The assailants, who used the automatic weapons given to them by the state to protect their villages against terrorist attacks, killed many women and children, sending shockwaves across Turkey. The fact that this massacre, which is one of the most horrendous ones in the modern history of Turkey, was carried out by the village guards, who have a right to kill in the name of the state, raised more questions over the village guard system, which was established in 1986 as a paramilitary force to protect villages against attacks carried out by the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK). Taraf’s Yasemin Çongar says it is impossible to try to see the big picture in the massacre in Mardin by ignoring the fact that the village guards, who are presented by the state as “untouchable” because the state ignores the guards’ mistakes and encourages their violence, have become the representatives not of legitimacy, but illegitimacy, in the region. “What is it if not a poisonous joke, the article in the law that arranges the village guard system, which says ‘Village guards exist in order to protect everyone’s honor, life and property in the village.’ Without pondering this, it is not possible to be a real state. You cannot bring peace to the region by employing more village guards instead of abolishing the village guard system. You cannot remove the rage in the eyes of the children of the village of Bilge. And you will continue looking at the emptiness that is impossible to fill in the eyes of the Bilge’s old women,” explains Çongar.
Akşam’s İsmail Küçükkaya also talks about the disadvantages of the village guard system, even though Turkey’s generals have been saying for decades that the village guards facilitate the security forces’ counterterrorism efforts. In his view, the public should have their questions on the village guard system answered, questions such as: How are the village guards trained? What kind of institutionalization does this system have? How are the village guards prevented from overstepping their authority? What is the mechanism of punishment available for such situations? “The village guard system may have some benefits. They are a powerful weapon in the hands of the state, particularly from the tactical perspective. But this powerful weapon has a potential to create the opposite effects. How does the regional public view the village guards? Is there an impression that those who are not village guards are being discriminated against? Can we win 6 million people by making 60,000 people ‘our men’? Is this system really successful as it is claimed to be and what is the results proving this?” asks Küçükkaya. In his view, the important thing is not to create heroes, but to win the public and it is questionable whether the village guard system helps to win the public.
Radikal’s Oral Çalışlar also asks some questions about the village guard system in the wake of the massacre in Mardin. “What kind of disasters has the village guard system led to in this region? How can the village guard system be rehabilitated?” asks Çalışlar, seeing these as the questions that need to be answered after this tragedy.
