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| {{Short description|Alevi Kurdish leader (1863–1937)}} | |||
| {{Infobox person | {{Infobox person | ||
| | name = |
| name = Seyid Riza | ||
| | image = Seyid Rıza 3 (cropped).jpg | | image = Seyid Rıza 3 (cropped).jpg | ||
| | alt = | | alt = | ||
| | caption = |
| caption = | ||
| | birth_name = | | birth_name = | ||
| | birth_date = 1863 | | birth_date = 1863 | ||
| | birth_place = ], ], ] | | birth_place = ], ] | ||
| | death_date = November 1937 (aged 74) | | death_date = November 1937 (aged 74) | ||
| | death_place = ], Turkey | | death_place = ], Turkey | ||
| Line 12: | Line 13: | ||
| | nationality = ] | | nationality = ] | ||
| | other_names = | | other_names = | ||
| | occupation = Tribal leader |
| occupation = Tribal leader | ||
| | years_active = | | years_active = | ||
| | known_for = Executed for being one of the leaders of the ] | | known_for = Executed for being one of the leaders of the ] | ||
| | notable_works = | | notable_works = | ||
| }} | }} | ||
| ⚫ | '''Seyid Riza''' ({{ |
||
| ⚫ | '''Seyid Riza''' ({{langx|ku|سەید ڕەزا|Seyîd Riza}},<ref>{{cite news |title=Partiyeke Tirkiyê dixwaze peykerê Seyîd Riza yê li Dêrsimê were rakirin! |url=http://peyamakurd.org/kurmanci/Kurdistan/partiyeke-tirkiye-dixwaze-peykere-seyid-riza-ye-li-dersime-were-rakirin |access-date=22 December 2019 |work=Peyama Kurd |language=ku}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.peyserpress.com/detail/3133|title=بۆچی لە ڕۆژی لەسێدارەدانیدا ئەتاتورک چاوی بە سەید ڕەزای دەرسیم کەوت؟|access-date=14 August 2019|language=ku}}</ref> 1863{{snds}}15 November 1937) was an ]<ref>{{Cite book|last=Donmez-Colin|first=Gonul|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1wekDwAAQBAJ&q=seyid+riza+is+kurd&pg=PT52|title=Women in the Cinemas of Iran and Turkey: As Images and as Image-Makers|date=2019-07-19|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-351-05029-6|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last1=Meiselas |first1=Susan |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5UVtAAAAMAAJ&q=seyid+riza+is+kurd |title=Kurdistan: In the Shadow of History |last2=Bruinessen |first2=Martin van |last3=Whitley |first3=A. |date=1997 |publisher=Random House |isbn=978-0-679-42389-8 |pages=150 |language=en}}</ref> political leader of ],<ref>Altan Tan, ''Kürt sorunu'', Timas Basim Ticaret San As, 2009, {{ISBN|978-975-263-884-6}}, p. 28.</ref> a religious figure and the leader of the ].<ref>Celal Sayan, ''La construction de l'état national turc et le mouvement national kurde, 1918–1938'', Volume 1, 2002, Presses universitaires du septentrion, p. 680.</ref> | ||
| ⚫ | |||
| == Biography == | |||
| Seyid Riza led an rebellion which occurred in 1937/38 in the ], which roughly corresponds to today's ] and ], and was led by the elites of the so-called Dersim Kurds, who were both ] and ] speakers.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Gunter |first=Michael M. |author-link=Michael Gunter |date=1994 |title=The Kurdish factor in Turkish foreign politics |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/45197497 |journal=Journal of Third World Studies |volume=11 |issue=2 |pages=444 |issn=8755-3449 |jstor=45197497 |via=]}}</ref><ref name="Kaya2011">{{cite book |author=Mehmed S. Kaya |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0bGpbVFzubsC&pg=PA64 |title=The Zaza Kurds of Turkey: A Middle Eastern Minority in a Globalised Society |date=15 June 2011 |publisher=I.B.Tauris |isbn=978-1-84511-875-4 |pages=64– |quote=was led specifically by the Zaza population and received almost full support in the entire Zaza region and some of the neighbouring Kurmanji-dominated regions}}</ref> Seyid Riza was considered as the leader. Seyid Riza’s uprising led according to Turkish state reports, ten percent of the total 30,000 to 70,000 residents of the affected parts of the historic Dersim killed in the clashes.