The formations of the Kurdish Movement(s) 1908-1914: Exploring the footprints of Kurdish nationalism

Abstract

This thesis scrutinizes the Kurdish movement(s) between the re-proclamation of the constitutional regime in 1908 until the outbreak of First World War in 1914 and problematizes the periodization of Kurdish movement(s) with an emphasis on their heterogenity and diversity. The 1908 Revolution created an impression among the Kurdish intelligentsia, like their contemporaries in the Ottoman Empire that a regime based on democracy, equality, liberty and the rule of law had been inaugurated. With this belief Kurdish intellectuals, who came from Kurdish notable families, opened many organizations in Istanbul to revive Kurdish culture, language and history, upon two of which this study focused. The journals of these two organizations together with archival documents were utilized to understand the agendas of the Kurdish intellectuals of the era. The first organization after the revolution, Kürd Teavün ve Terakki Cemiyeti was opened in Istanbul in 1908. As this organization was founded immediately after the 1908 revolution, it depicts not only the program of Kurdish intellectuals for the development of Kurdish people, but also their agendas developed for “Ottoman citizenry” as it is called in this study, which was appropriate to the atmosphere of the era. The circle of this organization one the one hand, by opening branches in Kurdish provinces worked for the reception of the new regime by the local Kurds, which was not a smooth process. On the other hand, they collaborated with some Armenian organizations in Istanbul to achieve a reconciliation between Kurds and Armenians in the Anatolia. The second main organization this study focuses on was opened in 1912 and proposed a more compact agenda for construction of a Kurdish national identity, which released in a set of parameters like emphasis on language, culture, history and historical figures as a way of creating a common bond among Kurds. Therefore a discursive analysis between the Kürd Teavün ve Terakki Cemiyeti and Kürd Talebe Hêvî Cemiyeti portrays the shifts between the two organizations; a discursive shift from “Ottoman citizenry” to “Kurdism,” which this study finds very important for the periodization of Kurdish Movement. Based on this analysis, this thesis argues that the first seeds of Kurdish nationalism can be traced in this discursive shift.