Kurds in Turkey

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Kurdish man on horseback, Lake Van, 1973
Kurdish man on horseback, Lake Van, 1973
Kurdish woman & daughters near Van, Turkey, 1973
Kurdish woman & daughters near Van, Turkey, 1973

The Kurds in Turkey (Kurdish: Kurdên li Tirkiye, Turkish: Türkiye'deki Kürtler) are an Indo-European people first mentioned in ancient Greek sources[1]. Based on these sources it is believed that Kurds are remnants of ancient Cordueni who established an ancient Kingdom near modern-day Diyarbekir in the first century BC. Cordueni were under the cultural and religious influence of Hurrian. Most Kurds live in Turkey, where their numbers are estimated somewhere between 11,400,000[2] and 15,000,000[3] people. Both figures include Zaza people as Kurds.[2] These figures are for the number of persons who identify as Kurds, not the number who speak a Kurdish language, since many self-identified Kurds speak only Turkish.[4] Estimations based on mother tongue data leads various estimations of Kurdish population in Turkey ranging from 6% to 23%, Ibrahim Sirkeci claims the closest figure should be above 17.8% taking into account political context and as a result the potential bias in responses recorded in surveys and censuses.[5] [6]

Today, most Kurds in Turkey live in big cities (like Istanbul) or in Southeastern Turkey . There are also Kurdish people living in Tunceli Province and in the Central Anatolia Region, concentrated to the west of Lake Tuz (Haymana, Cihanbeyli, Kulu, Yunak) and also scattered in districts like Alaca, Çiçekdağı, Yerköy, Emirdağ, and Zile. Traditional Kurdish-inhabited regions inside present Turkish borders are sometimes referred to as Turkish Kurdistan. According to a March 2007 survey, Kurds and Zazas together comprise an estimated 13.4% of the adult population, and 15.68% of the whole population.[2]

Kurdish separatist armed movements such as the PKK and KADEK continue to mount actions threatening Turkey's national unity and are held responsible for approximately 35,000 casualties of civilians and troops over the past two decades.

Between 1983 and 1991, it was forbidden to publicize, publish and/or Broadcast in any language other than Turkish, unless that language was the first official language of a country that Turkey has diplomatic relations with[7]. Though this ban technically applied to any language, Kurdish, being the first official language of no country although widely spoken in the Kurdistan region, was to be the most affected.[8]


Turkey's treatment of its citizens of Kurdish origin has been a frequent subject of international criticism [9]. Due to the size of their community, the Kurds are viewed as a threat to Turkey's national security. Kurds have largely resisted forcible assimilation policies of the government since 1930s. The main official strategy for assimilating the Kurds has been suppression of their language. Most Kurds have retained their native tongue, despite the governmental efforts over several decades to promote Turkish among them.[10]

Contents

[edit] History

See also: History of the Kurdish people

After the establishment of the Turkish republic, which ended the caliphates and sultanate in Turkey, there have been several Kurdish rebellions since the 1920s.

[edit] Kurdish Rebellions in Turkey

[edit] The Koçkiri Rebellion, 1920

Main article: Koçkiri Rebellion

The Koçkiri rebellion occurred in 1920, in the overwhelmingly Shi'ite militant Kizilbash Dersim region, while waged by the Kizilbash Koçkiri tribe, was masterminded by members of an organisation known as the Kürdistan Taâlî Cemiyeti (KTC). This particular rebellion failed for several reasons, most of which have something to do with its Kizilbash character. To most Kurmancî Kurds at the time, the uprising appeared to be merely an Alevi uprising - and thus not in their own interests.

In the aftermath of the Koçkiri rebellion there was talk in the new Grand National Assembly of Turkey of some very limited forms of Autonomous Administration by the Kurds in a Kurdish region centred on Kurdistan. However, all this disappeared in the Treaty of Lausanne, signed in 1923.

[edit] The Sheikh Said Piran's Rebellion, 1925

Main article: Sheikh Said Rebellion

The Kurds turned again to armed struggle in 1925, this time led by the Zaza cleric Sheikh Said Piran, but organised by another, newer, Kurdish nationalist organisation, Azadî. It was Sheikh Said, reportedly, who convinced Hamidiye commanders to support a fight for Kurdish independence. According to Olson, 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; and to obtain British assistance, realising that Kurdistan could not stand alone [11].