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Deniz |first=Dilşa |date=2020-09-04 |title=Re-assessing the Genocide of Kurdish Alevis in Dersim, 1937-38 |url=https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/gsp/vol14/iss2/5 |journal=Genocide Studies and Prevention |volume=14 |issue=2 |doi=10.5038/1911-9933.14.2.1728</p> |doi-broken-date=7 May 2024 |issn=1911-0359}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2014-08-28 |title=1938 Dersim: Bir belge de Nazımiye Nüfus Müdürlüğü'nden! |url=https://baskinoran.com/1938-dersim-bir-belge-de-nazimiye-nufus-mudurlugunden/ |access-date=2024-05-06 |website=Baskın Oran |language=tr-TR}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Törne |first=Annika |url=https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.1515/9783110630213/html |title=Dersim – Geographie der Erinnerungen: Eine Untersuchung von Narrativen über Verfolgung und Gewalt |date=2019-11-05 |publisher=De Gruyter |isbn=978-3-11-063021-3 |doi=10.1515/9783110630213}}</ref> | |||
| ⚫ | Riza was born in ], a village in the ] district, as the youngest of four sons of Seyid Ibrahim, leader of the ] tribe. Seyid Riza succeeded his father as leader after Ibrahim's death in accordance with his will.<ref name=":02">{{Cite web|title=Who's who in Politics in Turkey|url=https://tr.boell.org/sites/default/files/ays-tarihvakfi-18x24-boll-r7-eng.pdf|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191115005654/https://tr.boell.org/sites/default/files/ays-tarihvakfi-18x24-boll-r7-eng.pdf|archive-date=15 November 2019|access-date=22 December 2020|website=] Stiftung|pages=235–236}}</ref> During the ] he led the tribe on the side of the ] against the ]. He reportedly did not always comply with the demands placed upon him by the Ottomans, for instance refusing to hand over for deportation Armenians in his area of influence during the ].<ref name=":02" /> He also granted protection to the leaders of the ]. After the establishment of the ] in 1923, Seyid Riza was a constant concern for the Turkish government as he remained largely autonomous and beyond the control of authorities in the Dersim region.<ref name=":02" /> Following the passing of the ], and the Tunceli Law in 1935,<ref name="Törne 87">{{Cite book|last=Törne|first=Annika|title=Dersim – Geographie der Erinnerungen: Eine Untersuchung von Narrativen über Verfolgung und Gewalt|date=5 November 2019|publisher=Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG|isbn=978-3-11-062771-8|pages=78|language=de}}</ref> Seyid Riza began to oppose the Turkish authorities. The Tunceli Law prescribed that the Dersim region would become Tunceli province and placed it under military control of the ].<ref>{{Cite web|last=Kieser|first=Hans-Lukas|date=2016-01-19|title=Dersim Massacre, 1937-1938 {{!}} Sciences Po Mass Violence and Resistance - Research Network|url=http://dersim-massacre-1937-1938.html/|access-date=2020-12-22|website=dersim-massacre-1937-1938.html|language=en}}{{Dead link|date=February 2022 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> During the ] festivities of March 1937, Seyid Riza called for a rebellion against the Turkish government. The rebellion was suppressed by the Turkish military by September of the same year.<ref name=":02" /> On September 12, 1937, he was arrested with seventy-two other rebels on their way to negotiations with the Turkish government.<ref name="Kurun">{{cite news|language=tr|date=September 13, 1937|newspaper=Kurun|page=1|title=Seyit Rıza Teslim oldu}}</ref> | ||
| == Early life == | |||
| Riza was born in ], a village in the ] district, as the youngest of four sons of Seyid Ibrahim, leader of the ] tribe. Seyid Riza succeeded his father as leader after Ibrahim's death in accordance with his will.<ref name=":02">{{Cite web|title=Who's who in Politics in Turkey|url=https://tr.boell.org/sites/default/files/ays-tarihvakfi-18x24-boll-r7-eng.pdf|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191115005654/https://tr.boell.org/sites/default/files/ays-tarihvakfi-18x24-boll-r7-eng.pdf|archive-date=15 November 2019|access-date=22 December 2020|website=] Stiftung|pages=235–236}}</ref> | |||
| After his father's death, he received leadership of his tribe and the title of ] سیّد (Arabic for Lord). This title was only given to the (supposedly) direct descendants of the ]. Seyid Riza then lived in Akhdat, a small village on the slopes in the ] range.{{sfn|Olson|1989|pp=48–49}} | |||
| == World War I == | |||
