İshak Sükûti (, ; 1868–1902) was an Ottoman Kurdish revolutionary, writer and medical doctor.

Biography

İshak Sükuti was born in

Diyarbakır Diyarbakır is the largest Kurdish-majority city in Turkey. It is the administrative center of Diyarbakır Province. Situated around a high plateau by the banks of the Tigris river on which stands the historic Diyarbakır Fortress, it is ...

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

into a poor

Kurdish Kurdish may refer to: *Kurds or Kurdish people *Kurdish language ** Northern Kurdish (Kurmanji) **Central Kurdish (Sorani) **Southern Kurdish ** Laki Kurdish *Kurdish alphabets *Kurdistan, the land of the Kurdish people which includes: **Southern ...

family.
Meşrutiyet uğrunda öldüğü içün Meşrutiyetle yadnamı dirilen bir ölü “San Remo’da İshak Sükûtî”
', 1, 15 Teşrin-i evvel 1325, pp. 14-15. After his graduation from Kuleli Military Medical School, Sükuti registered at the Gülhane Military Medical Academy in

Haydarpaşa Haydarpaşa is a locality within the Kadıköy and Üsküdar districts on the Asian part of Istanbul, Turkey. Haydarpaşa is named after Ottoman Vizier Haydar Pasha. The place, on the coast of Sea of Marmara, borders to Harem in the northwest and ...

in 1887. He joined

Ibrahim Temo Ibrahim Starova, also Ibrahim Bërzeshta (born ''Ibrahim Ethem Sojliu''; 22 March 1865 – 5 August 1945), better known as Ibrahim Temo, was an Ottoman-Albanian politician, revolutionary, intellectual, and a medical doctor by profession. Temo was ...

Mehmed Reshid Mehmed Reshid (; 8 February 1873 – 6 February 1919) was an Ottoman politician and physician, official of the Committee of Union and Progress, and governor of the Diyarbekir Vilayet (province) of the Ottoman Empire during World War I. He is ...

and fellow Kurd

Abdullah Cevdet Abdullah Cevdet Bey (‎9 September 1869 – 29 November 1932) was a Young Turk intellectual and physician of Kurdish origin. He was one of the founders of the Committee of Union and Progress (CUP) and wrote articles with pen name of "Bir Kür ...

in forming a progressive secret society called ''Ittihad-ı Osmani Cemiyeti'', later known as the

Committee of Union and Progress The Ottoman Committee of Union and Progress (CUP, also translated as the Society of Union and Progress; , French language, French: ''Union et Progrès'') was a revolutionary group, secret society, and political party, active between 1889 and 1926 ...

(CUP) and originally devoted to overthrowing the absolute rule of Ottoman sultan

Abdul Hamid II Abdulhamid II or Abdul Hamid II (; ; 21 September 184210 February 1918) was the 34th sultan of the Ottoman Empire, from 1876 to 1909, and the last sultan to exert effective control over the fracturing state. He oversaw a Decline and modernizati ...

. By completing his education, he became a medical doctor. Working at Haydarpaşa hospital he opposed the administration of sultan Abdülhamid II. In 1896 the Ottoman government discovered a plot to overthrow the sultan by CUP members and most of them such as Sükuti were exiled to

Tripolitania Tripolitania (), historically known as the Tripoli region, is a historic region and former province of Libya. The region had been settled since antiquity, first coming to prominence as part of the Carthaginian empire. Following the defeat ...

, from where he later escaped and went to

Geneva Geneva ( , ; ) ; ; . is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland and the most populous in French-speaking Romandy. Situated in the southwest of the country, where the Rhône exits Lake Geneva, it is the ca ...

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

. Along with Abdullah Cevdet, he published a CUP newspaper ''Osmanlı Gazetesi'' (Ottoman Gazette) in Geneva and at times both were assisted by Tigrane Zaven, an Armenian intellectual. Sükuti contributed to the publication with anonymous articles and ''Osmanli'' was published through his financial assistance. On 9 February 1902 Sükuti died in

Sanremo Sanremo, also spelled San Remo in English and formerly in Italian, is a (municipality) on the Mediterranean coast of Liguria, in northwestern Italy. Founded in Roman times, it has a population of 55,000, and is known as a tourist destination ...

. His death had profound consequences on remaining members who belonged to the old core of the CUP organisation and were not part of other newer factions. During his lifetime the leadership and assistance of Sükuti had made it possible for the remaining members of the old CUP to function and the membership acknowledged that reality and grieved his death. Sükuti was well respected among fellow members of the old CUP.

Ahmet Rıza Ahmet Rıza (1858 – 26 February 1930) was an Ottoman Empire, Ottoman educator, activist, revolutionary, intellectual, politician, polymath, and a prominent Young Turks, Young Turk. He was also an early leader of the Committee of Union and Progre ...

, a leader of the new CUP group wrote in ''Mechveret Supplement Français'' a short obituary note. Rıza held a low opinion of the old CUP faction and was open about having no respect for Sükuti. Following Sükuti's death an additional problem arose for the membership of the old CUP organisation. In life he was their archivist for nearly several years and had gathered a large amount of documents on the organisational and internal matters of the CUP. After his death the sultan ordered Ottoman diplomats to take ownership of those papers and they were transferred to the palace with the event being a blow to the old CUP faction as Ottoman Intelligence had possession of sensitive information.

Biography

References

Further reading