:Zilan massacre

{{Main|Ararat rebellion|Republic of Ararat}}

After the Sheikh Said rebellion, on 8 September 1925, the Reform Council for the East ({{Langx|tr|Şark İslahat Encümeni}}) was established by Kemal Atatürk{{Cite book|last=Yadirgi|first=Veli|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FJsqDwAAQBAJ&q=veli+yadirgi+and+the+reform+plan+for+the+east+kurds&pg=PA11|title=The Political Economy of the Kurds of Turkey|date=2017-08-03|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-1-107-18123-6|page=169|language=en}}{{Cite web|url=https://pure.uva.nl/ws/files/867135/65687_13.pdf|title=Young Turk social engineering: mass violence and the nation state in eastern Turkey, 1913- 1950|last=Üngör|first=Uğur|page=244|access-date=19 April 2020}} and it prepared the Report for Reform in the East ({{Langx|tr|Şark İslahat Raporu}}),{{Cite book|last=Gunter|first=Michael M.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XjZ7DwAAQBAJ&q=sark+islahat+raporu&pg=PT195|title=Routledge Handbook on the Kurds|date=2018-08-06|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-317-23798-3|language=en}} which provided for special administrative arrangements for the Eastern areas and introduced the Inspector-General system. This plan forced Kurdish aristocrats and religious leaders to relocate to other parts of Turkey. On 17 July 1927, with the "Law on the Transfer of Certain People from Eastern Regions to the Western Provinces" (Turkish: Bazı Eşhasın Şark Menatıkından Garp Vilâyetlerine Nakillerine Dair Kanun), the target of the forced migration was extended.Naci Kutlay, "Cumhuriyet ve Kürtler", Toplumsal Tarih, Sayı: 160, Nisan 2007, pp. 27-28. {{in lang|tr}}

On 5 October 1927, in Greater Lebanon, the Kurdish nationalist organization Xoybûn was founded by former members of other Kurdish nationalist organisations such as Kürdistan Teali Cemiyeti, Kürt Millet Fırkası, and Comite de Independence Kurde, together with Kurdish intellectuals who took refuge in Iraq, Iran, and Syria, with the help of former members of the Dashnaktsutyun. In 1927 Xoybûn (led by Celadet Alî Bedirxan, Kamuran Alî Bedirxan, Ekrem Cemilpaşa, Memdûh Selîm, and others) decided to promote Ihsan Nuri, a former officer in the Ottoman and Turkish armies, to general (pasha), and sent him to Erzurum with 20 comrades. They published a newspaper named Agirî and, on 8 October 1927, declared the independence of the Republic of Ararat. Also in October 1927, Xoybûn made appeals to the Great Powers and the League of Nations, and appointed Ibrahim Heski, who was one of the chieftains of Jalali tribe, as governor of Agrî province.Mehmet Köçer, "Ağrı İsyanı (1926–1930)", Fırat Üniversitesi Sosyal Bilimler Dergisi, Cilt: 14, Sayı: 2, [http://web.firat.edu.tr/sosyalbil/dergi/arsiv/cilt14/sayi2/379-388.pdf s. 385.] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110902020116/http://web.firat.edu.tr/sosyalbil/dergi/arsiv/cilt14/sayi2/379-388.pdf |date=September 2, 2011 }} {{in lang|tr}}

On 9 May 1928, the Turkish government enacted an amnesty law. Amnesty was offered to all oppositional Kurds willing to submit to the Kemalist government, and Kurdish nationalists were freed from prison.Paul J. White, Primitive rebels or revolutionary modernizers?: the Kurdish national movement in Turkey, Zed Books, 2000, {{ISBN|978-1-85649-822-7}}, p. 78. However, attempts by the Turkish government at initiating meaningful negotiations failed. The Turkish government then decided to negotiate directly with Ihsan Nuri Pasha, but this effort was also in vain.Wadie Jwaideh, The Kurdish national movement: its origins and development, Syracuse University Press, 2006, {{ISBN|978-0-8156-3093-7}}, p. 212.