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 [12]. More than 50,000 Turkish troops were mobilized against the rebellion. The military strength of the Kurds was 15,000[13]. In this rebellion, Turkish government used its airplanes for bombing raids in the Diyarbakır area. During this operation, the airfield near Harput road was used [14].

[edit] Rebellion of Shaikh Abdurrahman, 1927

In the Fall 1927, Shaikh Abdurrahman (brother of Sheikh Said) began a series of attacks on Turkish garrisons in Palu and Malatya. Districts of Lice, Bingöl were captured by the rebels. They also occupied the heights south of Erzurum. Turkish military used air force against the rebels using five airplanes in Mardin. In October 1927, Kurdish rebels attacked and occupied Bayazid. However they were driven out after Turkish reinforcements arrived in the area.[15]

[edit] The Agiri (Ağrı, Ararat) Rebellion, 1927-1930

Main article: Republic of Ararat

The Kurds declared independence in 1927. The commander of Kurdish forces in this rebellion was General İhsan Nuri Pasha. General Ihsan Nuri Pasha was from the famous Kurdish warrior tribe Celali. On June 11, 1930, armed hostilities were initiated by the Turkish military against the Ağrı insurgents. During the rebellion, the Turkish Air Force bombed several Kurdish tribes and villagers. By July 21st, this bombardment had destroyed many Kurdish forts. During these operations, Turkish military mobilized 66,000 soldiers and 100 aircraft. The campaign against the Kurds was over by September 17th, 1930.[16]

This rebellion is considered as the first modern Kurdish war of liberation, and it was organized by a committee called Khoybun (Being-oneself). It brought together numerous patriotic Kurdish societies formed since the World War I in Cairo and Istanbul. In October 1927, a village near Mount Ararat was designated as the provisional capital of Kurdistan. Khoybun made appeals to the Great Powers and the League of Nations, and also sent messages to other Kurds in Iraq and Syria to ask for co-operation.[17]

[edit] The Dersim Rebellion, 1937

Main article: Dersim Rebellion

The most important Kurdish rebellion in modern Turkey was in 1937-1938, based around the Kizilbash heartland of Dersim, which was itself part of a region marked for total evacuation by Ankara.[18] The 1937-38 Dersim uprising can be seen as two separate uprisings, separated by a particularly hard winter. The first war went from late March 1937 to November 1937, while the second war began in April 1938 and lasted until December 1938. The Dersim rebellion was led by the local traditional Kizilbash elites, at the head of whom stood Seyt Riza, chief of the Abbasushagi tribe. Local intellectual cadres also played a role in the rising's leadership, according to one source.

Turkish Army mobilized 50,000 troops to suppress the rebellion. Since Dersim region was closer to Ankara than the previous rebellious regions, Turkish Air Force was used more effectively against the uprising. Sabiha Gökçen, Turkey's first female pilot and the adopted daughter of Atatürk, took part in the bombing raids against the Dersim Kurds.[19]

Seyt Riza was himself captured on 5 September 1937 and was hanged, together with ten of his lieutenants, on 18 November. Retribution by Turkish forces claimed at least 40,000 Dersimlis, who were deported and massacred following this defeat [20][21][22].

[edit] Government Measures After 1937

After suppression of the last rebellion in 1937, Southeast Anatolia was put under martial law and was subject to military occupation. In addition to destruction of villages and massive deportations, Turkish Government encouraged Kosovar Albanians and Assyrians to settle in the Kurdish area to change the ethnic composition of the region[23].

