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[Pictures: cemal__tas on Instagram]

The six-pointed star in a circle with a flower in the middle is an ancient symbol among the Kırmanc / Raa Haqi people. The star consists of two triangles, according to some sources, one is symbolizing the element of water and the other the element of fire. The circle around the star symbolizes the circle of life and the process of becoming one with Haq. The flower in the middle represents man and his soul as well as his perfection. This symbol can still be found today on some old gravestones of the Kırmanc and also (Western) Armenians in Kırmanciye (Especially in the Dêsım region). In the past, symbols like these were placed on the graves of the deceased to, among other things, provide information about the deceased person and who they were in life. A very similar, if not the same, symbol also exists in Armenian culture.

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Gağan

With the celebration of Gağan the Kırmanc in Kırmanciye are welcoming the coming year and usher in a new time period. In a spiritual context, Gağan also celebrates the victory of good over evil. The word "Gağan" means "December" in Kırmançki and probably derives from the West-Armenian language.

The Gağan festival begins in the month of December and lasts four weeks until January (Kırmançki: "Çele") of the new year. Traditionally, Gağan (according to the calendar of the Kırmanc people, called "Hesavo khan") begins on December 14th and extends until January 14th; although this can vary depending on the region, village or tribe.

During Gağan it is also common to fast for three days, this fasting takes place from Tuesday to Thursday. It is also common for the children of Kırmanciye to go from house to house with the sentence "Gağanê sıma bımbarek bo!", which means "Happy Gağan Festival", to receive sweets and gifts.

A popular game that is often played during this season is "Khalê Gağani". Khalê Gağani is a play performed by three people of a village: Khalkêk (Khal-Gağan), the woman Fatıke and a protector of the couple. They dress up and run from house to house; dancing, singing and visiting other families. The children of the village often run with them. Through these visits, gifts are collected, which are then often distributed among the children or shared with poorer families.

Another tradition is the so-called Bıçıka ​​Gağani ("Gağan bread"). Three small crops (a long thick one, a two-spiked one and an odd one) are prepared and hidden in a dough with dried fruit and sultanas. The bread is then baked and eaten together. Each crop has different meaning. If you find the wealth crop in your bread, called "Darıkê dewleteni", you will be lucky all year round. This crop is either thrown into the field for a rich harvest the following year, or in the stable for many female animals in the coming year. If one finds the wisdom crop, called "Darıkê Baqıleni", one is given wisdom and cleverness; this crop is buried in a clean place. However, if one finds the naivety crop, called "Darıkê Xêgêni/bomêni", the person is being made fun of throughout the celebration; this crop is also buried in a clean place.

It is also common for the people to visit each other, to cook, eat and share gifts; with the goal to celebrate and spend a nice time together. If there are still outstanding disputes, these will also be resolved so that we can welcome the new year together peacefully and lovingly. The elders of the village often also pray towards the sun and moon for a happy and successful new year.

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The mountain goats of Dêsım are sacred among the Kırmanc people. They are considered the property of saints. Although the Kırmanc consider all wild animals to be sacred creatures, the mountain goats have a special status. They are a kind of mystery among the people. It is strictly forbidden to harm or kill them. In the old days, when people killed these holy creatures, they were often cast out or even sent into exile.

“There was a guy in our village who’d go after the mountain goats. We warned him many times not to. One day he plunged off the rocks and died. They didn't even wash his body in the square. [..] These goats eat special grass but when it’s wintertime the mountains are full of snow and what do they eat? Their food comes from the unknown, brought by the saints.” - Zeynel Batar

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[Kamera u Montaj: Caner Canerik]

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The following statements come from those affected by the atrocities of the military offensive in Dêsım in 1994.

"After hearing the news of the military operation, I returned to our village from Elazig. The soldiers had put women, children, young girls and men together and beaten them. I knew immediately that they were going to kill us. I asked the soldiers to at least spare the children and women. I was told to keep my mouth shut and got beaten. The weeping and screaming rose to heaven; it was like the Kerbala event. We were led to a pit. where they threatened us with firearms. I told our Pir, who was standing next to me, to call on God and ask for help! The Pir replied: »Don't get your hopes up! My God's power is not enough for that. I'm glad that I'm still alive!«"

"In October 1994, soldiers came to our village without prior notice, 150 beehives and our animals were burned in the stables. They took my father with them. After a few days, the neighboring villages saw him with the soldiers. Although a year has passed, we still haven't found his bones. 10 children remain helpless, without a father!"

