Ararat rebellion

Ararat rebellion
Part of Kurdish rebellions in Turkey
From left to right: Halis Bey, Ihsan Nuri Pasha, Ferzende Bey[1]
Date October 1927 – September 17, 1930 Location Karaköse Province (present day Ağrı Province), Turkey Result Decisive Turkish victory Revolt suppressed Kurdish Republic of Ararat disbanded
Belligerents
Turkey	Kurdish Republic of Ararat Xoybûn party
Commanders and leaders
Mustafa Kemal İsmet İnönü Fevzi Çakmak İbrahim Tali Öngören İzzettin Çalışlar Salih Omurtak	Ihsan Nuri Ibrahim Heski Ferzende Halis Öztürk
Units involved
Third Army (IX Corps, VII Corps)
Strength
66,000 Other sources: 10,000-15,000 troops[2][3][4]	5,000-8,000[3]
Casualties and losses
4,500-47,000[5][6][7][8][9]

The Ararat rebellion, also known as the Ağrı rebellion, was an uprising amongst the Kurdish inhabitants of the province of Ağrı in eastern Turkey against the Turkish government that took place in 1930.

The leader of the Kurdish guerrilla forces during this rebellion was Ihsan Nuri from the Kurdish Jibran tribe.^[12]

Background

In 1926 Ibrahim Heski commanded the Hesenan, Jalali and Haydaran tribes and started a rebellion (May 16-June 17, 1926).^[13] On 16 May, Kurdish forces fought against the 28th Infantry Regiment of the 9th Infantry Division of the Turkish army and a Gendarmie regiment in Demirkapı region. Turkish troops were defeated and the scattered 28th Regiment had to retreat towards Doğubeyazıt.^[14]

On June 16/17, Ibrahim and his forces were surrounded by 28th and 34th regiments, but they could escape by Yukarı Demirkapı to Iran.^[15]

Xoybûn

On June 11, 1930, armed responses to the rebellion were initiated by the Turkish military against the Ağrı insurgents. According to Wadie Jwaideh, Xoybûn, the Kurmanci Kurdish nationalist organization co-ordinating the rebellion, urgently appealed for help from Kurds. It was a Kurdish rebellion by mostly Kurmancî Kurds, which greatly outnumbered the Kizilbash of Dersim. That is why, much to the Turks' dismay, Xoybûn's appeal was answered on a wide front by a counteroffensive at Mount Tendürek, Iğdır, Erciş, Mount Süphan, Van and Bitlis, forcing the Turks to temporarily abandon their offensive against Ağrı.^[16] The rebels were gradually crushed by the superior numbers of the Turkish military.^[17][18]

The commander of the rebellion documented the role of the Turkish air force in defeating the Ağrı revolt in his book entitled La Révolte de L'Agridagh (The Mount Ararat revolt).^[19]

Last offensive against Mount Ararat

By the end of summer 1930 the Turkish Air Force was bombing Kurdish positions around Mount Ararat from all directions. According to Gen. Ihsan Nuri, the military superiority of the Turkish Air Force demoralized Kurds and led to their capitulation.^[20]

During the insurrection, the Turkish Air Force also bombed several Kurdish tribes and villagers. For instance, Halikanli and Herki tribes were bombed on July 18 and August 2, respectively. Rebel villages were continually bombed from August 2-29.^[21] From June 10-12 Kurdish positions were extensively bombed, and this forced the Kurds to retreat to higher positions around Mount Ararat. On July 9 the newspaper Cumhuriyet reported that the Turkish air force was "raining down" Mount Ararat with bombs.^[22] Kurds, who escaped the bombings, were captured alive. On July 13, the rebellion in Zilan was suppressed.^[23] Squadrons of 10-15 aircraft were used in crushing the revolt. On July 16, two Turkish planes were downed.^[23] Aerial bombardment continued for several days and forced Kurds to withdraw to the height of 5,000 m (16,000 ft). By July 21, bombardment had destroyed many Kurdish forts. During these operations, Turkish military mobilized 66,000 soldiers (contrary to this Robert W. Olson gives the number of 10,000-15,000 troops in another work,^[2] other works state these numbers as well^[3][4]) and 100 aircraft.^[24] The campaign against the Kurds was over by September 17, 1930.

The insurrection was defeated in 1931, and Turkey resumed control over the territory.

Aftermath

Because the border between Turkey and Persia ran up the side of Lesser Ararat to its peak, Turkey was unable to stop Kurdish fighters from crossing the border at that location. To solve this problem Turkey demanded that it be ceded the entire mountain. On January 23, 1932, Persia and Turkey signed the Agreement related to the fixing of the frontier between Persia and Turkey (official name in French "Accord relatif à la fixation de la ligne frontière entre la Perse et la Turquie") in Tehran. Turkey received total control over the Lesser Ararat and Ağrı Mountains and territory between the Armenian village of Guirberan and Kuch Dagh. As compensation, Persia gained ninety square miles in the neighbourhood of Qotur (قطور).^[25]

Cultural influences

• Kemal Tahir, Yol Ayrımı ("The fork in the road", novel)
• Esat Mahmut Karakurt, Dağları Bekliyen Kız ("The Girl who is waiting for the Mountains", novel)
• Dağları Bekleyen Kız ("The Girl who is waiting for the Mountains", 1955, film)
• Dağları Bekleyen Kız ("The Girl who is waiting for the Mountains", 1968, film)^[26]
• Rohat Alakom, Bir Türk Subayının Ağrı Dağı İsyanı Anıları, Avesta, 2011

See also

• Republic of Ararat
• Zilan Massacre
• Dersim rebellion
• Kurdish rebellions
• List of modern conflicts in the Middle East

References

Bibliography

• Olson, Robert (2000). "The Kurdish Rebellions of Sheikh Said (1925), Mt. Ararat (1930), and Dersim (1937-8): Their Impact on the Development of the Turkish Air Force and on Kurdish and Turkish Nationalism". Die Welt des Islams. 40 (1): 67–94. doi:10.1163/1570060001569893. JSTOR 1571104.