Introduction
Tunceli — known to its own people as Dersim (Kurdish and Zazaki: Dêrsim) — is a mountainous province in eastern Turkey, in the region Kurds call Bakur. Its population is overwhelmingly Kurdish Alevi and largely Zaza-speaking, a community shaped by centuries of mountain autonomy and resistance to central authority.
More than any other place in Turkey, the name of this region is bound to a single event: the Dersim Massacre of 1937–38, when the Turkish military crushed a rebellion led by Seyid Riza and killed many thousands of civilians. This profile sets out the geography and people of Dersim, the road to 1937, what happened during the campaign, and how the region remembers it today.
Key Takeaways
• Dersim was renamed Tunceli by the Turkish state in 1935; the new name, roughly “bronze fist,” was also the name of the military operation against the region.
• Its population is predominantly Kurdish Alevi and Zaza-speaking, with a long history of autonomy.
• The 1937–38 Dersim Massacre followed the 1935 Tunceli Law, which placed the region under military governance.
• Estimates of the dead vary widely — from official figures of around 13,000 to scholarly and Kurdish estimates of 40,000–70,000. The true toll is disputed and the archives remain largely closed.
• Rebellion leader Seyid Riza was executed in November 1937; the burial places of him and his companions have never been disclosed.
• In 2011, Prime Minister Erdoğan apologised for the killings; many in Dersim regard the apology as incomplete.
Quick Facts
Name (Kurdish / Zazaki): Dersim (Dêrsim)
Official Name: Tunceli (since 1935)
Country / Region: Turkey (Bakur / Northern Kurdistan)
Province Seat: Tunceli (formerly Kalan / Mameki)
Predominant Community: Kurdish Alevi; Zaza-speaking
Population: Province ~89,000 (2023); town ~35,000 (2021)
Defining Event: The Dersim Massacre, 1937–38
Rebellion Leader: Seyid Riza (c. 1863–1937)
Natural Landmark: Munzur Valley and the Munzur Mountains
Contents
A Distinct People: The Kurdish Alevis of Dersim
The Road to 1937: The Tunceli Law and Military Rule
- The Rebellion and Seyid Riza
Related People, Places, and Topics
References and Further Reading
Where Is Dersim?
Dersim is a high, thickly forested plateau in eastern Anatolia, lying roughly between the Karasu and Murat rivers — both tributaries of the Euphrates. It is dominated by the Munzur Mountains, which rise to around 3,300 metres, and by the Munzur Valley, today protected as the largest and most biodiverse national park in Turkey.
The provincial capital, Tunceli, sits in the Munzur valley at about 914 metres; during Ottoman times the settlement was known as Kalan or Mameki. The region’s rugged terrain is central to its history: the mountains preserved Dersim’s autonomy across centuries when surrounding areas had long been absorbed into imperial administration.
A Distinct People: The Kurdish Alevis of Dersim
The people of Dersim are, by most accounts, a distinct community: ethnically Kurdish but Alevi rather than Sunni, and largely speaking Zaza (Zazaki) rather than Kurmanji. Their Alevism is a syncretic faith blending elements of Shia devotion, pre-Islamic tradition, and local practice, with a deep reverence for nature — a reverence often credited with helping preserve the Munzur valley’s wild landscape.
Even the region’s name is contested. Dersim is popularly understood to come from words meaning “silver door,” while “Tunceli” is a modern Turkish coinage. Whether the place should be called Dersim or Tunceli remains a live political question: in 2019 local authorities moved to use Dersim again, while the appointed governor maintained that doing so was against the law.
The Road to 1937: The Tunceli Law and Military Rule
Dersim’s confrontation with the young Turkish Republic did not come from nowhere. It followed two earlier interwar Kurdish revolts — the Sheikh Said Rebellion of 1925 and the Ararat Revolt of 1927–1930 — each crushed with escalating force. See our overview of the Sheikh Said, Ararat, and Dersim rebellions for the wider context.
From the early 1930s the state moved to bring Dersim fully under control. The 1934 Resettlement Law aimed to disperse Kurds into Turkish-majority areas. The decisive step came in 1935 with the Tunceli Law, which renamed the province and placed it under direct military governance — the so-called “Fourth Inspectorate General” under General Abdullah Alpdoğan. Dersim was now officially framed as a “problem” to be solved.
The Dersim Massacre, 1937–38
What followed is remembered by Kurds as a massacre — and increasingly described as such by historians and even, in carefully chosen words, by Turkish politicians. The campaign unfolded over roughly eighteen months, from the spring of 1937 to September 1938.
The Rebellion and Seyid Riza
Seyid Riza, an Alevi-Kurdish tribal and religious leader of the Yukarı Abbas Uşağı, had refused state efforts to buy his cooperation. Tensions escalated after his son İbrahim was killed; Riza’s forces raided a gendarmerie post, and the state treated this as open rebellion. By a decree of the Council of Ministers on 4 May 1937, military operations against Dersim formally began.
