DERSIM 1938 – 70 YEARS LATER

Dersim is the name of a province of Kurdistan which is now a region within the borders of today’s Republic of Turkey. Hozat is its centre. Due to the fact that the majority of the Kurds living in Dersim are Alevis-Kızılbaş it has been a region targeted both by the Ottoman empire and later its follow up state, the Republic of Turkey. Turkish state’s official reports and testimonies of eyewitnesses document and authenticate these…

A significant number of Armenian population also lived within this geography up until the beginning of 1900. The Kurds, due to their social and cultural diversities did not permit the entrance of the Ottoman Empire into Dersim and continued their semi-autonomous structure. The saying amongst the Ottomans that “you can make a military expedition into Dersim but no war can be won” eminently proves this fact.

In the shadow of the I. World War, between 1915-1916, under the rule of Committee for Union and Progress, Turkey applied pressure on Dersim to exterminate and hand over the Armenians in order to implement the Armenian genocide. However the people of Dersim safeguarded tens of thousands of Armenians and did not hand them over to the Ottomans. Later, Armenian citizens were forced to flee to Armenia, Russia, EU countries and the USA.

Mustafa Kemal Atatürk established the Ankara Government with the support of the Kurds, whom he saw as the founding integral of the state, promising them autonomy. In February 1921 Kurds of Koçgiri demanded “autonomy for Kurdistan”. However, Ankara relegated its army under the command of Sakallı Nurettin Pasha onto Koçgiri to bloodily crush this resistance.

We can ascertain from the official correspondence of the Empire and the Republic that the Republic of Turkey did not content itself with only that but with the external support received dispensed with its promise of “autonomy” to the Kurds. Thereafter Kurds began the period widely known as “Sheikh Said Resistance” in order to demand their rights. Turkey bloodily crushed this resistance as well with the help of France. According to a report by the League of Nations between 15-20 thousand Kurds were killed, 206 villages and 9000 homes were destroyed. Sheikh Said and his friends, on the other hand, were executed in Diyarbakir on 28 June 1925.

Mustafa Kemal in 1926 said the following to Emile Hüderbrand, an artist and a journalist from Switzerland, in an unusual frankness: “In the past, in Kurdistan and in the inner regions of Anatolia, I crushed them with an iron fist when they showed lenience to oppose the will of the Republic. For example, I once executed sixty of their leaders at dawn. These elements (Kurds) have learnt their lesson and won’t attempt to measure swords with me again.”

However, the Kurdish elements did not give up. The organization Xoybun (“Independence”) emerged to be the voice of the Kurds under the leadership of İhsan Nuri Bey by the end of the 1920's in Ararat. But this Kurdish movement as well was bloodily crushed with the help of Iran and other foreign support…

In the aftermath of this genocide, the then Prime Minister of Turkey, Ismet Inönü, said: “In this country only the Turkish nation has the right to demand ethnic and racial rights. No-one else holds such a right.” (Milliyet, 31 August 1930). The then Minister for Justice, Mahmut Esat (Bozkurt) talked more openly in his speech in Ödemiş: “The Turk is the sole master and possessor of this country. Those who are not from a pure Turkish ancestry have a single right in this country; the right to be the servant, the right to be the slave. Let our allies and enemies, even the mountains regard this reality as such!” (Milliyet, 19 September 1930)

TIME FOR DERSİM’S TURN HAS COME

Whilst the Turkish state was denying the Kurds the Government in Ankara was getting reports prepared on Dersim where the Ottoman Empire could not incur. Civil Service Inspector Hamdi Bey stated the following in his report presented to the government on February 1926: “Dersim is the source of trouble for the Republic’s

D E R S I M

government. For the security of our country there is an absolute need to have an irrevocable operation on this source in order to prevent painful possibilities.”. The Turkish Parliament enacted a special “Tunceli Legislation” No. 2884 in 1935 in order to punish, discipline and force immigration on Dersim. The name Dersim was changed and re-named by the state to be “Tunç eli (Bronze hand)”. The name of the village of Mamikan which was part of Mazgirt district was also changed to Tunceli and made the centre of administration.

Through such a special legislation, which is a clear violation of “generality” and “equality” principles, the Fourth General Governance, encompassing Elazig, Tunceli, Erzincan, Bingöl, Sivas, Malatya, Erzurum and Gümüshane provinces, was established. General Abdullah Alpdogan, with the attributes of being the Governor and Commander of Dersim, otherwise known as the Butcher of Dersim, was appointed with special powers to be the head of this general governance. In Elazig, a military court called “Independence Court” was established. This court was especially constituted for Dersim. Through this legislation Dersim was declared a “Prohibited Area”. All access in and out of Dersim were made the subject of special permissions.

Mustafa Kemal in his opening speech of the Assembly in 1936 said the following: “If there is an important phase within our domestic affairs then this is the matter of Dersim. This domestic job, the job of ripping off, cleaning up and to radically carve this dreadful boil, this wound, has to be done no matter what the costs associated and hence the government should be granted absolute and extensive authorization so that urgent decisions can be taken on this matter.”..