[edit] Turkish-Kurdish uprising, 1970s-current

Main article: Turkish-Kurdish conflict

Kurdish nationalism began resurgence in the 1970's when Turkey was racked with Left-right clashes (Republic of Turkey) and the Marxist PKK was formed demanding a Kurdish state[24]. PKK declared its objective as the liberation of all parts of Kurdistan from colonial oppression and establishment of an independent, united, socialist Kurdish state. It initially attracted the poorer segments of the Kurdish population and became the only Kurdish party not dominated by tribal links.[citation needed] PKK's chairman, Abdullah Öcalan, was proud of being from humble origins. It characterized its struggle mainly as an anti-colonial one, hence directing its violence against collaborators, i.e. Kurdish tribal chieftains, notables with a stake in the Turkish state, and also against rival organizations.[citation needed] The military coup in 1980 lead to a period of severe repression and elimination of almost all Kurdish and leftist organizations. The PKK, however, was the only Kurdish party that managed to survive and even grow in size after the coup.[citation needed] It initiated a guerrilla offensive with a series of attacks on Turkish military and police stations and due to its daring challenging of the Turkish army, gradually won over grudging admiration of parts of the Kurdish population.[citation needed] In the beginning of 1990, it had set up its own local administration in some rural areas.[citation needed] Around this time, PKK changed its goals from full Kurdish independence to a negotiated settlement with the Turkish government, specially after some promising indirect contacts with President Turgut Özal. After Özal's sudden death, the Turkish military intensified it's operations against PKK bases. These measures succeeded in isolating the PKK from the civilians and reduced it to a guerrilla band operating in the mountains. In 1999, increased Turkish pressure on Syria led to Öcalan's expulsion and ultimate arrest by Turkish Maroon Berets in Kenya[25].

During the 1980's Turkey began a program of forced assimilation of its Kurdish population.[26] This culminated in 1984 when the PKK began a rebellion against Turkish rule attacking Turkish military and civilian targets. Since the beginning of 1984, the PKK's militant operations have directly caused the deaths of 37,000 people, and has been continuing it's guerrilla warfare in the mountains.[27]

[edit] Culture

The Kurdish culture in Turkey is allegedly close to culture of Kurdish people in other regions and it has contributed greatly[citation needed] to the culture in Turkey. However, culturally Kurds in Turkey are much more closer to Turks since they share a common history and cultural background.[citation needed]

[edit] Language

The Kurdish language belongs to the western sub-group of the Iranian languages which belong to the Indo-Iranian branch of the Indo-European language family.

Many Kurds in Turkey speak only Turkish, but about 5 million people speak a Kurdish language (7-8% of the total population). There are 3,950,000 people speaking Northern Kurdish (1980 estimate), 1 million people speaking Dimli (1999 estimate) and 140,000 people speaking Kirmanjki.[28] Speakers of Kirmanjki and Dimli are also known as the Zaza people.[29] The two Zaza languages have a 70% lexical similarity to each other, about the same as is found between Spanish and Romanian.[30]

[edit] Music

Between 1925 and 1991 the performance or recording of songs in the Kurdish language was banned in Turkey. Some singers, like İbrahim Tatlıses and Ahmet Kaya, sang in Turkish, while others like Grup Yorum violated the ban and were imprisoned or fled to various countries, especially Germany. A black market, however, has long existed in Turkey, and pirate radio stations and underground recordings have always been available. Though there is no current ban on performing Kurdish language music, it is effectively prevented from being broadcast on radio or television through censorship systems.[31]

Some of the foremost figures in Kurdish classical music of the past century from Anatolia include Mihemed 'Arif Cizrawî (1912 - 1986), who is considered the greatest Kurdish classical composer and vocalist, Hesen Cizrawî, Şeroyê Biro, 'Evdalê Zeynikê, Si'îd Axayê Cizîrî and the female singers Miryem Xanê and Eyşe Şan.

Şivan Perwer, possibly the most famous Kurdish musician of all time, came from the Kurds of Turkey. Şivan Perwer is a composer, vocalist and tembûr player. He concentrates mainly on political and nationalistic music - of which he is considered the founder in Kurdish music - as well as classical and folk music.

Another important Kurdish musician from Turkey is Nizamettin Arıç - also known as "Feqiyê Teyra". He began with singing in Turkish, and made his directorial debut and also stars in A Song for Beko, one of the first films in Kurdish. Arıç rejected musical stardom at the cost of debasing his language and culture. As a result of singing in Kurdish, he was imprisoned, and then obliged to flee to Syria and eventually to Germany.[32][33][34] Arıç, also a film director and actor, is greatly talented in singing Kurdish dengbej music with brilliant mastery, dynamism and taste. He also has a unique and elegant style in musical composition.

