Army Units Neutralizing Azerbaijani Arms Supplies
![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/AzLOovjnkdo/maxresdefault.jpg)
Artsakh Defense Army Units Neutralizing Azerbaijani Drone
![](/cache_video/video_images/15/44149_3/zohrab_mnatsakanyan.thumb-550x310.png)
Nagorno-Karabakh's Status Has Been At the Heart of Our Approach - Zohrab Mnatsakanyan
![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/86_V0iUxKBQ/maxresdefault.jpg)
Artsakh Defense Army Releases Video Featuring Damaged Azerbaijani Military Equipment
![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/r7h5Lu4D8Ww/maxresdefault.jpg)
Artsakh Defense Army Units Inflicting Manpower Losses on Azerbaijan
![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/I4vTMFuEjqs/maxresdefault.jpg)
Gas Pipeline Damaged in Azerbaijani Fire Targeting Nagorno-Karabakh's Capital
![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/8EvGzTYdK5c/maxresdefault.jpg)
President Armen Sarkissian Meets Emmanuel Macron at Élysée Palace
![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/u96OSWiG0O0/maxresdefault.jpg)
Artsakh Defense Army Neutralizes Azerbaijani Military Hardware
![](/cache_video/video_images/59/174611_3/frontline.thumb-550x310.jpg)
Artsakh Defense Army Units Neutralizing Azerbaijani Military Infrastructures
![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/1G5TqYmDBew/maxresdefault.jpg)
President Armen Sarkissian Meets with NATO Secretary-General in Brussels
![](/cache_video/video_images/15/44003_3/stepanakert_1.thumb-550x310.png)
Buildings and Homes Lying in Ruins in Nagorno-Karabakh's Capital After Azerbaijani Shelling
![](/cache_video/video_images/15/43969_3/fire.thumb-550x310.png)
Artsakh Defense Army's Precision Fire Gives Deadly Blow to Enemy
![](/cache_video/video_images/58/173649_3/tanks.thumb-550x310.png)
Artsakh Defense Army Units Destroying Azerbaijani Tank
![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/n91BdmvGi2E/maxresdefault.jpg)
Zohrab Mnatsakanyan: Ceasefire Does not Mandate Azerbaijan to Kill Civilians and Hit Civilian Settlements
![](/cache_video/video_images/58/173520_3/la.thumb-550x310.jpg)
Armenians Protest Outside Turkrish Embassy in Los Angeles
![](/cache_video/video_images/58/173280_3/artsakh.thumb-550x310.jpg)
Losses in Azerbaijan's Military Featured in Defense Army Footage
![](/cache_video/video_images/58/173240_3/transport_column.thumb-550x310.png)
Artsakh Defense Army Neutralizing Adversary's Transport Column
![](/cache_video/video_images/58/173229_3/abc.thumb-550x310.png)
Turkey openly backs Azerbaijan 'far more aggressively than in the past' - ABC News on Syrian mercenaries fighting in Karabakh
![](/cache_video/video_images/58/173091_3/church.thumb-550x310.jpg)
Iconic Armenian Church Hit in Azerbaijani Attacks in Nagorno-Karabakh City (photos)
![](/cache_video/video_images/58/173013_3/strikes.thumb-550x310.jpg)
Artsakh Defense Army Continues High-Precision Strikes
![](/cache_video/video_images/15/43777_3/mep.thumb-550x310.png)
War Situation in Karabakh on European Parliament's Agenda
![](/cache_video/video_images/58/172572_3/armnews.thumb-550x310.png)
Call for Urgent Action: Armenian Journalist Brings Intn'l Colleagues' Attention to Situation iin Artsakh After Azerbaijani Attacks
![](/cache_video/video_images/15/43689_3/artsakh_n.thumb-550x310.jpg)
Turkey's Support to Syrian Mercenaries Fighting Against Artsakh: Facts About Azerbaijani Aggression
![](/cache_video/video_images/58/172396_3/stepanakert.thumb-550x310.png)
