101 Years After Sheikh Said's Execution: Hanging Didn't Settle It, the Republic Had to Legislate
Defending parliament's framework bill, Hürriyet columnist Abdulkadir Selvi invoked one of the Republic's heaviest historical ruptures over the Kurdish question, the execution of Sheikh Said, arguing the episode shows why legislation, not force, is needed now.
Rastinews Writing in defense of the framework bill before parliament, Hürriyet columnist Abdulkadir Selvi invoked one of the Republic's heaviest historical ruptures over the Kurdish question: the execution of Sheikh Said.
Selvi noted that despite Sheikh Said's execution on June 29, 1925, fighting in Kurdish-populated regions did not end, and he pointed to a law enacted in 1928 as the "inspiration" for today's framework legislation.
The most striking observation in Selvi's column raised the same question a century later:
Sheikh Said was executed, but the Kurdish question did not disappear.
"Sheikh Said was executed, but the uprisings continued. That had to be stopped," Selvi wrote, adding that the measure was drafted on Atatürk's instructions, enacted under İsmet İnönü's government, and approved by Atatürk himself.
Selvi also put these questions to nationalist circles opposing the current process:
"Are you more nationalist than Atatürk? Are you more patriotic than Atatürk? Are you more far-sighted than Atatürk?"