"I had to immigrate to Elazig by force; The result was my psychological and financial collapse. I am 35 years old and unemployed. We in Tunceli had always elected the Social Democrats into the government; This government helped to initiate and carry out the village destruction without the Social Democrats intervening. This party didn't help us either. I have every intention of returning to my village."

"After our village was burned, we moved to Xozat. Some have traveled west to the big cities. 18 families live in the wedding hall in Xozat, where we have distributed mats. An unhealthy situation without a toilet or shower. 10-12 people live together in one room. [..] We live in need and poverty."

"The soldiers were in the village. [..] When they burned my house, I wanted to at least save my bed, I panicked, I didn't know what to do. I left the house with my bed on my back and didn't go in. I was completely confused and my house was on fire. I had an old dog. In panic, he threw himself into the flames. And didn't come out anymore. I was on the verge of running into the flames and committing suicide. But then I wanted to keep myself alive as an accusing witness against this oppression. While my dog ​​plunged to his death. If I had committed suicide, there would be no one to describe and testify to these circumstances."

[Source: Ware, Pêseroka Zon u Kulturê Ma, 1996]

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Kırmanciye

Kırmanciye is the word used by the Kırmanc people to name their indigenous homeland.

The term Kırmanciye is derived from the ethnic self-designation “Kırmanc” and therefore describes the main settlement area(s) of the indigenous Kırmanc people - For example, Kırmanciye includes the areas of Dêsım, Erzıngan, Gımgım, Qoçgıri, etc.

The older generation also likes to call Kırmanciye "Kırmanciye belek", which translates to "colorful Kırmanciye". This term is meant to describe the diversity of Kırmanciye; where many different peoples live together and make Kırmanciye colorful.

There are many songs and poems about Kırmanciye itself; the term also often times appears in old literary works that deal with the Kırmanc people. The term Kırmanciye is also used in many ways within the people, for example the faith of the Kırmanc people (Raa Haq) is sometimes called "İtıqatê Kırmanciye", which translates to "The faith of Kırmanciye".

— Eng.: „Our people in Dêsım are called Kırmanc and their language Kırmancki, their territory is Kırmanciye, their religion İtıqatê Kırmanciye, the faith of the Kırmanc. Some call themselves „Elewî“, their language „Zonê ma“, „our language“ and their territory „Welatê ma“, „our homeland“. [Ware, 1997]

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Firik Dede

Firik Dede was a witness of the Dêsım genocide [“Tertelê”] in 1937-1938 and was one of the last representatives of the Derwiş Cemal Ocax.

Firik Dede originally comes from Ovacık and died in 2007 at the age of 106. He often spent his life in poverty and also in exile. His youngest son Behzat studied at a teachers' school and came back to Dêsım to visit his family in 1981. However, in 1981 there was a military junta in which the generals of this junta took all villages and regions of Dêsım under occupation and control.

On October 10, 1981, the soldiers forcibly took Firik Dede’s sons into the forest under false pretenses; They blindfolded the older brother, tied him to a tree and tortured the younger brother Behzat. — Firik Dede went looking for his sons and after a short time he noticed that the smell of burnt flesh was coming from the forest. He heard his sons' cries for help and he moved slowly in the forest towards the scene:

“Piyê mı, .. Behzata mı ..”

[Eng.: “My sons, .. my Behzat …”]

He found Behzat's body set on fire and saw his other son tied to a tree.

From that point on, Firik Dede mourned the loss of his son and did not touch his beard or his hair. He went silent and never stopped shedding tears.

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Ya Xızır‘ê tujıki, ya tija homete. Tenga ma de bırese, ravêr can û roji de wo û bırayi de, xal û werezayi de, ded û dezayi de, dar û kemeri de, verge yavani de, dıma ki ma neçari de.

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What distinguishes the Raa Haq faith from many religions is the fact that the physical body actually plays an unimportant and irrelevant role in the faith. From a Raa Haq perspective, the soul of a living being (called “Can”) is mostly relevant while the physical body only serves as a shell in its function. For this reason, for example, men and women pray together during our holy ceremonies, there is no separation by gender within the religious community and women and men also share equal roles within the culture (although one must of course note here that due to centuries of persecution and assimilation our people are also not free from patriarchal and Islamic influences).

