Shedding light on the Zilan Massacre
Nearly 82 years after the Zilan Massacre, the truth behind the killings and events of July 1930 is slowly emerging.
By Emiko Jozuka for SES Türkiye in Ercis -- 19/06/12
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![The valley of Zilan. [Emiko Jozuka]](/shared/images/2012/06/19/EMIKOphoto1-310_213.jpg)
The valley of Zilan. [Emiko Jozuka]
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![The descendent of a massacre victim reflects near the spot where his relatives were killed. [Emiko Jozuka]](/shared/images/2012/06/19/EMIKOphoto2-310_213.jpg)
The descendent of a massacre victim reflects near the spot where his relatives were killed. [Emiko Jozuka]
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![A former police station, now a house, where 70 people were killed. [Emiko Jozuka]](/shared/images/2012/06/19/EMIKOphoto3-310_213.jpg)
A former police station, now a house, where 70 people were killed. [Emiko Jozuka]
![The valley of Zilan. [Emiko Jozuka]](/shared/images/2012/06/19/EMIKOphoto1-800_550.jpg)
![The descendent of a massacre victim reflects near the spot where his relatives were killed. [Emiko Jozuka]](/shared/images/2012/06/19/EMIKOphoto2-800_550.jpg)
![A former police station, now a house, where 70 people were killed. [Emiko Jozuka]](/shared/images/2012/06/19/EMIKOphoto3-800_550.jpg)
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The noise of a small river running over stones and an occasional birdsong are the only sounds that seep into the rural valley of Zilan. Few are aware of, or even remember that in July 1930, the same valley bore witness to unprecedented slaughter.
Mehmet Tastan, 94, still vividly remembers the fateful day that a simple trip to deliver food to his father working in the fields turned into a nightmare he barely managed to survive.
"They [the soldiers] rounded people up in Kunduk valley. People were being killed with rifles and machine guns. I wasn't able to do anything, I could only watch what went on from afar," Tastan told SES Türkiye. "We weren't guilty of anything. Even at this age, I don't know why; I can't understand why that many people were killed."
An understudied and largely undisclosed chapter in Turkey's history, little light has been shed on the devastating Zilan Massacres, which were carried out in response to the Kurdish uprising in Ağri province in 1930.
At Zilan, systematic killings of Kurdish men, women and children were followed by imprisonments, exile of whole families and villages to western Turkey and property confiscations.
From the founding of the republic to 1938, Turkey faced 18 revolts, 17 of which occurred in eastern Anatolia; 16 involved Kurds. Along with the Sheikh Said Rebellion (1925) and Dersim (1937-38), the events surrounding Zilan were one of several acts of violence directed against the Kurds during the early years of the Republic as the state sought to consolidate control.
Eighty-two years after the destruction of 44 villages and the deaths of 15,000 Kurds according to official records, and 47,000 deaths cited by local sources, efforts are being made to raise awareness of Zilan.
Prompted by local Mehmet Gurbuz, who has applied to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) in order to make the massacres known and reclaim confiscated property, other descendants of massacre victims are slowly preparing to present their cases to the ECHR.
Yet a deeply ingrained fear and a lack of central organisation still prevents many from speaking out against the atrocities committed against their ancestors.
According to the author of the book Agri Kurdish Rebellion and the Zilan Massacre, published in 2010, Sedat Ulugana -- himself a massacre victim descendent -- little has been done by the government to uncover what really happened in Zilan.
"The number of people killed at Zilan is more than that of Dersim, but the government doesn't want this to be known because then it might have to pay compensation to people. In any case, people here are still too scared to apply to the ECHR," explained Ulugana.
He asserted that he was determined to voice the wrongdoings committed against Kurds in 1930, and open up a previously silenced chapter in history.
Yet breaking this silence has not been easy. Along with the one-party state that prevailed in Turkey until 1946, the untouchable notion of Turkishness, periods of military rule and martial law in the southeast silenced dissident voices who dared speak out against the state or claim a different identity.
"If one asks why there isn't enough research on [Zilan], the reason is that people lived in oppression for a long time. Until ten years ago, you wouldn't even have easily come across the name Zilan -- you wouldn't even have been able to say Zilan, or say that you were Kurdish," explained lawyer and former president of the Muş Human Rights Organisation, Vedat Sengol.
Although locals are slowly mobilising and preparing to submit their cases to the ECHR, Sengol said that without effective organisation, it would be difficult to bring the Zilan case into the international spotlight.
"Mehmet Gurbuz's case was a step in the right direction. There a few more cases similar to his but we should gather these together in a more organised way. There should be a civil society that can research this topic. People with an interest in this matter could come together and found a research institute. Such a presence would be stronger than proceeding with the research alone," he explained.
"The archives to do with Dersim have only been accessible to researchers in the last two years, and information has only recently been open to the media and the public," continued Sengol.
In early June, the Turkish General Directorate of Police announced it was handing over nearly 500,000 files consisting of 250 million documents dating from before 1963 to the State Archives. The files, which will be open to the public, could help to shed light on darker episodes in Turkey's history, including the Kurdish rebellions and Zilan.
