The right of settlement, the problem of exile and the “amnesty”

Let’s remove the phrases “AF” and “REBELLION” from our tongues. Let us not let the bones of our ancestors hurt when they fall to the ground without a shroud; It’s a shame, it’s a sin!

Şükran Lılek YILMAZ

In the geography in which we were born, until recently, not even the year mattered, let alone birthdays. Only the year of birth was important because of the boys’ official obligation 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 joined the military.

Since the tradition of oral tradition is important as members of a cultural community without a written language, all important moments are also dated with the social events of the present. Therefore, the birth dates of the children were identified with the special situations of the time of their birth and thus passed on to the next generation. For example, when women who have given birth talk about the births of their children, they date the time by saying: “Roce Xızır bi / Xızır fastete”, “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 this year”.

The social events used in dating can be ordinary, or they can be traumatic events that have opened irreparably deep wounds in the memory of that society. For example; The massacre of Dersim, the return of the exiles to their homelands, the military coup, etc. While this information, which is usually shaped by the narrative of the time in which it is lived and forms social memory, is passed down from generation to generation, it is of course subject to change depending on the historical context and conditions. For example, if we move away from the period in which events take place and the recording of information in its new form, the transition from oral narrative to written expression or the changing social and political conditions inevitably change the information. These changes in knowledge can be based on 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, based on today’s research and the emergence of some archives, we know that instead of the “Dersim Rebellion”, we should be talking about genocide. At the same time, in the memory of many elderly people 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 by the state, most people in Dersim believe that their ancestors deserve to be slaughtered because they really “rebelled” and that the survivors will be punished with exile.

Although the return of the exiles to their home countries is actually referred to as “AF” in Dersim; With the Settlement Law No. 2510 of 1934, the way was opened for the deportees to return to their villages with the amendment of the same name with the number 5098 in 1947. And so some of the Dersim residents deported throughout Turkey were able to return to their homeland in 1947.

With this awareness that arose 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 are returning 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, after the persecution of our ancestors, we continue to say: “The exiles returned to their villages with the amnesty that came out”, we will accept the discourse that the Turkish state is trying to maintain at the national and international level: “The people of Dersim rebelled, and we oppressed them.” Let’s not do that, let’s remove the discourses of “AF” and “REBELLION” from our tongues. Let us not let the bones of our ancestors hurt when they fall to the ground without a shroud; It’s a shame, it’s a sin!

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