Kurdish–Turkish relations

Kurdish–Turkish relations covers the historical relations between Kurds and Turks.

Seljuk Empire Relations began when Alp Arslan was seeking to pass through Kurdistan in order to conquer Anatolia. Kurds were already significantly Muslim, and were a buffer between the Muslim Middle East and the Christian Anatolia and South Caucasus. While preparing for the Battle of Manzikert in 1071, Alp Arslan earned the trust of powerful Kurdish principalities and tribes, and Kurds played a vital role during the Battle of Manzikert, which was as important to Kurds as it was to Turks.Kürt-Türk İliskilerinde Merkezî İktidar İstisnai, Yerel Yönetimler İse Kuraldır, Ali Fırat. GEÇMİŞTEN GÜNÜMÜZE KÜRT- TÜRK İLİŞKİLERİ, Issue 31, page 7

Ayyubid Sultanate The Ayyubid dynasty was founded by Shirkuh, a Kurdish retainer of the Zengid prince Nur al-Din. Shirkuh was succeeded by his nephew Saladin. Under Saladin, the Ayyubids fought and defeated the Zengids. They also took control of Damascus, Baalbek, and Homs. Gökböri was the commander of the right wing of the Zengid army, and he broke the Ayyubid left wing before being defeated by Saladin's personal guards. Gökböri switched to the Ayyubid army when it was obvious that the Zengids were going to be defeated.

Kurdish was the mother tongue of the Ayyubids at the time they left their homeland in Dvin, Armenia. Saladin, born in Tikrit, spoke both Arabic and Kurdish, and likely Turkish.Humphreys, R. S. (1987). "Ayyubids". Encyclopaedia Iranica, Vol. III, Fasc. 2. pp. 164–167 After Shirkuh's death, Ziyauddin Isa al-Hakkari, a companion of Saladin from the Hakkari tribe, had visited the leaders of each faction during elections to endorse Saladin, and while advising another Kurd, Qutbuddin Khosrow ibn al-Talal, he stated "what is needed now, above all, is an understanding between you and Saladin, especially because of his Kurdish origin, so that the command does not go from him to the Turks." After Saladin was elected, Turkish emirs were expecting a possible conflict with the Kurds, although it never happened and the situation quickly deescalated.

Yasser Tabbaa, an Islamic anthropologist, claimed that by the late 12th century, the Ayyubid rulers had completely "Arabized".Tabbaa, Yasser (1997), Constructions of Power and Piety in Medieval Aleppo, pp. 31, Penn State Press, Some Iranic elements were detected in their names, such as Turan-Shah, Shahanshah, Bahramshah, Farrukh Shah.Minorsky, V. (1953). Studies in Caucasian History: I. New Light on the Shaddadids of Ganja II. The Shaddadids of Ani III. Prehistory of Saladin. CUP Archive. p. 147.

Kurds dominated the Ayyubid cavalry.Houtsma, M. Th (1993). E. J. Brill's First Encyclopaedia of Islam, 1913–1936. Brill. p. 164. Turkomans and Arabs comprised most of the infantry. The Ayyubid rulers of Egypt utilised slave soldiers. By the first half of the 13th century, most of the Ayyubid slave soldiers were Kipchak Turks and Circassians. They continued to speak Kipchak Turkic.Catlos, Brian (1997), "Mamluks", in Rodriguez, Junios P. (ed.), The Historical Encyclopedia of World Slavery, vol. 1, 7, pp. 425, ABC-CLIO,

The Ayyubids generally employed Kurds, Turks, and Caucasians in higher-ranking military, government, and bureaucratic fields. Tensions between Kurds and Turks would occasionally arise when the high positions were at risk. Towards the end of the Ayyubid period, the Turks began to outnumber the Kurds in the army.Daly, M. W.; Petry, Carl F. (1998), The Cambridge History of Egypt: Islamic Egypt, 640–1517, pp. 226, M.D. Publications Pvt. Ltd,

