Battle of Honey Springs

Cevizlidere (Kurdish: Gelîguzan, lit.'Valley of nuts') is a village in the Muş District of Muş Province in Turkey.[1] The village is populated by Kurds and had a population of 343 in 2022.[2][3]

It was formerly populated by Armenians and attacked by Ottoman forces in 1894 where most of the population was massacred.[4] From 1994 on, the village was depopulated for a while by Turkish authorities during the Kurdish–Turkish conflict.[5]

History

Armenians of Cevizlidere (1902-1903)

The village was part of Sasun and mainly populated by Apostolic Armenians. In mid-August 1894, many Armenians from the vicinity fled to Cevizlidere for safety as skirmishes were taking place with nomad Kurds who had been approached by Ottoman soldiers for support.[4]

Later that month, a Kurdish ally named Khushman Agha warned the locals of an attack by Ottoman forces and many women and children fled to the mountains, while others took up weapons to defend the village. Days later, Ottoman forces entered the village and set fire to one part of the village as the soldiers were instructed to kill anyone. By the end of September, most of the villagers were murdered and Zeki Pasha ultimately ordered the end of the violence. Ultimately, around two thousand locals, including women and children, had been murdered.[4]

A European delegation visited the village in 1895 and stated that 120 houses had been destroyed by fire and that the living condition was miserable with the only shelter being makeshift huts.[6]

The Armenian population was reported to be 884 individuals in 129 households in 1902, and 1,030 individuals in 143 households, in 1909.[7]

Population

Historic population figures of the village:[2][7][8]

Historical population
YearPop.±%
1902884—    
19091,030+16.5%
1965347−66.3%
1970325−6.3%
1980382+17.5%
1990518+35.6%
1997196−62.2%
2007402+105.1%
2022343−14.7%

See also

References

  1. ^ "Türkiye Mülki İdare Bölümleri Envanteri". T.C. İçişleri Bakanlığı (in Turkish). Retrieved 19 December 2022.
  2. ^ a b "Address Based Population Registration System Results". Türkiye İstatistik Kurumu (in Turkish). Retrieved 15 February 2023.
  3. ^ Aşiretler raporu (in Turkish). Kaynak Yayınları. 2014. p. 254. ISBN 978-975-343-220-7.
  4. ^ a b c Miller, Owen (2018). "Rethinking the Violence in the Sasun Mountains (1893-1894)". Études arméniennes contemporaines. 10. doi:10.4000/eac.1556.
  5. ^ "'Köyümüzde mutluyuz, huzuru burada bulduk'" (in Turkish). 8 August 2019. Retrieved 12 June 2023.
  6. ^ The National Review. March to August 1895. Vol. XXV. W. H. Allen & Co., Edward Arnold. 1895. p. 29.
  7. ^ a b "Moush - Demography". Houshamadyan. 10 June 2016. Retrieved 12 June 2023.
  8. ^ "Genel Nüfus Sayımları" (in Turkish). Retrieved 1 March 2023.