One of the many tragedies that happened in the Armenian genocide, in 1915 and in the years that followed, took place in Erciş, were Armenians were living in peace with Kurds for centuries.

Until 1917, Erciş and many cities were under the control of Russian forces. As a result of the withdrawal of the Russian soldiers, Armenians in the region were not protected anymore and massacres and tragedies began to occur.

In the villages of the Geliyê Zîlan, in Van's Erciş district, Kurds and Armenians lived together for hundreds, even thousands of years, with ties of peace and brotherhood. The massacre committed by Enver Pasha, who was at the head of the fascist government of the time, was also applied in the most brutal way in Erciş district.

In 1917, the villages of the Armenians living in the Zîlan region were plundered by the government, their animals and property were confiscated, and many Armenians from Erciş were killed. Few people survived this massacre. The stories of those who were killed in the region and the pain they experienced have survived to the present day, told by word of mouth.

Two Armenian brothers

One of the tragedies experienced by the Armenians of Erciş is that lived by two Armenian brothers. Armenians living in Marcas and other villages in the Geliyê Zîlan region had been killed. Two Armenian brothers, a girl and a boy, aged 11 and 12, had lost their families in this massacre. They ended their lives by throwing themselves from the waterfall in the village of İncesu in the Zîlan Valley in order not to fall into the hands of the government and its collaborators. Local people, who witnessed and heard about the event, named the waterfall Ducan (İkican) in Kurdish, to keep the memories of the two children alive.

Although 105 years have passed since that tragic day, the waterfall continues to be called Ducan.

Everyone must learn lesson from such pain

This sad story has survived until today, being told by everyone from seven to seventy in the village.

Özgür Ceyhan, an International Relations graduate and poet living in the village of İncesu, said that such tragedies occurred in almost every region. Ceyhan said that they heard this story from the elders living in the village, but the exact details of the incident were not known. Stating that Armenians and Kurds lived in peace and tranquillity in the region until 1915, Ceyhan emphasized that Armenians were massacred in the events that followed and added that everyone should learn a lesson from the pain experienced.