| During the ] he led the tribe on the side of the ] against the ].<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |date=2017-07-04 |title=Dersim'in işgalci Ruslar'a karşı savaşının belgeleri var |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170704150435/http://odatv.com/dersimin-isgalci-ruslara-karsi-savasinin-belgeleri-var-1409141200_m.html |access-date=2024-10-14 |website=web.archive.org}}</ref> Specially in 1917, western tribes of Dersim were also enrolled as Ottoman troops. Meanwhile, as a result of the Erzincan Armistice with the Russians, there was no conflict in 1917. In February 1918, with the withdrawal of Russian troops to ] (due to the ]), the Ottoman army decided to enter ] to overthrow the Erzincan Council.<ref name=":0" /> According to ], 919 people were registered as militia by the state in the eastern side of Dersim and 2567 people from the western side.<ref>Kazım Karabekir, Erzincan ve Erzurum’un Kurtuluşu, Koşkun Basımevi, 1939,</ref> Approximately 750 of the Western Dersim militia entered Erzincan on February 13, 1918, under the command of Halit Pasha.{{sfn|Olson|1989|pp=97–98}} He also became the commander of Seyit Rıza's Second Sheikh Hasananlı Regiment and commanded a regiment with four battalions.{{sfn|Olson|1989|pp=97–98}} Dersim militia under the command of Deli Halit Pasha, together with Seyid Riza, expelled the Russians and ] from Erzincan and the war ended with success. After the Russians retreated, the people of Dersim were rewarded. Seyid Riza was also rewarded and appointed as Erzincan Provincial Administration Member.{{sfn|Olson|1989|pp=97–98}} Sabit Bey, one of the Erzincan governors of the period, states in a letter about Seyid Riza that "so far he has served us with religion and honor."{{sfn|Olson|1989|p=102}} | |||
| Seyid Riza reportedly did not always comply with the demands placed upon him by the Ottomans, for instance refusing to hand over for deportation Armenians in his area of influence during the ].<ref name=":02" /> | |||
| Seyid Riza‘s father led his tribe on the side of the state during ] in 1925.{{sfn|Olson|1989|p=96}}{{sfn|Olson|1989|p=45}} | |||
| == Dersim rebellion == | |||
| === Background === | |||
| The traditional community and tribal structures and tribal law were still largely intact in ] around the 1930s. The state's influence was small. There were around 100 small tribes whose leaders fought for dominance and sometimes fought bloody feuds in which the army sometimes got involved. The population lived mainly from agriculture and livestock breeding, mostly in the form of semi-nomadic transhumance. Population was mostly poor and not well educated. ] was particularly widespread among the well-educated sons of leading families. The feudal conditions stood in contrast to the modernization efforts of the young Turkish Republic. The state elite sought to bring “civilization” (medeniyet) to the region. They wanted to build roads, schools and factories and free the population from the tutelage of the ] religious leaders, the ], and the feudal lords. Dersim symbolized the backwardness of the ], which needed to be overcome.<ref name=":1">{{cite book |last=Jwaideh |first=Wadie |title=The Kurdish National Movement: Its Origins and Development |publisher=Syracuse University Press |year=2006 |page=215}}</ref> | |||
| On June 21, 1934, the so-called Settlement Law (İskân Kanunu) came into force with publication in the Official Newspaper of Turkey. The aim of the law was to Turkishize the population, which state representatives considered to be the “original Turks” anyway ,a view and politic in which Seyid Riza was heavily against it. Dersim was the first area where the law was to apply. 1936, in the Turkish press and also by members of the government, Dersim was described as a 'disease' (hastalık) and 'disaster' (belâ). The power of the Aghas, including Seyid Riza, must be broken. Economic measures should be introduced, roads and schools should be built and the population should be “warmed up” to the state. The residents became “alienated” from Turkishness, some of them forgot their language and began to think of themselves as ]. So the ethnic structure stood in contrast to the state's understanding of nationality and aspirations for unity. Kurds and ] were seen as a potential threat to state unity.<ref name=":1" /> | |||
| === The Rebellion (1937) === | |||
