ournalists and relatives of the victims of a 1937 massacre in the predominantly Alevi region of Dersim have found some bones probably belonging to the victims after carrying out a search in a cave in which many killings took place.The notorious massacre occurred in 1937 in Dersim, which was historically a semi-autonomous region, as a brutal response to rebellious events. The alleged rebellion was led by Seyyid Rıza, the head of a Zaza tribe in the region. The Turkish government at the time, led by then-Republican People’s Party (CHP) head İsmet İnönü, responded with air strikes and other violent methods of suppression, killing thousands of people.
It is estimated that as many as 70,000 Kurdish Alevis were killed in Dersim between 1937 and 1938. The bodies of many of the victims are still missing.
In a bid to find some remains, a group of relatives of the victims and journalists searched the Laç Cave, where the killing of hundreds of people took place. After searching for about 11 hours, the group found bones most probably belonging to the Dersim massacre victims.
Entry to the area the group searched is prohibited to the public for security reasons; however, the group violated the prohibition.
One of the victims’ relatives, Hıdır Çiçek, said his uncle, cousins and many other family members died in the incident and that his father barely survived. Çiçek said he could not hold back his tears when he saw the bones.
Shell casings produced in 1935 were also discovered in the cave.
Çiçek said many of the people hiding in that cave were his relatives. “I remember everything my father told me about this cave and everything seems so familiar to me. Although it is the first time I have come here, I feel like I have stayed in this cave. What more can I say after I have seen these [bones]? There is another cave somewhere in this area, too, and most of the people who survived back then survived thanks to this cave,” he said.
His father told Çiçek that there were 500 to 1,000 people hiding in the Laç Cave. He demanded that the cave be turned into a monument honoring the victims of the massacre.
Laç Cave is one of the largest caves in the area. When many people were killed in Dersim at the time, about 500 people fled and hid in the cave, where they spent many days with little food and water. The majority of those hiding in the cave were women and children. It is believed that when one woman left the cave to get some water from a stream, soldiers found out about the people hiding in the cave and air strikes were carried out.