Tunceli

Municipality in Tunceli Province, Turkey

Municipality in Turkey

Tunceli

Municipality

Tunceli in Munzur valley

Tunceli

Location in Turkey

Coordinates: 39°06′23″N 39°32′50″E﻿ / ﻿39.10639°N 39.54722°E﻿ / 39.10639; 39.54722
Country| Turkey
Province| Tunceli
District| Tunceli
Government

• Mayor| Cevdet Konak (DEM Party) (elect-mayor) (deposed)
Ertuğrul Aslan (acting)
(trustee)
Elevation

| 914 m (2,999 ft)
Population

(2021)

| 35,161
Time zone| UTC+3 (TRT)
Website| www.tunceli.bel.tr

Tunceli (Armenian: Մամիկի, romanized: Mamiki, Kurdish: Kalan, Zazaki: Mamekiye)[1][2] is a municipality (belde) in Tunceli District and capital of Tunceli Province, Turkey. The city has a Zaza majority.[3][4][5] It had a population of 35,161 in 2021.[6]

## Name

[edit]

Main article: Tunceli Province § Name

During Ottoman times, the settlement was called Kalan or Mameki.[7] Tunceli, which is a modern name, literally means "bronze fist" in Turkish (tunç meaning "bronze" and eli, in this context, meaning "fist"). It shares the name with the military operation under which the Dersim massacre was conducted.[8] The province of Dersim (or Dêrsim) was renamed Tunceli in 1935, as was the settlement of Kalan, which became the province's administrative center in 1938.[7] Dersim is popularly understood to be composed of the Kurdish/Zazaki words der ("door") and sim ("silver"), thus meaning "silver door." Whether the town should be called Dersim or Tunceli has been a cause of political quarrels. In May 2019, the local authorities decided to call it Dersim, while the governor said it was against the law to call it Dersim.[9]

## History

[edit]

During the time of the Ottoman Empire, Tunceli (then known as Kalan) was a part of the region named Dersim. In 1847, Dersim was declared a sanjak (a historical administrative unit smaller than the province). The capital of the sanjak was Hozat. During the Republican period, Tunceli Province was established in 1935. In 1946, the former town of Kalan was renamed as Tunceli and it was declared as the capital city of the province.[10]

As a result of the Turkish campaign of "Turkification" Tunceli became a main target of Turkish officials after the establishment of the Turkish Republic in 1923. Tunceli played a role in the Dersim rebellion by the Kurds.[11][page needed]

Tunceli is famous for excellent rankings in National Education statistics.[12]

## Politics

[edit]

In the Municipal Elections which took place on 31st of March 2019, Fatih Mehmet Maçoğlu was elected Mayor.[13] He is the first mayor of Tunceli from the Communist Party of Turkey.

In 2018, Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan stated that if "those involved with terrorism" (referring to the HDP party[14]) were to win the elections, that his government would "appoint trustees without delay".[15]

In May 2019 the Municipal Council decided to use the city's historic name Dersim and also to offer municipal services in Zazaki and Kurmanji. 4 Members of the newly elected municipal council had their certificates revoked in May 2019 for having been dismissed from public office in the past.[16]

## Economy

[edit]

The main economic activity is animal breeding. Wheat is the only notable agricultural product. There are chromium, salt and marble deposits, but only salt is produced. There are a few factories based on agriculture.[17]

## Climate

[edit]

Tunceli has a continental climate (Köppen: Dsa, Trewartha: Dc) with very hot, dry summers and cold, snowy winters.

Climate data for Tunceli (1991–2020, extremes 1960–2020)

Month  | Jan  | Feb  | Mar  | Apr  | May  | Jun  | Jul  | Aug  | Sep  | Oct  | Nov  | Dec  | Year
Record high °C (°F)  | 14.2
(57.6)  | 19.4
(66.9)  | 26.0
(78.8)  | 32.2
(90.0)  | 36.6
(97.9)  | 39.0
(102.2)  | 43.5
(110.3)  | 43.5
(110.3)  | 40.3
(104.5)  | 35.6
(96.1)  | 27.0
(80.6)  | 21.7
(71.1)  | 43.5
(110.3)
Mean daily maximum °C (°F)  | 3.8
(38.8)  | 5.8
(42.4)  | 12.1
(53.8)  | 18.5
(65.3)  | 24.3
(75.7)  | 30.7
(87.3)  | 35.5
(95.9)  | 36.0
(96.8)  | 30.8
(87.4)  | 23.2
(73.8)  | 13.9
(57.0)  | 6.0
(42.8)  | 20.1
(68.2)
Daily mean °C (°F)  | −1.0
(30.2)  | 0.6
(33.1)  | 6.4
(43.5)  | 12.1
(53.8)  | 17.0
(62.6)  | 22.8
(73.0)  | 27.3
(81.1)  | 27.4
(81.3)  | 21.9
(71.4)  | 15.2
(59.4)  | 7.0
(44.6)  | 1.3
(34.3)  | 13.2
(55.8)
Mean daily minimum °C (°F)  | −4.6
(23.7)  | −3.4
(25.9)  | 1.5
(34.7)  | 6.3
(43.3)  | 10.2
(50.4)  | 14.7
(58.5)  | 19.1
(66.4)  | 19.0
(66.2)  | 13.5
(56.3)  | 8.6
(47.5)  | 1.9
(35.4)  | −2.1
(28.2)  | 7.1
(44.8)
Record low °C (°F)  | −30.3
(−22.5)  | −29.0
(−20.2)  | −24.7
(−12.5)  | −7.1
(19.2)  | −0.1
(31.8)  | 1.0
(33.8)  | 9.2
(48.6)  | 7.7
(45.9)  | 2.6
(36.7)  | −4.0
(24.8)  | −16.4
(2.5)  | −25.6
(−14.1)  | −30.3
(−22.5)
Average precipitation mm (inches)  | 121.0
(4.76)  | 103.7
(4.08)  | 110.1
(4.33)  | 100.1
(3.94)  | 73.8
(2.91)  | 16.6
(0.65)  | 5.0
(0.20)  | 5.0
(0.20)  | 23.5
(0.93)  | 60.4
(2.38)  | 86.5
(3.41)  | 120.9
(4.76)  | 826.6
(32.54)
Average precipitation days  | 11.50  | 10.83  | 14.07  | 15.10  | 13.60  | 5.27  | 2.40  | 1.77  | 3.83  | 9.03  | 8.83  | 11.50  | 107.7
Average snowy days  | 7.7  | 3.7  | 1.9  | 0.2  | 0  | 0  | 0  | 0  | 0  | 0  | 0.5  | 3.5  | 17.5
Average relative humidity (%)  | 74.7  | 71.3  | 63.2  | 59.7  | 58.6  | 46.9  | 38.6  | 36.3  | 42.4  | 58.7  | 69.4  | 75.9  | 57.9
Mean monthly sunshine hours | 102.3  | 118.7  | 164.3  | 195.0  | 257.3  | 324.0  | 356.5  | 331.7  | 276.0  | 207.7  | 153.0  | 96.1  | 2,582.6
Mean daily sunshine hours | 3.3  | 4.2  | 5.3  | 6.5  | 8.3  | 10.8  | 11.5  | 10.7  | 9.2  | 6.7  | 5.1  | 3.1  | 7.1
Source 1: Turkish State Meteorological Service[18]
Source 2: NOAA (humidity),[19] Meteomanz(snowy days 2014-2023)[20]

