Sheikh Said rebellion
| Sheikh Said rebellion | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of Kurdish rebellions in Turkey | |||||||
Art depicting: Turkish soldiers encircling Palu, Çapakçur (present-day: Bingöl), Genc (present-day: Kaleköy, Solhan), Piran, Hani, Lice, Ergani, Eğil and Silvan, Cumhuriyet, 30 March 1925. | |||||||
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| Belligerents | |||||||
| Turkey | Azadî | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
|
Mustafa Kemal Pasha Kâzım Pasha (Third Army) Ali Saip Bey (Third Army) Muğlalı Bey (Third Army) Mürsel Pasha (VII Corps) Naci Pasha (V Corps) |
Sheikh Said Abdulkadir Ubeydullah Halid Beg Cibran Alişer Ağa Ibrahim Heski Baytar Nuri | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
|
February–March: 25,000 men (fewer than 12,000 are armed troops; the rest are unarmed logistical troops) April: 52,000 men (25,000 are armed troops) | 15,000 men | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| Total: 15,000–20,000 killed | |||||||
The Sheikh Said rebellion (Kurdish: Serhildana Şêx Seîd; Turkish: Şeyh Said İsyanı) was a Kurdish nationalist and Islamist rebellion in Southeast Anatolia from February to March 1925 led by Sheikh Said and with support of the Azadî movement and local religious and feudal leaders against the newly-founded secular Turkish Republic. The rebellion was mostly led by Zaza speakers, but also gained support among some of the neighboring Kurmanji-speaking Kurds in the region.
The religious and nationalist background of the Sheikh Said rebellion has been debated by the scholars. The rebellion was described as "the first large-scale nationalist rebellion by the Kurds" by Robert W. Olson.