| During the ] festivities of March 1937, Seyid Riza called for a rebellion against the Turkish government. The rebellion was suppressed by the Turkish military by September of the same year.<ref name=":02" /> On September 12, 1937, he was arrested with seventy-two other rebels on their way to negotiations with the Turkish government.<ref name="Kurun">{{cite news|language=tr|date=September 13, 1937|newspaper=Kurun|page=1|title=Seyit Rıza Teslim oldu}}</ref> | |||
| Some tribes reacted violently to the resettlement law's regulations and Turkification efforts and the increasing military presence, which they viewed as an attack on their de facto sovereignty. The ] and ] tribes burned down a police station and a wooden bridge and destroyed telephone lines on the night of March 21, 1937. This was preceded by several incidents of violence against villagers, cases of rape by Turkish soldiers and the killing of Turkish soldiers. The state immediately brought in troops from other provinces in the region, made initial arrests and attempted to confiscate weapons. ] became an air force base. The 2nd Squadron initially provided seven aircraft. Seyid Rıza was suspected of initiating the riots. The suspicion may have been the result of a denunciation of Seyid Rıza's local enemies.<ref>{{harv|Olson|2000|p=113}}</ref> | |||
| Six days later, Seyid Riza and his insurgents attacked ] guardhouse. More raids followed. In early May 1937, insurgents laid an ambush and killed ten officers and 50 soldiers. Traces of torture and the disfigurement of the corpses caused great outrage in Turkey.<ref name=":2">{{harv|Olson|2000|p=117}}</ref> | |||
| When the air force began bombing villages, Seyid Riza sent a delegation to negotiate at the Turkish headquarters in Elazığ. Bre İbrahim, a son of Seyid Riza, also went to the Turkish headquarters for negotiations and was killed on the way back by members of the feuding Kurdish pro gouverment Kirgan tribe. Riza demanded local autonomy and the punishment of the murderers. Governor Alpdoğan refused and again demanded the surrender of all weapons. On April 26, Seyid Riza Rıza carried out a reprisal attack on the Kirgan tribe in north-eastern part of Tunceli province, the center of this tribe.<ref name=":2" /> | |||
| === Capture === | |||
| Events escalated in the summer. The insurgents raided barracks and guards and attempted to blow up bridges in ] and ]. Old disputes and blood feuds flared up among the tribes. There were changing coalitions. In September, Riza‘s situation became hopeless. His second wife named Bese, another son and a large number of residents of his village were killed by soldiers. Disappointed and apparently also under pressure from his own tribe, Seyid Riza surrendered. He was arrested with 50 followers, brought to trial, convicted after a four-day trial and immediately executed in mid-November.<ref>{{cite news |last=Abdulla |first=Mufid |date=2007-10-26 |title=The Kurdish issue in Turkey need political solution |url=http://www.kurdmedia.com/article.aspx?id=14198 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071228164624/http://www.kurdmedia.com/article.aspx?id=14198 |archive-date=2007-12-28 |access-date=2008-08-01 |work=Kurdish Media}}<!-- back-up: http://www.iraqupdates.com/p_articles.php/article/23347 --></ref> | |||
| == The trial and his execution== | == The trial and his execution== | ||
| ] | ] | ||
| Seyid Riza was tried and sentenced after a trial that lasted two weeks and consisted of three hearings. The final sentence was passed on a Saturday, a highly unusual day for a court to be in session at that time. This abnormal course of events was due to ]'s impending visit to the region and the local government's fear that the Turkish head of state would be petitioned to grant Riza amnesty.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.akarhuseyin.com/?page_id=1134 |title=HÜSEYİN AKAR » 05- Seyit Rıza |access-date=22 November 2011 |archive-date=17 November 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111117061750/http://www.akarhuseyin.com/?page_id=1134 |url-status=dead }}</ref> The chief judge of the court at first refused to render his final verdict on a Saturday, citing a lack of electricity at night and the absence of a hangman. After local authorities arranged to light the courtroom with automobile headlights and found a hangman, everything was set for the passing of the sentence. Eleven men, including Seyid Riza himself, his son Uşene Seyid, Aliye Mırze Sili, Cıvrail Ağa, Hesen Ağa, Fındık Ağa, Resik Hüseyin and Hesene İvraime Qıji were sentenced to death. Four death sentences were commuted to 30 years imprisonment.