Nagorno-Karabakh's Capital Under Azerbaijani Strikes
![](/cache_video/video_images/58/172248_3/video.thumb-550x310.jpg)
Armenian Armed Forces Neutralize Azerbaijani Defense Positions
![](/cache_video/video_images/58/171448_3/fighting.thumb-550x310.jpg)
ArmenianTroops Destroy Azerbaijani Armored Fighting Vehicle on Frontline
![](/cache_video/video_images/58/171424_3/f5f723cbfd6d50_5f723cbfd6da4.thumb-550x310.jpg)
There is a solid evidence that Azerbaijan has launched a thoroughly planned attack on the NKR
![](/cache_video/video_images/58/171353_3/eu_karabakh.thumb-550x310.png)
EU calls for Immediate End to Hostilities over Nagorno-Karabakh
-
15:20 • 24.05.21 Interview with Francis Malige, EBRD Managing Director
-
11:39 • 24.04.21 Armenians Commemorating 106th Anniversary of Genocide
-
09:40 • 23.04.21 Biden Under Pressure to Recognize Armenian Genocide - KTLA 5 News
-
15:34 • 22.04.21 Governance and Oversight Capacities Account for Our Bank's Robust Management System - Philip Lynch, Independent Board Member at Ameriabank
-
14:09 • 21.04.21 'Mr. President, It Is Now in Your Power to Right Decades of Denial' - US Congressman Adam Schiff Urges Joe Biden to Recognize Armenian Genocide
-
12:37 • 03.04.21 Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh in Despair After Trauma of Military Defeat - France 24
-
17:33 • 11.03.21 Interview with Kakhaber Kiknavelidze, an Independent Member of Ameriabank Board of Directors
-
17:57 • 26.01.21 Only Terrorists Keep Hostages, Putting Forward Preconditions for Their Release - Edmon Marukyan
-
13:33 • 22.01.21 Rep Adam Schiff Says Congress Should Recognize Artsakh
-
09:42 • 29.12.20 UN's Guterres Issues Global Appeal to Make 2021 'Year of Healing'
-
18:41 • 24.12.20 NASA's Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover Landing Animations
-
13:33 • 31.10.20 Azerbaijan Uses Prohibited Phosphorus Chemical Munitions - Defense Army Video
-
16:37 • 30.10.20 Artsakh Defense Army Units Neutralizing Azerbaijani Arms Supplies
-
11:25 • 28.10.20 Artsakh Defense Army Units Neutralizing Azerbaijani Drone
-
13:45 • 24.10.20 Nagorno-Karabakh's Status Has Been At the Heart of Our Approach - Zohrab Mnatsakanyan
-
11:51 • 24.10.20 Artsakh Defense Army Releases Video Featuring Damaged Azerbaijani Military Equipment
-
11:40 • 24.10.20 Artsakh Defense Army Units Inflicting Manpower Losses on Azerbaijan
-
10:39 • 24.10.20 Gas Pipeline Damaged in Azerbaijani Fire Targeting Nagorno-Karabakh's Capital
-
12:41 • 23.10.20 President Armen Sarkissian Meets Emmanuel Macron at Élysée Palace
-
12:16 • 23.10.20 Artsakh Defense Army Neutralizes Azerbaijani Military Hardware
-
12:02 • 22.10.20 Artsakh Defense Army Units Neutralizing Azerbaijani Military Infrastructures
-
10:35 • 22.10.20 President Armen Sarkissian Meets with NATO Secretary-General in Brussels
-
10:51 • 17.10.20 Buildings and Homes Lying in Ruins in Nagorno-Karabakh's Capital After Azerbaijani Shelling
-
15:09 • 15.10.20 Artsakh Defense Army's Precision Fire Gives Deadly Blow to Enemy
-
13:13 • 13.10.20 Artsakh Defense Army Units Destroying Azerbaijani Tank
-
12:56 • 12.10.20 Zohrab Mnatsakanyan: Ceasefire Does not Mandate Azerbaijan to Kill Civilians and Hit Civilian Settlements
-
12:23 • 12.10.20 Armenians Protest Outside Turkrish Embassy in Los Angeles
-
17:23 • 09.10.20 Losses in Azerbaijan's Military Featured in Defense Army Footage
-
15:53 • 09.10.20 Artsakh Defense Army Neutralizing Adversary's Transport Column
