Why did Ataturk give the Kurds Armenian lands to live on instead of giving it back to the Armenians?

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Abby lane

During the Armenian Genocide, many bands of Kurds, on the orders of the Young Turk government, helped the Turkish army eliminate ethnic Armenians during their deportation.

Despite participation of some Kurdish elements in the genocide, the majority of Kurds kept their distance from the killings, and in some cases helped Armenian refugees.

In the aftermath of the defeat of the Ottoman Empire in the First World War, the Entente Powers proposed to divide up its Anatolian lands in the Treaty of Sevres.

This treaty would have led to the expansion of the Democratic Republic of Armenia to include regions such as Bitlis, Van, Erzurum and Trabzon while granting local autonomy to the Kurdish inhabited areas east of the Euphrates river and to the south of Armenia.

However, Turkish revolutionaries led by Mustafa Kemal Ataturk rejected the treaty as "unacceptable" and fought for total control of all of Anatolia in the Turkish War of Independence, alongside the Kurds.

genç türk

Kurdish presence on armenian lands was the consequence of the reckless acts of the pashas. When Ataturk came to power, there was not much to do but to crush the kurdish rebellion started by ex-hamidian soldiers, and he did exactly that.

Leprechaun

No you have a wrong information.Ataturk didn't give lands to Kurds.He even had to deal with Kurdish rebellions. The most famous one is Şeyh Said rebellion on 1925 as an example.

Ataturks plan was to establish a Turkish Republic,on the same borders as it is now (only Mosul and Kerkuk was also in his plan,which he couldn't succeed)

That plan you talk about belonged to Sevres (English promised those lands to Kurds to be exact). The main idea of that treaty was to divide Anatolia and middle east between some puppet states,like Kurds,Armenians,Arabs etc., to control the oil reserves.They partly achieved their goals, only Turks fought against this so called treaty and won eventually.

ErAs

oh, sorry! the whole iraq belongs to armenia, right?

what a loser!

Ataturk is the biggest and the fairest leader of this century, please at least dont involve him when you are talking your tripes foolishly...

hanibal

because of armenian navy .

Oh sorry you don't have sea

Cetin

hi Alana,
are you sure ?
i think ,you are wrong!
please visit this link about Mustafa Kemal Atatürk:
http://www.tsk.mil.tr/eng/Anitkabir/index.html

------
edit for GOP:
here are some phrases about Pseudo-Armenian GENOCİDE
from Hovhannes Katchaznouni, The Armenian Revolutionary Federation(Dashnagtzoutiun) Has Nothing to Do Anymore, Bucharest 1923, (Translated from the original by Matthew A. Callender. Mr. Katchaznouni was the first prime minister of the Independent Armenia).

“… In the beginning of fall 1914, when Turkey had not yet entered the war but was preparing to, Armenian volunteer groups began to be organized with great zeal and pomp in Trans-Caucasia. In spite of the decision taken a few weeks before at the General Committee in Erzurum, the Dashnagtzoutune actively helped the organization of the aforementioned groups and especially arming them against Turkey. There is no point in asking today whether our volunteers should have been in the foreground. Historical events have a logic of their own.

In the fall of 1914 Armenian volunteer groups wereformed and fought against the Turks. The opposite could not have happened, because for approximately twenty years the Armenian community was fed a certain and inevitable psychology. This state of mind had to manifest itself and it happened…”

Hovhannes Katchaznouni, The Armenian Revolutionary Federation(Dashnagtzoutiun) Has Nothing to Do Anymore, Bucharest 1923, (Translated from the original by Matthew A. Callender. Mr. Katchaznouni was the first prime minister of the Independent Armenia).

1) Dashnagtzoution Has Nothing to Do Anymore
Author : Hovhannes Katchaznouni
ISBN No : 975-343-453-7

2) Le Parti Dachnak N'a Plus Rien A Faire
Author : Hovhannes Katchaznouni
ISBN No : 975-343-458-8

3) Für Die Dascnakzutyun Gibt Es Nichts Mehr Zu Tun
Author : Hovhannes Katchaznouni
ISBN No : 975-343-454-5

******
Who is Katchaznouni?
--------------------------

Hovannes Katchaznouni is the first prime-minister of
the Armenian state founded in July 1918.He was is power
as the head of gouvernment until August 1919,for thirteen
months.He was among the founders of the Dashnagzoutiun
Party and one of its top leaders.He was the prime authority
Of Armenia and the Dashnagzoutiun Party.

