The Turkish worldbulletin website reports that Turkish archaeologists have found the ruins of an ancient citadel during excavations near Cemceli village of Dersim. The excavation was led by historian of Eren University of Bitlis Serkan Erdogan and Director for Tourism and Culture of Tunceli region (Dersim) Ismet Hakan Yulasoglu. According to Serkan Erdogan, the discovered citadel is larger than three soccer fields joined together, reports Horizon.

However, the most interesting thing is that the photo of one of the discovered items posted on the website clearly shows carved Armenian letters. The news was posted on the above mentioned website on 14 November, but no data or details were transferred after that.

Dersim, which is a part of the historic Armenian state of Tsopk, is located northwest from Lake Van, north from Yerznka, south from Kharberd, east from Bingiol-mush and west from Sebastia. It’s located at an altitude of 2,000 meters above sea level and is surrounded by the Euphrates River. One of the main rivers is the Mndzur River. The region is mountains and has many forests.

Dersim, which is the heart of the Armenian highland, is the cradle of the Armenians’ paganism and Christianity. Dersim is the rare and, it’s safe to say, the only region where the Armenian sunchild, the Alevi kizilbash and the Bavghig sectarian have lived together in solidarity for centuries and have assimilated over time. Living in this impregnable highland, the last descendants of the Mamikonian highborn assimilated with the kizilbash and formed as the Mamika tribe. On the mountains of Dersim lives the Armenian ready for combat, the Armenian who remembered and believed in Anahit, Astghik, Vahagn and Aramazd until the 20^th century.

As a place for the nests of eagles and with a mixed population of Armenians and kizilbashs, the villages and settlements of Dersim have never given in to the Turkish dictators, but have always won them.

During the Armenian Genocide, the people of Dersim provided shelter to their brothers and sisters in misery. The Armenians who survived the massacres in Kharberd, Arabkir, Highland Dersim, Derjan, Yerznka and Sebastia took shelter in Mountains Dersim. According to Armenian and foreign sources, nearly 30-40,000 Armenian survivors settled in Dersim. Some of them moved over to the Russian border, and Dersim remained a large part.

In 1938, the people of Dersim were the only ones who didn’t obey the central Turkish authorities, and the Kemal army fought against Dersim, leading to the 1938 rebellion of Dersim. According to Dutch historian Martin Van Brunes, in 1937-38, prior to the capture and hanging of leader of the rebellion Seyid Rza (18 November 1938), the Turkish army killed 70,000 Armenians of Dersim and kizilbash residents, including women, children and the elderly. Based on unofficial statistics, 150,000 residents of Dersim became refugees, and 200 Armenian and kizilbash villages were emptied.