Abdulkadir Ubeydullah (1851, Şemdinli - 1925

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, ...

) was a President of the Kurdish Society for Cooperation and Progress (KTTC) and later the

Society for the Rise 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 Constantinople on 6 November 1917 and officially announced organization formed ...

. He was a leading Kurdish intellectual and a once also a member of the

Senate of the Ottoman Empire The Senate of the Ottoman Empire ( ota, مجلس أعيان, or ; tr, Ayan Meclisi; lit. "Assembly of Notables"; french: Chambre des Seigneurs/Sénat (, with 'old') * el, γερουσία (, from , 'old man') , group=note) was the upper hous ...

. He also took part in the uprising of Sheik Ubeydullah led by his father and was accused of having taken part in the Sheikh Said rebellion.

Early life

The son of the notable Kurdish leader

Sheikh Ubeydullah }) also known as ''Sayyid Ubeydullah'', was the leader of the first modern Kurdish nationalist struggle. Ubeydullah demanded recognition from Ottoman Empire and Qajar dynasty authorities for an independent Kurdish state, or Kurdistan, which he wou ...

and grandson of Sheikh Taha. He was educated in the Naqshbandi tradition and his family claimed descent from Abdul Qadir Gilani. He was fluent in Kurdish, Turkish, Persian, Arabic and French. During the uprising of Sheik Ubeydullah, he was the commander of a contingent of Kurdish forces, which from October 1880 onwards on, captured several towns from the shores of

Lake Urmia Lake Urmia; az, اۇرمۇ گؤلۆ, script=Arab, italic=no, Urmu gölü; ku, گۆلائوو رمیەیێ, Gola Ûrmiyeyê; hy, Ուրմիա լիճ, Urmia lich; arc, ܝܡܬܐ ܕܐܘܪܡܝܐ is an endorheic salt lake in Iran. The lake is l ...

to the outskirts of

Tabriz Tabriz ( fa, تبریز ; ) is a city in northwestern Iran, serving as the capital of East Azerbaijan Province. It is the List of largest cities of Iran, sixth-most-populous city in Iran. In the Quri Chay, Quru River valley in Iran's historic Aze ...

Exile

He was exiled in 1881 after his father's unsuccessful rebellion against the

Ottoman state The Ottoman Empire developed over the years as a despotism with the Sultan as the supreme ruler of a centralized government that had an effective control of its provinces, officials and inhabitants. Wealth and rank could be inherited but were j ...

. For some time there is little known about Abdulkadir, but in 1895 he is mentioned a member of the Committee for Union and Progress (CUP) 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 ( ...

. But then he was implicated in a plot to overthrow Sultan Abdul Hamid II, following which he was sent into exile to

Mecca Mecca (; officially Makkah al-Mukarramah, commonly shortened to Makkah ()) is a city and administrative center of the Mecca Province of Saudi Arabia, and the holiest city in Islam. It is inland from Jeddah on the Red Sea, in a narrow ...

in 1896. From Mecca he traveled on the

Beirut Beirut, french: Beyrouth is the capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, which makes it the third-largest city in the Levant region. The city is situated on a peninsula at the midpoint o ...

, but stayed in contact with politicians of the CUP. Enver Pasha asked for his collaboration in compelling the

Kurdish tribes The following is a list of tribes of Kurdish people, an Iranic ethnic group from the geo-cultural region of Kurdistan in Western Asia. Iraq Baghdad Governorate The following tribes are present in Baghdad Governorate: * Feyli tribe Diyala Gover ...

into acknowledging CUPs authority after the revolution of the Young Turks in 1908. It was a demand to which he agreed to.

Return to Ottoman capital

He was a member of the

from 1910 to 1920 and then briefly President of the Ottoman Council of State. With the membership in the parliament his career in the Ottoman bureaucracy began, and after the

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

he presided over the sub-committee in the parliament.Özoğlu, Hakan (2004), p.90

Kurdish activities

Following he returned from exile to Constantinople in 1908 and became one of the founders of the KTTC and later the SAK. In 1918 Abdulkadir became president of the SAK even though

Emin Ali Bedir Khan Emin Ali Bedir Khan (1851, in Kandiye, Crete – 1926, in Cairo) was a founding member of the Kurd Society for Cooperation and Progress and vice president of the Society for the Elevation of Kurdistan and Kurdish politician. Emin Ali was the s ...

from the influential Kurdish Bedir Khan family opposed him. As such, he lobbied for an autonomous Kurdish region before the diplomats of

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It i ...

and the

USA The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

in Constantinople. The Peace Conference in Paris was discussed in the conversations. But he opposed that foreign powers were engaged in the creation of a future state in the aftermath of the defeat of the Ottoman Empire. In an interview given to the newspaper Ikdam in February 1920 Abdulkadir declared he was an adherent of an autonomous Kurdish region with a leadership elected by Kurds.Özoğlu, Hakan (2004), p.93 He was also supportive of the achievements of Şerif Pasha (who supported an autonomous Kurdistan) at the Peace Conference in Paris. Nevertheless, the Grand vizier

Damat Ferid Pasha Damat Mehmed Adil Ferid Pasha ( ota, محمد عادل فريد پاشا tr, Damat Ferit Paşa;‎ 1853 – 6 October 1923), known simply as Damat Ferid Pasha, was an Ottoman liberal statesman, who held the office of Grand Vizier, the ' ...

suspected Abdul-Kadir was organizing Kurdish tribal leaders in

Anatolia Anatolia, tr, Anadolu Yarımadası), and the Anatolian plateau, also known as Asia Minor, is a large peninsula in Western Asia and the westernmost protrusion of the Asian continent. It constitutes the major part of modern-day Turkey. The ...

in preparation for independence. As his objection against a Kurdish independence was made public, the dispute between two leaders of the SAK, namely Abdulkadir and Emin Ali Bedir Khan who favored independence emerged and the SAK was dissolved. According to Robert Olson, the British intelligence reported that by 1924 Ubeydullah was the registered as the head of the

Azadî The Azadî ( en, Freedom), officially (Society for Kurdish Freedom), later Civata Xweseriya Kurd (Society for Kurdish Independence) was a Kurdish secret organization. According to Kurds who reported to British intelligence officers, Azadî was es ...

office in Constantinople. He wielded great influence over the Kurdish population of Constantinople, and was described as an indispensable figure in Kurdish politics.

Death

Abdulkadir and one of his son's Mehmed were charged of being involved in the Sheikh Said Rebellion and tried by the Independence Tribunal in Diyarbakir. He was sentenced to death together with his son on the 23 May 1925 and hanged two days later. His son Mehmed while walking towards the gallows opposite the Diyarbakir mosque was heard warning his executers that their governments actions would open a Pandora's box and bring calamity upon themselves. After their execution another of his son's named Abdullah rebelled against the government in revenge and according to British sources was temporarily successful.

References

{{Reflist 1851 births 1925 deaths Kurdish politicians Prisoners and detainees of Turkey