You, River of My Tears

And the Mountain said to Munzur:

You, River of my Tears

MIRIAM STANKE

p. 05

Halbori springs and rocks, used for committing suicide during 1937 and 1938 to escape the massacre

p. 06

Police routinely patrol the streets of Tunceli

p. 09

Cem (Holy gathering)

p. 10

Picture of murdered PKK co-founder Sakine Cansiz at her family home

p. 12

Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, University of Tunceli

p. 14

Temporary PKK guerilla camp, Dersim

p. 17

At home in the mountains Woman near her village. Her father died after being tortured in a Turkish prison

p. 18

Carpets of Dersim`s revolutionaries: singer Ahmed Kaya, religiuos leader and political figure Seyit Rıza, film director Yılmaz Güney, Hazret Ali, communist Ibrahim Kaypakaya, Marxist-Leninist activist Deniz Gezmi

p. 21

Kisses to the prophet Ali, new built Cem Evi (holy gathering house) near the Munzur Springs

p. 22

Maoist Communist Party, one of the com munist parties that operate in Dersim

p. 25

Slaughterer, Holy springs of Munzur

p. 26

‘PARTIZAN is the voice of freedom for all the different nationalities, especially of the proletariat in Turkey and Turkey-Kurdistan’ Maoist guerrilla group

p. 29

Dersimli Woman with gun, BDP Office Dersim

p. 31

Mosque built by the government ‘in the ranks of DHF on May 1` (Democratic Peoples’ Federation)

p. 32

Wedding preparations, Tunceli

p. 35

1st day Wedding party, Güney Konak, near Ovacik

p. 37

Altar, holy Springs of Munzur

p. 39

Popular grove by the the Munzur

p. 40

The mayor of a village that will be flooded as a consequence of the Pembelik dam being built

p. 43

‘The wisest teacher in life is wisdom’

p. 45

Drying tomatoes

p. 46

Family picnic, Springs of Munzur

p. 49

‘Berkin Elvan is immortal’ Berkin died in March 2014 after being injured during Gezi protests in Istanbul

p. 53

Dead tree which is used to tie pieces of cotton and plastic, a part of the pilgrimage to Düzgün Baba mountain

2

Introduction

‘And the Mountain said to Munzur: You, River of my Tears’ is the story of Dersim, a remote mountainous area of Eastern Anatolia with the Munzur river and valley at its heart. Dersim is the historical heartland of the Kurdish Alevis or Kızılba , a very heterodox religious group that has been oppressed and attacked throughout the past centuries and is still fighting for its heritage. The word ‘Dersim’ is closely connected to ‘genocide’ and ‘resistance’ for most Kurds and Alevis in Turkey.

Continuous struggles against the state climaxed with the massacre of 1938, where ten thousand were killed by Turkish military.

The Kızılba religion is strongly influenced

by Zoroastrian and Central Asian shaman beliefs, but it is also Shi’i Muslim mixed with some Armenian Christian ideas. Their religion and culture contradicted the Sunni Ottoman’s State religion openly while their ethnic identity - they speak a Kurdish-related language – contradicted the Turkish republic’s idea of homogeneity. During

the second half of the 20th century Dersim also became a melting pot of leftist political dissent and an important centre for several communist movements. Its mountains have served as a hideout for guerrilla groups since this time and still today the region has one of the highest concentrations of military presence in Turkey.

Ethnic, religious and political dissent seem to be a reaction against a nation state policy bent on homogenisation, which consequently provoked conflicts and therefore triggered the co-existence of local identities. Although this project does not dwell on past events, life in Dersim today is entangled with its history. Old wounds caused by massacres, torture and burnt down villages seem unable to heal - these traces are enshrined in the landscape and the folklore of Dersim. During these several months of sharing life with the Alevi people, structures of their society became visible.

This resulted in a learning and understanding of how Alevi religion is integrated in daily life and in

their culture of resistance.

The Dersim people’s dissent is pitted against state manipulation of local ways of living. The building of new Mosques - not part of Alevi culture - and countless dam and mining projects throughout the region, especially at the Munzur river, have provoked new clashes and caused further alienation. These dams, once built, will destroy most of Dersim’s unique flora and fauna and will damage the Alevi heritage irrevocably.

‘You, River of My Tears’ explores the relationship between political and religious beliefs in the creation of local identities. It captures glimpses of a society which, although much of it has migrated elsewhere over the years, will not accept the wilful destruction of its homeland.