The Kurds from Dersim demanded from Ankara to withdraw its gendarmerie and military personnel from the region and to halt the construction of bridges, railways and its like for military purposes. When no reply was given to their demands they began their resistance under the leadership of Seyit Riza.

The Turkish state, externally sieged Dersim and staged a military attack with heavy armament. A squadron of war planes taking off from Amed bombarded Dersim. Clashes spread all around. The occupation which had to be interrupted due to winter conditions was resumed in 1937. The civilians took refuge in the mountains in the face of Turkish army’s siege and later invasion.

Villages were bombed, burnt down and destroyed. Those Kurds who were captured by the soldiers were bayoneted and the women raped. The leaders of Dersim such as Alişer, his wife Zarife and Sahan Agha were killed and genocide took place.

When the calendars showed 15 September 1937 the leader of Dersim, Seyid Rıza, was seized on the Muti bridge on his way to Erzincan upon the acceptance of the invitation of the Erzincan Governor. He was later taken to Elazig prison.

In the indictment prepared for Seyit Riza and his friends the prosecutor, Hatemi Şahamoğlu, had made the following statements: “This case is a case opened by Tunceli against Dersim. The judgement delivered by the High Court shall lead Tunceli to live and Dersim to be thrown on the trash heap of history”.

On 10 November 1937 the court decided to reduce the age of the 75 year old Seyid Riza and raises the age of his son so that they do not survive the death penalty. The court deliveres the judgement of death penalty for Seyid Riza, his son and 7 others. On the eve of 15 November 1937 Seyid Riza, his son and friends were executed. The lifeless body of Seyid Rıza was shown around Elazig to serve as a lesson for all. Their bodies were either buried in an unidentified place or burnt so that “their graves do not become a mausoleum”.

However, the genocide continued in the aftermath of the executions. Although the army withdrew back to its barracks in the months of winter, with the onset of spring 1938 they

attackes once again and implements mass massacres.

In August 1938 the 14th Division took a group of 381 people from the war zone to Elazig in order to send them to the West. 347 families, comprising of 3,470 people, chosen personally by the Interior Minister Şükrü Kaya, were sent to the Western provinces of Tekirdag, Edirne, Kirklareli, Balikesir, Manisa and Izmir. In Mustafa Kemal’s opening speech of the Assembly, read by Celal Bayar due to his illness and absence, on 1 November 1938 he expressed his pleasure over the “end of banditry and robbery incidents and the procurement of national sovereignty” in Dersim while Ismet Inönü said “We are rid of the difficult problem of Dersim”. Whereas, the struggle of those who took refuge on the mountains continued until the 1946 amnesty and only in 1948 the prohibition on the region was ended.

Official data, such as reports prepared towards the end of the 1920s and beginning of 1930s on Dersim, confirm that during the period of genocide, between 1937-38, there have been all round preparations by the Republic of Turkey to complete the occupation and evacuation of Dersim.

The book called “Dersim” written by the Gendarmerie General Commandership is a part of such preparation. This book is based on such resources as National Labour Service (MAH) Report and the First Public Inspectorate (1927/8-35) reports.The genocides of 1936, 1937 and 1938 which began with the Tunceli legislation in 1935 were planned in advance and implemented by the founders of the Turkish state headed by Mustafa Kemal and the gravest of all assimilation policies were practised in Dersim.

The proof of this genocide being planned as a result of a conscious and deliberate strategy can be seen clearly in the reports prepared since the end of 19th century by the then Turkish intelligence service MAH and military inspectorates, the then Interior Minister Sükrü Kaya, the publication called Dersim of the Gendarmerie General Commandership together with the Assembly records and news-articles printed in the Turkish press at the time.

After 70 years, the Genocide of Dersim still stands out as a trauma for the people of Dersim. The proof of the Dersim genocide can be found in the archives of the Turkish Republic, in the reports

prepared by the state, testimonies of eyewitnesses and photographs of then together with archives of Great Britain, Russia as well as some other member states of EU.

Although it may look as if the Tunceli Legislation, General Governorship, Prohibited Area implementations have been ended in 1948/1949 the extraordinary regime continues to date under cultural genocide and physical annihilation. The Kurds, Alevis-Kızılbaş from Dersim are being administered under extraordinary military-fascist regimes in the aftermath of 1938.

Although the state officially states that it has killed 12,000 Kurdish Alevi-Kizilbas, other various sources say that 70,000 people have been killed in this genocide. In the documents of the General Staff these incidents were noted down as and named to be ‘military operation’, ‘discipline’ and ‘punishment’ but never named or accepted to be the Kurdish question.