On 29 December 1929, President Mustafa Kemal (Atatürk) led the cabinet meeting, with participation of the Chief of the General Staff Fevzi Çakmak and İbrahim Tali Öngören, the Inspector General of the First Inspectorate-General. A decision was adopted (cabinet decision No. 8692) to begin a military operation against Mount Ararat in June 1930.Faik Bulut, Devletin Gözüyle Türkye'de Kürt İsyanları, Yön Yayınları, 1991, p. 190. {{in lang|tr}}

File:MountArarat.jpg from Iğdır.]]

On 7 January 1930, General Staff of the Republic of Turkey sent an order to IX Corps (as follows) with the text of the cabinet decision itself:Cemşid Bender{{in lang|tr}}

• Villages inhabited by Kurds between Bulakbaşı and Şıhlı Köyü and places of refuge will be occupied. And let rebels debar from livelihood bases.
• After cleaning the district of Kurds, follow towards the line of Ararat peak and establish garrisons in occupied territories.
• Only mobile gendarmerie forces will winter between 1930 and 1931. In district no residential areas, except needs for gendarmerie regiments, will not be left.
• In this wise, Kurds debarred from food and housing needs will be distributed or be forced to take refuge in Iran. In this case, problem will be solved with Iran.
• The operation will begin in the last week of June 1930 and before the harvest season.
• The commander of IX Corps will direct the military operation.

File:Mountains near Van.jpg.]]

On 18 March 1930 Salih (Omurtak) was appointed the commander of IX Corps.T.C. Genelkurmay Harp Tarihi Başkanlığı Yayınları, Türk İstiklâl Harbine Katılan Tümen ve Daha Üst Kademelerdeki Komutanların Biyografileri, Genkurmay Başkanlığı Basımevi, Ankara, 1972, p. 232. {{in lang|tr}} Armed hostilities were initiated by Turkish military against the Ararat insurgents on 11 June 1930. Xoybûn appealed for help for Kurds throughout Kurdistan. İhsan Nuri sent an offensive order to Îbrahîm Agha dated 18 June 1930.Emin Karaca, Ağır Eteklerinde İsyan: Bir Kürt Ayaklanmasının Anatomisi, 3. Baskı, Karakutu Yayınları, pp. 153-155. {{in lang|tr}}İhsan Nuri Paşa, Ağrı Dağı İsyanı, İkinci Baskı, Med Yayınları, 1992, pp. 80-82. {{in lang|tr}} A Turkish Captain Zühtü (Güven), who was an officer of the 2nd Mobile Gendarmerie Battalion at Iğdır, got this order from a Kurdish rebel. There was wide response to the insurgents' appeal for help, and the Turks temporarily abandoned their offensive against Mount Ararat.

On 19–20 June 1930, hundreds of rebels, led by the sons of Kör Hüseyin Pasha (former commander of the North group of the Hamidiye regiments) and Emin Pasha's sons, crossed the border from Persia and cut the telegraph line between Çaldıran and Beyazit. More than one hundred of them raided the center of Zeylan district and the station of gendarmerie. They made their own tribesmen of the district join them.Faik Bulut, ibid, p. 162. {{in lang|tr}} This Kurdish offensive, and offensives at Patnos and Çaldıran, would be named the Zeylan Rebellion (Zeylân İsyanı or Zeylân Ayaklanması) by the Turkish authority.

