Abdürrezzak Bedir Khan (1864 in

Constantinople la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه , alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth (Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya (Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis (" ...

– 1918) was an Ottoman diplomat,

Kurdish Kurdish may refer to: *Kurds or Kurdish people *Kurdish languages *Kurdish alphabets *Kurdistan, the land of the Kurdish people which includes: **Southern Kurdistan **Eastern Kurdistan **Northern Kurdistan **Western Kurdistan See also * Kurd (dis ...

politician and a member of the Bedir Khan family.

Education

After he graduated from school, he entered into the Ottoman administration, following his father to the

sanjak Sanjaks (liwāʾ) (plural form: alwiyāʾ) * Armenian language, Armenian: նահանգ (''nahang''; meaning "province") * Bulgarian language, Bulgarian: окръг (''okrǔg''; meaning "county", "province", or "region") * el, Διοίκησι� ...

Aydin, where his father has been appointed as the

Governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

. After it was not possible for him to pursue his studies in

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

, he accepted an offer to complete his formation as an Ottoman diplomat in the Foreign Ministry of the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...

in 1885.

Diplomatic career

In 1889, he was sent to

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

in the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...

to work for one year in the Ottoman Consulate as a secretary. As he returned to Constantinople, he asked for more work and was offered an office at the Consulate in

Tehran Tehran (; fa, تهران ) is the largest city in Tehran Province and the capital of Iran. With a population of around 9 million in the city and around 16 million in the larger metropolitan area of Greater Tehran, Tehran is the most popul ...

. It was a post he eventually was not able to assume as he was called back to Constantinople. He didn't comply with the demand and left for the Russian Empire, in which he wanted to settle in

Yerevan Yerevan ( , , hy, Երևան , sometimes spelled Erevan) is the capital and largest city of Armenia and one of the world's List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest continuously inhabited cities. Situated along the Hrazdan River, Y ...

. Through his diplomatic relations he established during his time at the consulate in Saint Petersburg, he managed to arrive in

Tiflis Tbilisi ( ; ka, თბილისი ), in some languages still known by its pre-1936 name Tiflis ( ), is the capital and the largest city of Georgia, lying on the banks of the Kura River with a population of approximately 1.5 million pe ...

but his plans to live in Yerevan were dashed due to pressures from the Ottoman Empire. From Tiflis he began a wide journey over

Batumi Batumi (; ka, ბათუმი ) is the second largest city of Georgia and the capital of the Autonomous Republic of Adjara, located on the coast of the Black Sea in Georgia's southwest. It is situated in a subtropical zone at the foot of th ...

Kiev Kyiv, also spelled Kiev, is the capital and most populous city of Ukraine. It is in north-central Ukraine along the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2021, its population was 2,962,180, making Kyiv the List of European cities by populat ...

and then also the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

, before his father Necib Bedir Khan compelled him to return to Constantinople in 1894. Back in the Ottoman capital, he was given a post in the office of the master of ceremonies in Constantinople. As such he got to know several European diplomats to which he retained long-lasting cordial relations. In January 1906 he had a dispute with members of the Ottoman bureaucracy opposed to the renovation of the street leading to Abdürrezzaks house in Şişli. Abdürrezzak then sequestrated Ahmed Ağa, who opposed the renovation which prompted Ridvan Pasha to sent fifty followers of him to attack Abdürrezzak household. Ridvans men have killed a servant of Abdürrezzak, managed to liberate Ahmed Ağa. He then also achieved to defend himself from reprisals by Abdürrezzak who complained about their actions to Sultan

Abdul Hamid II Abdülhamid or Abdul Hamid II ( ota, عبد الحميد ثانی, Abd ül-Hamid-i Sani; tr, II. Abdülhamid; 21 September 1842 10 February 1918) was the sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 31 August 1876 to 27 April 1909, and the last sultan to ...

. This then lead Abdürrezzak to encourage the assassination of Rıdvan Pasha following which he was dismissed, sentenced and imprisoned in

Tripoli Tripoli or Tripolis may refer to: Cities and other geographic units Greece *Tripoli, Greece, the capital of Arcadia, Greece * Tripolis (region of Arcadia), a district in ancient Arcadia, Greece * Tripolis (Larisaia), an ancient Greek city in ...

, (in present day

Libya Libya (; ar, ليبيا, Lībiyā), officially the State of Libya ( ar, دولة ليبيا, Dawlat Lībiyā), is a country in the Maghreb region in North Africa. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to Egypt–Libya bo ...

) in 1906.Henning, Barbara (2018), p.601 Other members of the Bedir Khan family were sent into exile for this accusation. Following the Young Turk Revolution in 1908, he was not pardoned and permitted to return from exile as other members of the Bedir Khans and remained in detention until he was released in 1910. The same year, he applied for asylum to the Russian Empire citing the German General Helmuth von Moltke, (who met with Abdürrezzak's father Bedir Khan in the 1830s) as a reference. In 1911, several members of the Bedir Khan family toured the Bohtan area, also Abdürrezzak who at the time intended to be elected as a deputy for the

Ottoman Parliament The General Assembly ( tr, Meclis-i Umumî (French romanization: "Medjliss Oumoumi" ) or ''Genel Parlamento''; french: Assemblée Générale) was the first attempt at representative democracy by the imperial government of the Ottoman Empire. Als ...

. In 1912, he was supporting a Kurdish uprising around Erzurum. By 1913 he demanded the inclusion of the Kurds in negotiations concerning an eventual land reform of the eastern provinces. He argued that a lot of the land which was discussed to come under Armenian rule was owned and populated by a Kurdish majority. In 1917, after the Russians captured the eastern provinces of Anatolia, he was given the post of a Governor in

Bitlis Bitlis ( hy, Բաղեշ '; ku, Bidlîs; ota, بتليس) is a city in southeastern Turkey and the capital of Bitlis Province. The city is located at an elevation of 1,545 metres, 15 km from Lake Van, in the steep-sided valley of the Bitlis R ...

, following which he attempted to gain the Russians assistance for the Kurdish aims of an independent Kurdistan.Klein, Janet (2011),p.125 The

Ottomans The Ottoman Turks ( tr, Osmanlı Türkleri), were the Turkic founding and sociopolitically the most dominant ethnic group of the Ottoman Empire ( 1299/1302–1922). Reliable information about the early history of Ottoman Turks remains scarce, ...

reportedly stated that he was seen as a leader of the Kurdish tribes by the Russians, and that he attended a meeting with them together with Simko Shikak in May 1914. He was killed in 1918, and it is unclear on the orders of whom he was killed.

Personal life

He was born to Necib Pasha Bedir Khan and Hanife Bedir Khan into a household of the Bedir Khan family. He married Henriette Hornik of Austrian origin with whom he had a daughter in 1903 who was to be known as

Leyla Bedir Khan Leyla Bedir Khan (or Bedirxan) (1903, Constantinople1986, Paris) was a ballet dancer and a Kurdish princess of the Bedir Khan family. Biography Leyla Bedir Khan's birthdate is disputed, but it was likely 31 July 1903 as she was born in Constant ...

.Henning, Barbara (2018), p.306

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bedir Khan, Abdürrezzak Kurdish politicians Kurdish people from the Ottoman Empire 1864 births 1918 deaths 19th-century Kurdish people Exiles from the Ottoman Empire