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.cafrande.org/?p=12257|title = Seyit Rıza'nın kabul edilmeyen son isteği; "Beni oğlumdan önce asın! » Cafrande Kültür Sanat|date = 4 May 2018}}</ref> Seyid Riza was 74 years old when the sentence was announced making him legally ineligible to be executed by hanging. The court, however, accepted that he was 54, not 74. Riza did not understand his sentence until he saw the gallows. | Seyid Riza was tried and sentenced after a trial that lasted two weeks and consisted of three hearings. The final sentence was passed on a Saturday, a highly unusual day for a court to be in session at that time. This abnormal course of events was due to ]'s impending visit to the region and the local government's fear that the Turkish head of state would be petitioned to grant Riza amnesty.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.akarhuseyin.com/?page_id=1134 |title=HÜSEYİN AKAR » 05- Seyit Rıza |access-date=22 November 2011 |archive-date=17 November 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111117061750/http://www.akarhuseyin.com/?page_id=1134 |url-status=dead }}</ref> The chief judge of the court at first refused to render his final verdict on a Saturday, citing a lack of electricity at night and the absence of a hangman. After local authorities arranged to light the courtroom with automobile headlights and found a hangman, everything was set for the passing of the sentence. Eleven men, including Seyid Riza himself, his son Uşene Seyid, Aliye Mırze Sili, Cıvrail Ağa, Hesen Ağa, Fındık Ağa, Resik Hüseyin and Hesene İvraime Qıji were sentenced to death. Four death sentences were commuted to 30 years imprisonment.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.cafrande.org/?p=12257|title = Seyit Rıza'nın kabul edilmeyen son isteği; "Beni oğlumdan önce asın! » Cafrande Kültür Sanat|date = 4 May 2018}}</ref> Seyid Riza was 74 years old when the sentence was announced making him legally ineligible to be executed by hanging. The court, however, accepted that he was 54, not 74. Riza did not understand his sentence until he saw the gallows. His final moments were witnessed by ]: <blockquote>'Seyid Riza understood the situation immediately when he saw the gallows. "You will hang me," he said. Then he turned to me and asked: "did you come from Ankara to hang me?" We exchanged glances. It was the first time I faced a man who was going to be hanged. He flashed a smile at me. The prosecutor asked whether he wanted to pray. He didn't. We asked for his last words. "I have forty liras and a watch. You will give them to my son." he said. We brought him to the square. It was cold and deserted. However, Seyid Riza addressed the silence and emptiness as though the square were full of people. "We are the sons of ]. We are blameless. It is shameful. It is cruel. It is murder!" he said. I had goosebumps. The old man walked briskly to the gallows and shoved the hangman out of the way. He put the rope around his neck and kicked the chair, executing himself. However, it is hard to feel sorry for a man who hanged a boy as young as his own son. When Seyid Riza was hanged his son's voice could be heard from the side: "I'll be your slave! I'll be your muse! Feel some pity for my youth, don't kill me!"<ref>{{cite web| url = http://bianet.org/bianet/biamag/118263-dersimi-caglayangil-ve-baturdan-dinliyoruz| title = Dersim'i Çağlayangil ve Batur'dan Dinliyoruz - bianet}}</ref>'</blockquote> | ||
