CHP and HDP Statements on Dersim: Open the Archives, Face the Massacre

* Photos: The Federation of Dersim Associations

Click to read the article in Turkish / Kurdish

Republican People's Party (HDP) İstanbul MP Sezgin Tanrıkulu and Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) Vice Co-Chair Responsible for the Commission of Peoples and Faiths Tülay Hatimoğulları have released statements on Dersim Massacre, which began on May 4, 1937 and continued in 1938.

CHP: 14 thousand people forced to migrate

Making a statement regarding the motion that he submitted to the Speaker's Office, CHP MP Tanrıkulu has briefly stated the following:

"It is known that as a result of 'Tunceli Operations' extensively carried out against Dersim in 1937 and 1938, over 13 thousand people lost their lives, 14 thousand people were subjected to forced migration and they were exiled into western provinces of the country.

"It is also known that before and after these operations, various reports were submitted to Ankara to establish absolute state rule in Dersim and some of these reports represented citizens as enemies.

'Access to documents prevented'

"In the wake of the Law on the Administration of Tunceli Province which was passed on December 25, 1935, the name of Dersim Province was changed as Tunceli on January 4, 1936. With the law entering into force, the incidents that took place as of 1937 have inflicted unforgettable wounds throughout the Republican history.

"While the general frame of the military operations conducted in Dersim is known, access to main documents about this issue is still facing certain obstacles. Even though the trauma caused by the military operations in Dersim is known thanks to some oral history works, accessing main documents about this issue seems indispensable to define the incident.

'Open all documents, confidential or open...'

"What happened in Dersim in 1938 is still being debated by politicians, researchers and academics. The main reason why these debates do not come to an end is that not all confidential and open documents in the state archives have been opened for the service of researchers.

"We believe that all information and documents need to be collected under the roof of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey (TBMM) and, then, they need to be put into the service of domestic and international researchers so that what happened in Dersim from the 1920s to the 1940s and what was their scope can be understood."

HDP: Unveil documents on missing girls of Dersim'

The HDP has also briefly stated the following about the issue:

"The people of Dersim have named the massacre of 37-38 as 'Tertele', which means great deluge, destruction and annihilation. This great massacre, which has gone down in history as 'Roza Şaye' or 'the second dark day', has been standing as a shame in the dark pages of history as the second biggest massacre that occurred in Turkey after the Armenian genocide.

"With the passing of the Law no. 2884 on 'the Administration of Tunceli Province' on December 25, 1935, a framework was set for the operation of 'discipline' and 'banishment'. In Dersim, the name of which was changed by the Tunceli Law, tens of thousand of people were massacred by the Cabinet Decree dated May 4, 1937.

'70 thousand people massacred'

"In 1937-1938, an unprecedented ethno-religious massacre was committed in Dersim. According to the data of government agencies, 13 thousand 160 people were killed and 11 thousand 818 people were exiled into western provinces. In fact, according to local sources, the truth is the following: Around 70 thousand people were massacred in this massacre which was committed without any distinctions between women or children.

"In the course of this massacre, which has gone down in history as the '38 Slaughter', tens of thousands of people from Dersim were sent into exile and thousands of children were given out for adoption.

"People of Dersim have never learnt the fate and whereabouts of the children who survived the massacre and given out for adoption. They can receive no sight or sound of the missing girls of Dersim.

'Burial site of Seyid Rıza should be located'

"The state must face up to the reality of this atrocious massacre, albeit after 83 years later. A Commission for Truth and Confrontation need to be established for that. First of all, the archives must be entirely opened, court records must be presented to the public and the perpetrators who partook in the massacre must be put on trial, albeit in their absence.

"The burial sites of Seyid Rıza and his friends, who were executed on November 15, 1937, should be located and the documents of the children given out for adoption / the missing girls of Dersim should be unveiled. The name, language and history of Dersim, which have never disappeared for the people of Dersim, must be rehabilitated." (RT/SD)