In a special documentary, eyewitnesses recount one of the bloodiest chapters of Kurdish history - the Dersim Massacre. Tens of thousands of Kurds were brutally killed by Turkish soldiers in Dersim (Tunceli) province in a campaign that began in March 1937after Kurdish political leader Seyid Riza rebelled against the government.
Lasting for nearly two years, the rebellion was met with repression by Mustafa Kamal Ataturk’s Turkish army, bombing from the air and using poisonous gas against the restive Kurds. Up to 45,000 people were killed.
“They burned our villages and farms. There was no bread. When the night fell, people would go to their burnt farms to pick some wheat. They would also grind it to be like flour. There was no salt either. We would find some water and share it all among ourselves,” survivor Hasan Alparslan recalled.
Sabriye Arslan, another eyewitness, remembered the day the soldiers arrived. “They came to the plateau and took us. They deceived people. My father told my mother, ‘Ejma, do not be afraid. They will displace us.’ What displacement? They gathered us and began to kill. That was it.”
“They made three long queues of people, setting up heavy weapons in front of them. Then, I heard the sound of gunshots and everyone fell on the ground. I screamed, ‘Daddy … Daddy! Who were they? Why did they do that?’ He replied, ‘Do not freak out. Our turn will come as well,” said another eyewitness, Riza Cicek.
It took until 2011 for the Turkish political leadership to formally apologise for the massacre.
"If there is need for an apology on behalf of the state, if there is such a practice in the books, I would apologise and I am apologising," then Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said in a televised remark in November 2011. Erdogan is now president.
Many viewed his apology as a ploy to win over Kurdish votes.
Kurds annually commemorate the massacre on May 4.
The documentary was produced by Rudaw in 2020.
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