The failed coup on the July 15, left 246 people dead, many of whom were members of the military — as well as civilians. As cemeteries across the country refuse to bury those who they consider to be traitors of the government and guilty of plotting against the regime, Mayor Kadir Topbas, has decided that the only solution is for their final resting place to be in an area dedicated to those who betrayed the government of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
"[This will be] for 'traitors' where the passersby will curse the ones buried there. I ordered a space to be saved and [for it to be called]… 'the graveyard for traitors,' " Topbas told a group of pro-government protesters in Istanbul's Taksim Square.
Mayor @Kadir__Topbas addressed the crowd at Taksim. He condemned the coup attempt & thanked Turkish people pic.twitter.com/rrLpC2kiMh
— Semanur Pekkendir (@SemanurPe) July 19, 2016
"Everyone visiting the place will curse them and they won't be able to rest in their graves."
The decision to provide space, Topbas said, came after the mayor of Ordu, a port city on the Black Sea coast, did not provide burial plots. As a result, the family of one of the dead took a body and buried it in their garden.
"I believe that they won't be saved from hell. But we need make the world unbearable for them," Topbas told protesters.
