Kılıçdaroğlu calls on unrepentant Öymen to resign over Dersim

However, CHP parliamentary group deputy chairman Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu has called on him to resign. Öymen’s remarks have drawn serious backlash from Alevi communities. There have been ongoing protests since Tuesday both in Tunceli and in other towns. However, the CHP big shot continues to stand by his words, refusing to apologize. During a speech in Parliament on Tuesday criticizing the government’s Kurdish initiative, which seeks to expand the rights of Kurds in Turkey to alleviate and ultimately end the separatist terrorism of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), Öymen said: “Didn’t mothers also cry at the time of the Sheikh Said Rebellion? Didn’t mothers also cry at the time of the Dersim Rebellion?” in response to the government’s used of the phrase “Let no more mothers cry” as part of its efforts to end the PKK’s campaign of terrorism.

The rebellion took place in 1937 in Dersim, which had historically been a semi-autonomous region. Dersim was renamed Tunceli after the rebellion. The rebellion was led by Seyyid Riza, the chief of a Zaza tribe in the region. The Turkish government at the time, led by İsmet İnönü, responded with air strikes against the rebels. Tens of thousands were killed in the campaign.

Speaking to the Akşam daily in an interview published yesterday, Öymen added to his initial controversial remarks. He said he did not understand why his recitation of what Atatürk had done in the past was offensive to the Alevis. “Atatürk never chose to negotiate against any of the revolts. Not just the Dersim Rebellion, there have been other rebellions sparked by religious motivations. Now does talking about this make me a fascist? If I am a fascist, what were those who suppressed the Dersim Rebellion?”

In response to a question on how he felt about the nearly 90,000 who were killed in the Dersim Rebellion, many of whom were innocent, Öymen said: “Similar tragedies have occurred in all rebellions of the world. The number of people who have died in civil wars and rebellions since WWII is more than 18 million. … What I am saying is that the Justice and Development Party’s [AK Party] method [of dealing with terrorism] is not like Atatürk’s method.”

In response to a question on whether the force used to suppress the Dersim Rebellion was excessive, he said: “Unfortunately, yes. Look, I worked as an ambassador to NATO. In operations, there is something called collateral damage. The optimal situation is that this doesn’t happen. Could we be that careful in the past? This is for historians to say.”

Kılıçdaroğlu on Öymen’s remarks

Kılıçdaroğlu, who is from Tunceli, talked to the press yesterday about Öymen’s words, saying: “The wound has been reopened. What he should do now is heed the reactions and do what must be done. When he does what needs to be done, he will have really comforted the CHP, CHP deputies and the party’s members.”

Kılıçdaroğlu, who was in Tunceli on Sunday to attend his mother’s funeral, held a press conference at the CHP Provincial District Presidency.

An Alevi group protested against CHP Deputy Chairman Onur Öymen’s statements on Dersim events in İstanbul’s Beyoğlu district on Sunday.

“Mr. Öymen’s emphasis on the Dersim rebellion, his attempt to draw a parallel between the PKK terrorist group and the Dersim rebellion has created enormous outrage in wide sections,” he said.

“I would like to highlight that what happened in Dersim is a tragedy for humanity. … I would like to express that it is not right to refer to these events as analogous to our day’s fight on terror.”

He said the people of the region had the philosophy of not holding grudges against anyone. Using an Alevi phrase, he said, “They have turned their pain into honey, they have suppressed their agony. Most certainly, there were mistakes made in that time. But it is not right to bring these to our day and revive those events. The wound has bled once again.”

He called on Öymen to do “what needs to be” done, implicitly encouraging him to resign.

More reactions against Öymen’s statement

Alevis continued to protest Öymen yesterday. In Gaziantep’s Başpınar village, members of the local CHP branch decided to resign en masse and transfer to the Justice and Development Party (AK Party). More than 700 Başpınar residents and more than 500 other Alevis originally from Başpınar but currently living and working in European countries will be resigning from the CHP and applying to join the AK Party, according to Başpınar village muhtar Hüseyin Kutlu. “As an Alevi village, we, the residents of Başpınar, have always voted for the CHP since its founding. After Öymen’s unfortunate speech, 700 people residing in our village and 500 others of our village who work abroad have applied to me, telling me of their decision to leave the CHP.”

Meanwhile, the Democratic Society Party (DTP) called on all Kurdish members of the CHP to resign. DTP Diyarbakır Provincial Administration Deputy Chairman Cafer Kan said: “We condemn this stance of the CHP. We call all CHP members who still have some sense of democracy and Kurdishness left in them to resign.”