eighty years after the dersim massacre, center of the military operations have become shelter for the poor
dersim barracks from the eyes of photographer serpil polat.
turkish military’s operation in dersim / tunceli on may 4, 1947 resulted in death of thousands. the state pursued a forced immigration policy in the following term and also children were taken from the local families and sent away for adoption.
the dersim barracks had been built as the center of the operations. in 1950 the barracks were turned into mass housing for civil servants in the city. lately it became a shelter for low income families. serpil polat’s photos were taken in 2013. the barracks are not in use today and the restoration is almost completed.