[edit] Literature

There is no existing evidence of Kurdish literature of pre-Islamic period. Some sources consider Ali Hariri(1425-1495) as the first well-known poet who wrote in Kurdish. He was from the Hakkari region[35].

Since 1970s, there has been a massive effort on the part of Kurds in Turkey to write and to create literary works in Kurdish. The amount of printed material during the last three decades has increased enormously. Many of these activities were centered in Europe particularly Sweden and Germany where many of the immigrant Kurds are living. There are a number of Kurdish publishers in Sweden, partly supported by the Swedish Government. More than two hundred Kurdish titles have appeared in the 1990s.

Some of the well known contemporary Kurdish writers from Turkey are Mehmed Uzun, Mehmed Emin Bozarslan, Mahmud Baksi, Hesenê Metê and Rojen Barnas.

[edit] Film

Yılmaz Güney was a famous film director, scenarist, novelist and actor. He directed and starred in the film Umut (1970) (Turkish for Hope), and his most famous movie is 1982 film Yol (Turkish for "The Road" or "The Way") that won Palme d'Or in Cannes Film Festival in 1982.

Some other films by Kurdish people in Turkey are Big Man, Little Love by Handan İpekçi and Klamek ji bo Beko by Nizamettin Arıç.

Yılmaz Erdoğan is another famous film director, scenarist, poet and actor from Turkey of Kurdish ethnicity.

[edit] Human rights of Kurdish people in Turkey

Main article: Human rights of Kurdish people in Turkey

Turkey's treatment of its citizens of Kurdish origin has been a frequent subject of international criticism.[36] Since 1930s, Kurds have resisted the forcible assimilation and Turkification policies of the Turkey's government. Since 1984, these resistance movements included both peaceful political activities for basic civil rights for Kurds within Turkey and also a violent armed rebellion for a separate Kurdistan state.[10]

Due to the size of the Kurdish population and the existence of separatist movements the government's main strategy for assimilating the Kurds has been language suppression, yet a majority of Kurds have retained their native language.[37] Use of Kurdish language in public was banned in 1983, during Kenan Evren's presidency in Turkey. The ban was lifted in 1991 during the presidency of Turgut Özal who was of partial Kurdish descent.[38] Turkish remains as the only official language of Turkey, and use of any other language as a first language is not allowed in schools.

In June 2004, Turkey's public television TRT began broadcasting a half-an-hour Kurdish program,[39] and on March 8, 2006, Supreme Board of Radio and Television of Turkey (RTÜK) allowed two TV channels (Gün TV and Söz TV) and one radio channel (Medya FM) to have a limited service in the Kurdish language. This legislation came into force as an effort to meet one of the European Union’s requirements for its membership talks with Turkey. The new regulation will give radios five, and televisions four weekly broadcast hours.[40]

Despite these reforms, use of Kurdish in public sphere and government institutions are still severely restricted. On June 14, 2007, the ministry of Interior reached a decision to remove the elected mayor of the Sur district of Diyarbakir, Abdullah Demirbaş and the elected members of the municipal council. The high court endorsed the decision of the ministry and ruled that "giving information on various municipal services such as culture, art, environment, city cleaning and health in languages other than Turkish is against the Constitution.[41]

This is despite the fact that according to the above mentioned muicipality, 72 percent of the people of the district used Kurdish in their daily lives. In another case, the mayor of the Diyarbakır, Osman Baydemir, is being subjected to a similar set of interrogations and judicial process. His case is related to use of the Kurdish phrase Sersala We Pîroz Be (Happy New Year) in the new year celebration cards issued by the municipality. The prosecutor wrote: "It was determined that the suspect used a Kurdish sentence in the celebration card, ‘Sersala We Piroz Be’ (Happy New Year). I, on behalf of the public, demand that he be punished under Article 222/1 of the Turkish Penal Code".[41]

The Turkish Constitution bans the formation of political parties on an ethnical basis. Several Kurdish political parties were shut down by the Turkish Constitutional Court for links to the PKK, and some party members were imprisoned. PKK is listed as a terrorist organization internationally by a number of states and organizations, including the USA, NATO and the EU.