Mamluk Sultanate The Khwarazmiyya were the army of the Khwarazmian Empire who were exiled after the Mongol invasion of the Khwarazmian Empire. In late March 1246, amid tensions between the Ayyubids and the Khwarazmiyya, the Khwarazmiyya revolted and besieged Damascus.Humphreys, R. Stephen (1977). From Saladin to the Mongols: The Ayyubids of Damascus, 1193–1260. State University of New York Press. pp. 285 Salih Ayyub made the biggest purchase of Turkish slave soldiers out of any Ayyubid ruler, and his army officially had a Turkish majority.Satō, Tsugitaka (1997). State and Rural Society in Medieval Islam: Sultans, Muqtaʿs and Fallahun. E. J. Brill. pp. 51-52 By 1246, the Khwarazmiyya were defeated and many joined the Ayyubids.Humphreys, R. Stephen (1977). From Saladin to the Mongols: The Ayyubids of Damascus, 1193–1260. State University of New York Press. pp. 286-287Humphreys, R. Stephen (1977). From Saladin to the Mongols: The Ayyubids of Damascus, 1193–1260. State University of New York Press. pp. 289-290 Another group of the Khwarazmiyya under Kushlu-Khan joined with the Mongols in Mesopotamia.Jackson, Peter (2017). The Mongols and the Islamic World: From Conquest to Conversion. Yale University Press. pp. 84 There were Khwarazmiyya veterans in the Mongol army in the Battle of Ain Jalut in 1260, which was their last historical appearance.Buniyatov, Z. M. (2015) . A History of the Khorezmian State Under the Anushteginids, 1097–1231. Translated by Ali Efendiyev. International Institute for Central Asian Studies. pp. 158-159Griffel, Frank (2021). The Formation of Post-Classical Philosophy in Islam. Oxford University Press. pp. 60-61

The Ayyubid sultan Salih Ayyub and his mostly Kipchak Turkic slave soldiers, the Salihiyya, began to have problems in 1249, when Louis IX of France captured Damietta as part of the Seventh Crusade.Clifford, Winslow William (2013). Conermann, Stephan (ed.). State Formation and the Structure of Politics in Mamluk Syro-Egypt, 648–741 A.H./1250–1340 C.E., pp. 69, Bonn University Press. Salih Ayyub died shortly after and was succeeded by his son, Mu'azzam Turanshah.Irwin, Robert (1986). The Middle East in the Middle Ages: The Early Mamluk Sultanate, 1250–1382. pp. 19-21. Carbondale, Illinois: Southern Illinois University Press. Although the Turks had initially welcomed his succession, Mu'azzam Turanshah challenged the Turkic dominance in the Ayyubid army by promoting his Kurdish companions from Jazira and the Levant to higher positions.Clifford, Winslow William (2013). Conermann, Stephan (ed.). State Formation and the Structure of Politics in Mamluk Syro-Egypt, 648–741 A.H./1250–1340 C.E., pp. 70, Bonn University Press.

On 11 February 1250, the Bahriyya, led by Baybars, defeated the Crusaders at the Battle of al-Mansura. The Crusaders were further destroyed after the Battle of Fariskur on 6 April. King Louis IX was captured, ending the Seventh Crusade. Mu'azzam Turanshah constantly promoted the Mu'azzamiyya, at the expense of the Salihiyya. On 2 May 1250, the Salihiyya assassinated Mu'azzam Turanshah in Fariskur.Clifford, Winslow William (2013). Conermann, Stephan (ed.). State Formation and the Structure of Politics in Mamluk Syro-Egypt, 648–741 A.H./1250–1340 C.E., pp. 71, Bonn University Press. An electoral college dominated by the Salihiyya settled on Salih Ayyub's widow, Shajar al-Durr, which marked the end of the Ayyubid Sultanate and the beginning the Mamluk Sultanate.Clifford, Winslow William (2013). Conermann, Stephan (ed.). State Formation and the Structure of Politics in Mamluk Syro-Egypt, 648–741 A.H./1250–1340 C.E., pp. 72, Bonn University Press.

