Koçgiri (tribe)

Koçgiri (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.

Etymology

The origin of the name Koçgiri is disputed, there are two main opposing points of view:

  • Qoçgirî may originally mean «Great migration» in the Kurdish language, qoç (migration) being itself a loanword from a Turkic language,
  • It may be a Turkic tribal name, the first part of the name koç meaning "ram".[2][3] The early form of koç in Turkish (koçkar or qoçqar, qočuŋar in Old Turkic), seems alike to Koçkiri which is the old spelling of the tribe's name.

History
Further information: Alevi history

Some scholars state that they may be, at least partly, of Turkic ancestry.[3] Some of them describe themselves as ethnic Turks that has been Kurdified.[3]

Ottoman tax records in the 1360-1370's mention the name of Koçgiri, indicating that a so named region or tribe paid their taxes to the Ottomans.[2]

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,[4] 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. KOÇGİRİ OLAYI, https://muhaz.org/ismail-arabaci-kimdir.html?page=50, 16/11/1999
  3. 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"
  4. Güneş 2014, p. 244.

Sources
  • Vital, Cuinet (1891–1894). La Turquie d'Asie, géographie administrative : statistique, descriptive et raisonnée de chaque province de l'Asie Mineure (in French). Paris. pp. 619–620.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  • 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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