Dersim rebellion

Dersim rebellion
	Part of the Kurdish rebellions
	; Turkish soldiers with civilians who official documents say were internally exiled; Salman Yeşildağ said they included his sister and were executed after the photo was taken.
Date	20 March – November 1937; 2 January – December 1938
Location	Dersim region (present-day Tunceli Province, minor parts of Erzincan Province and Elazığ Province)
Result	Turkish victory: Seyid Riza was executed; Kurds of Dersim were subjected to massacres and forced migration;
Belligerents
Turkey	Kurds of Dersim
Commanders and leaders
Mustafa Kemal Atatürk; İsmet İnönü; Fevzi Çakmak; Kâzım Orbay;	Seyid Riza (POW) ; Alişer Efendi †; Kamer Agha (POW); Gabriel Agha (POW); Bachdiyar (POW) †;
Strength
Turkish Armed Forces: 50,000+ soldiers; 1st Aircraft Regiment;	15,000+;
Casualties and losses
110 killed;	Unknown
	13,160 civilians massacred (official figure) 11,818 forced into migration (official figure) Other sources claim 30,000 to 40,000 civilian deaths, while some Kurdish sources even claim 60,000 to 70,000 deaths.

The Dersim rebellion (Turkish: Dersim İsyanı, Kurdish: Serhildana Dêrsimê) was a Kurdish uprising against the central government in the Dersim region of eastern Turkey, which includes parts of Tunceli Province, Elazığ Province, and Bingöl Province. The rebellion was led by Seyid Riza, a chieftain of the Abasan tribe. In 1937 and 1938, the Turkish Armed Forces carried out three Dersim operations against the rebellion, including the Dersim massacre (Kurdish: Tertelê), (sometimes called the Dersim genocide) of civilians: thousands of Kurds were killed and many others were internally displaced.

On 23 November 2011, Turkish prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan apologized for the massacre, describing it as "one of the most tragic events of our near history" adding that, whilst some sought to justify it as a legitimate response to events on the ground, it was in reality "an operation which was planned step by step". However, this is viewed with suspicion by some, "who see it as an opportunistic move against the main opposition party, the secular CHP."

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