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Dersim And The Armenians Of Dersim

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  • Dersim And The Armenians Of Dersim

    DERSIM AND THE ARMENIANS OF DERSIM

    June 30, 2014

    Tunceli, Dersim

    Civilnet.am has prepared a documentary on Dersim and the Armenians in Dersim.

    The idea of founding the Union or Dersim Armenians belongs to
    Salaheddin Gultekin. He renounced his name Salaheddin and became
    Mihran. In the same way, after long tribulations, he managed to have
    "Christian" written on his identity card instead of "Muslim". Mihran's
    relatives did not appreciate his actions, and their first reaction
    was that they are being exposed.

    The head of Dersim Armenians in Istanbul is Ismail Cem Halavurt who
    says that "the Union of Dersim Armenians aims to unite the Armenians
    of Istanbul and Dersim. Its aim is to bring Armenians who were forced
    to abandon their own community, religion, language, because of the
    ongoing cultural genocide following the Armenian Genocide, back to
    their identity after a hundred-year break".

    Just like many other Dersim residents, Ismail Cem Halavurt has been
    baptized. His baptism took place in Armenia. "I was asked to choose a
    name during my baptism, and I chose Stepan. I like that name because
    of a hero named Stepan in the book, "The 40 Days of Musa Ler" which
    tells the story of the resistance of the Armenians from Musa Ler. The
    book had a great impact on me. Stepan was the son of the resistance
    commander" says Halavurt.

    The Dersim territory, which is now officially called Tuceli, is
    situated in the eastern part of modern Turkey. It coincides with the
    Tsopq or Fourth Hayq administrative district of Historical Armenia.

    According to Armenian tradition, the name Dersim came from the region's
    spiritual leader Der Simon, who convinced the local population to
    convert to Alevi religion in the 17th century, thus escaping the
    deportations. After the Armenian Genocide, many Armenians continued
    living in the mountainous region.

    "From a religious point of view, the majority of Dersim Armenians live
    as Alevis, and from the national identity perspective- as Kurds or
    Zaza, the majority is Zaza. But it does not matter, as I said, Dersim
    is different. All the Kurds in Dersim know which family is Armenian.

    That is never forgotten. Go to Dersim and say names, they will
    confirm those are Armenians, or if you say a village name, they'll
    say it's an Armenian village. That is never forgotten. Because they
    managed to preserve their identity in various ways. They've always
    lived together, the most beautiful tradition of Dersim Armenians was
    inter-marriage. They never married girls from other areas. That is how
    they managed self-preservation and survive as a unit" says Halavurt.

    Savas Sahin was born in Dersim, in Kizilcik village of the Mazkert
    region of Dersim; he's a Kurd-Alevi. " The village were I was born is
    an old Armenian village" says Sahin. "When I was little, about 8 years
    old, I remember the vineyards and mulberry trees in the village. When
    we strolled around with my grandfather, he told me those were left
    by the Armenians. So up to this day, we eat the grapes and mulberries
    planted by the Armenians".

    In recent years, Union member Altinkaya often visits Dersim. His
    family left during the 1938 Dersim massacres. "There are many hidden
    Armenians in Dersim. I became acquainted with them two years ago, as
    well as last year, during the Dersim festival. Without our asking,
    they came to us and said that their grandfather or grandmother was
    Armenian; that is they had Armenian roots. There are many hidden
    Armenians" said Altinkaya.

    Ismail Cem Halavurt

    "I cannot say the exact number of Armenian in Dersim" says Halavurt.

    "There are Armenian villages that have about 30 households with
    3-4 members each. There are Armenians in Dersim who feel themselves
    Armenian, but have nothing to do with Christianity having abandoned
    their language and religion. They are Islamized, but not fully
    accepted by Muslims or Alevis. After 1915, a portion of Armenians
    was Islamized and they indeed live as Muslims. That is not the case
    of Dersim Armenians. They adopted the Alevi religion, which is a very
    tolerant religion, that's why we cannot claim they are Islamized. They
    don't even consider themselves Muslims, and although Muslim is stated
    in their documents, they have nothing to do with Islam, and there is
    very little Alevi influence, and that's on the culture, not on the
    religion" says Halavurt.

    "Some Armenians hide their true identity", says Sahin. "There was a
    house in the neighboring village, everyone said- Look Armenians live
    there, and we looked at them strangely. They were the only Armenians I
    knew, but years later, especially during the last 4-5 years, several
    families started revealing their true identity more easily".

    The Union of Dersim Armenians currently has 80 members, but the leaders
    state that if work is done among Dersim Armenians, the number could
    grow from 500 to 1000. "Religion is not a precondition for being a
    member, being Armenian is. Being Christian is not a precondition, and
    Dersim Armenians coming to Istanbul are inclined towards the church"
    says Halavurt, "they give their children Armenian names, want to live
    by their own language and religion. But not all members of the Union
    are Christian. If we stress the religion, we will separate Dersim
    Armenians from one another".

    Speaking about the programs of the Union's Cem Halavurt says: "our
    main goal is to have a representation in Dersim, carry out some work
    towards preserving the Saint Garabed Armenian church. The Saint Garabed
    church, which operated until 1938, has a great importance both for
    Armenians and Kurd-Alevis. Besides, we plan to implement some plans
    towards the social and economic development of Armenian villages of
    Dersim. We also want to be a bridge between the Dersim Armenians and
    the Patriarchate in Istanbul, because if a Dersim Armenian goes to
    the Patriarchate alone and wants to get baptized, he has to prove he
    is an Armenian. So, on the one hand we prove to the state that we are
    Armenians, and on the other hand- we prove this to the Patriarchate.

    This is a very heavy burden for us Armenians. There is this perception
    among Dersim Armenians that the Armenian community does not accept us,
    since we have changed our names and abandoned our culture. And when
    you go to the Patriarchate, which demands proof of your Armenianess,
    setting criteria for you, usually the Dersim Armenian retreats,
    takes a step back and gives up. Of course the Patriarchate has also
    its reasons to act so. In this case, the Unioon of Dersim Armenians
    tries to create relations based on mutual trust, acting as a bridge
    between the Patriarchate and Dersim Armenians".

    The Dersim Armenians living in Istanbul give their children Armenian
    names, send them to Armenian schools and take steps in learning
    Armenian. Cem Halavurt also thinks about learning Armenian. In 2013,
    the residents of Dersim commemorated the Armenian Genocide in their
    native Dersim.

    http://www.horizonweekly.ca/news/details/42244

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