This region was known as Ishuva in the 2000s BC. As a result of the struggle of the Ishuva Kingdom, which was established by theHurrians in the region, with theHittites, the region came under the rule of the Hittites in the 1600s BC.
Although the presence ofOttoman Empire was beginning to be felt in the region afterMehmed II the Conqueror defeated theAq Qoyunlu in 1473, its incorporation into Ottoman lands took place after theBattle of Chaldiran in 1514, during the reign ofSelim the Grim. However, the harsh and rugged geographical structure of the region helped preserved its autonomy, keeping the control of the region away from the centralized government. The people of Dersim displayed rebellious attitudes during the weak periods of the central administrations.[6] VariousArmenian and Alevi Kurdish rebellions took place in the region in 1877, 1885, 1892, 1907, 1911, 1914 and1916.[6]
With the abolition of the Ottoman Empire, Turkey became the owner of the region. It was originally named Dersim Province (Dersim vilayeti), then demoted to a district (Dersimkazası) and incorporated intoElazığ Province in 1926.[7] In 1935, the Tunceli Law was passed, which established a state of emergency in the region, changed its name to Tunceli and made it a separate province consisting of the Nazımiye, Hozat, Mazgirt, Pertek, Ovacık, and Çemişgezek districts of Elazığ Province and the Pülümür District of Erzincan Province.[8][9][10][11] In January 1936, theFourth Inspectorate-General (Umumi Müfettişlik, UM) was created, which spanned the provinces of Elazığ, Erzincan, Bingöl and Tunceli and was governed by a Governor-Commander, who had the authority to evacuate whole villages and resettle them in other regions.[12] This effectively established military rule in those provinces, and significant military infrastructure was established in the region.[9] Judicial guarantees such as the right to appeal were suspended, and the Governor-Commander had the right to apply the death penalty, whereas normally this would have to be approved by theGrand National Assembly of Turkey.[12] In 1937–1938, theDersim massacre took place in Tunceli Province and the adjacent regions, which resulted in the massacre of 30,000 Kurds and displacement of tens of thousands of inhabitants of the region by Turkish forces.[9] In 1946 the Tunceli Law was abolished and the state of emergency removed but the authority of the Fourth UM was transferred to the military.[12] Some of the deported families were allowed to return home.[13] TheInspectorates-General were dissolved in 1952 during the government of theDemocrat Party.[14]
Before and after theDersim massacre, any villages and towns deemed to have non-Turkish names were renamed and given Turkish names in order tosuppress any non-Turkish heritage.[16][17][18] During the Turkish Republican era, the words Kurdistan and Kurds were banned. The Turkish government had disguised the presence of the Kurds statistically by categorizing them asMountain Turks.[19][20]
LinguistSevan Nişanyan estimates that 4,000 Kurdish geographical locations have been changed (both Zazaki and Kurmanji).[21] Prior to the name changes, Many villages in Tunceli had recognizably Armenian names, often in corrupted forms.[22][23] The people of Tunceli have been actively fighting to get their province reverted to its old Kurdish name "Dersim". Turkey's rulingJustice and Development Party (AK Party) claimed they are working on what it called a “democratization package” that includes the restoration of the Kurdish name of the eastern province of Tunceli back to Dersim in early 2013, but there has been no updates or news of it since then.[24] The local authority decided to call it Dersim in May 2019, while the Governor said it was against the law to call it Dersim.[25]
Districts of the provinceA map of Dersim by the British Vice-Consul in Van, L. Molyneux-Seel, 1911
The adjacent provinces areErzincan to the north and west,Elazığ to the south, andBingöl to the east. The province covers an area of 7,582 km2 (2,927 sq mi).[26] Tunceli is traversed by the northeasterly line of equal latitude and longitude.Munzur Valley National Park in theMunzur Mountains is also located in the province.[27]Karagöl Lake is one of the largest lakes in Tunceli province.[28] Others are Lake Çinili and Lake Baraların.[29]
Tunceli Province is a plateau characterized by its high, thickly forested mountain ranges. The historical region of Dersim, which largely corresponds to Tunceli Province, lies roughly between theKarasu andMurat rivers, both tributaries of theEuphrates.[22]