## See also

[edit]

* Geography portal
* Kurdistan portal
* Turkey portal

* Munzur Valley National Park
* Seyid Riza
* Sophene

## Further reading

[edit]

* "TUNCELİ". TDV Encyclopedia of Islam (44+2 vols.) (in Turkish). Istanbul: Turkiye Diyanet Foundation, Centre for Islamic Studies. 1988–2016.

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Avcıkıran, Adem (2009). Kürtçe Anamnez Anamneza bi Kurmancî (in Turkish and Kurdish). p. 55.
2. ^ Andrews, Peter; Benninghaus, Rüdiger (2002). Ethnic Groups in the Republic of Turkey: Supplement and Index. p. 54\. ISBN 9783895002298.
3. ^ Sertel, Savaş (31 January 2016). "TÜRKİYE CUMHURİYETİ'NİN İLK GENEL NÜFUS SAYIMINA GÖRE DERSİM BÖLGESİNDE DEMOGRAFİK YAPI". Fırat Üniversitesi Sosyal Bilimler Dergisi. 24 (1). doi:10.18069/fusbed.82073. ISSN 1300-9702.
4. ^ Eke, Deniz Cosan (2021). The Changing Leadership Roles of »Dedes« in the Alevi Movement: Ethnographic Studies on Alevi Associations in Turkey and Germany from the 1990s to the Present. transcript Verlag. p. 64.
5. ^ Gültekin, Ahmet Kerim (2019). Kurdish Alevism: Creating New Ways of Practicing the Religion (PDF). University of Leipzig. p. 4.
6. ^ "Address-based population registration system (ADNKS) results dated 31 December 2021" (XLS) (in Turkish). TÜİK. Retrieved 30 January 2023.
7. ^ a b "Tunceli". nisanyanmap.com (in Turkish). Retrieved 1 February 2023.
8. ^ "The Massacre in Dersim Still Haunts Kurds in Turkey". jacobin.com. Retrieved 9 November 2022.
9. ^ "A short history of Turkification: From Dersim to Tunceli". Ahval. Retrieved 20 January 2020.
10. ^ Tunceli governor's page on history Archived 2013-09-28 at the Wayback Machine (in Turkish)
11. ^ İsmail Besikçi, Tunceli Kanunu (1935) ve Dersim Jenosidi, Belge Yayınları, 1990.
12. ^ "Eğitim sıralamasında Tunceli birinci".
13. ^ "Tunceli Seçim Sonuçları: 31 Mart 2019 Tunceli Yerel Seçim Sonuçları". Sözcü (in Turkish). Retrieved 20 January 2020.
14. ^ "Turkey: HDP official accused of aiding PKK terrorist". www.aa.com.tr. Retrieved 29 August 2021.
15. ^ SCF (8 October 2018). "Turkey's Erdoğan vows re-seizure of municipalities should pro-Kurdish HDP win local elections". Stockholm Center for Freedom. Retrieved 29 August 2021.
16. ^ Barwari, Rawa (2019). "Kurdish city returns to original name 'Dersim,' attracts Turkish ire". Kurdistan24. Archived from the original on 23 May 2019. Retrieved 1 June 2025.
17. ^ "TUNCELİ - Ekonomik Faaliyetler". www.cografya.gen.tr.
18. ^ "Resmi İstatistikler: İllerimize Ait Mevism Normalleri (1991–2020)" (in Turkish). Turkish State Meteorological Service. Retrieved 7 August 2021.
19. ^ "World Meteorological Organization Climate Normals for 1991-2020 — Tunceli". National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Retrieved 17 January 2024.
20. ^ "Tunceli - Weather data by months". Meteomanz. Retrieved 12 July 2024.

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