page_title: Zilan massacre
section_title: Massacre
hierarchical_section_title: Zilan massacre / Massacre
caption_attribution_description: English: Mount Süphan in summer 2009, shot from lake Aygırgölü. Čeština: Süphan v létě 2009, foceno od jezera Aygırgölü.
context_page_description: The Zilan massacre is the massacre of thousands of Kurdish civilians by the Turkish Army in the Zilan Valley of Van Province on 12/13 July 1930, during the Ararat rebellion in Turkish Kurdistan.
  The massacre took place to the north of the town of Erciş on Lake Van. It was carried out by the IX Corps of the Third Army under the command of Ferik Salih Omurtak. The number of people killed in the massacre ranges from 4,500 women and elderly to 15,000.
context_section_description: The Turkish army used two corps (VII Corps and IX Corps) and 80 aircraft for the cleaning operation from 8 July 1930. Generally the date that the massacre took place was considered as 13 July 1930, but Yusuf Mazhar, who was the special correspondent of the daily Cumhuriyet (Turkey's most widely read daily paper in 1930-1940s), reported by telephone on 12 July 1930 "the cleaning in districts of Erciş, Mount Süphan and Zeylân was completely finished."
  According to the daily Cumhuriyet dated 16 July 1930, about 15,000 people were killed and Zilan River was filled with dead bodies as far as its mouth.
  On 15 July 1930, Ibrahim Tali Öngören, the general inspector of the First Inspectorate-General, explained that annihilation was performed by troops with people's help, more than thousand militias were lost, villagers who helped rebels were also annihilated.
  The British Foreign Office reported "The conviction here is that the Turkish 'success' near Ergish and Zilan were really gained over a few armed men and a large percentage of non-combatants."
caption: Mount Süphan from Lake Aygır.
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