Koçgiri Uprising and its Effect on Dersim During the National Struggle

Tribal life continued to exist in some parts of Eastern Anatolia for centuries. Social, political, cultural, military, religious-sectarian structures and culture of life were shaped and directed by the leaders of the tribes and a lifestyle was formed within this framework. This social structure occasionally led to occasional unrest and social mobilizations. For many years, the Koçgiri and Dersim regions were governed by the traditional feudal order under the control of seyits and aghas. This led to various uprisings from time to time. The most important event that Dersim region witnessed during the War of Independence was the Koçgiri Rebellion. The Koçgiri tribe, mostly Alevi, was a tribe consisting of five large tribes settled in Sivas and its vicinity. Their leaders were two brothers, Alişan and Haydar Bey. This movement, which started as the Koçgiri Rebellion and spread, developed into the Dersim problem. Therefore, delegations were sent to the region in order to pacify the problem. Mustafa Kemal Pasha asked Seyit Rıza to maintain peace. The Koçgiri Rebellion had the effect of making things easier for the Greek forces, which were on a general offensive in the West. The transfer of a significant military force from the Western Front to the east in order to suppress the rebellion resulted in the weakening of the Turkish military power on the Western Front. As a result of this inadequacy, the Turkish Army retreated to the east of Sakarya and Ankara became open to enemy threats. It was only after the rebellion was suppressed that the Sakarya Victory could be won. If the rebellion had not been suppressed and spread to wider regions, it might have been difficult to prevent the advance of the Greek army and stop it near Ankara, and the center of government might have been forced to retreat as far as Kayseri. On the other hand, it was also noteworthy that this rebellion was parallel to the Pontic Revolt in the Central Black Sea region and took place at the same time. Had these two revolts been successful and geographically united, the National Struggle would have been in a difficult situation. In this sense, the Koçgiri Rebellion and its suppression had very important consequences for the Turkish National Struggle and influenced subsequent developments.

Click to cite.

Note: You can access the citation text via the ‘Actions’ tab in Crossref.