According to Salih's official report dated 2 July 1930, about the situation in the north of Lake Van, 350–400 rebels led by Kör Hüseyin's sons and Emin Pasha's sons were in the Patnos area with the support of the surrounding villages of Sofu Mustafa, Kâni, Yukarı Romik, Çakırbey, Gürgüre, Haçlı, Koru, Harabe Kürk, and Çavuş. About 400 rebels led by Seyit Resul were in the Zeylân area with the support of the surrounding villages of Şurik, Su Souk, Kadir Asker, Münevver, Sivik, Ağı, Dedeli, and Şeytan Ava. An unknown number of rebels led by Yusuf Abdal were in the Çaldıran area surrounded by the villages of Aşağı Çilli, Şeyh Rumi, Alikelle, Haçan, Kaymaz, Şeyh Sucu.Faik Bulut, ibid, p. 167. {{in lang|tr}}

File:Suphan from aygirgolu.jpg from Lake Aygır.]]

The Turkish army used two corps (VII Corps and IX Corps) and 80 aircraft for the cleaning operation from 8 July 1930.Yönetim Zamandizini 1930 yılı, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti İdare Tarihi Araştırması (TİDATA), Ankara Üniversitesi Siyasal Bilgiler Fakültesi Kamu Yönetimi Araştırma ve Uygulama Merkezi: 2, Ankara, 2007, p. 180 ([http://kayaum.politics.ankara.edu.tr/1930.pdf 78th page of Pdf file] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120310143944/http://kayaum.politics.ankara.edu.tr/1930.pdf |date=2012-03-10 }}) 12 Temmuz'da Zeylan deresi civarındaki eşkıya imha edildi. {{in lang|tr}} 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."Yusuf Mazhar, Cumhuriyet, 13 Temmuz 1930, "Temizlik başladı: Zeylân deresindekiler tamamen imha edildi. Bunlardan tek bir kişi kurtulmamıştır. Ağrı'da harekât devam ediyor." Ankara 12 (Telefonla) --- Son malûmata göre Erciş, Süphan dağı ve Zeylân havalisinde temizlik tamamen bitmiş.... {{in lang|tr}}

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.Ayşe Hür, [http://www.taraf.com.tr/ayse-hur/makale-bu-kacinci-isyan-bu-kacinci-harekat.htm "Bu kaçıncı isyan, bu kaçıncı harekât?"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120918174801/http://www.taraf.com.tr/ayse-hur/makale-bu-kacinci-isyan-bu-kacinci-harekat.htm |date=2012-09-18 }}, Taraf, December 23, 2007, Retrieved August 16, 2010. {{in lang|tr}}

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.Vakit, July 15, 1930. {{in lang|tr}}

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."Robin Leonard Bidwell, Kenneth Bourne, Donald Cameron Watt, Great Britain Foreign Office, British documents on foreign affairs: reports and papers from the foreign office confidential print. From the first to the Second World War. Turkey, Iran, and the Middle-East, 1918-1939. The Turkish revival, 1921-1923, University Publications of America, 1997, {{ISBN|978-0-89093-603-0}}, p. 106.

According to Nazi Erol, the wife of Şükrü (Erol) (eldest son of the chieftain of Bekiri tribe), her first child Salih and all of her women were killed. She survived the massacre because she was hidden under their corpses.

According to Mehmet Pamak's grandfather, thousands of people—men, women, children and elderly—were massacred by machine-gun fire, and blood flowed out of the valley for days. Pamak's aunt (a baby) and his 80-year-old great-grandmother were bayoneted to death.

According to Kakil Erdem, one of the living eyewitnesses of the Zilan massacre, thirty-five of his relatives were killed, and soldiers cut and opened the abdomen of a pregnant woman. Before his eyes, three of his relatives were scalped and two of his brothers were beaten to death.[http://www.diclehaber.com/1//viewNews/111735 "77 yıl önce yaşanan Zilan Katliamı'nın tanığı: Hamilelerin karnını deştiler, akrabalarımın kafatasını yüzdüler"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160301150651/http://www.diclehaber.com/1//viewNews/111735 |date=2016-03-01 }}, Dicle Haber Ajansı, September 21, 2007, 09:56, Retrieved August 18, 2010. {{Cite web |url=http://www.diclehaber.com/1/ |title=DİHA - Dicle Haber Ajansı |access-date=2010-08-18 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100818193301/http://www.diclehaber.com/1/ |archive-date=2010-08-18 |url-status=bot: unknown |language=tr }}

