Koçgiri (tribe)

The Koçgiri tribe (Kurdish: Eşireta Qoçgirî, Turkish: Koçgiri aşireti) is a collection or confederation of Kurdish Alevi tribes,[1] of mainly from Sivas Province (and also Erzincan Province), in Turkey. They are mostly speakers of a dialect of Kurmanji, some of them also speak Zaza.

History
Further information: Alevi history

They are often described as a Kurdish tribe, though their ethnic origin is controversial. They may be, at least partly, of Turkic ancestry.[2][3][4] Some of them describe themselves as ethnic Turks that has been Kurdified.[4] This is frequently explained by the fact that during the Ottoman period, to flee Selim I's persecutions, Kizilbash Turkmens settled in the mountains among Kurds in the Eastern Anatolia provinces whose administration has been given to Kurdish feudal lords — making them learning Kurdish and progressively forgetting Turkish.[3]

The French geographer and orientalist Vital Cuinet mentioned them in his work La Turquie d'Asie, géographie administrative: statistique, descriptive et raisonnée de chaque province de l'Asie Mineure published between 1891 and 1894, in the pages describing the population of the Sivas Vilayet — of which the kaza of Kochkiri (Kotchkiri as in the book, or Koçkiri) was part.[5] They are almost exclusively referred as Kizilbash (whose they constitute a large part in Sivas), distinguished from other Kurds through a sedentary life occupied either at work in the fields, or transport companies.[5]

Main article: Koçgiri rebellion

They are known to have initiated the Koçgiri rebellion that occurred in March 1921, during the Turkish War of Independence. About 5,000 rebels, including Sunni tribes having joined the uprising later,[6] fought against the Grand National Assembly. They were defeated on 17 June.

References
  1. Bruinessen, Martin van, ed. (1997-01-01). "Aslini İnkar Eden Haramzadedir! the Debate on the Ethnic Identity of the Kurdish Alevis". Syncretistic Religious Communities in the Near East: 1–23. doi:10.1163/9789004378988_005. hdl:1874/20716. ISBN 9789004378988. Further west, we find another important Kurdish Alevi population, the Koçgiri tribal confederation, in and around the Zara district of Sivas.
  2. Gürbüz, Macit (2009–2021). Kürtleşen Türkler: Eskiden Türk'tük, şimdi Kürdük. Yayın B. ISBN 9786055622046.
  3. Özdemir, Ali Riza (2013). Kayıp Türkler: etnik coğrafafya bakımından Kürtleşen Türkmen aşiretleri. Kripto Yayınları. ISBN 978-6054125821.
  4. Mélikoff, Irène; Alptekin, Turan (1993). Uyur İdik Uyardılar Alevîlik-Bektaşîlik Araştırmaları. Istanbul : Cem, 1993. p. 104. ISBN 9789754064070. Araştırmalarım beni Kurmancı denen ve Kürtler olarak tanınan insanlar arasında kalmaya götürdü. Töreleri, Orta Asya’ya kadar uzanan Türk töreleriydi. Bunlar arasında rastlanılan ölümle ilgili adetler, yeni doğanlar ve yeni lohusaları basan insan yiyici cin (demone), al inanışı, şubat ayında gerçekte Türkler’in on iki hayvanlı takvimlerine, eski yeni yıl bayramları olan Hızır bayramının kutlanması vb. Orta Asya geleneğinin bir devamıdır. Sorduğumda, kaynaklarımda biri bana “Soy olarak Kürt-Kurmanç değiliz. Fakat inançlarımız dolayısıyla eza gördük, dağlara sığındık, Kürtlere karıştık ve Kürtler olarak adlandırıldık”
  5. Cuinet, Vital (1891–1894). La Turquie d'Asie, géographie administrative : statistique, descriptive et raisonnée de chaque province de l'Asie Mineure. (Paris). p. 619-620.
  6. Güneş, Ergin (2014). Boztuğ, Onursal (ed.). "Koçgiri İsyanı Ekseninde Dersim Direnişi" (in Turkish). Tunceli University: 244. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
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