To the European Commission:

We demand of the Turkish authorities firstly the recognition of our country, Dersim, which was autonomous for more than four centuries under the Ottoman Empire and which lost its autonomy in 1938 under the Turkish Republic; secondly the recognition of the genocides or attempted genocides suffered by our people and which it witnessed in 1915, 1921, 1925, 1938.

We demand the immediate end of the policy designated under the name ‘Plan T’ which forces the population into an exodus or forced assimilation.
We demand demilitarisation and the banning of all the activities of military and paramilitary teams which have been exercising terror over the population since 1938.

The language of the Dersim, Zaza, is still banned today. We demand self-determination in the matter of communication, education and social organisation. The Turkish state must recognise the specific beliefs and traditions of the Dersim people. The policy of Islamisation and Turkishisation (exemplified by the precept: ‘one mosque per village, one Imam per village’) must cease.

The military policy of the Turkish state has already destroyed a great part of our patrimony: setting fire to our forests, bombing our villages, systematic destruction of our historical monuments and finally threats to the Munzur, the sacred river of our culture, and riches of humanity as well.

We bring to your attention this dramatic reality in the context of the discussion of entering into negotiations with Turkey.
May the threat to pour people end and may all the minorities of Anatolia live in peace.

Alisan Karsan

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