Title: Dersim Content: Dersim (Kurdish: Dêrsîm, Zaza: Dêsim, Armenian: Դերսիմի) is a historical region in Armenian Highlands, today in Turkey. The region included all parts of Tunceli Province (Çemişgezek, Hozat, Pertek, Tunceli, Ovacık, Pülümür, Nazımiye, Pertek) Tercan, Kemah and Kemaliye in Erzincan Province, Keban in Elâzığ Province, Kiğı in Bingöl Province and Arapkir in Malatya Province. == Demographics== Tunceli's (Dersim) language distribution is 69.5% Kurdish and Zazaki, 29.8% Turkish and 0.74% Armenian in 1927, also according to Savaş Sertel, Zazas are majority people and Zazaki were more common than Kurdish and. However, Ahmet Kerim Gültekin defined the region as predominantly Kurdish Alevi. Kurmanji Kurdish is the main dialect around Pertek, while Zaza is spoken in Hozat, Pülümür, Ovacık and Nazımiye. Both Kurmanji and Zaza is spoken in Tunceli town and Mazgirt. The Dimli (or Zaza) people of Dersim are the descendants of the Deylamites who migrated from the highlands of Gilan region of Iran in the 10th–12th century. == Etymology == According to Nuri Dersimi, it is noteworthy that six centuries before Christ, Greek historians and geographers called the Dersim region Daranis, and in the Bisltun inscriptions of Dara, this region is called Zuza, and the term Zuza is similar to the word Zaza, which is the "Kurdish dialect" spoken in Dersim and its region. According to another thesis, estimated that the name Dersim (Der-sîm "silver gate" in Persian) was given to the region, which frequently changed hands between the Sassanids and Byzantium during the Byzantine period. == Notable people == * John I Tzimiskes (925–976)(in Armenian) Matthew of Edessa. Մատթեոս Ուռհայեցի`Ժամանակնագրություն (The Chronicle of Matthew of Edessa). Translation and commentary by Hrach Bartikyan. Yerevan, Armenian SSR: Hayastan Publishing, 1973, pp. 12–13. \- Byzantine emperor between 969 and 976 years * Seyid Riza (1863–1937; Ovacık) - Kurdish/Zaza tribal leader and organizator of Dersim rebellion * Nuri Dersimi (1893–1973; Hozat) - Kurdish nationalist writer, revolutionary and intellectual * Aram Achekbashian (1867–1915; Arapkir) - Armenian politician from Hunchak * Abdullah Cevdet (1869–1932; Arapkir) - Kurdish intellectual, writer and physician * Nicol Galanderia (1881–1944; Kemaliye) - Armenian musician * Hasan Hayri (1881–1925; Hozat) - Kurdish politician * Soghomon Tehlirian (1897–1960; Tercan) - Armenian hero who assassinated Talaat Pasha on March 15 1921, the Mastermind of Armenian/Assyrian/Greek Christians Genocides * Aurora Mardiganian (1901–1994; Çemişgezek) - Armenian author, actress, and a survivor of the Armenian genocide * Vahagn Davtyan (1922–1996; Arapkir) - Armenian poet, translator, publicist and public activist * Turgut Özal (1927–1993; mother from Çemişgezek"Çemişgezek'e bir gelen geri dönmek istemiyor". Sabah. "8. Cumhurbaşkanı Turgut Özal'ın annesi Hafize Özal, Çemişgezek Mezire Köyü doğumlu.") - 8th president of Turkey, he was of mixed Turkish and Kurdish descent * Sait Kırmızıtoprak (1935–1971; Nazımiye) - Kurdish nationalist writer, revolutionary and intellectual * Cemal Süreya (1931–1990; Pülümür) - Kurdish poet and writer * Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu (1948; Nazımiye) - Turkish economist, retired civil servant, social democratic politician and leader of the Republican People's Party * Kamer Genç (1940–2016; Nazımiye) - Turkish politician * Alican Önlü (1967; Nazımiye) - Kurdish politician * Dilan Yeşilgöz-Zegerius (1977; family from Tunceli) - Dutch politician of Kurdish origin * Volga Sorgu (1981; Ovacık) - Zaza movie and serial actor * Edibe Şahin (1960; Nazımiye) - Kurdish politician, former mayor of the municipality of Tunceli. * Hozan Diyar (1966; Mazgirt) - Kurdish singer * Hüseyin Aygün (1970; Nazımiye) - Zaza lawyer and politician * Ali Haydar Kaytan (1952–2019; Nazımiye) - Kurdish miliant, co-founder of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) * Aynur Doğan (1975; Çemişgezek) - Kurdish singer and songwriter * Fatih Mehmet Maçoğlu (1968; Ovacık) - KurdishKomünist Başkan Maçoğlu: Dersim burası, Kızılbaş, Kürdüm. Rûdaw. "Ben Kızılbaş Kürt biriyim. Ama şöyle bir yanım yok yani. Ben dünyadaki bütün insanların tenlerinde, ırkında, yaşam biçiminde ayrıştırmaları doğru bulan biri değilim." communist politician, currently the mayor of Tunceli with Communist Party of Turkey (TKP) ticket * Ferhat Tunç (1964; Ovacık) - Kurdish singer * Mikail Aslan (1972; Hozat) - Zaza musician * Nilüfer Gündoğan (1977; Nazımiye) - Dutch politician of Zaza origin