In an unprecedented move last November, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan apologised on behalf of the state for the events surrounding Dersim, in which at least 13,000 Kurds were killed. The apology opened that previously closed chapter in Turkish history and paved the way for public discussion. The apology was interpreted as a possible prelude to apologies for other atrocities committed under the Turkish Republic.
What do you think of this article? (Total Votes )
33 Like(s)
16 Dislike(s)
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As long as Kurds do not vote for themselves, it’s not enough to experience even a thousand Zilan Massacre. It means they that accept this. Never mind, there is no need to swallow our honor for dishonorable people. I just give my vote, that’s it. If they put Islam into the background, then I would not give my vote as well, that’s all. If any party, even the one that doesn’t know its Kiblah adopts religion, it would get more votes than BDP. Get it from now on stupids, you keep on saying about religion too, does it mind you? Look, even CHP lay hopes on religious votes. Whereas your base has more true Muslims without any coif. A word is enough to the wise.
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We have the right to learn. Archives should be opened as soon as possible.
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Kurds would never fall on the wrong track as long as they remain devoted to Islam. Otherwise, they will always be exploited, just like they have been so far. The opinion of Islam about racism is very clear. Everybody should read about and know this. If you look at the wars so far, you will see that they were all caused by racism.
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I love people – the good ones, of course.
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Kurds did not only suffer from the state, but also from the irresponsible and selfish actors that claim to protect Kurdish rights but instead kill Kurds and either blame them for being spies or call them heroes. This mentality, which has turned Kurds into free slaves, inflict never-healing wounds in the Kurdish community. However, Kurds are not aware of this.
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Light should be shed on it.
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While we’re trying to enlighten the ’Zilan’s of the past, new ’Zilan’s are being experienced today. Uludere…
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When we’ve moved away from Islam which is the merger and the cement that binds us each other and forget or being forgotten (mostly in a systematic way) that we’re brothers since Adam, then this discrimination has started. Because, the way to live comfortably in the world passes from being an Islamic community, not from being tribe. In other words, if there is no cement, then there will be no building.
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In Turkey, there is no single day inwhich people (who are mostly Kurds) other than Turks and (Sunni) Muslims do not suffer from injustice, cruelty and massacres…There has been no change in the ideology of the state from 1930 to 2012 for Kurds, except the names … Not Zilan; roboski, not banishment; jail and torture, not burning the villages; destrying the families of people… Thousands of news similar to the below one being subjected to on each and every new day… ‘’248 years of prison sentence to 47 Kurdish politician’’ ‘’Initiative for Solidarity with Arrested Students, is organizing a meeting in Kadikoy on 09 June Saturday, in order to draw attention to over 700 students whose 95% are Kurds.’’ ‘’Large-scale military operations in the East, operations still continue, forst fire during operations…’’ ‘’Arrested Kurdish children in Pozantı Prison are suffering from abuse and rape’’ We, the Kurdish people and the ones who share our pain for centuries are receiving the same level of suffering from state and from the ones so-called workers, liberals, modern ones, socialists, etc. who all pretend to be defending our rights… We also have to be careful against these ivy and stingers that grow in the backyard of the state, because their rooted policy for us has always been the same for centuries: they make us agents, they smile to our faces, they set us agains each other, or talk about religion-beliefs… As the sufferers in the news had said clearly; we have to get organized against all kinds of injustice, we have to improve and strengthen our organizations. We have to shout our rights, demand for freedom loudly, until being heard by the public opinion of the world …. *Long live the fight of the ones who truly believe in the brotherhood and equality of people … *
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The most universal values for humanity should be democracy, freedom and equality. Those, who rule countries, sometimes use heroic rhetoric, but they make a U turn when it comes to putting that into practice. Unfortunately, this is how it works in bourgeois politics. Our people are fooled by such rhetoric. That certain someone has been living like a king in the US for 10 years and he is praised to the skies by a lot of our people. The strange thing is that they blindly obey and devote themselves to him without questioning what he is doing there or whose purposes he is serving. This is not only sad, but also thought-provoking. With a little bit reasoning, one can conclude: This man placed the 1980s military junta and the leader of the coup on a pedestal. He claimed Kenan Evren will go to heaven. The September 12 coup destroyed revolutionists, socialists, intellectuals, the opposition and many others. We all know that. We know whom that person serves in the US. We know that he has betrayed his country and his people. We know that he is a part of the so-called Green Generation (Islamist generation) and the Green Capital (Islamist capital) projects, co-operating with the US and Israel. We should lead an honorable life and learn how to hold our head high without giving in to pressures. We should not let a bunch of tyrants and traitors do whatever they want. We should decisively defend peace against war. We should tell people that war brings nothing but pain and hardship. We should believe that putting an end to this 30-year-old war would benefit all people and act accordingly. It is in the best interest of all people to take everyone, who wants peace, seriously. We should understand that we cannot move forward by ignoring Kurds and denying their rightful demands. Don’t you feel sorry for all the young people we lost and the familes they left behind?
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My brother; race, religion, language do not make any difference. The opinions of people should be respected.
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Oh humankind! Massacres and killing are not peculiar to you. Our rulers would not have slaughtered so many people if they had even the smallest amount of humanity in them. God does not allow us to kill. People have the right to live. A verse in the Quran says “we created you as different tribes so that you would get to know each other.”
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