History of Dersim

The geographical location of Dersim

Dêsım (Dersim) is the unofficial name today of an area in Turkey / Eastern Anatolia, which corresponds in essence to the present province of Tunceli. The old borders of Dersim, on the other hand, went from Kayseri-Sarız to Muş-Varto, from Gümüşhane to Malatya and Maraş.

The language and the ethnic groups

The Dersim call themselves KIRMANC (outside central Dersim also Zaza and Dımili). Kırdas and Kırdaski are terms used for the Dersim Kurds and their language.

The ancient language of the Dersim is called Zazaki. This language is also known as Kırmancki or Dımılki and belongs to the massively endangered languages. It is a language native to eastern and southeastern Anatolia, belonging to the northwestern Iranian group of the Iranian language branch. Currently, the language is spoken by about two million people, according to UNESCO.

The Kırmanc/Zaza number approximately three to four million people, of whom two to three million speak Kırmanc/Zazaic as their mother tongue. The rest have forgotten the language by now. The Zaza language is considered linguistically as an independent language. Together with the related Gorani, it forms an independent subunit Zaza-Gorani of Northwest Iranian.

After the Islamization of Anatolia, the groups in the southern blue part became Sunni, while those living in the north kept their Alevi faith despite all resistance in the rugged mountainous region.

Culture and beliefs

Dersim is a colorful mosaic of cultures. Dersim are predominantly Alewites. They have a humanistic, nature-based and esoteric faith community and are persecuted both ethnically and religiously. For a long time there was no written tradition among the Dersim. Fairy tales, poems, songs were passed down orally. In the last decades, more and more writing of the Dersim culture took place in Europe, respectively in Germany. Dersim originally belonged to the non-Muslim peoples of Anatolia.

Conflicts

During Islamization, many bloody wars were fought against non-Muslim peoples in Anatolia. The Battle of Caldiran in 1514 brought defeats to both the Alevis and other non-Muslim peoples in Anatolia. Nevertheless, the core of the Dersim region was able to remain relatively autonomous until 1937/38. In 1937-38, there were state-ordered mass executions in the Dersim region, now Tunceli province in eastern Anatolia, which claimed the lives of some 70,000 people, including many women, children, and the elderly. Many thousands of Dersim people were forcibly deported. This genocide is still not recognized by the Turkish Republic.

Exile and depopulation

The oppression by the state did not end with 1937/38. Due to the difficult economic situation in the 1970s, many people moved from the countryside to the big cities of Turkey. This was accompanied by a major offensive by the Turkish military in 1994. Many villages were burned and depopulated. As a result of this unrest, a last great wave of emigration has taken place. As displaced people, they have formed communities outside of Dersim. Support associations have sprung up, especially in large cities.

A significant part of the Dersim now lives in Western Europe, especially in Germany and other countries in Europe. They came to Europe in three waves. The first wave came with the “guest workers” in the 1960s/70s, when Germany was desperate for labor. The second after the military coup that took place on September 12, 1980. The third wave came after the military offensive in 1994. Thus, most of the Dersim people live in exile today.

The Dersim are for the most part well integrated in Europe and contribute to the community with culture, politics, science and economy. Nevertheless, you still feel as Dersimer, maintain their culture and remember your history.