The Law of Settlement, the problem of exile and “amnesty”

Let’s get rid of the phrases “AF” and “REBELLION” from our tongues. Let us not make the bones of our ancestors ache when they fall to the ground without a shroud; it is shame, it is a sin!

Şükran Lılek YILMAZ

In the geography where we were born, until recently, even the year did not matter, let alone birthdays. Only the year of birth was important because of the official obligation of the boys to serve in the military, which was solved by printing a few years younger so that the boys would contribute to the labor force until they went to the military.

Since the tradition of oral transmission is important as members of a cultural community without written language, all important moments are also dated with the social events of the present moment. Therefore, the birth dates of the children were identified with the special situations of the moment they were born and thus transmitted to the next generation. For example, when women who gave birth talk about the births of their children, they date the time by saying “Roce Xızır bi/Xızır was fasting”, “Waxtê cünun bi/Harman time”, “Piye to eskeriye de bi/Your father was in the military”, “A serre 4 m. vorı vare/4 meters of snow fell that year”.

The social events used in dating may be ordinary, or they may be traumatic events that have opened irreparable deep wounds in the memory of that society. For example; The Dersim massacre, the return of the exiles to their homelands, the military coup, etc. While this information, which is usually shaped by the narrative of the period in which it is lived and constitutes the social memory, is transferred from generation to generation, it is of course subject to change according to the historical context and conditions. As we move away from the period in which events take place and the recording of information in its new form, for example, the transition from oral narration to written expression, or changing social and political conditions inevitably change information. These changes in knowledge can be on the basis of words or on the basis of the historical development of events by uncovering written documents and archives of events.

For example, in the Dersim Terror of 1938, there was so much intense state propaganda that today not only the whole of Turkey but also a significant part of Dersim believes that there was a rebellion in Dersim. However, as a result of today’s research and the emergence of some archives, we know that a genocide should be mentioned instead of the “Dersim rebellion”. At the same time, in the memory of many elderly individuals in Dersim; The discourse that “the state has issued an amnesty, the exiles have returned to their villages” is so strongly reported that as a result of this powerful propaganda carried out by the state, most of the people of Dersim believe that their ancestors deserve to be slaughtered because they really “rebelled” and that the survivors are punished by exile.

Although the return of the exiles to their homelands in Dersim is referred to as “AF”, in reality; With the Settlement Law No. 2510 dated 1934, the way for the people who were deported to return to their villages with the amendment made in the same law with the number 5098 in 1947 was opened. And thus, some of the people of Dersim who were deported all over Turkey were able to return to their homeland in 1947.

With this awareness that occurred in me in 2013, whether it is from Dersim or not; It draws my attention to the fact that researchers, writers or intellectuals use the phrase “Amnesty is out, exiles return to their villages.”

However, just as we say Dersim Tertelesi or Dersim massacre instead of “Dersim rebellion”, we should be careful when using the word “AF”. Because, if we continue to say “The exiles have returned to their villages with the amnesty that came out” after the persecution of our ancestors, we will accept the discourse that the Turkish State is trying to maintain in the national and international arena: “The people of Dersim rebelled, and we suppressed it.” Let’s not do this, let’s get rid of the discourses of “AF” and “REBELLION” from our tongues. Let us not make the bones of our ancestors ache when they fall to the ground without a shroud; it is shame, it is a sin!

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