EARLY AWAKENING OF THE KURDISH NATIONAL SENTIMENTS IN THE OTTOMAN EMPIRE (1880- 1914) A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF SOCIAL SCIENCES OF MIDDLE EAST TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY BY SEKİNE ÖZTEN IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF SCIENCE IN THE PROGRAM OF MIDDLE EAST STUDIES DECEMBER 2009 Approval of the Graduate School of Social Sciences Prof. Dr. Sencer Ayata Director I certify that this thesis satisfies all the requirements as a thesis for the degree of Master of Science. Assoc. Prof. Dr. Recep Boztemur Head of Department This is to certify that we have read this thesis and that in our opinion it is fully adequate, in scope and quality, as a thesis for the degree of Master of Science. Assoc. Prof. Dr. Recep Boztemur Supervisor Examining Committee Members Assoc. Prof.Dr. Ayşegül Aydıngün (METU,SOC) Assoc. Prof.Dr. Recep Boztemur (METU,HIST) Assoc. Prof.Dr. Erdoğan Yıldırım (METU,SOC) I hereby declare that all information in this document has been obtained and presented in accordance with academic rules and ethical conduct. I also declare that, as required by these rules and conduct, I have fully cited and referenced all material and results that are not original to this work. Name, Last name: Sekine Özten Signature: iii ABSTRACT EARLY AWAKENING OF THE KURDISH NATIONAL SENTIMENTS IN THE OTTOMAN EMPIRE (1880- 1914) Özten, Sekine Program of Middle East Studies Supervisor: Assoc. Prof. Dr. Recep Boztemur December 2009, 171 pages This thesis aims at presenting the historical panorama of the early Kurdish cultural activities in Anatolia which began to rise as a political subject after the First World War but could begin to express its nationalist demands after the foundation of the Republican government. It is claimed in the thesis that Kurdish nationalist identity as a collective body could begun to be formed in the last period of the Ottoman Empire when the Empire was in an inevitable dissolution. This progress in question took its start during the reign of Abdulhamid II, and accelerated during the Committee of Union and Progress period. Especially after the 1908 Constitution, Kurdish intellectuals have begun to create “Kurdish” publications and cultural institutions seeking to improve the conditions in the regions that the Kurds inhabited. These facts lead us to some questions to begin with and this thesis seeks answers for the following important questions: “By considering the awakening of Kurdish nationalist identity, how did the policies centered on the provinces after 1908, influence the Kurdish regions?”, “What is the response of the Kurdish regions to the new state policies of the period?”, “Considering the social associations formed by Kurds during the CUP period what were the effects of them on the formation of a new Kurdish identity?” iv Key Words: Kurdish identity, Kurdish nationalist awakening, Abdulhamid II, Committee of Union and Progress. v ÖZ OSMANLI İMPARATORLUĞUNDA ERKEN DÖNEM KÜRT MİLLİYETÇİ HİSLERİNİN UYANIŞI (1880- 1914) Özten, Sekine Master, Ortadoğu Araştırmaları Tez Yöneticisi: Doç. Dr. Recep Boztemur Aralık 2009, 171 sayfa Bu tez, siyasi bir özne olarak tarih sahnesine 1. Dünya Savaşı sonrası çıkıp, milliyetçi arayış ve taleplerini ancak Türkiye Cumhuriyeti kurulduktan sonra ifade etmeye başlayabilen Anadolu topraklarındaki Kürt Hareketinin tarihsel bir panoramasını sunmayı hedeflemektedir. Tezde modern bir Kürt kimliğinin Osmanlı İmparatorluğunun -çözülmelerin de başladığı- son döneminde oluşmaya başladığı iddia edilmektedir. Müslüman tebaadan ayrı, bağımsız bir Kürt ulusal kimliğinin özellikle Sultan 2. Abdülhamid yönetimi döneminde başlayıp İttihad ve Terakki Cemiyeti (ITC) idaresi boyunca hız kazanarak oluşumunu sürdürdüğü öngörülmektedir. Özellikle 1908 Meşrutiyeti sonrası Kürt aydınları yaşadıkları vilayetlerdeki koşulların düzelmesi çabasıyla ilk kez kendi “Kürt” yayınlarını çıkarmaya başlamışlar ve kültürel dernekler kurmuşlardır. Tez, Kürt milliyetçi uyanışı ana ekseninde “Osmanlı ITC yönetiminin, özellikle düşünce ve amaçlarını direkt olarak uygulamaya koyma imkanını bulduğu 1908 yılı sonrası, Anadolu’ya yönelik politikaları Kürt bölgelerinde ne şekilde yankı bulmuştur?”, “Süreç içinde yeniden üretilen devlet politikalarına Kürtlerin yaşadıkları bölgelerin tepkisi nedir?”, “ITC döneminde Kürtler tarafından kurulan örgütler ve derneklerin modern bir Kürt kimliği oluşumuna ne gibi katkısı vi olmuştur?” gibi sorulara cevaplar üretmeyi ve edinilen bilgiler ışığında Kürt Milliyetçiliği tarihine yeniden bakmayı amaçlamaktadır. Anahtar Kelimeler: Kürt kimliği, Kürt milliyetçi uyanışı, II. Abdulhamid, İttihad ve Terakki Cemiyeti. vii To My Grandmother Zeliha Özen viii ACKNOWLEDGEMENT I would like to express my deepest gratitude to the person who had pivotal role in the