Mevlanzade Rifat Bey (1869 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 (" ...

– 1930 in

Aleppo )), is an adjective which means "white-colored mixed with black". , motto = , image_map = , mapsize = , map_caption = , image_map1 = ...

), was an Ottoman-Kurdish journalist and poet, his family originated from Süleymaniye and were decedents of

Khâlid-i Shahrazuri Mawlana Khâlid Sharazuri also known as Khâlid-i Baghdâdî and Mawlana Khalid (1779–1827) was a Kurdish people, Kurdish Sufi, and poet by the name of Shaykh Diya al-Dīn Khalid al-Shahrazuri, the founder of a branch of the Naqshbandi Sufi ...

Early life and family

Mevlanzade's grandfather was called Mehmed Bey he was one of the notable personages of Süleymaniye and descended from

, Mevlanzade's father was Abdurrahman Nacim Efendi who was born in the Şehrizor district of Süleymaniye, Abdurrahman entered into the Ottoman civil service and became head of Diyarbakır Province Court and later head of the Beirut Court of Appeals, he was also a poet and died in

Harpoot Harpoot ( tr, Harput) or Kharberd ( hy, Խարբերդ, translit=Kharberd) is an ancient town located in the Elazığ Province of Turkey. It now forms a small district of the city of Elazığ. p. 1. In the late Ottoman period, it fell under the M ...

in 1895. Mevlanzade's wife was

Nuriye Ulviye Mevlan Civelek Nuriye Ulviye Mevlan Civelek (1893 – 9 April 1964) was a Turkish women's rights advocate, suffragist, journalist and founder of the first feminist women's magazine and Muslim women's rights organization in Turkey. The magazine was the first to ...

Journalism and exile

Mevlanzade Rifat Bey was one of the most notable and widely read journalists 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) ...

. He was the owner and editor in chief of ''

Serbestî ''Serbestî'' ( Ottoman Turkish for "Liberty") was an Ottoman newspaper. It was founded in 1908 by Mevlanzade Rifat Bey, who in 1924 would become one of the 150 ''personae non gratae'' of the newly established Republic of Turkey. Because the pa ...

'' and friend of the slain journalist

Hasan Fehmi Hasan Fehmi Bey (1874 – April 6, 1909) was an Ottoman journalist, who was the editor-in-chief of ''Serbestî'', an Ottoman newspaper owned by Mevlanzade Rifat Bey, in which he wrote articles against the newly emerging Committee of Union and ...

. He spent most of his life in exile including France, Yemen, Egypt, Syria and Greece. An opponent of

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 ...

he was initially a member of the Young Turk central committee but later one of its most ardent critics and later a member of the

Freedom and Accord Party The Freedom and Accord Party ( ota, حریت و ایتلاف فرقه‌سی, Hürriyet ve İtilaf Fırkası, script=Arab), also known as the Liberal Union or the Liberal Entente, was a liberal Ottoman political party active between 1911 and 1913, ...

. He was among the few public figures in the Ottoman state who condemned CUP policies against the

Armenians Armenians ( hy, հայեր, ''hayer'' ) are an ethnic group native to the Armenian highlands of Western Asia. Armenians constitute the main population of Armenia and the ''de facto'' independent Artsakh. There is a wide-ranging diaspora ...

, noting that the deportations carried out were systematically planned by the Young Turk as a means to solving the Armenian question by genocide. Mevlanzade also opposed

Mustafa Kemal Atatürk Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, or Mustafa Kemal Pasha until 1921, and Ghazi Mustafa Kemal from 1921 Surname Law (Turkey), until 1934 ( 1881 – 10 November 1938) was a Turkish Mareşal (Turkey), field marshal, Turkish National Movement, re ...

and was named as one of the

150 personae non gratae of Turkey The 150 personae non gratae of Turkey ( tr, Yüzellilikler, lit=Hundred-and-fiftyers) is a list of high-ranking personages of the Ottoman Empire who were exiled from the Republic of Turkey shortly after the end of the Turkish War of Independence w ...

. He was an opponent in three different periods, firstly against

, secondly against

Committee of Union and Progress The Committee of Union and Progress (CUP) ( ota, اتحاد و ترقى جمعيتی, translit=İttihad ve Terakki Cemiyeti, script=Arab), later the Union and Progress Party ( ota, اتحاد و ترقى فرقه‌سی, translit=İttihad ve Tera ...

and thirdly against

Kurdish nationalism

He extensively lobbied the British, French and Greeks for support in establishing an independent Kurdistan. He met with

Dimitrios Gounaris Dimitrios Gounaris (; 5 January 1867 – 28 November 1922) was a Greek politician who served as the Prime Minister of Greece from 25 February to 10 August 1915 and 26 March 1921 to 3 May 1922. Leader of the People's Party (Greece), People's P ...

to this end. Mevlanzade was also a prominent member of the

Society for the Elevation of Kurdistan Society for the Rise of Kurdistan ( ku, Cemîyeta Tealîya Kurdistanê) also known as the Society for the Advancement of Kurdistan (SAK), was secretly established in Istanbul, Constantinople on 6 November 1917 and officially announced organizat ...

and defended the

Fourteen Points U.S. President Woodrow Wilson The Fourteen Points was a statement of principles for peace that was to be used for peace negotiations in order to end World War I. The principles were outlined in a January 8, 1918 speech on war aims and peace terms ...

Woodrow Wilson Thomas Woodrow Wilson (December 28, 1856February 3, 1924) was an American politician and academic who served as the 28th president of the United States from 1913 to 1921. A member of the Democratic Party, Wilson served as the president of ...

according to which all nationalities rights within the Ottoman Empire are to be considered. Mevlanzade Rifat also acted as the liaison between the Kurds in Khoybun and the Armenians. He was close friend of Celadet Bedir Khan and

Süreyya Bedir Khan Süreyya Bedir Khan (1883 in Constantinople – 1938 in Paris) was a Kurdish prince, a descendant of Bedir Khan Beg and a member of the Bedir Khan family. He was an influent supporter of Kurdish independence, a journalist and author of several boo ...

whose articles he published. He was the official spokesmen of the

president

Abdulkadir Ubeydullah Abdulkadir Ubeydullah (1851, Şemdinli - 1925 Diyarbakır) was a President of the Kurdish Society for Cooperation and Progress (KTTC) and later the Society for the Rise of Kurdistan. He was a leading Kurdish intellectual and a once also a member ...

References

{{reflist Kurdish people from the Ottoman Empire Kurdish politicians 1869 births 1930 deaths Journalists from Istanbul Writers from Istanbul