CONCLUSION

During the II. World War while the racist-chauvinist fascists were implementing genocide on the Jewish people in Europe; the Turkish state in the shadows of this war implemented its own genocide in Dersim. In the aftermath Kurd, Kurdish and Kurdistan terminologies were prohibited from usage. A nation called Kurds, a language called Kurdish and a belief called Alevi-Kizilbas were considered as non-existing. Kurds were separated from their own history by leaving them language-less, identity-less and culture-less. This situation continues to date.

It is the year 2008. Instead of recognising the Kurds, apologizing for all the genocide and massacres against the Kurdish people and living in peace with the Kurds, the Turkish state continues to bombard our mountains, burn our forests and kill our people.

By building eight dams on a small river the ecological balance is damaged leading to a change in the demographic structure and de-humanization of the region.

Dersim was bombarded at the same time as Guernica. Rightfully the whole world showed its solidarity with Guernica. Solidarity that needed to be shown for Nagasaki, Hiroshima, the Jewish and Armenian peoples were all shown and fascism was fought against. However the same world did not show solidarity with Dersim that was bombarded at the same time. Dersim stands as a genocide that is forgotten or wished to be forgotten. We hope that officials of the EU, which is governed by democratic norms and universal law, are sensitive to the Dersim Genocide as they are to other genocides which have already been recognised as such. This would also help resolve the stillunsolved Kurdish Question.

PROGRAMME

"DERSIM 1938 - 70 Years Afterhosted by Feleknas Uca

in ASP 01G 03 13 November 200815:00 - 18:30

10:30 -11:00 Press Conference Venue : PHS 0 A 050, Pres s Room

15:00 -15:05 Welcome and Opening SpeechFeleknas Uca , Member European Parliament

15:05 -15:15 Assimilation and Repression - The Subsequent YearsHaydar Isik , President of the Association of Reconstruction of DERSIM , Writer

The Heritage Transferred from the Ottoman Empire to the Turkish Republic: "Ideology of Uniformity"

15:15 -15:35 From a Religious Community to a Nation: The Approach Towards MinoritiesAyse Hür, Writer and Columnist, Istanbul

15:35 -15:50 The Armenians - Expelled from their Home- Differences and SimilaritiesHilda Tchoboian, President of the European Armenian Federation for Justice and Democracy, Belgium

15:50 -16:00 A Scream Drowned In Blood - Dersim 1938 Serafettin Halis, MP for Tunceli, Turkey

16:00 -16:15 The Dersim Genocide and the International Law Prof. Dr. Ronald Mönch , University of Bremen, Germany

16:15 -16:25 Screening of a short Documentary

"The Others " in the European Accession Process of Turkey

16:25 -16:35 Does Turkey fulfill the criteria for a EU Accession?N.N., MEP

16:35 -16:45 The Situation in Dersim from a Human Rights Perspective Hans Branscheidt, EU Turkey Civic Commission

16:45 -18:20 Discussion

18:20 -18:30 Closing SpeechAysel Tugluk, MP for Diyarbakir, Turkey

18:30 Reception, Entrance of the Conference Room

ABOUT THE CONTRIBUTORS

SERAFETTİN HALİSSerafettin Halis, born 26 October 1956 in Dersim. Graduated from Mardin Education Institute as a teacher.

Halis has collected his poems in a book called “Nupelda”. Halis is a member of the Turkish Parliament.

AYSEL TUGLUKBorn 17 July 1965 in Elazıg. Graduated from Istanbul University Law Faculty as a lawyer. She was a member

of the executive council at the Sociatel Law Research Foundation. She was the foundation member of Patriotic Women’s Association. Tugluk was the co-president of the Democratic Society Party. Aysel Tugluk is a member of the Turkish Parliament.

HANS BRANSCHEIDTHans Branscheidt is Head of the German based NGO medico international, an organisation that struggles for

the human right to the best possible access to good health. In doing so it supports local partners, primarily in Africa, Asia and Latin America in their endeavours to create the economic, social and cultural conditions that allow each person to attain the highest health standard possible. In particular medico stands by those who are in situations of emergency and in poverty, including refugees and the victims of war. Hans Branscheidt is also a member of the Coalition for a Democratic Iraq (KDI).

Ragıp ZarakoluRagıp Zarakolu was born in 1948 on Buyukada close to Istanbul. At that time his father, Remzi Zarakolu, was

the district governor on that island. Ragıp Zarakolu grew up with members of the Greek and Armenian minority in Turkey. In 1968 he began writing for "Ant" and "Yeni Ufuklar" magazines.

In 1971 a military junta assumed power in Turkey. Ragıp Zarakolu was tried on charges of secret relations to Amnesty International. He spent five months in prison, before the charges were dropped. In 1972 Ragıp Zarakolu was sentenced to 2 years' imprisonment for his article in the journal Ant (Pledge) on Ho Chi Minh and the Vietnam war. He stayed in Selimiye Prison (Istanbul) and was released in 1974 following a general amnesty. On his release Zarakolu refused to abandon his campaign for freedom of thought, striving for an "attitude of respect for different thoughts and cultures to become widespread in Turkey".

