Sheikh Said rebellion

Infobox Military Conflict
conflict=Sheikh Said Rebellion


caption=
date=
place=Diyarbakır area
result=Mosul province is assigned to British Mandate of Mesopotamia
combatant1=Republic of Turkey
combatant2=Sheikh Said Piran
commander1=Mustafa Kemal
commander2=Sheikh Said Piran
strength1=50,000 TurksAir planes
strength2=15,000 Kurds
casualties1=
casualties2=|Sheikh Said Rebellion is a rebellion of Sheikh Said Piran and a group of Hamidieh soldiers (Azadî group) beginning in 1924 and escalating until 1927.

Background

The Azadî was dominated by officers from the former Hamidiye, a Kurdish tribal militia established under the Ottoman Empire to deal with the Armenians and sometimes even to keep the Kizilbash under control. According to British intelligence reports, the Azadî officers had eleven grievances. Apart from inevitable Kurdish cultural demands and complaints of Turkish maltreatment, this list also detailed fears of imminent mass deportations of Kurds. They also registered annoyance that the name Kurdistan did not appear on maps, at restrictions on the Kurdish language and on Kurdish education and objections to alleged Turkish economic exploitation of Kurdish areas, at the expense of Kurds.

It was Sheikh Said, reportedly, who convinced Hamidiye commanders to support a fight for Kurdish independence. According to Olson,Fact|date=August 2008 the Kurdish officers expressed their objectives in November 1924 as being: to deliver the Kurds from Turkish oppression; to give Kurds freedom and opportunity to develop their country.

quote|Certain among you have taken as a pretext for revolt the abuse by the governmental administration, some others have invoked the defence of the Caliphate, but you are all united on one point: to create an independent Kurdistan.|President of the military tribunal that sentenced the rebels|28 June 1925 [Viennot, Jean-Pierre (1974) "Contribution á l'étude de la Sociologie et de l'Histoire du Mouvement National Kurde: 1920 á nos Jours". Paris, Institut Nationale des Langues et Civilisations Orientales. p.108] [cite journal
author = White, Paul J.
year = 1995
journal = Journal of Arabic, Islamic & Middle Eastern Studies
url = http://members.tripod.com/~zaza_kirmanc/research/paul.htm
title = Ethnic Differentiation among the Kurds: Kurmancî, Kizilbash and Zaza
volume = 2
issue = 2
pages = 67–90]

British involvement

British assistance was sought realizing that Kurdistan could not stand alone. [harv|Olson|1989|p=45]

Mosul

As a last resort, Mustafa Kemal was prepared to use military force regarding Mosul, but he believed that the Mosul problem could be solved diplomatically. The Treaty of Lausanne did not solve the problem of Mosul province, and left it to the League of Nations. In September 1925, a council at the League of Nations decided to advise leaving the Mosul to the British Mandate of Mesopotamia. Turkey decided to resist this advice and prevent a final decision (awarding it to Britain). The border between Turkish forces (Turkey) and British forces (British Mandate of Mesopotamia) was based on the Brussels line and, beginning in November 1924, the escalating rebellion was a threat to prove that the Brussels line is not the correct line, which left the Kurds divided.

Events

Sheikh Said appealed to all the Kurdish tribes to join in the rebellion being planned. The tribes which actually participated were mostly Zaza (Dimli) speaking Kurds. However the "Xormak" and "Herkî" tribes were the most active and effective opponents of this rebellion. Mindful of the depredations of the Hamidiye against them (especially the Hamidiye commanded by Xalid Beg Cîbran), other Alevi tribes also refused to join the rebellion.

The main part of the uprising was over by the end of March, as the Turkish authorities crushed the rebellion with continual aerial bombardments and a massive concentration of forces. [citation
title=Agha, Shaikh and State: On the Social and Political Organization of Kurdistan
publisher=University of Utrecht
location=Utrecht
year=1978
first=Maarten Martinus
last=van Bruinessen
isbn=1-85649-019-X (also London: Zed Books, 1992)] The president of the military tribunal which sentenced the rebels declared, on 28 June 1925:

More than 50,000 Turkish troops were mobilized against the rebellion. The military strength of the Kurds was 15,000. [harv|Olson|2000|p=74]

During this rebellion, the Turkish government used its airplanes for bombing raids in the Diyarbakır area. In the course of this operation, the airfield near Harput road was used. [harv|Olson|2000|p=77]

Result

The rebellion diminished the negotiating power of Turkey and the Ottoman province of Musul was assigned to British Mandate of Mesopotamia. The final conclusion of the rebellion from existent powers were the British have the control of Mosul and Turkey and Kurds were the chance of uniting Mosul Province, Ottoman Empire to Turkey.

Although there are still rumours, it was publically denoted that Sheikh Said Piran was captured around 1925 and executed by a method of hanging as a result.

Footnotes

References

* citation
last = Olson
first = Robert W
year = 1989
publisher = University of Texas Press
location = Austin
isbn = 0292776195
url = http://www.xs4all.nl/~tank/kurdish/htdocs/his/said.html
title = The Emergence of Kurdish Nationalism and the Sheikh Said Rebellion, 1880-1925
* citation
last = Olson
first = Robert W
month = March
year = 2000
title = The Kurdish Rebellions of Sheikh Said (1925), Mt. Ararat (1930), and Dersim (1937-8): Their Impact on the Development of the Turkish Air Force and on Kurdish and Turkish Nationalism
journal = Die Welt des Islams
volume = 40
issue = 1
pages = 67-94
doi = 10.1163/1570060001569893