Roj Bash Kurdistan

A reminder to all Kurds!

Atatürk and the broken promises to the Kurds

Did you know this? If not - then it's time to know, remember and resist oppression!

When Mustafa Kemal Atatürk emerged as a leader in Turkey, from the beginning he built relations with the Kurds.

When he was stationed in Diyarbakır in 1919, there were many Kurdish soldiers who still wore their Kurdish clothes and served military service. Atatürk used their support to protect himself and gain their trust - luring Kurdish tribal leaders to become his allies.

At first, he talked about that the Kurds would have the right to self-government, that Turkey was a country for both Kurds and Turks.

But soon the betrayal came: the Kurdish leaders who trusted him and were sent to the negotiations in Lausanne became part of the policy that denied the existence of the Kurds.

Several of them had become Atatürk's loyal servants over time - and those who did not submit became his enemies.
Hasan Xeyri Beg, who wore Kurdish attire and even spoke Kurdish in parliament, later became one of those used in Ankara's strategy to win over Kurdish leaders and crush the opposition.

Atatürk also played on religion to win the hearts of the Kurds. He went to mosques in Kurdistan and had the Quran read to show himself more pious than anyone else. But once he secured power, he showed his true face and pushed through an extreme nationalist policy: "One state, one nation, one flag, one language. "This became the basis of a long period of denial and oppression of the language and identity of the Kurds.

Even Kurdish children were taken from their families to grow up as "good Turks". Kurdish uprisings were brutally knocked down, leaders were executed and hundreds of villages burned.

The message is clear: Never trust the promises of the oppressor. History shows that every time Kurds trusted the Turkish state or its leader, it ended in persecution, oppression and blood.

Kurds - be aware, be united, let's resist the forces that are trying to sell out our freedom. Only a Kurd who stands up for his people is a real brother. Those who sell out their people and become tools of the oppressor have no place in our struggle