[edit] Kurdish internally displaced people (IDP) in Turkey

Between 1984 and 1999 the PKK and the Turkish military engaged in open war, and much of the countryside in the southeast was depopulated, with Kurdish civilians moving to local defensible centers such as Diyarbakır, Van, and Şırnak, as well as to the cities of western Turkey and even to western Europe. The causes of the depopulation included PKK atrocities against Kurdish clans they could not control, the poverty of the southeast, and the Turkish state's military operations.[42] Human Rights Watch has documented many instances where the Turkish military forcibly evacuated villages, destroying houses and equipment to prevent the return of the inhabitants. An estimated 3,000 Kurdish villages in Turkey were virtually wiped from the map, representing the displacement of more than 378,000 people.[43]

[edit] Leyla Zana

Main article: Leyla Zana

In 1994 Leyla Zana—who, three years prior, had been the first Kurdish woman elected to the Turkish parliament—was sentenced to 15 years for "separatist speech". At her inauguration as an MP, she reportedly identified herself as a Kurd. Amnesty International reported "She took the oath of loyalty in Turkish, as required by law, then added in Kurdish, 'I shall struggle so that the Kurdish and Turkish peoples may live together in a democratic framework.' Parliament erupted with shouts of 'Separatist', 'Terrorist', and 'Arrest her'".

[edit] Village guard paramilitary system

Main article: Village guards

Village guards militia was set up and armed by the Turkish state around 1984 to combat PKK. The militia comprises local Kurds and it has around 58,000 members. Some of the village guards are fiercely loyal to the Turkish state. The European Commission has described Village Guards as one of the major obstacles to the return of displaced Kurds to their villages. They are despised by many Kurds as traitors. Human rights organizations have also criticized the village guard system for its negative effects in creating an atmosphere of mistrust.[44]

