European Commissioner for Enlargement Stefan Füle has welcomed a recent apology offered by Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan for the killing of thousands of people in the Kurdish-Alevi region of Dersim during the 1930s.

“All gestures aiming to address divisive issues of the past in a spirit of reconciliation strengthen democracy and tolerance in Turkey and are thus most welcome,” Füle told Today's Zaman.

The Dersim massacre concerns the deaths of tens of thousands of Alevis at the hands of the military in 1937.

Erdoğan said he “apologizes for Dersim on behalf of the Turkish state.” He also called on the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP), who was part of the single-party government of the time, to offer an apology as well, referring to the party as “the actual culprit” in the massacre.