Zilan massacre

Zilan massacre
Headline of the daily Cumhuriyet dated July 13, 1930: Cleaning started, the ones at Zeylân valley were completely annihilated, None of them survived, operation at Ağrı are continuing. Ankara 12 (With telephone) ... According to latest information, the cleaning in districts of Erciş, Mount Süphan and Zeylân was completely finished ...
Location	Turkey
Date	July 12, 1930
Target	Dersim Rebellion
Attack type	Massacre
Deaths	5,000–15,000
Victim	Kurdish people

Coordinates: 39°12′10″N 43°22′20″E / 39.20278°N 43.37222°E / 39.20278; 43.37222

The Zilan massacre (Turkish: Zilan Katliamı or Zilan Deresi Katliamı, etc.), refers to the massacre of thousands of Kurdish residents in the Zilan Valley of Turkey by 12/13 July 1930, during the Ararat rebellion, in which 800–1500 armed men participated.

The Zilan massacre took place in the Zilan or Zeylan valley (Kurdish: Geliyê Zîlan, Turkish: Zilan Deresi, Zeylân Deresi) located to the north of the town of Erciş in Van Province. The massacre took place in July 1930, before the Third Ararat Operation (Turkish: Üçüncü Ağrı Harekâtı, September 7–14, 1930), which was a military operation of the Turkish IX Corps under the command of Ferik (Lieutenant General) Salih (Omurtak) against Mount Ararat. The number of people killed in the massacre varies according to different sources. According to the daily newspaper Cumhuriyet (July 16, 1930), about 15,000 people died. Armenian researcher Garo Sasuni states that 5,000 women, children and the elderly were massacred. Finally, according to Berliner Tageblatt, the Turks in the area of Zilan destroyed 220 villages and massacred 4,500 women and the elderly.