-
14:11 • 09.10.20 Turkey openly backs Azerbaijan 'far more aggressively than in the past' - ABC News on Syrian mercenaries fighting in Karabakh
-
15:52 • 08.10.20 Iconic Armenian Church Hit in Azerbaijani Attacks in Nagorno-Karabakh City (photos)
-
10:57 • 08.10.20 Artsakh Defense Army Continues High-Precision Strikes
-
14:24 • 07.10.20 War Situation in Karabakh on European Parliament's Agenda
-
19:31 • 05.10.20 Call for Urgent Action: Armenian Journalist Brings Intn'l Colleagues' Attention to Situation iin Artsakh After Azerbaijani Attacks
-
16:17 • 04.10.20 Turkey's Support to Syrian Mercenaries Fighting Against Artsakh: Facts About Azerbaijani Aggression
-
12:39 • 04.10.20 Nagorno-Karabakh's Capital Under Azerbaijani Strikes
-
13:49 • 03.10.20 Armenian Armed Forces Neutralize Azerbaijani Defense Positions
-
10:12 • 29.09.20 ArmenianTroops Destroy Azerbaijani Armored Fighting Vehicle on Frontline
-
23:42 • 28.09.20 There is a solid evidence that Azerbaijan has launched a thoroughly planned attack on the NKR
-
18:45 • 28.09.20 EU calls for Immediate End to Hostilities over Nagorno-Karabakh
Most popular articles Today Yesterday For a week
-
Politics 14:48 • 13/06 U.S. Sees Geopolitical ‘Dividend’ Of Armenia-Azerbaijan Peace Deal A peace treaty between Armenia and Azerbaijan would not only end their long-running conflict but also reduce Russian influence in the region and facilitate a new trade route from Central Asia to Turkey, according to a senior U.S. official.
-
Event 11:46 • 12/06 Massive 160-rocket barrage fired at northern Israel after top Hezbollah commander killed The IDF reported, that 160 rockets launched in the barrage from Lebanon crossed the border into northern Israel after top Hezbollah commander killed It says several rockets were intercepted by air defenses, while o
-
Politics 15:33 • 13/06 Archbishop Bagrat Galstanyan: Abraham Gasparyan has been tortured I have said, and I will say again, that there are hooligans among the police—bred hooligans in the true sense of the word. And if, in general, the police do not separate themselves from them, then they are also complicit in hooliganism,” Archbishop Bagrat Galstanyan said.
-
Politics 10:04 • 11/06 Turkey is following the process of withdrawal of Russian peacekeepers from Karabakh. Erdogan to Aliyev "Turkey follows the process of the withdrawal of Russian peacekeepers from Karabakh and approves the restoration of "Azerbaijani lands freed from occupation" (quotes: Tert.am)," Erdogan said.
-
Event 09:49 • 12/06 Israel says Hamas rejects key elements of US ceasefire plan for Gaza Hamas formally responded on Tuesday to a U.S. ceasefire proposal for the eight-month-old war in the Gaza Strip, and Israel said the response was tantamount to a rejection while a Hamas official said the Palestinian group merely reiterated longstanding demands not met by the current plan.
Politics
-
15:33 • 13.06.24 Archbishop Bagrat Galstanyan: Abraham Gasparyan has been tortured
-
14:48 • 13.06.24 U.S. Sees Geopolitical ‘Dividend’ Of Armenia-Azerbaijan Peace Deal
Law
-
15:01 • 17.05.24 Pro-Kurdish leader Demirtas gets 42 years in prison
Economy
-
12:47 • 14.06.24 Ucom Launches New Postpaid Packages
Event
-
14:38 • 12.06.24 Exclusive access to all EURO 2024 games for Ucom subscribers
-
09:49 • 12.06.24 Israel says Hamas rejects key elements of US ceasefire plan for Gaza
Science/tech
-
14:18 • 08.05.24 AstraZeneca withdrawing Covid vaccine worldwide