ISTANBUL – The postponement for Dersim started on May 4, 1937, was protested with an action held in Rıhtım Square in Kadıköy, led by the European Federation of Democratic Dersim Unions (ADEF), the Federation of Dersim Associations (DEDEF) and the Dersim Research Center.
In the action, a banner was carried with the words “We did not forget anything, we did not forgive anything” and “Black day” in Kurdish. Banners with photographs of children, young people, women and Seyit Rıza who were killed in the action were also carried.
Greens and Left Future Party (Green Left Party) Co-Spokesperson Çiğdem Kılıçgün Uçar, Turgut Öker, Cengiz Çiçek, Hasan Cemal, Cemil Güngören and representatives of many political parties and non-governmental organizations also participated in the action. The action started with a moment of silence in memory of the murdered.
‘4 MAY BLACK DAY’
Sebahat Babayiğit, a member of the DEDEF Board of Directors, started her speech by saying “Don’t forget yourself”. Describing May 4 as a “black day”, Babayiğit said, “Dersim 37-38 is the bloodiest page of the story of ‘how we established our unity and togetherness’. True unity and solidarity is not possible without confronting and repairing Dersim 37-38. Dersim 37-38 should be a problem not only for the people of Dersim, but for everyone living in our country. For this reason, this tertele, which was kept alive by the state in Dersim, was tried to be covered up with a veil of lies until today. Tearing this veil of lies is only possible with the joint effort of the peoples of Türkiye. The greatest favor today’s politicians, who have the means of the state, can do in the name of advanced democracy is to ensure that they explain the file, which is the important black box of Dersim, without using the Dersim file as a political material.”
OFFICIAL APPEAL REQUEST
Stating that Turkey should apologize officially, Babayiğit said, “There are many examples in the world. For this reason, institutionally, the Grand National Assembly of Turkey should correct this mistake it made in the past with a law and fulfill our demands with a law to be enacted. We Dersimis have not forgotten anything. We have not forgiven anything. Let the archives be opened and the name Dersim returned. Officially apologize to the people of Dersim. Let those who were taken from their families and adopted ones be announced. Let the burial places be revealed. Let the Kızılbaş faith be given freedom. Projects that will lead to the plunder of nature in Dersim should be cancelled.”
‘FIGHT UNTIL THE TRUTH IS FOUND’
Afterwards, Green Left Party Co-Spokesperson and Istanbul Deputy candidate Çiğdem Kılıçgün Uçar started her speech with the Kirmancki dialect of Kurdish. Stating that they see May 4 as a black day, Uçar said, “We need to start by asking the following question; What did this massacre, this massacre that took place on May 4, provide to this country and its people? At the stage we have reached, monism on which this state has risen in all areas of life has started to misfire. The beliefs of Alevis and all the places where the flames live correspond to a right and truth for us and for the society. It was this right and truth that they wanted to destroy. It must be said that they have not succeeded at the stage we have come to. The souls of all the souls we lost in the massacre are in Munzur, in the mountains of Dersim and during visits to Dersim. From here, we say that our voice should reach everyone we lost and lost. Your fight, your struggle today embraces the entire Turkish society, especially the people of Dersim. This struggle will continue until the truth of Dersim finds its place.”
‘THE FIGHT OF THE ALEVİ PEOPLE IS OUR FIGHT’
Expressing that the perpetrators of the massacre also experienced trauma, Uçar said, “Many documentaries have been shot and research has been done. Even those who were partners in this massacre suffered for a long time. Therefore, the stage we have reached in Turkey, the monism shirt that is wanted to be worn, has been destroyed mostly by the struggle of the people of Dersim. All the rights and beliefs living in Turkey are fighting against the monism imposed on us. We demand the fate of our lost girls, the graves of our Alawite leaders, and their fate to be explained. The struggle of the Alevi people is our struggle,” he said.
Later, the participants of the action organized a sit-in. Meanwhile, the artists sang the laments that were made after the massacre. Afterwards, carnations were left in the sea.
ANKARA
Democratic Alevi Associations (DAD) held a commemoration program for the Dersim Genocide at Ana Fatma Cemevi. The program started with a tare commemoration to commemorate those who lost their lives in the Genocide, and then continued with a cerag wake up call. After Cerag awakening, DAD Ankara Branch Co-Chair Mustafa Karabudak made a statement on the genocide.
Saying that the Alevis have to raise the struggle, Karabudak said, “We once again commemorate those who are buried without a grave or a shroud, and may their time be eternal. Your resistance is our legacy!” said.
After Karabudak, Alevi Piri and writer Seyfettin Elaldı took the floor. Elaldı, who wrote the poetry book named “Dersim Destanı”: “I am not the author of the epic I wrote. The author of this epic is the witnesses who lived in that period. “I just put the words together,” he said. After her speech, Elaldı recited the poem “Dersim Epic” that she wrote.