In 1979 Ragıp Zarakolu was one of the founders of the daily newspaper Demokrat and took responsibility for the news desk on foreign affairs. The paper was banned with the military coup of 12 September 1980 and Ragıp Zarakolu was shortly imprisoned in 1982 in connection with this position in Demokrat. He was banned from leaving the country between 1971 and 1991. In 1986 he became one of 98 founders of the Human Rights Association in Turkey (HRA or in Turkish IHD). For some time Ragıp Zarakolu chaired the Writers in prison Committee of International PEN in Turkey. Currently (beginning of 2007) he chairs the Committee for Freedom of Publication in the Union of Publishers. Until the military coup of 12 September 1980 Belge Publishing House mostly published academic and theoretical books. Afterwards Belge started to publish a series of books written by political prisoners. The series of 35 books consisted of poems, shorts stories, novels. The list of publications (see a list of selected publications below) include more than 10 books (translations) of Greek literature, 10 books on the Armenian Question and five books related to the Jews in Turkey. There are also a number of books dealing with the Kurds in Turkey.

He also has published several books on the Armenian Genocides, such as George Jerjian’s The Truth Will set Us Free: Armenians and Turks Reconciled and Professor Dora Sakayan's An Armenian Doctor in Turkey: Garabed Hatcherian: My Smyrna Ordeal of 1922 — which brought new criminal charges in 2005.

HAYDAR IŞIKHaydar Işık was born on the 1st September 1937 in Dersim of North Kurdistan (Turkey-Kurdistan). He studied

pharmacy and came at the end of 1974 to Munich (Germany). He works as free writer and writes as columnist to the newspaper ‘Yeni Özgür Politika’.

Işık released his first Novel in Turkish language, ‘Dersimli Memik Ağa’ in İstanbul (Turkey). After three weeks the book was banned in Turkey. The publishing house A1 in Munich brought the book out in German language. In 1996 appeared Haydar Işıks novel ‘Dersim Tertelesi’ in İstanbul. Also this book was fast banned. The publishing house Unrast moved it under the title ‘Die Vernichtung von Dersim.’

Haydar Işık wrote numerous novels: ‘Şafağı Beklemeyeceğiz’, ‘Ronahi’, ‘Şerkoy’dan Sultan Selahaddin Eyyubi’ye.’ ‘Bitlis Beyi Abdal Han’ was Işık’s last novel. Isik translate also several books from the German into the Turkish language.

From 1996 to 1997 he was the chairman of the Kurdish Pen Centre and a Member of the Kurdistan National Congress (KNC). Işık was expatriated after the military coup. Işık is since 1984 German citizen.

Ronald MönchIs a professor of constitutional and international law and a consultant in the education industry. He studied

in Heidelberg, Göttingen and Paris to become a lawyer. He was professor at Bremen Business University of Applied Sciences where he was elected vice-chancellor in 1979. In 1982 he was the founding vice-chancellor (rector) of Hochschule Bremen where he was re-elected vice-chancellor several times and awarded the first “Best Practice Award” by “Centrum für Hochschulentwicklung” (CHE). He was also Vice-President of the German Rectors Conference (HRK). In 2002 he became acting dean of the faculty for communication at Hochschule Magdeburg-Stendal and consultant for CHE - the “think tank” of the German Universities. Consultancy jobs in various German Ministries of Higher Education followed. Ronald Mönch was also engaged in the conception and the foundation of the German – Jordanian University (GJU) in Amman / Jordan. In Jordan he was consultant to the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan and the Programme Director of the Federal Ministry of Higher Education (BMBF) and the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD). Between 2005 and 2007 he was Vice-president of GJU in Amman / Jordan and Programme Director of the DAAD. Since 1988 he has been working as consultant in Human Rights and International Law for the Kurdish National Movement from all parts of Kurdistan (Turkey, Iran, Iraq and Syria) and West-European Governments and parliamentarians.

Ronald Mönch is currently consulting the Ministry of Higher Education of the Syrian Arab Republic on behalf of Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau (KfW).

Mrs Hilda TCHOBOIAN – FranceChairwoman of the Covcas Center for Law and Conflict Resolution.Hilda Tchoboian is graduated in economics and political science from Grenoble University.She is a Human Rights activist for more than 20 years.She took an active part in the political struggle which finally led to the recognition of the Armenian genocide

by the European Parliament in 1987.Since then, she was given the chair of the Covcas Center for Law and Conflict Resolution and she also used to

be UN consultant. She is the chairwoman of the European Armenian Federation.The European Armenian Federation for Justice and Democracy is a pan-European organization based in

Brussels. A part of its action is based on the struggle for the rights of Armenians all around the world, especially in

Turkey.