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

18

20

22

24

26

28

29

30

32

34

36

38

40

42

44

46

48

50

52

54

56

58

60

62

64

66

68

70

72

74

76

78

80

82

84

86

88

90

92

94

96

98

100

102

104

106

108

110

‘Ya, Tiya Sodiri!’ – ‘O Morning Sun’, I prayed

112

Dersim, a remote mountainous area of Eastern Turkey, in North Kurdistan, is one of the last refuges of a disappearing mosaic of religious traditions, which once characterized the whole region.

Until the divesture of the local tribe systems by Turkish military in the 1930s, climaxing in the genocide of 1937-38, no central authority was ever able to control the area. This was not only due to the difficulty to access the valleys full of canyons and caves but also to the fact that the people of Dersim were hardly in contact with other societies until the 20th century. Not without reasons, as a history of persecution and oppression of religious minorities during the Ottoman State made Dersim the last refuge for Alevi and Armenian Christians.

Alevi religion is a heterodox variation of Shi’i Islam which was influenced by wandering Sufi mystics’ Shamanic, Zoroastrian and Buddhist beliefs. At the beginnings of the 16th century it had become the Safavid dynasty’s state religion in Per-

sia. Their fighters were known for their red headgear and consequently called Kızılba , ‘red heads’.

While most of those ideas have practically disappeared today, traces of them linger. Nowadays, the Dedes, a caste of religious teachers, are the only ones entitled to explain those traditions. There is a belief that God has reincarnated in Ali and possibly also in Hacı Bekta , one of the Alevis’ most important holy saints. God himself is rarely referred to as Allah. More often, the term Hakk (‘the truth‘) is used. Instead of mosques there are Cem Evis (assembly houses) used as ritual centres, and instead of prayers Alevi practice the Cem, which combines many rituals from mystic Islam - e.g. recitations from poetry, rhythmic singing and ecstatic dance.

The sun and the moon were also worshipped in Dersim. According to a legend, Ali became the sun after his death and people were kissing the spot where the sun cast its first rays in the morning. It is further said that on certain days all peo-

ple gathered on the roofs of their houses at night to bow and salute in worship to the moon, which seems even more important.

Another tradition associates Muhammad with the sun and Ali with the moon. Here a link to the early Shi’i Islam can be found: The division of the world into an outer and an inner part. The outer part (zahir) describes the material world as well as languages in their superficial meaning. So, for example, the literal text of the Koran or the Islamic law (Sharia) is seen as relatively unimportant as it scratches only the surface of the divine revelation. The zahir is equally represented by Muhammed - the deliverer of the Koran - as well as by the sun. The moon, which represents Ali, is a symbol for the inner, hidden truth.

While other ‘heretic’ Islamic movements have contributed to the development of the Alevi faith of Dersim, several pilgrimage sites also give hints of an ancient snake cult, which seemingly was spread widely in Dersim. In Mardin, a city in

South-eastern Turkey, there exists a long tradition of manufacturing images of a being called Sahmaran. She is half woman, half snake and her picture is traditionally hung in young women’s rooms. Theories claim that the legends around Sahmaran represent the formation of patriarchal and state relations in the Middle East. The snake would not only indicate pre-Islamic beliefs, but would also comment on the link between the state and religious orthodoxy.

‘Heaven and hell don’t exist in reality’, people in Dersim often say – both of them can only be found in the human mind. This is not a rationalization, as in more secularized societies, but an expression of the idea that the inner meaning of religion is much more important than the outer part, which can be grasped in words.

In Ottoman times the tribes of Dersim were called Du ık or Dujık, in reference to one of the highest mountains of the region, which is called Sultan Baba today. This name stems from a mys-

114

tic and conqueror from Central Asia and it marks one of Dersim’s most important Ziyarets. Ziyarets are holy places scattered over the landscape, which connect striking sites in nature with a legend explaining their importance. The most important ‘holy place’ in Dersim is the Munzur river. Its springs are a crucial pilgrimage site for Dersim’s Alevis. While a few other pilgrimage sites are visited by people from the whole region and are part of Dersim’s identity in general, there are legends attached to holy springs, rocks and old trees in every valley and on every mountain. These legends are known only to locals.

Mekka, which is the pilgrimage site common to all Muslims, is replaced by visits to Ziyarets. Traditionally people go there when they desire something or to prevent misfortune. They light candles or sacrifice sheep and goats whose meat is shared among all those present.

Since the 70’s Dersim has become a melting pot for leftist political movements. For the Kurdish

movement and the Turkish left wing in general, it has become a symbol of resistance against the government. Their political struggle is so embedded within culture and religion that they can hardly be separated from each other.

