Koçgiri Rebellion

Koçgiri Rebellion

Koçgiri rebels
Date July 1920- June 1921
Location Sivas, Dersim, Erzincan
Result Decisive Turkish victory. Revolt suppressed.
Belligerents
Ankara Government Koçgiri Tribe
Society for the Rise of Kurdistan
A lot of Tribes (changed sides)
Commanders and leaders
Mustafa Kemal
Nureddin Pasha
Binbaşı Halis Bey (commander of the 6th Cavalry Regiment) †[1][2][3][4]
Topal Osman		 Alişan Bey [5]
Alişer
Baytar Nuri (Dersimi)
Paso
Misto
Strength
Government Claim:

3,161 men[6][7]
1,350 military animal[7]
2,750 rifles, 3 light and 18 heavy machine guns[7]

Rebel Claim:
6,000 cavalrymen
25,000 infantrymen
Unknown nr of militia and Gendarmerie

 Government Claim:

3,000 rebels (mostly cavalry)[7]
2,500 rifles[7]

Rebel Claim:
6,000 rebels
Casualties and losses
Unknown 500 rebels killed[7]
32 rebel leaders and 500 rebels captured[5]
1. Alevi+Kurdish rebellion[8], 2. Zaza rebellion[9]

The Koçgiri Rebellion or Koçkiri Rebellion was a (predominantly Kurdish[10]) Alevi uprising in 1920 during the Turkish War of Independence, in the overwhelmingly militant Dersim region. While waged by the Kizilbash Koçgiri tribe, it was masterminded by members of an organisation known as the Society for the Rise of Kurdistan.

Contents

Ankara-Koçgiri negotiations

Repression

The commander of the Central Army Nureddin Pasha sent a force of some 3,000 cavalrymen and irregulars including Topal Osman's battalions.[6] Rebels were crushed by June 17, 1921.[11]

Before repressed the revel, Nurettin Pasha said (as to some sources, this words belong to Topal Osman[12]):

In Turkey, we annihilated people who speak "zo" (Armenians), I'm going to cleanup people who speak "lo" (Kurdish) by their roots.[10][13]
—Turkish original, Türkiye'de (Memlekette) Zo (Ermeniler) diyenleri temizledik, Lo (Kürtler) diyenlerin köklerini de ben temizleyeceğim.[12]

The brutality of the repression made the Grand National Assembly decide to put Nureddin Pasha on trial. Although Nureddin Pasha was dismissed on November 3, 1921 and recalled to Ankara, Mustafa Kemal Pasha intervened and prevented a trial.[6]

Resources

  1. ^ Ercan Yavuz, "Turkey starts to question early period of republic", Today's Zaman, November 22, 2009.
  2. ^ Mustfa Balcıoğlu, Belgelerle Millî Mücadele sırasında Anadoluda ayaklanmalar ve Merkez ordusu, 1991, p. 128. (Turkish)
  3. ^ Nurettin Gülmez, T.B.M.M. zabıtalarından Doğu ve Güney Doğu meselesi, Hamle Yayın-Dağıtım, 1992, p. 197. (Turkish)
  4. ^ [1]
  5. ^ a b Türk İstiklal Harbi, Edition VI, İstiklal Harbinde Ayaklanmalar, T. C. Genelkurmay Harp Tarihi Başkanlığı Resmî Yayınları, 1974, page 281
  6. ^ a b c Andrew Mango, Atatürk, John Murray, 1999, ISBN 978-0-7195-6592-2, p. 330.
  7. ^ a b c d e f Hüseyin Rahmi Apak, Türk İstiklâl Harbi – İç ayaklanmalar: 1919-1921, 1964, C.VI, Genelkurmay Basımevi, pages 163-165
  8. ^ Martin van Bruinessen, "Zaza, Alevi and Dersimi as Deliberately Embraced Ethnic Identities" in '"Aslını İnkar Eden Haramzadedir!" The Debate on the Ethnic Identity of The Kurdish Alevis' in Krisztina Kehl-Bodrogi, Barbara Kellner-Heinkele, Anke Otter-Beaujean, Syncretistic Religious Communities in the Near East: Collected Papers of the International Symposium "Alevism in Turkey and Comparable Sycretistic Religious Communities in the Near East in the Past and Present" Berlin, 14-17 April 1995, BRILL, 1997, ISBN 9789004108615, p. 13.
  9. ^ Martin van Bruinessen, "Zaza, Alevi and Dersimi as Deliberately Embraced Ethnic Identities" in '"Aslını İnkar Eden Haramzadedir!" The Debate on the Ethnic Identity of The Kurdish Alevis', p. 14.
  10. ^ a b Hans-Lukas Kieser, Iskalanmış barış: Doğu Vilayetleri'nde misyonerlik, etnik kimlik ve devlet 1839-1938, ISBN 9789750503009, p. 570. (original: Der verpasste Friede: Mission, Ethnie und Staat in den Ostprovinzen der Türkei 1839-1938, Chronos, 2000, ISBN 3905313499)
  11. ^ Ergün Aybars, İstiklâl Mahkemeleri, Bilgi Yayınevi, 1975, p. 34. (Turkish)
  12. ^ a b Halim Demir, Milli Mücadele: Kuvayı Milliye : İttihatçılar ve Muhalifler, Ozan Yayıncılık, 2008, p. 176.
  13. ^ Martin van Bruinessen, Mullas, Sufis and Heretics: The Role of Religion in Kurdish Society: Collected Articles, ISIS Press, 2000, ISBN 9789754281620, p. 183.

External links

Concepts
Local congresses
Amasya Circular · Erzurum Congress · Balıkesir Congress · Alaşehir Congress · Sivas Congress · Amasya Protocol · Grand National Assembly
Issues
Campaigns
Maras · Antep · Urfa
Agreements