Chapter 14 Kurdish Islamo-Ottomanist History Writing and Its Transformation under the Turkish Republic (1910s–1990s)

In: Transforming Empire: The Ottomans from the Mediterranean to the Indian Ocean
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Gülsüm Gürbüz-Küçüksarı
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Abstract

This article examines the making of Kurdish Islamo-Ottoman identity and its disavowal as it was reflected in the changing Kurdish history writing from the early to late twentieth century, which has so far not been analyzed as a subject on its own. By analyzing the changing discourses on the Kurdish identity as a secular or religious phenomenon, this article reveals how the political atmosphere and where it stands in relation to religion shape discourses on one’s national identity and its relationship to religion. The article starts with an investigation of the origins of and the motivations behind this discourse back in the sixteenth century and then examines the reasons for its reinvention by Kurdish intellectuals at the turn of the twentieth century. It also evaluates the politics of the evolution of this discourse under the Turkish Republic and how it was influenced both by secular and nationalist thought, producing variants with specific agendas. As the Ottoman Empire collapsed and transformed into a secular nationalist Republic, Kurdish Islamo-Ottomanist discourses were also reshaped.

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