| His final moments were witnessed by ]: <blockquote>'Seyid Riza understood the situation immediately when he saw the gallows. "You will hang me," he said. Then he turned to me and asked: "did you come from Ankara to hang me?" We exchanged glances. It was the first time I faced a man who was going to be hanged. He flashed a smile at me. The prosecutor asked whether he wanted to pray. He didn't. We asked for his last words. "I have forty liras and a watch. You will give them to my son." he said. We brought him to the square. It was cold and deserted. However, Seyid Riza addressed the silence and emptiness as though the square were full of people. "We are the sons of ]. We are blameless. It is shameful. It is cruel. It is murder!" he said. I had goosebumps. The old man walked briskly to the gallows and shoved the hangman out of the way. He put the rope around his neck and kicked the chair, executing himself. However, it is hard to feel sorry for a man who hanged a boy as young as his own son. When Seyid Riza was hanged his son's voice could be heard from the side: "I'll be your slave! I'll be your muse! Feel some pity for my youth, don't kill me!"<ref>{{cite web| url = http://bianet.org/bianet/biamag/118263-dersimi-caglayangil-ve-baturdan-dinliyoruz| title = Dersim'i Çağlayangil ve Batur'dan Dinliyoruz - bianet}}</ref>'</blockquote> | |||
| ]A total of 58 people consisted of surrenderd forces, and other Kurdish tribal leaders stood trial. Some of the following people were executed with Riza were: | |||
| * Resik Hüseyin, son of Rıza | |||
| * Seyit Haso, leader of the ] tribe | |||
| * Fındık, son of Kamer, the leader of the ] tribe | |||
| * Hasan, son of Cebrail, leader of the ] tribe | |||
| * Hasan, son of Ulikiye from the ] tribe | |||
| * Ali, son of Mirzali Beg, one of the leaders of the uprising | |||
| The bodies of those executed were displayed in Elazığ, then burned and buried in an unknown location. Four of the eleven people ] had their death sentences commuted to prison sentences of 30 years each because they were over the age limit. Fourteen defendants were acquitted, the others were sentenced to various prison terms. | |||
| == Aftermath == | == Aftermath == | ||
| Line 94: | Line 49: | ||
| {{Reflist}} | {{Reflist}} | ||
| {{Use dmy dates|date=December 2017}} | |||
| === Bibliography === | |||
| * {{cite journal |last1=Ayata |first1=Bilgin |last2=Hakyemez |first2=Serra |date=2013 |title=The AKP's engagement with Turkey's past crimes: an analysis of PM Erdoğan's "Dersim apology" |journal=Dialectical Anthropology |language=en |volume=37 |issue=1 |pages=131–143 |doi=10.1007/s10624-013-9304-3 |issn=1573-0786 |s2cid=144503079}} | |||
| * {{cite journal |last1=Deniz |first1=Dilşa |date=2020 |title=Re-assessing the Genocide of Kurdish Alevis in Dersim, 1937-38 |url=https://scholarcommons.usf.edu/gsp/vol14/iss2/5/ |journal=Genocide Studies and Prevention |volume=14 |issue=2 |pages=20–43 |doi=10.5038/1911-9933.14.2.1728 |issn=1911-0359 |doi-access=free}} | |||
| * {{cite journal |last1=Ilengiz |first1=Çiçek |date=2019 |title=Erecting a Statue in the Land of the Fallen: Gendered Dynamics of the Making of Tunceli and Commemorating Seyyid Rıza in Dersim |journal=L'Homme |volume=30 |issue=2 |pages=75–92 |doi=10.14220/lhom.2019.30.2.75 |s2cid=213908434}} | |||
| * {{cite journal |last1=Erbal |first1=Ayda |date=2015 |title=The Armenian Genocide, AKA the Elephant in the Room |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/43998041 |journal=International Journal of Middle East Studies |volume=47 |issue=4 |pages=783–790 |doi=10.1017/S0020743815000987 |issn=0020-7438 |jstor=43998041 |s2cid=162834123}} | |||
| ==Further reading== | |||
| * {{cite journal |last1=Ashly |first1=Jaclynn |title=The Massacre in Dersim Still Haunts Kurds in Turkey |journal=Jacobin |date=12 January 2021 |url=https://jacobinmag.com/2021/01/massacre-dersim-turkey-kurds-erdogan |access-date=9 February 2021}} | |||
| *Boztas, Özgür Inan. "." Strassler Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies (2015): 1–20. | |||
| {{Authority control}} | {{Authority control}} | ||
Latest revision as of 17:37, 13 December 2024
Alevi Kurdish leader (1863–1937)| Seyid Riza | |
|---|---|
.jpg) | |
| Born | 1863 Dersim, Ottoman Empire |
| Died | November 1937 (aged 74) Elazığ, Turkey |
| Cause of death | Execution by hanging |
| Nationality | Kurdish |
| Occupation | Tribal leader |
| Known for | Executed for being one of the leaders of the Dersim rebellion |
Seyid Riza (Kurdish: سەید ڕەزا, romanized: Seyîd Riza, 1863 – 15 November 1937) was an Alevi Kurdish political leader of Dersim, a religious figure and the leader of the Dersim rebellion.
