UPON THE RELATION BETWEEN HUMAN AND SPACE (AN EXAMPLE OF DERSIM REGION: XVI-XX. CENTURIES)

The relation between human and space is an argumentative topicarousing interest of other disciplines and having many discussions. Theforemost among these discussions is the question of which one, theeffect of human on space or the space on human is the most dominantone. According to the result of these discussions, the dominance of thisinfluencing or response process is generally dependent on someparameters such as time-zone, geographical formations, climate andrain regime, and humans’ having technological developments in aspecific geography. In this study, the relation between human andspace in Dersim region which has many discussions was dealt in detailbecause of the events experienced specifically in the beginnings of theRepublic without being a part of these theoretical discussions, but bytaking the advantage of the different viewpoints of these discussions. Inaddition, the adventures of the people in this geography from the periodof Ottoman to Republic were handled with the joint research methods ofthe disciplines, history and geography by being focused on theperspectives of these disciplines. Then, the relation between space andthe people lived in Dersim and also the results were discussed. In thisprocess, Ottoman archives and many articles and books related to thetheoretical frames of the topic were analysed. Many issues in theDersim region which is the application area of this theoreticalknowledge and discussions, such as social process, administrativestructuring, formation and distribution of settlement units, edges ofsettlement areas, housing types, cemeteries, population of a family,distribution of population on space, belief structure, meanings given tothe space, attitudes of people towards government, power relationships,production-consumption habits, transportation and why there were fewsettlement areas in the region, were explained within the context of therelation between human and space. These topics were divided into thesub-headings in the study and some maps were used for detailing thetopic much as needed. In the results section, the findings werepresented in general terms.Dersim region differs from its close environment from the point ofits unique space, social and economic structure shaped according tothis uniqueness. With its static structure, there were not many bigchanges in the general lines of the administrative structure of Dersimregion for long years. Administrative structure was excessively shapedby the geography of the region. In spite of all shortcomings, all humanactivities in the geography of Dersim changed in centuries though thesewere very less compared to close environment. Dersim reached today asa space including the traces of historical and social events, and theruins and fusions of various cultures.This process continued by both influencing the environment andbeing affected by the context. Close relationships, complicated socialnetworks, power relationships, mind and belongingness, mutualİnsan-Mekân İlişkisi Üzerine (Dersim Bölgesi Örneği XVI-XX. Yüzyıllar) 161Turkish StudiesInternational Periodical For the Languages, Literature and History of Turkish or TurkicVolume 10/5 Spring 2015effecting and shaping processes turned Dersim from a static structureto much dynamic structure.Many issues like Dersim’s rural structure in Ottoman period,settlement units, spaces, production types, cuisine and socialrelationships were sustained till the beginnings of the Republic withoutmany changes. Dersim forced residents to be connected with the space.This connectivity to the space is clearly seen in Dersim much than otherclose environment. On the other hand, the following questions shouldbe answered: Does Dersim society’s being close to a static change relateto the conservatory structure of the population or their lack ofinformation technology? Also is it related to the population’s incapacitytowards the space as a natural outcome of this process? As for me, thesecond factor was much influential on the close issue of this staticchange.The foremost factors among the geographic factors are ruggedterrain and climate. The climate determined many issues of Dersimresidents such as wearing style, production and consumption facilities,and also fighting against diseases. However, rugged terrain alsodetermined some issues such as the people’s distribution and types ofthe professions, roads, agricultural areas, development andconstruction of settlement units. These two factors deeply influencedthis society’s social, even religious and political tendencies. Therefore,Dersim society turned into a more conservative, marginal society profilewith much religious and environmentalist perspectives. In addition,Dersim residents had advantages of using this geography for their ownprofits especially hiding, asylum, escaping from law and being out ofcontrol. These residents were much freesprit and desired to be out ofcontrol. There was not a city, gendarme did not have a full control, taxcollectors were not authority in Dersim, and the life was simple buttough there.Road system did not developed much because of the space issuein an expected level. Transportation was highly dependent on theclimate factors. Most of time in a year, the roads were closed and thetransportation was performed with hinnies, horses, donkeys andpeople. Because of security problems, it was difficult to say there weremuch people and colonies travelling in current primitive roads. Thiscase resulted in increases in the rates of all goods and difficulties inproviding them. In addition, fusion of the society with other cultureswas very limited. Undeveloped trading, lower capital, grouping ofcraftsman in few cities lowered the support of the services. This caseformed the dynamics of the society, in other words tribe structure. Onthe other hand,