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Exaggerating and exploiting the Sheikh Said Rebellion of 1925 for political gains

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 July 2015

Hakan Özoğlu*
Affiliation:
Department of History, University of Central Florida, Orlando, USA, aozoglu@mail.ucf.edu.

Abstract

The religious and nationalist nature of the Sheikh Said Rebellion in 1925 has been debated by the scholars for decades. For the Kurdish nationalists the rebellion symbolized the Kurdish struggle for an independent state. For the Turkish state, it was another deception by Great Britain to stir up the region for its colonialist interests. Newly available sources in the US diplomatic archives raise the question of the Turkish government's fomentation and/or manipulation of the Sheikh Said Rebellion. In addition, some of the Turkish oppositional leaders (such as Kazim Karabekir) of the time suggested that this rebellion was allowed to happen to suppress the political opposition in Turkey. This study examines the validity of these claims and how this rebellion was manipulated to silence political opposition in Turkey. More specifically, this study will seek answers to the following questions: Was the Sheikh Said Rebellion fomented by the Turkish government to eliminate the political opposition? How was this rebellion manipulated to accomplish this aim?

Type
Articles
Copyright
Copyright © New Perspectives on Turkey 2009

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