page_title: Dersim rebellion
section_title: The Rebellion
hierarchical_section_title: Dersim rebellion / The Rebellion
caption_attribution_description: Deutsch: KKarte der Region Dersim Mitte der 1930er-Jahre, englische Version English: Dersim region in the mid 1930s, English version
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: After the "Tunceli" Law, the Turkish government built military observation posts in the centers of districts such as Kahmut, Sin, Karaoğlan, Amutka, Danzik, and Haydaran.
  Following public meetings in January 1937, a letter of protest against the law was written to be sent to the local governor. According to Kurdish sources, the emissaries of the letter were arrested and executed. In May, a group of local people ambushed a police convoy in response, the first act of a localised conflict.
caption: A 1937 map of Dersim showing the central province, Hezat
exif: {}