ANKARA
Thousands of people marched through the central Turkish town of Sivas on Thursday amid tight security to remember 35 people murdered there in 1993.
Dozens of people - mostly Alevi Muslims - gathering for a cultural event were killed when protesters set fire to the hotel in which they were meeting. Two of the attackers also died in the blaze.
The victims had gathered to celebrate the life of famous poet Pir Sultan Abdal when angry protesters surrounded and attacked the hotel.
On Thursday, thousands of people carrying photos of the victims - which included many leftists, writers, artists and intellectuals - gathered where the Madimak Hotel once stood. The site is now a state science and culture center.
Zeynep Altiok, a lawmaker with the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), lost her father, poet Metin Altiok, in the blaze.
"It is meaningful to be here with a different responsibility 22 years later, with my family,” she said. “My heart was here even if my body was not present."
Figen Yuksekdag, co-chairwoman of the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP), told the crowd that the Sivas massacre was “still very fresh.”
She added: “There is only one reason for this - if the killers had been brought to account, such deep grief would not remain in our people's hearts."
Yuksekdag said her party would re-open the case and develop a "justice movement" to look into old cases.
In July 2014, the State Auditing Board issued a report that found grave negligence by the authorities in the handling of the incident.
According to the report, officials failed to take adequate safety precautions to prevent the attack, which could have been clearly anticipated.
CHP leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu tweeted: "22 years ago today in Sivas, we saw the saddest example of what a disintegration in society causes."
The party’s Deputy Chairman Sezgin Tanrikulu issued a statement in which he said the fire “did not only target the country's intellectuals, but also all humanity".
In a Twitter post, HDP Co-Chairman Selahattin Demitas said grief remained fresh because of the lack of “sincere confrontation and apology” in 22 years.
Earlier in the day, Sivas Governor Alim Barut and Acting Mayor Erdal Karaca visited the site with other officials and laid carnations in memory of the victims.
"July 2, 1993 is marked in Sivas residents' memory as a black day full of grief," Barut said, adding that the fire at the hotel also engulfed the future of Sivas.
Hidayet Yildirim, the head of the Pir Sultan Abdal Cultural Association, said it was essential to make the site of the hotel a "shame museum" to recognize the Alevi community's demands for democracy and justice.
"Our hearts are once again filled with grief and pain on the 22nd anniversary of the massacre at Madimak," Yildirim said in Sivas’ Cumhuriyet Square.