D E R S I M

DERSIM 1938 – 70 YEARS LATER

Dersim is the name of a province of Kurdistan which is now a region within the borders of today’s Republic of Turkey. Hozat is its centre. Due to the fact that the majority of the Kurds living in Dersim are Alevis-Kızılbaş it has been a region targeted both by the Ottoman empire and later its follow up state, the Republic of Turkey. Turkish state’s official reports and testimonies of eyewitnesses document and authenticate these… 

A significant number of Armenian population also lived within this geography up until the beginning of 1900. The Kurds, due to their social and cultural diversities did not permit the entrance of the Ottoman Empire into Dersim and continued their semi-autonomous structure. The saying amongst the Ottomans that “you can make a military expedition into Dersim but no war can be won” eminently proves this fact.

In the shadow of the I. World War, between 1915-1916, under the rule of Committee for Union and Progress, Turkey applied pressure on Dersim to exterminate and hand over the Armenians in order to implement the Armenian genocide. However the people of Dersim safeguarded tens of thousands of Armenians and did not hand them over to the Ottomans. Later, Armenian citizens were forced to flee to Armenia, Russia, EU countries and the USA.

Mustafa Kemal Atatürk established the Ankara Government with the support of the Kurds, whom he saw as the founding integral of the state, promising them autonomy. In February 1921 Kurds of Koçgiri demanded “autonomy for Kurdistan”. However, Ankara relegated its army under the command of Sakallı Nurettin Pasha onto Koçgiri to bloodily crush this resistance.

We can ascertain from the official correspondence of the Empire and the Republic that the Republic of Turkey did not content itself with only that but with the external support received dispensed with its promise of “autonomy” to the Kurds. Thereafter Kurds began the period widely known as “Sheikh Said Resistance” in order to demand their rights. Turkey bloodily crushed this resistance as well with the help of France. According to a report by the League of Nations between 15-20 thousand Kurds were killed, 206 villages and 9000 homes were destroyed. Sheikh Said and his friends, on the other hand, were executed in Diyarbakir on 28 June 1925.

Mustafa Kemal in 1926 said the following to Emile Hüderbrand, an artist and a journalist from Switzerland, in an unusual frankness: “In the past, in Kurdistan and in the inner regions of Anatolia, I crushed them with an iron fist when they showed lenience to oppose the will of the Republic. For example, I once executed sixty of their leaders at dawn. These elements (Kurds) have learnt their lesson and won’t attempt to measure swords with me again.”

However, the Kurdish elements did not give up. The organization Xoybun (“Independence”) emerged to be the voice of the Kurds under the leadership of İhsan Nuri Bey by the end of the 1920's in Ararat. But this Kurdish movement as well was bloodily crushed with the help of Iran and other foreign support…

In the aftermath of this genocide, the then Prime Minister of Turkey, Ismet Inönü, said: “In this country only the Turkish nation has the right to demand ethnic and racial rights. No-one else holds such a right.” (Milliyet, 31 August 1930). The then Minister for Justice, Mahmut Esat (Bozkurt) talked more openly in his speech in Ödemiş: “The Turk is the sole master and possessor of this country. Those who are not from a pure Turkish ancestry have a single right in this country; the right to be the servant, the right to be the slave. Let our allies and enemies, even the mountains regard this reality as such!” (Milliyet, 19 September 1930)  

TIME FOR DERSİM’S TURN HAS COME 

Whilst the Turkish state was denying the Kurds the Government in Ankara was getting reports prepared on Dersim where the Ottoman Empire could not incur. Civil Service Inspector Hamdi Bey stated the following in his report presented to the government on February 1926: “Dersim is the source of trouble for the Republic’s government. For the security of our country there is an absolute need to have an irrevocable operation on this source in order to prevent painful possibilities.”. The Turkish Parliament enacted a special “Tunceli Legislation” No. 2884 in 1935 in order to punish, discipline and force immigration on Dersim. The name Dersim was changed and re-named by the state to be “Tunç eli (Bronze hand)”. The name of the village of Mamikan which was part of Mazgirt district was also changed to Tunceli and made the centre of administration.

Through such a special legislation, which is a clear violation of “generality” and “equality” principles, the Fourth General Governance, encompassing Elazig, Tunceli, Erzincan, Bingöl, Sivas, Malatya, Erzurum and Gümüshane provinces, was established. General Abdullah Alpdogan, with the attributes of being the Governor and Commander of Dersim, otherwise known as the Butcher of Dersim, was appointed with special powers to be the head of this general governance. In Elazig, a military court called “Independence Court” was established. This court was especially constituted for Dersim. Through this legislation Dersim was declared a “Prohibited Area”. All access in and out of Dersim were made the subject of special permissions.

Mustafa Kemal in his opening speech of the Assembly in 1936 said the following: “If there is an important phase within our domestic affairs then this is the matter of Dersim. This domestic job, the job of ripping off, cleaning up and to radically carve this dreadful boil, this wound, has to be done no matter what the costs associated and hence the government should be granted absolute and extensive authorization so that urgent decisions can be taken on this matter.”..

