page_title: Dersim rebellion
section_title: Turkish military operations
hierarchical_section_title: Dersim rebellion / Turkish military operations
caption_attribution_description: English: Sabiha Gökçen
context_page_description: The Dersim rebellion was an Alevi-Zaza uprising against the Turkish government in the Dersim region of eastern Turkey, which includes parts of Tunceli Province, Elazığ Province, and Bingöl Province. The rebellion was led by Seyid Riza, an Alevi-Zaza chieftain of the Yukarı Abbas Uşağı tribe. As a result of the Turkish Armed Forces campaign in 1937 and 1938 against the rebellion and its massacres of civilians, thousands of Alevi-Zazas died and many others were internally displaced.
  On 23 November 2011, Turkish prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan gave an apology for the Dersim massacre, describing it as "one of the most tragic events of our near history" adding that, whilst some sought to justify it as a legitimate response to events on the ground, it was in reality "an operation which was planned step by step". However, this is viewed with suspicion by some, "who see it as an opportunistic move against the main opposition party, the secular CHP."
context_section_description: Around 25,000 troops were deployed to quell the rebellion. This task was substantially completed by the summer and the leaders of the rebellion, including tribal leader Sayiid Riza, were hanged. However, remnants of the rebel forces continued to resist and the number of troops in the region was doubled. The area was also bombed from the air. The rebels continued to resist until the region was pacified in October 1938.
  According to Osman Pamukoğlu, a general in Turkish Army in the 1990s, Atatürk had given the operational order himself.
caption: Sabiha Gökçen holding a bomb before the bombardment operation over Dersim with her Breguet 19
exif: {}