The incorporation of Kurdish territories into the Republic of Turkey was the takeover of Turkish Kurdistan by the Republic of Turkey during the Turkish War of Independence. Turkish nationalists considered it a liberation, while Kurdish nationalists considered it an occupation.

Background The Ottoman Empire captured Kurdistan after the Battle of Chaldiran. The Kurds joined Selim I, and were rewarded with autonomy, which began the rise of the Kurdish emirates. At its peak, the Ottoman Empire controlled all of Iraqi Kurdistan, Syrian Kurdistan, Turkish Kurdistan, and a small part of Iranian Kurdistan.Özoğlu, Hakan (2004-02-12). Kurdish Notables and the Ottoman State: Evolving Identities, Competing Loyalties, and Shifting Boundaries. SUNY Press. pp. 47–49. .Klein, Janet (2011-05-31). The Margins of Empire: Kurdish Militias in the Ottoman Tribal Zone. Stanford University Press. p. 55. C. Dahlman, "The Political Geography of Kurdistan", Eurasian Geography and Economics, Vol.43, No.4, pp.271–299, 2002. In a geography textbook of Ahmet Cevad in a military school, Ottoman Kurdistan included the cities of Erzurum, Van, Urfa, Sulaymaniyah, Kirkuk, Mosul and Diyarbakir among others, and was one of the six Asian regions of the Ottoman Empire.Özkan, Behlül (4 May 2014). "Making a National Vatan in Turkey: Geography Education in the Late Ottoman and Early Republican Periods". Middle Eastern Studies. 50 (3): 461. . . .

Kurdish nationalism emerged during the late Ottoman Empire, and there were some Kurdish nationalist revolts from 1914 to 1918. However, they were small and ineffective, and the vast majority of Kurds were loyal to the Ottomans.McDowall, David (1996). A Modern History of the Kurds. London: I.B. Tauris. pp. 131–137. . By the end of World War I, the Young Turks had forcibly deported around 700,000 Kurds, half of whom had perished.Dominik J. Schaller, Jürgen Zimmerer, Late Ottoman genocides: the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire and Young Turkish population and extermination policies—introduction, Journal of Genocide Research, Vol.10, No.1, p.8, March 2008.

History After the partition of the Ottoman Empire, the Treaty of Sèvres was signed, in which the northern parts of Turkish Kurdistan were given to Armenia, while the southern parts were intended to be a Kurdish state. Iraqi Kurdistan was incorporated into British Iraq, while Syrian Kurdistan was incorporated into French Syria.Sardar Aziz (2013). "Re-conceptualizing Kurdistan as a Battlefield." "Un mondo senza stati è un mondo senza guerre". Politisch motivierte Gewalt im regionalen Kontext, ed. by Georg Grote, Hannes Obermair and Günther Rautz (EURAC book 60), Bozen–Bolzano, , pp. 45–61. Kurdistan was scheduled to have its own status referendum, although there was no general agreement on its borders.Hakan Özoğlu, Kurdish Notables and the Ottoman State: Evolving Identities, Competing Loyalties, and Shifting Boundaries p. 38. SUNY Press, 2004 Kurdish nationalists were in dispute with Armenian nationalists, as Turkish Kurdistan often overlapped with Western Armenia. Eventually, the Kurds dropped their claims over the Erzurum vilayet and Sason, but maintained the claims over Muş and Ağrı.M. Kalman, Batı Ermenistan ve Jenosid p. 185, Istanbul, 1994.

Kurdish nationalists wanted autonomy in line with the fourteen points proposed by Woodrow Wilson during the Treaty of Sèvres, although Mustafa Kemal claimed that the plan was worthless for the Kurds, and recommended that they follow the Turkish National Movement.Olson, Robert W. (1989). The emergence of Kurdish nationalism and the Sheikh Said Rebellion, 1880–1925. University of Texas Press. pp. 28–29. In November 1920, Kurdish nationalists issued demands for autonomy within Turkey, and accused Turkey of violating the treaty. The reluctance of the Kemalists led to the Koçgiri rebellion in March 1921, which was quelled by June.Meiselas, Susan (1997). Kurdistan: In the Shadow of History. New York: Random House. p. 120. .Hülya Küçük, The Role of the Bektashis in Turkey's National Struggle, Brill, 2002, , page 217.

