Kurdish Opposition to the Kemalist State

• The activities of the Kurd ¨ Teali Cemiyeti were not the only signs of a possible Kurdish radicalization.
• The Koc¸giri revolt, which took place in 1921 in the Alevi Dersim area,19 also threatened the Kemalist–Kurdish alliance.
• The severe repression of the Kurdish rebels, which led them to fear suffering the same fate as the Armenians, provoked widespread negative reactions, including within the pro-Kemal camp.
• It is true that this revolt did not mobilise the Sunni Kurds.
• Following the proclamation of the Republic, however, many Sunni Kurdish dignitaries gradually followed the path of the Kurdish Alevi insurgents.
• Their path to opposition was not necessarily the result of the coercion of the new Kemalist state. Many documents suggest that in fact the Ankara authorities were largely unaware of the growing Kurdish opposition and did not take seriously the alarming messages sent by their local representatives.
• The main reasons for the rupture seem to be linked to three factors. First, it was obvious by the end of 1923 that Turkish nationalism would become the country’s official and hegemonic ideology, as the Kemalists considered the Turkish Republic to be the outcome of the victory of the Turks over the other peoples of the former Ottoman Empire.
• The new ideology defined linguistic difference as a real or potential threat to the country’s existence. Many Kurdish dignitaries, including those who had participated in the extermination of the Armenians between 1915 and 1916, came to fear that they might experience the same fate.
• The second reason was linked to the abolition of the caliphate, one of the main pillars of the Kurdish–Kemalist alliance. Except for the objections of some Turkish intellectuals who considered the caliphate an important symbol of continuity with the Ottoman past, this act did not inflame strong reactions within the Turkish population. Kurdish religious dignitaries, however, reacted vehemently to the abolition of the caliphate, considering it the end of the only remaining common ground between Kurds and Turks.
• Finally, Kurdish leaders were angry that the War of Independence had ended without the liberation of southern Kurdistan, which was left to the British, contrary to Mustafa Kemal’s earlier promises.

Learn about the factors that led to the Kurdish opposition to the Kemalist state, including the impact of Turkish nationalism, the abolition of the caliphate, and unfulfilled promises of liberation for southern Kurdistan. Discover the historical events that strained the Kurdish–Kemalist alliance and led to widespread negative reactions within the Kurdish community.