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Kıvılcım Arat, — Alevi Trans & Women Rights Activist

"I grew up in an Alevi family. And I liked my father very much. As children we often went to the Cemevi. And I always prayed; “My God, my father is very good. Why am I so different, help me. Take this feeling from my heart for my father"

"Back then, many women were killed by house searches. All revolutionary women. And I am part of the movement. I am very visible because I am trans. This brings with it a double wrath. You are both transgender and terrorist .. Even my own fated friends traded on this perception."

"Because; "Trans existence" means living with hundreds of thousands of people who will try to destroy that existence. That's why I say: "Even if they destroy it a thousand times, you have to build the life you built a thousand times" when they do accept this fact, their energy will not be exhausted. What we need is courage and the determination to build a life again and again."

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“For me, Zazaki represents; my father, my mother, my country. It‘s my identity, my culture .. if Zazaki becomes extinct, I will become extinct.

The youth need to protect it, we need to protect our language.

We should sing songs in Zazaki, publish Zazaki books, in order to protect our language and prevent it from becoming extinct.”

— Volkan Alkiş

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Roştîya Asmê

"in Dêsım a rainbow can only appear under the moonlight"

Rostîya Asmê is the first LGBTİ organization founded in Dêsım that advocates for the rights of trans* & queer people in Dêsım. The name "Rostîya Asmê" is Zazaki (Kırmançki dialect) and translates to "moonlight". The name is intended to allude to the fact that LGBTİ people in Dêsım are not safe during the day, have to hide and are only able to become visible in the moonlight. - The name also alludes to the fact that LGBTİ people in Dêsım have to fear for their lives in the dark; This is a serious problem, especially for transsexual sex workers in the region, as sex work is often times their only chance to survive.

“We dedicated the name Roştîya Asmê to transsexual sex workers who are imprisoned at home in mornings, in darkness at nights, whose rainbows appear under the moonlight, and to homosexuals and transsexuals who are slaughtered in the darkness of night, under the light of the moon.”

“Hate attacks against LGBTİ people are the same in every region, in every territory. Hate only changes its name according to the region. In one region a crime committed under the name of a hate attack or a murder of passion might be labelled a custom and in another region a tradition; insanity etc. follow that.”

“There are lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans- and intersexual people in Dêsım. We also live on this land. Get used to it, we're here, we're not going. Hate attacks and murders against LGBTİs are increasing day by day, creating the need for local LGBTİ organizations. No hate attacks or murders against LGBTİ people have been reported in the press in Dêsım to this day. However, this does not mean that Dêsım does not harbor hatred towards LGBTİ people. It aims to bring the rainbow of LGBTİ people who are imprisoned in darkness and who come out at night to sunny days as a goal.”

— Roştîya Asmê

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"The name Zaza was initially used by the neighbouring peoples as a pejorative characteristic (zaza means stutterer) due to specific phonetic system of the language of the Zazas, which is the only one among the North-West Iranian dialects having single focused affricates - the undoubted influence of the Armenian language."

- The Zaza People as a New Ethno-Political Factor in the Region, Victoria Arakelova

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— Pılemoriye de jiare sero

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Kırmançki

Kırmançki is the northern dialect of the Zazaki language and is primarily spoken by the Kırmanc people in the Dêsım and Erzıngan regions. In addition to the name Kırmançki, there are also the names: Zonê ma (Eng.: Our language), Zonê Xızırio (Eng.: The language of Xızır), Dêsımki, SoBê and also Kırmanci.

Within linguistics, Zazaki is counted as part of the northwest Iranian group of the Iranian language branch of the Indo-European language family and is considered a separate language. Contrary to what is often claimed, the Zazaki language, and therefore also Kırmançki, is not a Kurdish dialect or a Kurdish language, but an independent language, which probably originated from the historical region "Deyleman".

The Kırmançki language has its own alphabet, which is basically just an extension of the Latin alphabet and consists of 32 letters in total. The alphabet was designed by the American philologist C. M. Jacobson.

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A poem written by İviş Laşêr in the Kırmançki language with a German translation on the right side.