Biography
Riza was born in Lirtik, a village in the Ovacık district, as the youngest of four sons of Seyid Ibrahim, leader of the Hesenan tribe. Seyid Riza succeeded his father as leader after Ibrahim's death in accordance with his will. During the First World War he led the tribe on the side of the Ottoman Empire against the Russians. He reportedly did not always comply with the demands placed upon him by the Ottomans, for instance refusing to hand over for deportation Armenians in his area of influence during the Armenian genocide. He also granted protection to the leaders of the Koçgiri rebellion. After the establishment of the Turkish Republic in 1923, Seyid Riza was a constant concern for the Turkish government as he remained largely autonomous and beyond the control of authorities in the Dersim region. Following the passing of the Resettlement law in 1934, and the Tunceli Law in 1935, Seyid Riza began to oppose the Turkish authorities. The Tunceli Law prescribed that the Dersim region would become Tunceli province and placed it under military control of the Fourth Inspectorate General. During the Newroz festivities of March 1937, Seyid Riza called for a rebellion against the Turkish government. The rebellion was suppressed by the Turkish military by September of the same year. On September 12, 1937, he was arrested with seventy-two other rebels on their way to negotiations with the Turkish government.
The trial and his execution
Seyid Riza was tried and sentenced after a trial that lasted two weeks and consisted of three hearings. The final sentence was passed on a Saturday, a highly unusual day for a court to be in session at that time. This abnormal course of events was due to Mustafa Atatürk's impending visit to the region and the local government's fear that the Turkish head of state would be petitioned to grant Riza amnesty. The chief judge of the court at first refused to render his final verdict on a Saturday, citing a lack of electricity at night and the absence of a hangman. After local authorities arranged to light the courtroom with automobile headlights and found a hangman, everything was set for the passing of the sentence. Eleven men, including Seyid Riza himself, his son Uşene Seyid, Aliye Mırze Sili, Cıvrail Ağa, Hesen Ağa, Fındık Ağa, Resik Hüseyin and Hesene İvraime Qıji were sentenced to death. Four death sentences were commuted to 30 years imprisonment. Seyid Riza was 74 years old when the sentence was announced making him legally ineligible to be executed by hanging. The court, however, accepted that he was 54, not 74. Riza did not understand his sentence until he saw the gallows. His final moments were witnessed by İhsan Sabri Çağlayangil:
'Seyid Riza understood the situation immediately when he saw the gallows. "You will hang me," he said. Then he turned to me and asked: "did you come from Ankara to hang me?" We exchanged glances. It was the first time I faced a man who was going to be hanged. He flashed a smile at me. The prosecutor asked whether he wanted to pray. He didn't. We asked for his last words. "I have forty liras and a watch. You will give them to my son." he said. We brought him to the square. It was cold and deserted. However, Seyid Riza addressed the silence and emptiness as though the square were full of people. "We are the sons of Karbala. We are blameless. It is shameful. It is cruel. It is murder!" he said. I had goosebumps. The old man walked briskly to the gallows and shoved the hangman out of the way. He put the rope around his neck and kicked the chair, executing himself. However, it is hard to feel sorry for a man who hanged a boy as young as his own son. When Seyid Riza was hanged his son's voice could be heard from the side: "I'll be your slave! I'll be your muse! Feel some pity for my youth, don't kill me!"'
Aftermath
In a letter explaining the reason for the Dersim rebellion to British foreign secretary Anthony Eden, Seyid Riza is said to have written the following:
"The government has tried to assimilate the Kurdish people for years, oppressing them, banning publications in Kurdish, persecuting those who speak Kurdish, forcibly deporting people from fertile parts of Kurdistan to uncultivated areas of Anatolia where many have perished. The prisons are full of non-combatants, intellectuals are shot, hanged or exiled to remote places. Three million Kurds demand to live in freedom and peace in their own country."
A document, submitted to the Presidency with the signature of Minister of Interior Şükrü Kaya on 18 October 1937, states that this letter was in fact written, and signed, by a person named Yusuf in Syria.