On September 24, 1920, the Turkish–Armenian War broke out, and on December 2, 1920, the war ended, with Armenia ceding over 50% of its territory to Turkey. The borders of Turkey with Armenia and Georgia were officially settled during the Treaty of Kars in 1921. Turkey had captured many Kurdish regions during the war.Robert H. Hewsen. Armenia: A Historical Atlas, p. 237. Tsutsiev, Arthur (2014). Atlas of the Ethno-Political History of the Caucasus. Translated by Nora Seligman Favorov. New Haven: Yale University Press. p. 74-75. . On October 20, 1921, the Treaty of Ankara was signed, ending the Franco-Turkish War. Turkey captured much territory and established the borders of Turkey and French Syria, although Hatay was disputed. The territory ceded to Turkey by France included large Kurdish regions."Ankara, Treaty of" in The New Encyclopædia Britannica. Chicago: Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 15th edn., 1992, Vol. 1, p. 423.

In the 1920 Provisional Constitution, Article 8 asserted that Turkey was composed of both Turks and Kurds who were to be treated equally as common citizens.Natali, Denise (2005). The Kurds and the State: Evolving National Identity in Iraq, Turkey, And Iran. pp. 73. NY: Syracuse University Press. . The borders of Turkey, with the exception of Hatay, were settled during the 1923 Treaty of Lausanne, which had completely excluded the Kurds and their demands.Sardar Aziz (2013). "Re-conceptualizing Kurdistan as a Battlefield." "Un mondo senza stati è un mondo senza guerre". Politisch motivierte Gewalt im regionalen Kontext, ed. by Georg Grote, Hannes Obermair and Günther Rautz (EURAC book 60), Bozen–Bolzano, , pp. 45–61.

Aftermath After the Republic of Turkey was founded in 1923, the state denied the existence of Kurds and the Kurdish language.The Kurds and the Politics of Turkey: Agency, Territory and Religion; Deniz Çifçi; 2019; pp. 58-60 The rise of Turkish nationalism sparked a rise of Kurdish nationalism.Natali, Denise (2004). "Ottoman Kurds and emergent Kurdish nationalism". Critique: Critical Middle Eastern Studies. 13 (3): 383–387. . .Şentürk, Burcu (2010). Invisibility of a Common Sorrow: Families of the Deceased in Turkey's Kurdish Conflict. Cambridge Scholars Publishing. p. 99. . In August 1924, the Beytüşşebab rebellion began, which was provoked by both the abolition of the caliphate and the repressive Turkish policies towards Kurdish identity, the prohibition of the Kurdish language, and the Turkification campaigns. The revolt was suppressed.Zürcher, Erik J. (2004-09-04). Turkey: A Modern History. I.B.Tauris. pp. 170, 171. . In February 1925, Sheikh Said, provoked by both the secularism and exclusively Turkish character of the republic, led a revolt aimed at establishing a Kurdish state under Islamic law.The New Turkey and Its Discontents, Simon Waldman, Emre Caliskan, 2017, pp. 166Political Function of Religion in Nationalistic Confrontations in Greater Kurdistan, Sabah Mofidi, 2022, pp. 32-33 The revolt was suppressed in March, and Sheikh Said was executed for separatism.Olson, Robert W. (1989). The emergence of Kurdish nationalism and the Sheikh Said Rebellion, 1880-1925. pp. 107. University of Texas Press. .Violent Radical Movements in the Arab World: The Ideology and Politics of Non-State Actors, 2019, pp. 184 The Sheikh Said rebellion was much larger, and prompted Turkey to stop pursuing Kurdish territories outside of its borders, and implement stricter repressions on Kurds.The Kurdish Nationalist Movement in the 1990s: Its Impact on Turkey and the Middle East, Robert Olson, 1996, pp. 67 Many Kurds began to view Turkey as an occupier, and launched a series of revolts.İngiltere'nin Kürt Politikası: 1918-1932, Nihat Karademir, 2019, pp. 132-133, The repressive Turkish policies worsened during the 1960s and began to radicalize more Kurdish nationalists.The Kurds Ascending: The Evolving Solution to the Kurdish Problem in Iraq and Turkey, Michael M. Gunter, 2011, pp. 65, The PKK was founded in 1978, and took up arms in 1984, with its motives being to capture all Kurdish territories in Turkey and end the occupation. However, in 1993, Abdullah Öcalan rejected independence, claiming that Kurds had been part of Turkey for "1,000 years", and that their conflict was only against the tyrannical governments.The Kurdish Nationalist Movement in the 1990s: Its Impact on Turkey and the Middle East, Robert Olson, 1996, pp. 29,

See also Incorporation of Xinjiang into the People's Republic of China

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