[edit] Famous Kurds from Anatolia

Main article: List of Kurdish people

[edit] References

 The references in this article would be clearer with a different or consistent style of citation, footnoting, or external linking.
  1. ^ Anabasis, transl. by C.L. Brownson, Loeb Classical Library, 1922, rev. 1989, ISBN, 0-67499101-X Expeditio Cyri, ed. by E.C. Marchant, Oxford Classical Texts, Oxford 1904, ISBN 0-19-814554-3]
  2. ^ a b c "Türkiye nüfusunun ne kadarı Kürt", Kurdistan Post, 2007-03-22. Retrieved on 2007-11-03. (Turkish) 
    The Konda Poll gives a figure of about 11.4 million (in Turkish)
    Describes methodology and results of Konda poll (in Turkish)
  3. ^ The CIA Factbook gives a figure of about 15 million
  4. ^ Ethnologue census of languages in Asian portion of Turkey
  5. ^ Ibrahim Sirkeci The Environment of Insecurity in Turkey and the Emigration of Turkish Kurds to Germany, New York, Edwin Mellen Press, 2006, pp.117-118, ISBN 978-0-7734-5739-3
  6. ^ The Environment of Insecurity in Turkey and the Emigration of Turkish Kurds to Germany. Edwin Mellen Press. Retrieved on 2006-08-11.
  7. ^ Institut Kurde de Paris
  8. ^ Evrensel (2003-04-15). Kürtçe yabancı dil mi? (Turkish). Retrieved on 2007-07-08.
  9. ^ Encyclopaedia Britanica Online
  10. ^ a b Global Security (2007-03-22). Kurdistan-Turkey. Retrieved on 2007-03-28.
  11. ^ Olson, Robert W. (1989) The Emergence of Kurdish Nationalism and the Sheikh Said Rebellion, 1880-1925, p.45
  12. ^ van Bruinessen, Martin (1978) Agha, Shaikh and State. On the Social and Political Organisation of Kurdistan, University of Utrecht, Utrecht.
  13. ^ Olson, R., 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, Die Welt des Islam, New Ser., Vol.40, Issue 1, March 2000, p.74
  14. ^ Olson, R., 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, Die Welt des Islam, New Ser., Vol.40, Issue 1, March 2000, p.77
  15. ^ Olson, R., 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, Die Welt des Islam, New Ser., Vol.40, Issue 1, March 2000, p.79
  16. ^ Olson, R., 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, Die Welt des Islam, New Ser., Vol.40, Issue 1, March 2000, pp.83,84,85,86,88
  17. ^ C.J. Edmonds, Kurdish Nationalism, Journal of Contemporary History, pp.87-107, 1971, p.91
  18. ^ Kendal, in Chaliand, Gerard (1980) People Without a Country. London & New Jersey, Zed Press, p.67
  19. ^ Olson, R., 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, Die Welt des Islam, New Ser., Vol.40, Issue 1, March 2000, pp.89-90
  20. ^ Kinnane, Derk (1964) The Kurds and Kurdistan, London, Oxford University Press, p.31
  21. ^ Pelletiere, Stephen C. (1984) The Kurds. An Unstable Element in the Gulf, Boulder, Westview PressPelletiere,p. 83
  22. ^ Tripod.com - Ethnic Differentiation Among the Kurds
  23. ^ C. Dahlman, The Political Geography of Kurdistan, Eurasian Geography and Economics, Vol. 43, No. 4, 2002, pp.271-299 (p.279).
  24. ^ Federation of American Scientists
  25. ^ Martin van Bruinessen, The Kurdish movement: issues, organization, mobilization, Newsletter of the Friends of the International Institute for Social History, No.8, 2004, pp.6-8
  26. ^ Kurdish Language Policy in Turkey
  27. ^ BBC News Europe
  28. ^ Ethnologue census of languages in Asian portion of Turkey
  29. ^ UCLA Language Materials Project Language Profiles Page
  30. ^ Ethnologue report for language code:spa
  31. ^ Yurdatapan, Şanar. 2004. "Turkey: Censorship past and present." In Shoot the singer! Music censorship today, edited by Marie Korpe. London: Zed Books.
  32. ^ University of California at Berkely
  33. ^ CWF Creative Work Fund
  34. ^ Human Rights Warch
  35. ^ The Kurdish Language and Literature
  36. ^ "Persecution of the Kurds in Turkey". Encyclopedia Brittanica Online Edition. (1999). Chicago, IL: Britannica Online. OCLC 67911661. 
  37. ^ Metz, Helen (1996). Turkey, a Country Study. Columbus: The Division, 28. ISBN 0844408646. “Kurds” 
  38. ^ Edelman, Eric (June 19, 2006). Three Legacies: Ataturk, Inonu, and Ozal and the Making of the U.S.-Turkish Relationship. Turgut Ozal Memorial Lectures. Retrieved on 2007-09-12.
  39. ^ "Kurdish broadcast ends Turkish TV taboo", ABC News Online, June 10, 2004. Retrieved on 2007-09-12. 
  40. ^ "Yerel kanallarda Kürtçe Mart’ta", NTVMSNBC, February 21, 2006. Retrieved on 2007-09-12. (Turkish) "English summary: Private Channels to Broadcast in Kurdish in March" 
  41. ^ a b Lagendijk, Joost. "Kurdish: A different language", Today's Zaman, June 28, 2007. Retrieved on 2007-09-12. 
  42. ^ Radu, Michael (2001). "The Land of many crossroads - The Rise and Fall of the PKK". Orbis 45 (1): 47-64. Philadelphia: Foreign Policy Research Institute. ISSN 0030-4387. OCLC 93642482. 
  43. ^ (March 2005) "Introduction" in Human Rights Watch: Still critical Volume 17 (2), page 3. Retrieved on 2007-09-12
  44. ^ Beattie, Meriel. "Local guards divide Turkish Kurds", BBC News, August 4, 2006. Retrieved on 2007-09-12. 

[edit] Further reading

  • Ihsan Nuri Pasha, La Révolte de L'Agridagh, with a preface by Ismet Cheriff Vanly, Éditions Kurdes, Geneva, 1985. (translated into Turkish: Ağrı Dağı İsyanı, Med Publications, Istanbul, 1992.)
  • Olson, R., 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, Die Welt des Islam, New Ser., Vol.40, Issue 1, March 2000, pp.67-94.
  • Olson, R., The Emergence of Kurdish Nationalism and the Sheikh Said Rebellion, 1880-1925. University of Texas Press, Austin, pp.229, 1989.

[edit] External links

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kurds_in_Turkey"
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