Koçgiri rebellion

Koçgiri Rebellion
Part of Kurdish rebellions in Turkey and Turkish War of Independence
Koçgiri rebels
Date 6 March 1921 - 17 June 1921[1] Location Sivas, Tunceli, Erzincan Result Decisive Turkish victory. Revolt suppressed.
Belligerents
Grand National Assembly Central Army	Koçgiri Tribe Society for the Rise of Kurdistan Ginyan Tribe (changed sides)
Commanders and leaders
Mustafa Kemal Atatürk Nureddin Pasha Binbaşı Halis Bey (commander of the 6th Cavalry Regiment) †[2][3][4][5] Topal Osman	Alişan Bey [6] Alişer Nuri Dersimi Paso Misto
Strength
Government Claim: 3,161 men[7][8] 1,350 military animal[8] 2,750 rifles, 3 light and 18 heavy machine guns[8] Rebel Claim: 6,000 cavalrymen 25,000 infantrymen Unknown nr of militia and Gendarmerie	Government Claim: 3,000 rebels (mostly cavalry)[8] 2,500 rifles[8] Rebel Claim: 6,000 rebels
Casualties and losses
Unknown	500 rebels killed[8] 32 rebel leaders and 500 rebels captured[6]

The Koçgiri Rebellion or Koçkiri Rebellion was an Alevi Kurdish uprising,^[11] in the overwhelmingly militant Koçgiri region. While waged by the Kızılbaş Koçgiri tribe, it was originally suggested by members of an organisation known as the Society for the Rise of Kurdistan.

The commander of the Central Army Nureddin Pasha sent a force of some 3,000 cavalrymen and irregulars including Topal Osman's battalions.^[7] Rebels were crushed by June 17, 1921.^[12]

Before repressed the revel, Nurettin Pasha said (as to some sources, this words belong to Topal Osman^[13]):

In Turkey, we cleaned up people who speak "zo" (Armenians), I'm going to clean up people who speak "lo" (Kurdish) by their roots.^[14][15]

— Turkish original, Türkiye'de (Memlekette) Zo (Ermeniler) diyenleri temizledik, Lo (Kürtler) diyenlerin köklerini de ben temizleyeceğim.^[13]

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 Atatürk intervened and prevented a trial.^[7]

References

1. Hülya Küçük, The Role of the Bektashis in Turkey's National Struggle, BRILL, 2002, ISBN 9004124438, page 217.
2. Ercan Yavuz, "Turkey starts to question early period of republic", Today's Zaman, November 22, 2009.
3. Mustfa Balcıoğlu, Belgelerle Millî Mücadele sırasında Anadoluda ayaklanmalar ve Merkez ordusu, 1991, p. 128. (Turkish)
4. Nurettin Gülmez, T.B.M.M. zabıtalarından Doğu ve Güney Doğu meselesi, Hamle Yayın-Dağıtım, 1992, p. 197. (Turkish)
6. Türk İstiklal Harbi, Edition VI, İstiklal Harbinde Ayaklanmalar, T. C. Genelkurmay Harp Tarihi Başkanlığı Resmî Yayınları, 1974, page 281
7. Andrew Mango, Atatürk, John Murray, 1999, ISBN 978-0-7195-6592-2, p. 330.
8. Hüseyin Rahmi Apak, Türk İstiklâl Harbi – İç ayaklanmalar: 1919-1921, 1964, C.VI, Genelkurmay Basımevi, pages 163-165
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' 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.
10. 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.
11. https://timetravelblog.wordpress.com/2009/12/06/kocgiri-kurdish-uprising/
12. Ergün Aybars, İstiklâl Mahkemeleri, Bilgi Yayınevi, 1975, p. 34. (Turkish)
13. Halim Demir, Milli Mücadele: Kuvayı Milliye : İttihatçılar ve Muhalifler, Ozan Yayıncılık, 2008, p. 176.
14. Hans-Lukas Kieser, Iskalanmış barış: Doğu Vilayetleri'nde misyonerlik, etnik kimlik ve devlet 1839-1938, İletişim Yayınları, 2005, ISBN 978-975-05-0300-9, p. 570. (Turkish) (original: Der verpasste Friede: Mission, Ethnie und Staat in den Ostprovinzen der Türkei 1839-1938, Chronos, 2000, ISBN 3-905313-49-9) (German)
15. Martin van Bruinessen, Mullas, Sufis and Heretics: The Role of Religion in Kurdish Society: Collected Articles, ISIS Press, 2000, ISBN 978-975-428-162-0, p. 183.

External links

• The Repression of the Koçgiri Rebellion, 1920-1921