Upper Euphrates Armenians 1915 and Dersim

You are holding in your hands the book Upper Euphrates Armenians, 1915 and Dersim, which is the product of author Hovsep Hayreni's long years of research and intense effort, at a time when that dark and bloody past is being tried to be resurrected by the imitators of Abdülhamit, Talat and Enver Pasha. The author focuses on three main topics in this very detailed research, which he limits to the Upper Euphrates region. The first of these is by documenting the historical depth and population density of the Armenian people in the Upper Euphrates basin, which corresponds to the borders of Dersim province, at the beginning of the 20th century, both during World War II. To display the 1894-96 massacres, which were the ingenuity of Abdulhamid, and the 1915 genocide and its consequences, carried out by the Committee of Union and Progress, in all their nakedness and brutality. Secondly, to examine the reasons and consequences of the Armenian political parties of the period not being able to foresee the genocide and developing appropriate organization and self-defense, and to warn against similar mistakes being made today. Thirdly, to acknowledge the role played by the geography and people of Dersim in saving the few remaining Armenians from the genocide, regardless of the reason. The majority of the sources used in the book consist of memoirs in Armenian by living witnesses of the period, compiled by the author himself. Many of these sources appear before Turkish readers for the first time. The book has a very special place in this respect. At the same time, this book, written with great patience, reveals with great care how the massacre and genocide took place in almost all settlements, village by village, who committed it, and which tribes protected the Armenians. Stating that the common liberation opportunity of the Armenian and Kurdish people was missed with the Armenian genocide, Hovsep Hayreni evaluates the 1938 Dersim massacre as a continuation of the 1915 genocide and emphasizes that common pain should unite the people. Considering that we are faced with a similar situation today, the author invites us to bravely confront our history, come to terms with it, and transform common pain into a common struggle and salvation by learning from our mistakes.
-Yasemin Gedik-
(From the Promotional Bulletin)



Number of Pages: 864

Year of Printing: 2016


Language: Turkish
Publisher: Document Publications

Number of Pages: 864

First Print Year: 2016

Language Turkish