The Kurds from Dersim demanded from Ankara to withdraw its gendarmerie and military personnel from the region and to halt the construction of bridges, railways and its like for military purposes. When no reply was given to their demands they began their resistance under the leadership of Seyit Riza.

The Turkish state, externally sieged Dersim and staged a military attack with heavy armament. A squadron of war planes taking off from Amed bombarded Dersim.

Clashes spread all around. The occupation which had to be interrupted due to winter conditions was resumed in 1937. The civilians took refuge in the mountains in the face of Turkish army’s siege and later invasion.

Villages were bombed, burnt down and destroyed. Those Kurds who were captured by the soldiers were bayoneted and the women raped. The leaders of Dersim such as Alişer, his wife Zarife and Sahan Agha were killed and genocide took place.

When the calendars showed 15 September 1937 the leader of Dersim, Seyid Rıza, was seized on the Muti bridge on his way to Erzincan upon the acceptance of the invitation of the Erzincan Governor. He was later taken to Elazig prison.

In the indictment prepared for Seyit Riza and his friends the prosecutor, Hatemi Şahamoğlu, had made the following statements: “This case is a case opened by Tunceli against Dersim. The judgement delivered by the High Court shall lead Tunceli to live and Dersim to be thrown on the trash heap of history”.

On 10 November 1937 the court decided to reduce the age of the 75 year old Seyid Riza and raises the age of his son so that they do not survive the death penalty. The court deliveres the judgement of death penalty for Seyid Riza, his son and 7 others. On the eve of 15 November 1937 Seyid Riza, his son and friends were executed. The lifeless body of Seyid Rıza was shown around Elazig to serve as a lesson for all. Their bodies were either buried in an unidentified place or burnt so that “their graves do not become a mausoleum”.  

However, the genocide continued in the aftermath of the executions.

Although the army withdrew back to its barracks in the months of winter, with the onset of spring 1938 they attackes once again and implements mass massacres.

In August 1938 the 14th Division took a group of 381 people from the war zone to Elazig in order to send them to the West. 347 families, comprising of 3,470 people, chosen personally by the Interior Minister Şükrü Kaya, were sent to the Western provinces of Tekirdag, Edirne, Kirklareli, Balikesir, Manisa and Izmir. In Mustafa Kemal’s opening speech of the Assembly, read by Celal Bayar due to his illness and absence, on 1 November 1938 he expressed his pleasure over the “end of banditry and robbery incidents and the procurement of national sovereignty” in Dersim while Ismet Inönü said “We are rid of the difficult problem of Dersim”. Whereas, the struggle of those who took refuge on the mountains continued until the 1946 amnesty and only in 1948 the prohibition on the region was ended.

Official data, such as reports prepared towards the end of the 1920s and beginning of 1930s on Dersim, confirm that during the period of genocide, between 1937-38, there have been all round preparations by the Republic of Turkey to complete the occupation and evacuation of Dersim.

The book called “Dersim” written by the Gendarmerie General Commandership is a part of such preparation. This book is based on such resources as National Labour Service (MAH) Report and the First Public Inspectorate (1927/8-35) reports. 

The genocides of 1936, 1937 and 1938 which began with the Tunceli legislation in 1935 were planned in advance and implemented by the founders of the Turkish state headed by Mustafa Kemal and the gravest of all assimilation policies were practised in Dersim.

The proof of this genocide being planned as a result of a conscious and deliberate strategy can be seen clearly in the reports prepared since the end of 19th century by the then Turkish intelligence service MAH and military inspectorates, the then Interior Minister Sükrü Kaya, the publication called Dersim of the Gendarmerie General Commandership together with the Assembly records and news-articles printed in the Turkish press at the time.

After 70 years, the Genocide of Dersim still stands out as a trauma for the people of Dersim.

The proof of the Dersim genocide can be found in the archives of the Turkish Republic, in the reports prepared by the state, testimonies of eyewitnesses and photographs of then together with archives of Great Britain, Russia as well as some other member states of EU. 

Although it may look as if the Tunceli Legislation, General Governorship, Prohibited Area implementations have been ended in 1948/1949 the extraordinary regime continues to date under cultural genocide and physical annihilation. The Kurds, Alevis-Kızılbaş from Dersim are being administered under extraordinary military-fascist regimes in the aftermath of 1938.

Although the state officially states that it has killed 12,000 Kurdish Alevi-Kizilbas, other various sources say that 70,000 people have been killed in this genocide. In the documents of the General Staff these incidents were noted down as and named to be ‘military operation’, ‘discipline’ and ‘punishment’ but never named or accepted to be the Kurdish question.  

CONCLUSION

During the II. World War while the racist-chauvinist fascists were implementing genocide on the Jewish people in Europe; the Turkish state in the shadows of this war implemented its own genocide in Dersim. In the aftermath Kurd, Kurdish and Kurdistan terminologies were prohibited from usage. A nation called Kurds, a language called Kurdish and a belief called Alevi-Kizilbas were considered as non-existing. Kurds were separated from their own history by leaving them language-less, identity-less and culture-less. This situation continues to date.

