Efforts to provoke the Kurds of Anatolia

The Society for the Rise of Kurdistan was established on the day Armistice of Mudros was signed, which was October 30, 1918. The particular attribute of this society was its close ties to the authorities of the British deep state and that it served almost as the center of British spying efforts. Mustafa Kemal himself made it clear that the society aimed to build an independent Kurdish state under foreign protection.¹ The British deep state used such organizations as fronts to devise its plans for building a Kurdish state in Anatolia. British High Commissioner Admiral John de Robeck, made this plan very clear on March 26, 1920.

"Kurdistan must completely secede from Turkey and gain independence. We can reconcile the interests of Armenians and the Kurds. Seyid Abdülkadir, the head of Kurdish Club in Istanbul (Society for the Rise of Kurdistan) and Şerif Pasha, the Kurdish delegate in Paris, are at our service."²

The aforementioned Şerif Pasha is the person who started the separatist movements in Anatolia under the direction of the British deep state. Together with Sheikh Abdülkadir, he made sure that the Treaty of Sévres had an 'independent Kurdish state' clause.

However, this plan of the British deep state came to nothing.

In April 1919, the tribes that Major Noel worked to draw to British side, vowed to fight on the side of the Ottoman Empire against the occupiers until their last breath. A telegram sent by the British High Commission to London reveals that 30,000 Kurds would fight along the side of Mustafa Kemal Pasha as soon as the Turkish War of Independence started. Around the same time, Kurdish tribal leaders were attending the Erzurum Congress and were elected to the Representative Committee.

Şerif Pasha and Sheikh Abdülkadir, spies and minions of the British deep state, carried out propaganda claiming that Kurds wanted to leave the Ottoman Empire. This propaganda led Kurdish leaders all over the country to send countless telegrams swearing allegiance first to the Ottoman Parliament and then to the Turkish Parliament in Ankara.³

One telegram sent to the Turkish Parliament on February 26, 1920 read as follows: "We learned about the separatist efforts of traitor and heretic Şerif Pasha, targeting Kurds. Turks and Kurds are one. Kurds and Turks are true brothers in blood and religion. They share the same land. Kurds never consider leaving the Ottoman community or the Islamic Union. They wish to live within the Islamic Union until the end of the world. We hereby declare to the whole world that we strongly disavow the activities of Şerif Pasha and other similar efforts and that we are loyal to our government."

The telegram was signed by the following:

Mayor Ali Riza, Yusuf the head of Keçel Tribe, Seyit Ali the head of Abbasi Tribe, Hüseyin the head of Kelani Tribe, Paşa Bey the head of Balanlı Tribe, Çiçek the head of Baratlı Tribe, Yusuf the head of Aşranlı Tribe. From religious scholars: Sheikh Saffet, Sheikh Hacı Fevzi, Mufti Osman Fevzi. From business circles: Arapzade Ahmet, Ruhzade Halis, Tavşanzade Recep, Hacı Eşbehzade Şükrü, Müftüzade Hakkı. From the gentry; Hacı Mehmet, Çapıkzade Münir, Ahmet Paşazade Şemsi, Beyzade Sami.⁴

After the Turkish Grand National Assembly was opened in Ankara, similar telegrams were sent there, too. The parliament records make it clear that telegrams were received from the residents of Solhan, Çemişkezek, Hasankeyf, Kangal, Palu, Bitlis, Adıyaman, Kahta, Ahlat, Hizan, Şirvan, Şırnak protesting the separatist movements and that swore allegiance to the Parliament. These telegrams were read in the Parliament. The following joint telegram of the tribal leaders clearly demonstrate the unity decision of the Kurds:

"Please be informed that we will assist and aid our government with all our might to ensure peace within the National Pact and that we never wish to hear that Kurdish identity is treated as separate within the Grand National Assembly of the Republic of Turkey.

Wishing success, we present our deepest regards."

Signatories:

Hacı Sebati head of the İzoli Tribe, Mehmet the head of the Aluçlu Tribe, Halil the head of the 

Bariçkan Tribe, Hüseyin the head of the Bükrer Tribe, Halil the head of the Zeyve tribe, Hüseyin the head of the Deyukan Tribe and Mehmet the head of the Cürdi Tribe. From religious scholars: Bekir, Sıtkı, Rüştü, Avni, Halil, Hafız Mehmet. From the gentry: İzdelili Fehim, Hüseyin, Bulutlu İbrahim, Nail, Zabunlu Halil, Sadık.⁵

Apparently as soon as WWI was over, the British deep state was seeking to stoke problems not only in Mosul and within the borders of Iraq, but also in Anatolia between Kurds and Turks. However, the greatest answer to this insidious plan came from our Kurdish people again. Members of the Turkish Parliament in Ankara and the Kurdish people declared to the entire world - and especially to the British deep state - that Kurds and Turks are one and a whole. The British deep state, having failed with its plans with Şerif Pasha, would make another attempt after Lausanne and seek to use Sheikh Said this time.

1. "Kürdistan Teali Cemiyeti" (Society for the Rise of Kurdistan), Wikipedia, https://tr.wikipedia.org/wiki/K%C3%BCrdistan_Teali_Cemiyeti

2. Ibid.

3. Van Bruinessen, Ağa, Şeyh ve Devlet (Tribal Leader, Sheikh and State), translated by Banu Yalkut, Istanbul: İletişim Yayınları, 2004, p. 27

4. Meclis-i Mebusan Zabıt Ceridesi (Parliament Minutes of Proceedings), Session LV, vol. 1, p. 208

5. Sibel Özel, "Anayasa M. 66/I Hükmünde Yer Alan Türk Tanımı Üzerine Bir Değerlendirme", Baro Dergisi, vol. 86, no. 2012/6, 2012, p. 48