4. An Undeniable Genocide: Dersim 1937–38

This chapter examines the genocidal state operations in the Dersim province of Turkey in the years 1937 and 1938 as part of a broader policy that incorporate Kurdistan through oppressive and violent means. This analysis begins with the changing the name of province from Dersim to Tunceli by a special law in 1935, implemented under a ‘General Governorship’ that held full administrative, military and judicial authority. The operations culminated in mass killings, village burnings, abduction of children, and deportations during the summer months of 1937 and especially in1938. The chapter starts with a critical analysis of the existing historiography and historical background, focusing mainly on the mass killings and deportations in 1937 and especially 1938. The chapter’s main aim will be to demonstrate that the developments in Dersim during these two years as a part of a more general process between 1935 and 1947 constitute genocide as described by the international law.