Ottoman Empire The Safavids had control of Eastern Anatolia, until the Battle of Chaldiran, in which the Kurds allied with the Ottomans. The Kurdish forces also played a big role in taking Diyarbakır. The Ottomans referred to Kurds as the "Black Nation", and to Oghuz Turks as the "Grey Nation". After the Ottomans annexed Eastern Anatolia, Selim I rewarded the Kurds with tax and military exemptions when needed, as well as semi-autonomous status, which was protected and recognized by the Ottomans. The autonomy, under control of various Kurdish emirates, lasted from 1514 until the mid-1800s.A Modern History of the Kurds - McDowall, David p.28 During the Ottoman–Hotaki war, some Kurds supported the Hotaks, and when the Hotaks captured Iran, they had good relations with the Kurds, while most other Iranian people saw them as usurpers, and eventually revolted in Isfahan.Balland, D. (1987). "AŠRAF ḠILZAY". In Yarshater, Ehsan (ed.). Encyclopædia Iranica. Vol. II/8: Aśoka IV–Āṯār al-Wozarāʾ. London and New York: Routledge & Kegan Paul. pp. 796–797. In 1830, Mahmud II began to implement reforms which included Turkish nationalism, and even partially inspired the ideology of the Turkish National Movement. The reforms included the centralisation of the Ottoman Empire, which removed the autonomous status of the Kurds. There were subsequent Kurdish revolts against the Ottomans, however they were not nationalist and were only against certain state policies. The vast majority of Kurds remained loyal to the Ottoman Empire largely until the Young Turk Revolution, where the Young Turks began enforcing Turkish nationalism, which sparked some Kurdish nationalist revolts, however the revolts were unsuccessful as they were small, poorly coordinated, and did not enjoy much support from Kurds.Denise Natali (2004) "Ottoman Kurds and emergent Kurdish nationalism", Critique: Critical Middle Eastern Studies,13:3, 383-387, McDowall, David (1996). A Modern History of the Kurds. London: I.B. Tauris. pp. 131–137. . Abdul Hamid II was a Pan-Islamist who rejected Ottomanism, and was among the most pro-Kurdish of the Ottoman sultans. Kurds formed the majority of the Hamidiye cavalry. Turks in Anatolia were introduced to nationalism much earlier, while Kurds in Kurdistan were either unaware of it, unable to understand it, or refused to accept it. Some Kurds living in Anatolian cities like Istanbul were inspired by the Turks to form a Kurdish nationalism, although it did not gain any support in Kurdistan. Kurds fought for the Ottoman Empire during World War I.Martin van Bruinessen, Religion in Kurdistan" http://www.hum.uu.nl/medewerkers/m.vanbruinessen/publications/Bruinessen_Religion_in_Kurdistan.pdf However, towards the end of the Ottoman Empire, many Kurds began to resent Turks, such as Sheikh Said, who referred to Turks as "oppressive" and "barbaric", and began advocating for separatism, criticizing the Ottoman government for its policies on Kurds, and claiming that "never in its history has Kurdistan been in such a state of devastation."The Making of Modern Turkey, Nation and State in Eastern Anatolia, 1913-1950, Ugur Ümit Üngör, 2012, pp. 124 Nuri Dersimi claimed that when he lived in Istanbul, Kurds began to hold anti-Turkish views after increased state propagation of Turkish nationalism after the Balkan Wars, stating that "even those Kurds who had no interest in the Kurdish cause were agitated and saw the Turks as their enemies. When we went to school, we would see Turkist slogans on the blackboard with large letters saying 'Happy are those who call themselves Turks' and 'Long Live Turks.' As a response, we would have to write on the board 'Long Live Kurds and Kurdistan' and 'Happy is the one who says, I am a Kurd.'"Kurdish Notables and the Ottoman State: Evolving Identities, Competing Loyalties, and Shifting Boundaries, Hakan Ozoglu, 2012, pp. 80

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