Tunceli, which is a modern name, literally means "bronze fist" in Turkish (tunç meaning "bronze" andeli (in this context) meaning "fist"). It shares the name with the military operation that theDersim Massacre was conducted under.[30]
It has been proposed that the name Dersim is connected with various placenames mentioned by ancient and classical writers, such as Daranis, Derxene (a district ofArmenia mentioned byPliny), andDaranalis/Daranaghi (a district of Armenia mentioned byPtolemy,Agathangelos, andFaustus of Byzantium).[31][32] One theory as to the origin of the name associates it withDarius the Great.[31]
One Armenian folk tradition derives the name Dersim from a certain 17th-century priest named Der Simon, who, fearing the mauradingCelali rebels, proposed that his parishioners convert to the Alevi faith of their Kurdish neighbors. The proposal was accepted, and the Armenian converts renamed their home region Dersimon in honor of their religious leader, which later transformed into Dersim.[33]
The majority of Tunceli's population areZaza Kurds and most of them practiceKurdish Alevism.[5] The Zazas migrated into Dersim during the 10th-12th centuries, probably originating from theDaylam region of northernIran.[36] Today, the Dersim region is the heartland and sacred land of Kurdish Alevis.[37] The region's isolation has insulated it from the influence of Turkey's dominant Sunni sect of Islam, helping to keep its unique Alevi character relatively pure.[38]
Dersim had a largeArmenian population prior to theArmenian genocide, with one estimate placing it at 45 percent of the total population of the region.[39] The districts of Mazgirt, Nazımiye and Çemişgezek had large Armenian populations during the Ottoman period.
The region is home to the ruins of a number of Armenian monasteries and churches, such as St. Karapet Monastery, which remains an object of reverence forAleviZaza-Kurds inDersim today.[22][39] The Armenians and Alevi Zaza-Kurds of the region had generally good relations.[22][39] During the Armenian genocide, many of the Kurds of Dersim saved thousands of Armenians by hiding them or helping them reach the positions of the Russian army.[39] Some of the region's Armenian inhabitants that managed to survive converted toAlevism, and an unknown number of inhabitants of the province today have Armenian roots.[39][40] Distinctly Armenian settlements continued to exist in parts of Dersim until the massacre of 1938, after which the remaining Armenians completely assimilated into the Alevi Kurdish population.[40] An organization called Union of Dersim Armenians has been founded in Turkey by people from Dersim seeking to reconnect with their Armenian identity.[41]
Muslim[a] and Armenian population of the region according to Ottoman censuses
In the municipal elections held in March 2019,Fatih Mehmet Maçoğlu was elected mayor of Tunceli municipality with 32% of the votes cast (Maçoğlu had previously been elected mayor ofOvacık in 2014).[45] He ran as the candidate of theCommunist Party of Turkey (TKP), making him the first communist mayor of a municipality in Turkey.[46] In his first year in office, he has established free public transport in parts of the city. The development of industrial and agricultural cooperatives, which are meant to tackle unemployment, has already begun.[47]
Tunceli is known for its old buildings such as the Çelebi Ağa Mosque,[50] Elti Hatun Mosque,[51] Mazgirt Castle,[52]Pertek Castle,[53] and the Derun-i Hisar Castle.[54][55]
John I Tzimiskes, who was born inÇemişgezek, Tunceli on 925. He ruled as Byzantine Emperor from 969 to 976, an intuitive and successful general, he strengthened the Empire and expanded its borders during his reign.
Seyid Riza (1863–1937) - Alevi Zaza-Kurdish political leader of the Alevi Zaza-Kurds of Dersim, a religious figure and the leader of the Dersim movement in Turkey during the 1937–1938 Dersim Rebellion
Nuri Dersimi (1893–1973) - Kurdish nationalist writer, revolutionary and intellectual
Aurora Mardiganian (1901–1994) - Armenian author, actress, and a survivor of the Armenian genocide
Vazken Andréassian (1903–1995) - Armenian engineer, author, and a survivor of the Armenian genocide
Andranik Andréassian [hy] (1909–1996) - Armenian author, editor, and a survivor of the Armenian genocide
Sait Kırmızıtoprak [ku] (1935–1971) - Kurdish nationalist writer and revolutionary
Kemal Burkay (1937) - Kurdish writer and politician
^Watts, Nicole F. (2010).Activists in Office: Kurdish Politics and Protest in Turkey (Studies in Modernity and National Identity). Seattle: University of Washington Press. p. 167.ISBN978-0-295-99050-7.