Publication of the Report.
-------------------------------

Hovannes Katchaznouni voices a self-critism of the past
İn this conference report.
Hovannes Katchaznouni publishes his report very urgently,
1923,that same year.The title he uses once more emphasizes
his pproposal of suicide:”Dashnagzoutiun has nothing to do
Anymore”.
The book published in Armenian was translated into Russian
Four years later and an edition of only 2000 copies was
Published in Tbilisi in 1927 as a warning or lesson.
Certains parts of the book was published in England in 1955
with the title “The Armenian Revolutionary Federation
(Dashnagsoution)has nothing to do any more” by the
“Armenian information service “ in New York.

What is interresting but what seems natural when the content
Of the book is taken into consideration,is the fact that this
Historical report by the first Armenian prime minister was
Banned in Armenian.It is also a fact that all the COPİES
WERE COLLECTED from the libraries in Europe by the
DASHNAGS.All the copies in all languages were collected
From European libraries .The book is included in the
Catalogues but no copies can be found in the racks.
Katchaznouni’s Observations:
-----------------------------------

The first Prime Minister of the Dashnagzoution Government makes the following observations:
-It was a mistake to establish the volounter units.
-They were unconditionally allied with Russia.
-They had not taken into consideration the balance of power which was in Türkiye’s favour.
-The decision of the deportation of Armenians was a rightful measure taken by Türks to serve their purpose.
-Türkiye had acted with an instinct of self-defence.
-The British occupation once more aroused the hopes of the Dashnags.
-What they established in Armenia was a Dashnag dictatorship.
-They had acted in pursuit of the imperialist demand,”fredom sea to sea” and had been provoked with this.
-They massacred the Muslim population.
-The Armenian terrorist activities were directed at winning over the Western public opinion.
-The fault was not to be found outside the Dashnagzoutiun Party.
-The Dashnagzoutiun Party had nothing else to do but commit suicide.

**************************************...
ARMENİANS ,PLEASE OPEN YOUR’S ARCHIVES!
**************************************...

The Babe is Armed!

I am sure Ataturk didn't want to deport the Kurds the way the previous regime deported the Armenians, so he was content to let them live where they were.

Perhaps the Kurds would have been tougher than the Armenians, so Ataturk figured it wasn't worth the trouble, since those lands are not the most useful lands. They are mainly a buffer zone between Turkey and a hostile neighbor.

You may as well ask why the Allied Forces (western nations) gave the Mosul province to Iraq instead of Turkey.

Also, why do Armenians rely so much on American and British ideas about their lands? Using the notions of Anglo-Saxon politicians from nearly 100 years ago doesn't give a lot of support for your territorial claims.

trmktr

Northern Iraq was used to be Armenia's lands? haha you make me laugh.

and never forget: if a country or nation stays 500 years on a land, that means these lands are this nation's lands.

Mehmet K

Ataturk didn't give any land to anybody.
There is no Kurdistan...
For asking question knowledge is a MUST, unfortunately you dont have it...

denyocan

hmm, but you love Kurds? don`t you? If you want to take over the lands Kurds live on, you`re free to fight them. Not a big deal for us.

btw, for what reason do you live on the lands of Native Americans?

ՎԱՀԷ

1. Replacement of Kurds in Armenian territories under Ottoman empire rule was the result of Armenian Genocide.
The Genocide result was that % of Kurdish population became more than Armenian (also Assyrian) population and the rest...
2. Democratic Republic of Armenia (1918) was established in Eastern Armenia [ led by Armenian Revolutionary Federation from which Ottomans were extremely frighten ] and could effect the few Armenians left in Anatolia for joining them, later changed to Soviet Socialist Armenian Republic. (1920)
3. Kurds ruling the territory (living there) instead of Armenians could automatically help Ataturk gaining as much territory as possible from Ottoman empire for establishment of republic

And now PKK really "dreams" Armenian lands attached to Kurdistan...

ADD:
I also agree with Lady GOP.

ADD:
Some people don't even know where Kurdistan used to be! This is why Kurdish identity goes under denial for decades and no one speaks. As Taner Akcam says, it cost 30,000 lives of innocent people for Turkey to accept Kurdish identity at last instead of "mountain-dweller Turks"...

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