The Military Campaign
Around 25,000 troops were deployed, a number later doubled as resistance continued. The army used heavy artillery and aerial bombardment; warplanes flew from Diyarbakır against the villages and gorges of Dersim. Among the pilots was Sabiha Gökçen, Atatürk’s adopted daughter and the first Turkish female combat pilot. Some sources also report the use of poison gas against people sheltering in caves, though this remains debated among historians.
Three successive operations through 1937 and 1938 left the region devastated. By late 1938, when the last rebels had run out of ammunition, much of Dersim’s population had been killed, deported, or driven from their villages.
The Death Toll
The number of dead is genuinely uncertain and politically charged. Official and lower scholarly estimates put civilian deaths at roughly 10,000 to 13,000; one frequently cited figure is around 13,800. Kurdish accounts and a number of historians give far higher numbers — commonly “as high as 45,000,” with some estimates reaching 50,000 to 70,000. Because the relevant state archives have never been fully opened, no single figure can be stated with confidence, and Kurdish organisations continue to demand that the archives be released so the toll can be established.
Memory, Apology, and the Name
Seyid Riza came to Erzincan for talks in September 1937 and was arrested. On 15 November 1937 he was executed by hanging in Elazığ, alongside six companions — reportedly including his roughly sixteen-year-old son. The location of their graves has never been revealed, a wound that remains central to how Dersim remembers the massacre.
The memory of 1937–38 was kept alive in large part by survivors and exiles such as the physician Nuri Dersimi, who spent decades documenting what had happened. Dersim’s dead are commemorated each year in early May.
On 23 November 2011, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan issued a formal apology, calling the events “one of the most tragic episodes of our recent history.” Many in Dersim welcomed the acknowledgement but regarded the apology as politically motivated and incomplete, pointing to the still-unanswered demands: locate the graves of Seyid Riza and his companions, and open the archives.
Dersim Today
Modern Tunceli remains a stronghold of Alevi-Kurdish identity and of left-wing and pro-Kurdish politics. It is home to Munzur University (founded in 2008 as Tunceli University) and draws visitors to the Munzur Valley National Park. As in other Kurdish areas, elected pro-Kurdish mayors here have been removed and replaced by state-appointed trustees, and residents and Kurdish parties continue to warn against ongoing pressures to assimilate the region’s distinct language and faith.
For its people, the choice of name — Dersim rather than Tunceli — is itself an act of memory: a refusal to let the events of 1937–38, and the identity that preceded them, be erased.
Timeline
1847 — Dersim is made an Ottoman sanjak, with its capital at Hozat.
1926 — Dersim is demoted to a district and attached to Elazığ Province.
1934 — The Resettlement Law targets the dispersal of Kurds into Turkish-majority areas.
1935 — The Tunceli Law places the region under military rule; the province is re-established and renamed Tunceli.
4 May 1937 — A Council of Ministers decree launches military operations; rebellion is led by Seyid Riza.
15 Nov 1937 — Seyid Riza is executed in Elazığ with six companions; their graves are never disclosed.
Jan–Sept 1938 — Second and third Tunceli operations; aerial bombing; the region is devastated.
23 Nov 2011 — PM Erdoğan apologises for the massacre.
2019 — Local authorities move to restore the name “Dersim.”
Frequently Asked Questions
What was the Dersim Massacre?
It was a Turkish military campaign in 1937–38 against the Kurdish-Alevi region of Dersim (renamed Tunceli) that suppressed a rebellion and killed many thousands of civilians.
How many people died in Dersim?
Estimates vary widely — from official figures of around 13,000 to scholarly and Kurdish estimates of 40,000–70,000. The true number is disputed because the state archives have never been fully opened.
Who was Seyid Riza?
Seyid Riza (c. 1863–1937) was an Alevi-Kurdish tribal and religious leader who led the Dersim rebellion. He was executed in Elazığ in November 1937.
Why is Dersim called Tunceli?
The Turkish state renamed Dersim “Tunceli” in 1935; the name also denoted the military operation against the region. Many local people still call it Dersim.
Are the people of Dersim Kurdish?
Yes — they are predominantly Kurdish Alevis who speak the Zaza language. Their identity is layered: Kurdish, Alevi, and Zaza together.
Related People, Places, and Topics
Seyid Riza · Nuri Dersimi · The Sheikh Said, Ararat, and Dersim Rebellions · Kurdish Alevism · the Zaza people · the Munzur Valley · Bakur (Northern Kurdistan).
References and Further Reading
“Dersim Massacre, 1937–1938” — Sciences Po Mass Violence & Resistance