^abcBayir, Derya (2016-04-22).Minorities and Nationalism in Turkish Law. Routledge. pp. 139–141.ISBN978-1-317-09579-8.
^McDowall, David (2007).A Modern History of the Kurds. London and New York: I. B. Tauris. pp. 105, 209.ISBN9781850434160.OCLC939584596.
^Fleet, Kate; Kunt, I. Metin; Kasaba, Reşat; Faroqhi, Suraiya (2008-04-17).The Cambridge History of Turkey. Cambridge University Press. p. 343.ISBN978-0-521-62096-3.
^Gasparyan, H. H. (1979)."Dersim (Patmaazgagrakan aknark)" [Dersim (historical-ethnographical outline)](PDF).Patma-Banasirakan Handes (in Armenian).2:195–210. Archived fromthe original on 2014-03-06.
^"After 78 years, Turkey to restore Tunceli’s original name".Today's Zaman. (in Turkish). "Turkey's ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) is working on what it called a “democratization package” that includes the restoration of the Kurdish name of the eastern province of Tunceli. The original name of the province was Dersim and was changed to Tunceli in 1935."
^"A short history of Turkification: From Dersim to Tunceli".Ahval. (in Turkish). "The local authority in Tunceli in eastern Turkey decided this month to call the city and the province by its Kurdish name–Dersim–saying the Turkish name, which means bronze fist, did not represent the culture, history or religious beliefs of an area often at odds with central government."
^"Daranaghi".Soviet Armenian Encyclopedia (in Armenian). Vol. 3. 1977. p. 311.
^Halajyan, Gevorg (1973).Dersimi hayeri azgagrutʻyuně, masn A [Ethnography of the Dersim Armenians, part I] (in Armenian). Yerevan: Haykakan SSH GA hratarakchʻutʻyun. pp. 249–250.
^abcdeHakobyan, T. Kh.; Melik-Bakhshyan, St. T.; Barseghyan, H. Kh. (1988).Hayastani ev harakitsʻ shrjanneri teghanunneri baṛaran [Dictionary of toponymy of Armenian and adjacent territories] (in Armenian). Vol. 2. Yerevan: Yerevan State University. pp. 93–94.
^"Turgut Özal'ı rahmetle anıyoruz".Yeni Akit. (in Turkish). Retrieved 9 February 2023. "Babası Malatya/Çırmıktı'lı Ünlüoğulları'ndan banka memuru Mehmet Sıddık Özal, annesi ise Tunceli Çemişgezekli, ilkokul öğretmeni Hafize Hanım (d. 1906 - ö. 1988) olan Turgut Özal kısmen Kürt kökenlidir."
^"Gültan Kışanak Kimdir?".Bianet. (in Turkish). 9 February 2023. "Ailesi zamanında Dersim'den göçerek Elazığ'ın merkez köylerinden Sünköy'e yerleşmiş bulunan Ağuce aşiretine mensuptur."
^"Star'daki Yıldız Tilbe'nin Programında Türk-Kürt Gerginliği...".Haber Vitrini. (in Turkish). Retrieved 9 February 2023. "Programın ilerki bölümlerinde Yıldız Tilbe, “Ulaştırma Bakanından uyarı gelmiş. Benim anam Tuncelili, hem Zaza hem Kürt, babam Ağrılı Kürt. Ben bu topraklarda doğdum, büyüdüm. Kürt neyse benim için Türk de odur, Laz da odur, Çerkez de odur. Hiç bir farkı yoktur birbirinden asla” dedi."
^"Belçika’nın Kürt asıllı bakanı Zuhal Demir tehdit edildi".Ahval. (in Turkish). Retrieved 9 February 2023. "Tunceli ve Elazığ kökenli, maden işçisi bir babanın üçüncü çocuğu olan Zuhal Demir, 12 Mart 1980'de Belçika'nın Genk kentinde dünyaya geldi."
Tunçel, H. (2000). "Türkiye'de İsmi Değiştirilen Köyler" [Changed Villages in Turkey].Journal of Social Sciences (in Turkish).10 (2). Firat University.
Tuncel, Metin (2012). "Tunceli".TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi (in Turkish). Vol. 41. pp. 380–381.
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