The next morning's edition of Cumhuriyet, then a state-linked newspaper, described the outcome of the operation in no uncertain terms. "The sweeping began. All those in the Zilan Valley were exterminated, and none of them survived."{{Cite news|date=July 13, 1930|title=temezilik başladi zeylân deresindekiler tamamen imha edildi|work=Cumhuriyet|url=http://www.zerkaya.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/Zilan-Katliam%C4%B1.jpg|access-date=June 23, 2021}}

Musa Anter, for the first time, learned about and discussed the massacres of the Kurds, such as the Zilan massacre of 1930, the Dersim massacre in 1938, and the Thirty-three bullets massacre, when he published a journal entitled Dicle Kaynağı (Tigris Spring) with three other friends from Dicle Student Dormitory in 1948.

Yaşar Kemal, one of Turkey's leading writers, learned about the Zilan Valley massacre during interviews in the 1950s and was influenced by the massacre. He described massacresYashar Kemal, translated by Thilda Kemal (Serrero), The sea-crossed fisherman, Braziller, 1985, {{ISBN|978-0-8076-1122-7}}, p. 58, (Salih Pasha )......Every time one of his soldiers was killed by the Kurds, he'd go mad with rage and order the nearest Kurdish village to be set on fire and all its men shot. in his novel entitled Deniz Küstü ("The Sea-Crossed Fisherman", 1978). The protagonist of the novel, Selim Balıkçı participated in the Ararat campaigns, was wounded in the face and transferred to Cerrahpaşa Hospital (İstanbul) for treatment.Yashar Kemal, ibid, pp. 57, 58, 149 etc.

{{Main|Censorship in Turkey|Freedom of the press}}

In 2007, Ercan Öksüz and Oktay Candemir, journalists working for the Dicle News Agency, interviewed 94-year-old living eyewitness Kakil Erdem and published the interview with the title "Zilan Katliamı'nın Tanığı Konuştu" (Witness of Zilan Massacre Talks). The Van 2nd Criminal Court of First Instance tried the journalists for "inciting hatred and hostility".[http://www.tuerkeiforum.net/trw/index.php/2008_Raporu:_TCK_madde_125_-_220_Davalar%C4%B1 "2008 Raporu: TCK madde 125 - 220 Davaları"], TİHV raporları, Retrieved September 10, 2010. {{in lang|tr}} In 2009, each of them received a prison sentence of 18 months.[http://bianet.org/bianet/ifade-ozgurlugu/118078-yargi-acilim-tanimiyor-uc-ayda-190-dusunce-suclusu "Üç Ayda 190 Düşünce Suçlusu!"], Bianet, November 6, 2009,　Retrieved September 10, 2010. {{in lang|tr}}

{{Notelist}}

{{reflist|2|refs=

Christopher Houston, Islam, Kurds and the Turkish nation state, Berg Publishers, 2001, {{ISBN|978-1-85973-477-3}}, [https://books.google.com/books?id=mDwSVob0_gwC&dq=Zilan+massacre&pg=PA102 p. 102.] Interview with Mehmet Pamak, who was the founder and president of Conservative Party (Muhafazakâr Parti) that was founded in place of Nationalist Action Party (Milliyetçilik Hareket Partisi) banned by junta regime of 1980 Turkish coup d'état. Pamak is Kurdish origin and his family was exiled from Erciş to Çanakkale.

Freedom of the Press, [http://www.freedomhouse.org/uploads/fop10/TurkeyFOTP2010.pdf Freedom of the Press 2010 Draft Report]{{dead link|date=July 2016 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}, p. 2.