creation of this thesis and was important in academic and personal development of me. I am definitely a lucky person since I got the chance to study with him. My thesis advisor, Associate Professor Recep Boztemur with his excitement in regard to supervising and encouraging his student; I always feel motivated every time I contact with him during my time within the department. Besides my enthusiasm and the weaknesses of this thesis, the outcome of this study depends largely on the guidance and tremendous support of him. I can just thank him for sincere help and inspiration. I owe gratitude and would like to thank my committee members, Assoc. Prof. Ayşegül Aydıngün and Assoc. Prof. Erdoğan Yıldırım, who helped me by bringing suggestions in the admission stages of this thesis project. They especially demonstrated me an alternative and critical view of organizing nationalism theories and reminded some historical- sociological realities that the Kurdish population had possessed. In addition, I thank to my teacher Asist Prof. Ertuğrul Gündoğan for giving me inspiration and guidance throughout the long university years with enthusiasm. He has motivated me to develop my academic perspective, research abilities and critical thinking. I acknowledge the helpful comments of Zuhal Ay Hamdan, Murat Karatay and Ahmet Doğru on the earlier talks and throughout the progress of my thesis work. I should specially mention my friend Zuhal who rescued me from the stress of thesis writing by her calls, I am indebted to her. Without the contribution and support of my friends this thesis could arduously be materialized. In particular, I ix wish to note the encouragement and support of my long- lasting buddy Yusuf Güleryüz who supported by asking questions all the way and contributed morally throughout. My masters study was supported by the National Scholarship Programme for MSc Students of TUBITAK. So, it is necessary to mention TUBITAK’s generous support during getting my graduate degree. I am indebted to my family for helping me and providing support throughout my academic journey and this project. My sister Seda Özten helped me in searching and acquiring the materials that allowed me to study my thesis and completion of that project. Her personal concern was with me from the outset. This thesis is dedicated to Cem, to whom I owe so much. He has acted in an outstanding way in the creation of this thesis. Apart from his positive, encouraging and scholarly dealing, he was loaded up twice much for our family in the previous months with excessive workload. His support mitigated, motivated and inspired me during that intense period of my academic adventure. x TABLE OF CONTENTS PLAGIARISM ...…………………………………………….…………………. iii ABSTRACT ...……………………………………………….…………………. iv ÖZ ...……………………………………………………….….……………....... vi DEDICATION ...…………………………………………….……………….... viii ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ...……………………………….…………………... ix TABLE OF CONTENTS ...……………………………….…………………….. xi CHAPTERS INTRODUCTION ......……………………………………………………… 1 I. THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK ….….….………….…………….. 9 A. Historical Legacy of Nationalism Literature ……………………. 12 B. Different Approaches on the Emergence of Nationalism ……….. 16 1. Nationalism as a “political process”……….……...…….…... 17 2. Nationalism as a “cultural process” ……………………….... 19 C. Modernity and Variety of Nationalisms ……………….………... 20 D. Different explanations of nationalism in literature ………….….. 22 1. The Primordialist conceptions ………………….…………..... 22 2. The Modernist interpretation ………………….……………... 24 3. The Ethno- symbolist approach …………………………….... 27 E. Best- fit nationalism approach in analyzing the Kurdish Identity……………………………………………………….……... 30 II. TRANSFORMATION IN THE CLASSICAL OTTOMAN STATE STRUCTURE IN THE 19th CENTURY: THE REIGN OF ABDULHAMID II………………………………………………….. 35 A. General Conditions of the Ottoman State in the 19th Century …... 37 B. Ottoman Intellectual Conditioning in the 19th Century …………. 38 C. THE REIGN OF ABDULHAMID II………………..…………... 40 1. General Conditions of the Empire in the Hamidian Era …….. 40 xi 2. Reform Attempts inside the Empire …………………….…... 42 a. Constitutional Monarchy …………………….….......... 44 b. Islamism …………….…………………….………….. 45 3. Failure of new policies .……………………………..……...... 48 4. International circumstances in the Hamidian era …………..... 49 5. The Orientation of Europe to East and Its Policies ………….. 51 6. Hamidian Policies towards the East …………….………….... 54 a. Kurdish Existence in Ottoman Domains before the 19th Century …….…….……………………………………......... 55 b. Administrative Policies of the Ottoman State in Eastern Anatolia in the 19th Century ………..…………... 57 i. Land Reform …………………………….…… 58 c. Administrative Policies of Reign of Abdulhamid and its Effects in Eastern Anatolia (1876-1909)