The Koçgiri rebellion (; ) was a Kurdish uprising, that began in the overwhelmingly militant Koçgiri region in present-day eastern
Sivas Province
Sivas Province () is a province of Turkey. It is located in the eastern part of the Central Anatolia region of Turkey. Its area is 28,164 km2 (the second largest province after Konya), and its population is 634,924 (2022). Its adjacent prov ...
in February 1921. The rebellion was initially
Alevi
Alevism (; ; ) is a syncretic heterodox Islamic tradition, whose adherents follow the mystical Islamic teachings of Haji Bektash Veli, who taught the teachings of the Twelve Imams, whilst incorporating some traditions from shamanism. Differing ...
, but it succeeded in gathering support from nearby
Sunni
Sunni Islam is the largest branch of Islam and the largest religious denomination in the world. It holds that Muhammad did not appoint any successor and that his closest companion Abu Bakr () rightfully succeeded him as the caliph of the Mu ...
tribes. The tribal leaders had a close relationship with the Society for the Rise of Kurdistan (SAK). The rebellion was defeated in June 1921.
Background
After the
Treaty of Sèvres
The Treaty of Sèvres () was a 1920 treaty signed between some of the Allies of World War I and the Ottoman Empire, but not ratified. The treaty would have required the cession of large parts of Ottoman territory to France, the United Kingdom, ...
was signed the Kurds began to feel more trustful that they were able to reach at least some sort of an autonomous government for themselves. Abdulkadir Ubeydullah, the son of
Sheikh Ubeydullah
Sheikh Ubeydullah (1826-1883), also known as Sayyid Ubeydullah, was the leader of the first modern Kurdish nationalist struggle. Ubeydullah demanded recognition from Ottoman Empire and Qajar Iran authorities for an independent Kurdish state, or ...
and the president of the SAK, supported the idea of a Kurdish autonomy within Turkey. But Nuri Dersimi and Alisher Efendi wanted more than autonomy, they wanted to establish an independent Kurdistan according to article 64 of the treaty.Mustafa Kemal followed up on the events in the Dersim area and as it came to his knowledge that some of the Kurds were pursuing autonomy in line with the fourteen points announced by US president
Woodrow Wilson
Thomas Woodrow Wilson (December 28, 1856February 3, 1924) was the 28th president of the United States, serving from 1913 to 1921. He was the only History of the Democratic Party (United States), Democrat to serve as president during the Prog ...
, he answered that the plan of Wilson was worthless for the peoples in the eastern provinces and they should rather follow his Turkish nationalist movement.
Negotiations
The Kurds around Dersim began to prepare for an eventual showdown with the Turkish nationalists and they also raided several Turkish weapon depots. By October 1920 they captured enough to feel themselves in a position of strength and Alisan Bey, the leader of Refahiye prepared the tribes for independence. Finally, on the 15 November 1920, they delivered a declaration to the Kemalists which stated the following.Olson, Robert; Rumbold, Horace (1989) p. 43
* The Government in Ankara should abide by the agreement the Kurds had with the Sultan in Istanbul and accept the Kurdish autonomy
* The Government in Ankara should also inform the people who wrote the declaration concerning their approach towards an autonomous Kurdistan.
* All the Kurdish prisoners in the prisons of Erzincan, Malatya, Elaziz (today Elazıĝ) and Sivas shall be released.
* The Turkish administration in the areas with a Kurdish majority must leave
* And the Turkish military which was dispatched to the Kurdish areas, should withdraw
They requested an answer by 24 November 1920.Robert Olson, (1989) p. 30 On the 25 December, the Kurds again demanded more political rights to be given to them in the Provinces of Diyarbakir,
Bitlis
Bitlis ( or ; ) is a city in southeastern Turkey. It is the seat of Bitlis District and Bitlis Province.Van and Elaziz as agreed on in the Treaty of Sèvres. The Kemalists at first listened to their demands for more political freedom, but at the same time moved significant troops to the region in order to quell the rebellion. Nevertheless, the Turkish Government tried to deceive the kurds as they sent the Governor of Elaziz to Pertek in order to assure them that Mustafa Kemal agreed to the requests. Mustafa Kemal even nominated additional members of parliament from the region.Robert Olson, (1989) p. 31 The Turkish Government also offered to assign a Kurdish Mütessarif to the region, but the revolutionaries represented by Seyit Riza and Alişan Bey (official from the Refahiye) refused the offer, and repeated their demand that they want an independent Kurdish government and not one imposed by Ankara.
The revolt
Following this response, Mustafa Kemal ordered the arrest of Nuri Dersimi and on the 20 December he was detained and brought to prison.
The commander of the Central ArmyNureddin Pasha sent a force of some 3,000 cavalrymen and irregulars including Topal Osman's battalions. By February fighting between parties began and the Turks demanded the unconditional surrender of the Kurdish revolutionaries. A first major encounter between the factions ended victorious for the Kurds, but fighting went on and the rebels were crushed by June 17, 1921.
Before repressing the rebels, Nureddin Pasha said (according to some sources, this statement belongs to Topal Osman):
The brutality of the repression made the Grand National Assembly decide to put Nureddin Pasha on trial. Although Nureddin Pasha was dismissed on November 3, 1921 and recalled to Ankara,
Mustafa Kemal Pasha
Mustafa () is one of the names of the Prophets and messengers in Islam, Islamic prophet Muhammad, and the name means "chosen, selected, appointed, preferred", used as an Arabic language, Arabic given name and surname. Mustafa is a common name in t ...
intervened and prevented a trial.Andrew Mango, ''Atatürk'', John Murray, 1999, , p. 330.
The brutality of the actions of the Turkish forces shocked even some members of the Ankara's national assembly. One of the representatives said: "''African barbarians would not even accept such excesses''".