It is no coincidence that Dersim has become both a centre and a symbol for the struggle against Sunni orthodoxy and centralized state control.

Since the 1990s Atatürk’s efforts for secularization have been partly undone. Inhabitants of Dersim had a tendency to vote for the CHP – the party founded by Atatürk – because for them it stood for the end of state-led religious persecution. The fact that this very party was responsible for the massacre of 1937-38 has been overlooked for a long time.

Whilst opinions about political Islam have always been unanimous, Dersim’s attitude towards the Kurdish movement was never univocal. The PKK (Kurdistan Workers’ Party) and its parliamentary arms fought for a Marxist-Leninist state

since the late 1970s and, after a long and bloody war, it created the idea of ‘democratic confederalism’. Democratic confederalism aims at the construction and defence of local self-organisation within the existing borders. People in Dersim, however, had reservations about the PKK, partly because it identified this movement with Sunni Islam. This began to change with the announcement of the PKK’s new paradigm in 1995.

It didn’t only drop the idea of a separate nation state, but started to consciously promote cultural and religious diversity. Around this time the PKK guerrilla began to lead active operations in Dersim. Fierce clashes with state-led troops caused larger operations during which the army evacuated and burned down hundreds of villages.

Since that time, the people of Dersim have begun to move closer to the PKK, in order to protect themselves against state aggression. The Kurdish movement subsequently became another strong symbol of identification and since 2009 its legal

party, the BDP (Peace and Democracy Party), has been in charge of the administration of Dersim’s provincial capital.

Dersim’s cultural and religious history, in its particular diversity and isolation, reveals itself not only in special prayers, rites, or structures of society today, but also in clear political actions for autonomy and equality of different social groups and for the support and development of its own identity.

From the massacres of Sultan Selim, to the state-led massacres of 1938, fr om the defeat of most of the leftist movements after the different military coups to the village evacuations of 1994, Dersim’s identity has been shaped by its history of resistance against centralised authority.

- Benjamin Raßbach

116

118

Acknowledgement

to Ben, for making me climb all of Dersim’s mountains and especially for making this project possible, to Ed, Misha, Carl and Max, for the wise thoughts on my pictures, to Clara, for the lovely text editing, to the people of Dersim, especially Ekrem and his mother, for having shared their home, thanks.

I am deeply grateful for being able to realise projects like this one.

‘Ya, Tiya Sodiri!’ – ‘O Morning Sun’, I prayed

120

First edition 2014 Copyright © 2014 for all photographs Miriam Stanke Book design and layout: Miriam Stanke Text (pp. 112-115): Benjamin Raßbach Text edit: Clara Melot www.miriamstanke.com Printed at FE Burman, London

p. 55

Atatürk in front of the court house, Ovacik

p. 57

Ali, with his sword Sülfikar and his two sons Hassan and Hüsseyn

Turkish military in Munzur valley p. 93

In the streets of Ovacik

p. 94

DHF (Democratic Peoples’ Federation)

p. 97

Nomad from Cemisgezek

p. 99

The white path, view from the house of Seyit Riza’s grandaughter, near the Sultan Baba mountain

p. 58

Meadows of the Ovacik Plateau, near Burnak

p. 61

Sacrifice, holy springs of Munzur

p. 63

Healing back pain The holy rock bed of Düzgün Baba

p. 64

Mausoleum of Holy Coban Baba

p. 101 Munzur and the holy fish

p. 71

The former Armenian village of Sorsvenk

p. 102 Afternoon bath, Munzur river

p. 72

A former Turkish military station, now re placed by a modern one

p. 104 Notice board, PKK guerilla camp, near a newly built matryrs’ graveyard

p. 75

BDP candidate Demirtas’ campaign for the 2014 elections

p. 107 Fire at Munzur mountain

p. 76

A horse near the camp of nomads from the Munzur mountains, who are on their way back home

p. 109 Leaving Dersim on the ferry to Elazig

p. 79

Engin, a young man from Burnak, near Ovacik, now living in Istanbul to support his family

p. 80

Dried meat and bees, nomads on the Ovacik plataeu

p. 83

Demirtas campaign 2014, Ovacik

p. 85

Lost sons Woman in family home with a portrait of her son, having lost his life in the mountains after joining guerrilla groups. Her second suffers mental health issues after several weeks of torture in Turkish prison for being accused of being a member of a communist guerrilla group

p. 87

Atatürk and Zaz in a bus station

p. 89

Drying peppers for winter

p. 91

Old helicopter landing pad used by

p. 111

Water hose at the cemetery of Ovacik

p. 117

Munzur river by night