It is indeed very likely that this letter was not sent by Seyid Riza but by Nuri Dersimi, a Kurdish nationalist revolutionary from Dersim who took refuge in Syria. The letter was written in a failed attempt to get support for the Kurdish nationalist cause from Western powers. Turkish authorities used the letter as evidence that Seyid Riza rebelled against the state but never proved that the letter was in fact written by him. English archives supposedly show that the letter was signed by Nuri Dersimi.
His grave
Seyid Riza was buried in secret and the whereabouts of his grave remain unknown. There is an ongoing campaign to find the burial site. During a visit to Tunceli, president Abdullah Gül was asked to disclose the location of the grave where Seyid Riza and his companions were laid to rest after their execution. "This is not a difficult issue, it is in the state archives." said Hüseyin Aygün a lawmaker from Dersim/Tunceli, representing the province in Turkish parliament for opposition party CHP.
Memorial
In 2010 a statue of Seyid Riza was erected at one of the entrances to Tunceli and the park around the statue was named after him.
See also
References
- "Partiyeke Tirkiyê dixwaze peykerê Seyîd Riza yê li Dêrsimê were rakirin!". Peyama Kurd (in Kurdish). Retrieved 22 December 2019.
- "بۆچی لە ڕۆژی لەسێدارەدانیدا ئەتاتورک چاوی بە سەید ڕەزای دەرسیم کەوت؟" (in Kurdish). Retrieved 14 August 2019.
- Donmez-Colin, Gonul (19 July 2019). Women in the Cinemas of Iran and Turkey: As Images and as Image-Makers. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-351-05029-6.
- Meiselas, Susan; Bruinessen, Martin van; Whitley, A. (1997). Kurdistan: In the Shadow of History. Random House. p. 150. ISBN 978-0-679-42389-8.
- Altan Tan, Kürt sorunu, Timas Basim Ticaret San As, 2009, ISBN 978-975-263-884-6, p. 28.
- Celal Sayan, La construction de l'état national turc et le mouvement national kurde, 1918–1938, Volume 1, 2002, Presses universitaires du septentrion, p. 680.
- ^ "Who's who in Politics in Turkey" (PDF). Heinrich Böll Stiftung. pp. 235–236. Archived from the original (PDF) on 15 November 2019. Retrieved 22 December 2020.
- Törne, Annika (5 November 2019). Dersim – Geographie der Erinnerungen: Eine Untersuchung von Narrativen über Verfolgung und Gewalt (in German). Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG. p. 78. ISBN 978-3-11-062771-8.
- Kieser, Hans-Lukas (19 January 2016). "Dersim Massacre, 1937-1938 | Sciences Po Mass Violence and Resistance - Research Network". dersim-massacre-1937-1938.html. Retrieved 22 December 2020.
- "Seyit Rıza Teslim oldu". Kurun (in Turkish). 13 September 1937. p. 1.
- "HÜSEYİN AKAR » 05- Seyit Rıza". Archived from the original on 17 November 2011. Retrieved 22 November 2011.
- "Seyit Rıza'nın kabul edilmeyen son isteği; "Beni oğlumdan önce asın! » Cafrande Kültür Sanat". 4 May 2018.
- "Dersim'i Çağlayangil ve Batur'dan Dinliyoruz - bianet".
- McDowall, David. A Modern History of the Kurds, page 208. I.B. Tauris, 2004.
- "Seyit Rıza'nın 75 yıl sonra ortaya çıkan mektupları VİDEO-GALERİ". www.haberturk.com (in Turkish). 10 May 2012. Retrieved 6 November 2019.
- The Upper Echelons of the State in Dersim, by Abdullah Kiliç and Ayça Örer, published (in Turkish) in Radikal paper, 20–24 November 2011. An English translation: http://www.timdrayton.com/a55.html
- "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 25 April 2012. Retrieved 22 November 2011.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - "President Gül Faces Demands from Tunceli - Erol Önderoğlu - english".
- Hirsch, Helga (19 November 2011). "Ein (fast) vergessenes Massaker". Retrieved 3 April 2019.
- "Victims of Dersim genocide remembered". ANF News. Retrieved 3 April 2019.
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