Email a copy of 'Documentary on Islamized Armenians of Dersim Screened at Columbia University' to a friend
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Lilly Torosyan
Lilly Torosyan is a freelance writer based in Connecticut. Her writing focuses on the confluence of identity, diaspora and language – especially within the global Armenian communities. She has a master’s degree in Human Rights from University College London and a bachelor’s degree in International Relations from Boston University, where she served on the ASA Executive Board. She is currently working on her inaugural poetry collection.
Latest posts by Lilly Torosyan (see all)
- Reflections on Hamazkayin’s Cultural Retreat at NAASR - November 8, 2023
- To those who seek to destroy us, I see you - August 23, 2023
- Reflections from Artsakh—”a land with broken lines” - July 13, 2023
Where it be shown soon
Very interesting documentary.
Will it show in Montreal
Dear Mrs. Torosyan, barev, ma be xêr di,
thank you for this appreciable article.
With your permission we would just have a remark about the identity of the Dersimians: 75 % of the Dersimian Alevis are not Kurds but Zaza. And Alevites don’t fulfill the pillars of Islam, they have an own natural faith.
Best wishes
http://www.zazaki.de
Editor
My grandmother’s family came from Dersim. Her father was the head of a village. Yes, in 1915 the Kurds of Dersim were for the most part of Armenian ancestry. The name Dersim comes from the name of an Armenian priest Der Simon who lived and was buried in these mountains. The Kurds would actually go and pray at the St. Garabed Monastery on their knees. There was an elderly man in their village named Gakav. In 1915 they killed his grandsons right in front of his eyes. Gakav was loved and respected by the Kurds and Armenians. This triggered anger from the Kurdish Chieftans and in 1916 there was a rebellion by the Kurds. Many of the Kurds felt close to the Armenians. This is how my grandmother and siblings were saved. There was also an Armenian tribe or Ashiret in dersim the Mirakians.