What exactly did Sheikh Said and Seyit Rıza do?

I am writing this so that it does not get lost in the dust and smoke of the reactions and debates surrounding the removal of the DEM Party mayors of Mardin Metropolitan, Batman, and Halfeti municipalities and the appointment of trustees in their place.

Following CHP Chairman Özgür Özel's visit to the removed Ahmet Türk, the speeches made in front of the Mardin Metropolitan Municipality building alongside DEM Party Co-Chairs Tuncer Bakırhan and Tülay Hatimoğulları should be noted for the clues they provide regarding the upcoming process.

Let us first provide a short excerpt from Tuncer Bakırhan's speech: "These liars, these deniers, these people who reject the peoples of Turkey think that we, the Kurds, will bow down to these trustees. Let them know very well that whatever Sheikh Saids, Seyit Rızas, and Denizes did, the Kurdish people and the peoples of Turkey will do the same. Neither their trustees, nor their policies of oppression, nor their lies or tricks will be able to bring us to our knees. As Seyit Rıza said, we say you cannot bring us to our knees."

Let us remind you that both names mentioned by Bakırhan were leaders of armed rebellions against the Republic of Turkey.

Sheikh Said was the leader of a British-backed, Sharia-advocating/Kurdish-nationalist uprising against Turkey's potential initiatives regarding Mosul. The uprising, which began in February 1925, was suppressed within a few months, and in the subsequent trial, a death sentence was handed down for Sheikh Said and some of his followers.

Seyit Rıza, on the other hand, was a prominent feudal lord of the region then called Dersim.

Despite various warnings, he resisted recognizing the civil and legal existence of the Republic. In the Dersim region where he held sway, he insisted on remaining within a medieval feudal order that meant being a state within a state, along with other tribal leaders he influenced.

The Dersim rebellion is an armed uprising started in 1937 by tribal leaders and feudal lords who exploited the people and thought they would lose their feudal privileges if they integrated into the Republic.

Behind the Dersim rebellion was France, which wanted to block the path of Turkey, which had put the annexation of Hatay to the motherland on its agenda. Because at that time, Hatay/Syria was under a French mandate! In the end, the ethno-feudal rebellion was suppressed, and the death sentence handed down by the court for the rebellion leader Seyit Rıza and some of his accomplices was carried out.

The second rebellion that took place in 1938 would also be suppressed in a short time, the positive results of the Republic's education and development mobilization would be seen over time, and our citizens from Tunceli, freed from the shackles of feudalism, would meet with civilization.

Bakırhan was able to sanctify two symbols of rebellion that took up arms against the Republic and say that they would follow in their footsteps, right next to the CHP Chairman who sits in the seat of Atatürk, who suppressed both imperial-backed uprisings without a moment's hesitation!

Whether the chairman of the party founded by the cadres who led the War of Independence and established the Republic has middle-school level knowledge about anti-Republican rebellions is undoubtedly the subject of a separate article.

Following the explanation we have made so far, it is time to address the cleverness of Bakırhan in adding Deniz Gezmiş alongside two imperial-backed rebellion leaders. It should be known that equating Deniz Gezmiş with ethno-feudal Kurdish/Shariaist rebels is done with the aim of attaching the Turkish left as the last wagon to the locomotive of Kurdish nationalism.

Let us respond to the insidiousness of equating Deniz Gezmiş, the iconic name of the '68 generation, with ethno-feudal lords and attaching him to a separatist terrorist organization with a certificate of honor from the '68 generation.

The final stop of the 'Mustafa Kemal March for a Fully Independent Turkey', organized by the '68 generation from Samsun to Ankara and in which Deniz Gezmiş also participated, was planned as Anıtkabir, the spiritual presence of Atatürk. The following text, written and signed in the Anıtkabir Memorial Book on November 10, 1968, by Istanbul Faculty of Law student Cevat Ercişli, representing the marchers, is the most meaningful response given by Deniz Gezmiş and the '68 generation to imperial-backed separatism.

November 10, 1968

On the path of national liberation, we are truly FOLLOWING IN YOUR FOOTSTEPS against American imperialism.

The national liberation struggle cannot be destroyed. To destroy it, one must destroy the entire Turkish Nation.