The Sheikh Said Rebellion

The Sheikh Said Rebellion, which broke out on February 13, 1925, lasted for about a month and a half and ended at the end of March. Although Sheikh Said described his rebellion as entirely religious, according to the statements of some rebels, the establishment of an independent Kurdistan state was also an objective. 

The rebellion, which spread to the areas around Elazığ, Bingöl, and Diyarbakır, occurred spontaneously and ended before it could mature due to its lack of planning. 

The rebellion was triggered by the arrest in the autumn of 1924 of Colonel Halit Cibran, a separatist officer in the Turkish army with ties to Sheikh Said. The investigation revealed Halit Cibran's connection to Sheikh Said. Deciding to act before the state could intervene, Sheikh Said raised the flag of rebellion. 

The rebellion was to begin with Sheikh Said and his supporters raiding the Genç district of Bingöl. On February 16, the rebels, who took the governor and other officials hostage, declared that they did not recognize the secular government and that they would reinstate Sharia law in the region where they had established control. The declaration was entirely Islam-centered, and the name of an independent Kurdistan state was never mentioned. 

When the rebellion broke out, there were not enough security forces in the region to intervene, and the army was not in a position to deploy to the area immediately. There were army units in the region, but because their numbers were very low, they could only defend their current positions. Sheikh Said relied exactly on this when he embarked on the unplanned rebellion movement.

The rebellion grew uncontrollably in the first few days. Some tribes and religious leaders in the region also joined the rebellion. The Kurdistan Teali Cemiyeti (Society for the Rise of Kurdistan) in Istanbul also supported the rebellion. According to some sources, this organization requested help from the British to support the rebellion. The rebels captured the Lice district of Diyarbakır on February 21, Bingöl on February 23, and Elazığ on February 24. Sheikh Said gave the order to attack Diyarbakır on March 2.

Sheikh Said's calculations regarding the Turkish army were correct. The rebellion had broken out at a very delicate time, and the army needed time to mobilize. Where he was mistaken was regarding the Kurds in the region. The vast majority of the local population did not hold separatist ideas. Sheikh Said never found the support he expected from the local people and was only able to gather about 15 thousand rebels. The vast majority of Kurds in the region where the rebellion spread remained loyal to the republic and fought against the rebels.

The most violent clashes of the rebellion took place in Diyarbakır, and Sheikh Said found no supporters for himself in this city in particular. Attacks by Sheikh Said's followers on Diyarbakır were repelled with the support of the local garrison and the public. After the city remained under siege until March 27, the rebels withdrew. Elazığ was also retaken by its residents on March 26. By this date, elements of the Turkish army had also begun to arrive in the region, and air-supported operations were organized against the rebels.

Although the rebellion had started quite fiercely, it ended like a flash in the pan. By the end of March, the rebellion had definitively failed, and the rebels were fleeing at every point. Sheikh Said was captured on April 15 while trying to flee to Iran. By May 10, the other leaders of the rebellion were also captured and sent to the Independence Tribunal in Diyarbakır.

In court, Sheikh Said once again stated that the rebellion was entirely religion-based and that he intended to end the rebellion if Ankara accepted his demands. However, Major Kasım Cibran, one of Sheikh Said's aides who switched to the state's side and helped in Sheikh Said's capture, stated that the goal of the rebellion was to establish an independent Kurdistan state.

Sheikh Said and forty-six of his followers were executed in Diyarbakır on June 29 for treason.