Ahmad, Chnor Jaafar (2019) The dilemma of Kurdish nationalism as a result of international treaties and foreign occupations between the years 1850 to 1930. MPhil(R) thesis. https://theses.gla.ac.uk/41171/ Copyright and moral rights for this work are retained by the author A copy can be downloaded for personal non-commercial research or study, without prior permission or charge This work cannot be reproduced or quoted extensively from without first obtaining permission in writing from the author The content must not be changed in any way or sold commercially in any format or medium without the formal permission of the author When referring to this work, full bibliographic details including the author, title, awarding institution and date of the thesis must be given Enlighten: Theses https://theses.gla.ac.uk/ [email protected] University of Glasgow College of Arts Graduate School THE DILEMMA OF KURDISH NATIONALISM AS A RESULT OF INTERNATIONAL TREATIES AND FOREIGN OCCUPATIONS BETWEEN THE YEARS 1850 TO 1930 By Chnor Jaafar Ahmad Supervisor: Dr Michael Rapport A thesis submitted to the University of Glasgow in fulfillment of the requirement of the Degree of Master of Philosophy, April 2019. i TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ............................................................................................ iv THESIS ABSTRACT .................................................................................................... v ABBREVIATIONS ..................................................................................................... vii INTRODUCTION 1. General Background .................................................................................................. 1 2. Thesis Main Question ................................................................................................ 4 3. Justification ................................................................................................................ 5 4. Thesis objectives ........................................................................................................ 6 5. Thesis Methodology ................................................................................................... 7 6. Thesis Structure ........................................................................................................ 15 CHAPTER ONE EXISTING LITERATURE ON NATION AND NATIONALISM ............................ 16 1.1 Introduction ............................................................................................................ 16 1.2 The concepts of ‘Nation’ and Nationalism ............................................................ 17 1.3 Arab and non-Arab Forms of Nationalism............................................................. 22 1.4 Territorial and Pan-Nationalism ............................................................................. 29 1.5 Conclusion ............................................................................................................. 29 CHAPTER TWO INTERNATIONAL AND REGIONAL TREATIES AND AGREEMENTS IN RELATIONS TO KURDISTAN ................................................................................. 31 2. Introduction .............................................................................................................. 31 2.1 The Emergence of Otto-Persian Treaties ............................................................... 32 2.1.1 Treaty of Erzurum I of 1823 ............................................................................. 32 2.1.2 Treaty of Erzurum II of 1847 ........................................................................... 34 2.2 The Treaty of Sevres of 1920 ................................................................................. 38 2.3 Treaty of Lausanne of 1923 ................................................................................... 48 2.4 The Kurds: A critical appraisal .............................................................................. 51 2.5 Conclusion ............................................................................................................. 52 CHAPTER THREE HISTORICAL ANALYSIS OF KURDISH NATIONAL IDENTITY ....................... 54 3.1 Introduction ............................................................................................................ 54 ii 3.2 Kurdish Identity and Kurdistan .............................................................................. 54 3.2.1 Kurdish Language ............................................................................................ 55 3.2.2 Kurdish Culture ................................................................................................ 60 3.2.3 Sufism and Kurdish national identity ............................................................... 66 3.3 Conclusion ............................................................................................................. 69 CHAPTER FOUR THE EMERGENCE OF KURDISH ISSUES AND NATIONALISM ....................... 71 4.1 Introduction ............................................................................................................ 71 4.2 Kurdish Issues ........................................................................................................ 71 4.3 Kurdish Nationalism .............................................................................................. 79 4.4 Emergence of Kurdish National Awareness .......................................................... 83 4.5. Kurdish Organizations before 1930 ...................................................................... 94 4.6 Kurdish Newspapers and Magazines before 1930 ................................................. 98 4.7 Kurdish Nationalist Poetry and Revolutions before 1930 ................................... 103 4.7.1 Kurdish Nationalist Poetry ............................................................................. 103 4.7.2 Kurdish Revolutions between 1850-1930 ...................................................... 106 4.8 Why Kurdish Nationalism Failed in the early Twentieth Century? ..................... 107 4.7.1 The development of Kurdish nationalism in northern Kurdistan ................... 108 4.9 Conclusion ........................................................................................................... 116 CONCLUSION .......................................................................................................... 118 BIBLIOGRAPHY ...................................................................................................... 124 iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENT I have special thanks to my beloved parents, siblings, my husband and two children. I also would like to express my best thanks to the Ministry of Higher Education of Kurdistan Regional Government-Iraq for funding the programme to the Kurdish PhD students under the HCDP scheme, although this project was soon hampered due to financial difficulties that the KRG and Iraq are going through, and we suffered allot as a result. Yet, their project from the beginning deserves appreciation. I also thank Prof Michael Rapport, my supervisor for his continuous support and guidance until the end of this research. Last but not least, I would like to thank anyone who critically reads my thesis and further contributes to the literature of the Kurdish nationalism by starting from this point. Chnor Jaafar Ahmad The researcher Glasgow 01 April 2019 iv THESIS ABSTRACT This thesis is discussing the failing Kurdish nationalism between the year 1850 and 1930. The researcher discusses various difficulties faced by the Kurdish nationalism, particularly due to the fact that Kurdistan was occupied by the Ottoman and Persian empires, followed by the arrivals of the British Empire, France and Russians (major allied powers) in the Middle East generally, and Kurdistan particularly. These powers took a great part of Kurdistan and attached them to Turkey, Iraq and Iran. These steps were made by the treaty of Lausanne of 1923, although in the Treaty of Sevres of 1920, the right to establish an independent Kurdish state was recognized for the first time. However, due to the scattered nature of Kurdish nationalism in one hand, and the influence of the major allied powers in the region, the Kurds could not establish an independent nation-state for themselves. Interestingly, the Kurds proved their origin in the region with their distinctive culture, language and geography, but in terms of their nationalist identity, it is imperative to ask whether Kurdish nationalism was able to become a cohesive definition to introduce the Kurds within the frame of an independent state. If not, what went wrong to Kurdish nationalism? The main objective of the thesis is to show the reader that political goal of Kurdish nationalism is lost, and could not unite all the Kurds, but always depended on the foreign powers to make it live and stand, while these powers let them down. Thus, the Kurds need to rely on itself. The researcher argues that Kurdish nationalism could not become a united political philosophy that could attract the major allied powers towards the Kurds, and to make them honor their promises to the Kurdish independent state. In spite of the fact the Kurds had a deep-rooted culture in the region different from the Turks, Persians and Arabs, but in terms of awareness and education, the Kurds were to certain degree were illiterate in general. In other words, only few numbers of individuals were educated who could not have a broad