It is the year 2008. Instead of recognising the Kurds, apologizing for all the genocide and massacres against the Kurdish people and living in peace with the Kurds, the Turkish state continues to bombard our mountains, burn our forests and kill our people.

By building eight dams on a small river the ecological balance is damaged leading to a change in the demographic structure and de-humanization of the region.

Dersim was bombarded at the same time as Guernica. Rightfully the whole world showed its solidarity with Guernica. Solidarity that needed to be shown for Nagasaki, Hiroshima, the Jewish and Armenian peoples were all shown and fascism was fought against. However the same world did not show solidarity with Dersim that was bombarded at the same time. Dersim stands as a genocide that is forgotten or wished to be forgotten. We hope that officials of the EU, which is governed by democratic norms and universal law, are sensitive to the Dersim Genocide as they are to other genocides which have already been recognised as such. This would also help resolve the still unsolved Kurdish Question.

  PROGRAMME 

"DERSIM  1938 - 70  Years  After

hosted by Feleknas Uca

in ASP 01G 03 13 November 2008

15:00 - 18:30

10:30 -11:00 Press  Conference     

Venue :  PHS  0  A 050, Pres s  Room    

 

15:00 -15:05 Welcome and Opening Speech 

Feleknas Uca ,  Member  European Parliament    

 

15:05 -15:15  Assimilation and Repression - The Subsequent Years 

Haydar Isik , President of  the  Association of  Reconstruction of  DERSIM , Writer

The Heritage Transferred from  the  Ottoman Empire to  the  Turkish Republic: "Ideology of  Uniformity" 

15:15 -15:35 From  a Religious Community  to  a  Nation:  The  Approach  Towards Minorities 

Ayse  Hür,  Writer  and Columnist,  Istanbul

 

15:35 -15:50 The Armenians - Expelled from their Home- Differences and Similarities  

Hilda  Tchoboian,   President of  the  European Armenian  Federation  for Justice and Democracy, Belgium  

 

15:50 -16:00   A Scream Drowned  In  Blood - Dersim  1938      

Serafettin  Halis,  MP  for Tunceli, Turkey  

   

16:00 -16:15   The  Dersim  Genocide  and the  International Law     

Prof.  Dr.  Ronald  Mönch ,  University  of  Bremen,  Germany    

16:15 -16:25  Screening of a  short  Documentary

     

"The  Others " in the European Accession Process  of  Turkey   

16:25 -16:35 Does Turkey fulfill  the  criteria  for a  EU Accession?   

N.N.,  MEP      

16:35 -16:45  The  Situation  in  Dersim  from  a  Human Rights Perspective    

Hans Branscheidt,   EU  Turkey  Civic  Commission   

16:45 -18:20 Discussion      

18:20 -18:30 Closing  Speech   

Aysel  Tugluk, MP  for Diyarbakir, Turkey  

18:30  Reception, Entrance  of the  Conference  Room  

ABOUT THE CONTRIBUTORS

SERAFETTİN HALİS

Serafettin Halis, born 26 October 1956 in Dersim. Graduated from Mardin Education Institute as a teacher. Halis has collected his poems in a book called “Nupelda”. Halis is a member of the Turkish Parliament.

AYSEL TUGLUK

Born 17 July 1965 in Elazıg. Graduated from Istanbul University Law Faculty as a lawyer. She was a member of the executive council at the Sociatel Law Research Foundation. She was the foundation member of Patriotic Women’s Association. Tugluk was the co-president of the Democratic Society Party. Aysel Tugluk is a member of the Turkish Parliament.

HANS BRANSCHEIDT

Hans Branscheidt is Head of the German based NGO medico international, an organisation that struggles for the human right to the best possible access to good health. In doing so it supports local partners, primarily in Africa, Asia and Latin America in their endeavours to create the economic, social and cultural conditions that allow each person to attain the highest health standard possible. In particular medico stands by those who are in situations of emergency and in poverty, including refugees and the victims of war. Hans Branscheidt is also a member of the Coalition for a Democratic Iraq (KDI).

Ragıp Zarakolu 

Ragıp Zarakolu was born in 1948 on Buyukada close to Istanbul. At that time his father, Remzi Zarakolu, was the district governor on that island. Ragıp Zarakolu grew up with members of the Greek and Armenian minority in Turkey. In 1968 he began writing for "Ant" and "Yeni Ufuklar" magazines.

In 1971 a military junta assumed power in Turkey. Ragıp Zarakolu was tried on charges of secret relations to Amnesty International. He spent five months in prison, before the charges were dropped. In 1972 Ragıp Zarakolu was sentenced to 2 years' imprisonment for his article in the journal Ant (Pledge) on Ho Chi Minh and the Vietnam war. He stayed in Selimiye Prison (Istanbul) and was released in 1974 following a general amnesty. On his release Zarakolu refused to abandon his campaign for freedom of thought, striving for an "attitude of respect for different thoughts and cultures to become widespread in Turkey".