Ahmet Alış, "The Process of the Politicization of the Kurdish Identity in Turkey: The Kurds and the Turkish Labor Party (1961–1971)", Atatürk Institute for Modern Turkish History, Bosphorus University, [https://www.scribd.com/doc/36900616/The-Process-of-the-Politicization-of-the-Kurdish-Identity-in-Turkey-the-Kurds-and-the-Turkish-Labor-Party-1961%E2%80%931971 p. 73.]

• Ercan Öksüz, [http://www.gundem-online.net/haber.asp?haberid=49833 "Zilan Katliamı'ndan 8 Mart Şehidi'ne"]{{dead link|date=March 2017|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}, Gündem, April 2, 2008, Retrieved September 4, 2010. {{in lang|tr}}
• Mehmet Şevket Eygi, [http://www.milligazete.com.tr/makale/zilan-katliami-143780.htm "Zilan katliamı"] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100819223001/http://www.milligazete.com.tr/makale/zilan-katliami-143780.htm |date=August 19, 2010 }}, Millî Gazete, November 17, 2009, Retrieved August 16, 2010. {{in lang|tr}}
• M. Kalman, Belge, Tanık ve Yaşayanlarıyla Ağrı Direnişi 1926-1930, Pêrî Yayınları, 1997, {{ISBN|975-8245-01-5}}, p. 105.
• Felit Özsoy, Tahsin Eriş, Öncesi ve Sonrasıyla 1925 Kürt Direnişi (Palu-Hanî-Genç), Pêrî Yayınları, 2007, {{ISBN|978-975-9010-57-7}}, p. 271. {{in lang|tr}}
• Nazan Sala, {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20091010001110/http://www.gundem-online.net/haber.asp?haberid=79603 "Devlet Zilan Katliamı ile yüzleşmeli"]}}, Gündem, October 8, 2009, Retrieved August 18, 2010. {{in lang|tr}}

Nevzat Çağlar Tüfekçi, [http://www.radikal.com.tr/Default.aspx?aType=HaberYazdir&ArticleID=905165 "Akbük'ün Kürt ninesi"], Radikal, October 26, 2008 (calls event "Zilan Deresi Kıyımı"), Retrieved September 9, 2010. {{in lang|tr}}

Cengiz Çandar, [http://www.radikal.com.tr/Default.aspx?aType=RadikalYazarYazisi&Date=31.07.2009&ArticleID=947443 ""Kürt açılımı"nı Ararat-Süphan ekseninde izlerken..."], Radikal, July 31, 2009, Retrieved August 16, 2010. {{in lang|tr}}

Cengiz Çandar, [http://hurarsiv.hurriyet.com.tr/goster/haber.aspx?id=12186731&yazarid=215 ""Kürt açılımı"nı Ararat-Süphan ekseninde izlerken..."], Hürriyet, July 31, 2009, Retrieved August 16, 2010. {{in lang|tr}}

The Zilan massacre in Turkish is also "Zilan Kırımı" in Ahmet Kahraman, Kürt İsyanları: Tedip ve Tenkil, Evrensel Basım Yayın, {{ISBN|978-975-6525-48-7}}, p. 322. {{in lang|tr}} or "Zilan Deresi Kırımı" in Kemal Burkay, Anılar, belgeler, Cilt 1, Deng Yayınları, 2000, [https://books.google.com/books?id=gtMVAQAAIAAJ&q=Zilan+deresi p. 8.] {{in lang|tr}}

}}

{{Ararat rebellion}}

{{Turkish nationalism}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zilan massacre}}

Category:1930 murders in Turkey

Category:20th-century mass murder in Turkey

Category:Ararat rebellion

Category:History of Van Province

Category:Massacres committed by Turkey

Category:Massacres in Turkish Kurdistan

Category:Persecution of Kurds in Turkey

Category:Massacres of Kurds

Category:July 1930 in Asia

Category:Massacres in 1930

Category:Turkish Land Forces

Category:Massacres in Turkey