In 1979 Ragıp Zarakolu was one of the founders of the daily newspaper Demokrat and took responsibility for the news desk on foreign affairs. The paper was banned with the military coup of 12 September 1980 and Ragıp Zarakolu was shortly imprisoned in 1982 in connection with this position in Demokrat. He was banned from leaving the country between 1971 and 1991. In 1986 he became one of 98 founders of the Human Rights Association in Turkey (HRA or in Turkish IHD). For some time Ragıp Zarakolu chaired the Writers in prison Committee of International PEN in Turkey. Currently (beginning of 2007) he chairs the Committee for Freedom of Publication in the Union of Publishers. Until the military coup of 12 September 1980 Belge Publishing House mostly published academic and theoretical books. Afterwards Belge started to publish a series of books written by political prisoners. The series of 35 books consisted of poems, shorts stories, novels. The list of publications (see a list of selected publications below) include more than 10 books (translations) of Greek literature, 10 books on the Armenian Question and five books related to the Jews in Turkey. There are also a number of books dealing with the Kurds in Turkey.

He also has published several books on the Armenian Genocides, such as George Jerjian’s The Truth Will set Us Free: Armenians and Turks Reconciled and Professor Dora Sakayan's An Armenian Doctor in Turkey: Garabed Hatcherian: My Smyrna Ordeal of 1922 — which brought new criminal charges in 2005.

HAYDAR IŞIK

Haydar Işık was born on the 1st September 1937 in Dersim of North Kurdistan (Turkey-Kurdistan). He studied pharmacy and came at the end of 1974 to Munich (Germany). He works as free writer and writes as columnist to the newspaper ‘Yeni Özgür Politika’.

Işık released his first Novel in Turkish language, ‘Dersimli Memik Ağa’ in İstanbul (Turkey). After three weeks the book was banned in Turkey. The publishing house A1 in Munich brought the book out in German language. In 1996 appeared Haydar Işıks novel ‘Dersim Tertelesi’ in İstanbul. Also this book was fast banned. The publishing house Unrast moved it under the title ‘Die Vernichtung von Dersim.’

Haydar Işık wrote numerous novels: ‘Şafağı Beklemeyeceğiz’, ‘Ronahi’, ‘Şerkoy’dan Sultan Selahaddin Eyyubi’ye.’ ‘Bitlis Beyi Abdal Han’ was Işık’s last novel. Isik translate also several books from the German into the Turkish language.

From 1996 to 1997 he was the chairman of the Kurdish Pen Centre and a Member of the Kurdistan National Congress (KNC). Işık was expatriated after the military coup. Işık is since 1984 German citizen.

Ronald Mönch

Is a professor of constitutional and international law and a consultant in the education industry. He studied in Heidelberg, Göttingen and Paris to become a lawyer. He was professor at Bremen Business University of Applied Sciences where he was elected vice-chancellor in 1979. In 1982 he was the founding vice-chancellor (rector) of Hochschule Bremen where he was re-elected vice-chancellor several times and awarded the first “Best Practice Award” by “Centrum für Hochschulentwicklung” (CHE). He was also Vice-President of the German Rectors Conference (HRK). In 2002 he became acting dean of the faculty for communication at Hochschule Magdeburg-Stendal and consultant for CHE - the “think tank” of the German Universities. Consultancy jobs in various German Ministries of Higher Education followed. Ronald Mönch was also engaged in the conception and the foundation of the German – Jordanian University (GJU) in Amman / Jordan.  In Jordan he was consultant to the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan and the Programme Director of the Federal Ministry of Higher Education (BMBF) and the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD). Between 2005 and 2007 he was Vice-president of GJU in Amman / Jordan and Programme Director of the DAAD. Since 1988 he has been working as consultant in Human Rights and International Law for the Kurdish National Movement from all parts of Kurdistan (Turkey, Iran, Iraq and Syria) and West-European Governments and parliamentarians.

Ronald Mönch is currently consulting the Ministry of Higher Education of the Syrian Arab Republic on behalf of Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau (KfW).

Mrs Hilda TCHOBOIAN – France

Chairwoman of the Covcas Center for Law and Conflict Resolution.

Hilda Tchoboian is graduated in economics and political science from Grenoble University.

She is a Human Rights activist for more than 20 years.

She took an active part in the political struggle which finally led to the recognition of the Armenian genocide by the European Parliament in 1987.

Since then, she was given the chair of the Covcas Center for Law and Conflict Resolution and she also used to be UN consultant. She is the chairwoman of the European Armenian Federation.

The European Armenian Federation for Justice and Democracy is a pan-European organization based in Brussels.

A part of its action is based on the struggle for the rights of Armenians all around the world, especially in Turkey.