Mehmet Şerif Fırat (1894/1899 – 1949) was a Kurdish author and is known for his 1945 book ''History of Varto and the Eastern Provinces'' in which he denied the existence of Kurds and claimed they are of Turkish origin. The book was republished in 1961 and counted with a foreword from the Turkish president

Cemal Gürsel Cemal Gürsel (9 June 1894 – 14 September 1966) was a Turkish military officer and politician who was the fourth president of Turkey, serving from 1960 to 1966 after taking power in a coup d'état. Early life Gürsel was born in the town ...

Biography

Fırat was born into a Kurdish family in the village Kasman in

Varto Varto (; or , ''Varto'') is a town in Muş Province, Turkey. It is the seat of Varto District. in the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

. His exact date of birth is not known but it is assumed he was born in the 1890s, possibly 1899. He attended high school in Varto but did not take up studies at a university. He was of a Kurdish Alevi tribe that had fought with the

Turkish Military The Turkish Armed Forces (TAF; , TSK) are the military forces of the Republic of Turkey. The TAF consist of the Land Forces, the Naval Forces and the Air Forces. The Chief of the General Staff is the Commander of the Armed Forces. In wartime, ...

against the Kurdish rebels of the 1925 Sheik Said rebellion. He defended the view that Alevi preferred the

Kemalist Kemalism (, also archaically ''Kamâlizm'') or Atatürkism () is a political ideology based on the ideas of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the founder and first president of the Turkey, Republic of Turkey.Eric J. Zurcher, Turkey: A Modern History. Ne ...

policies instead of the Sunni Islamist ideas of the rebels., After the defeat of the revolt, he was exiled to the west of Turkey by the government as were the relatives of Sheikh Said and Halit Beg Cirbran, the military leaders of the rebellion. He was allowed to return after two years in exile. He published his book ''History of Varto and the Eastern Provinces'' in 1945. Politically he was a supporter of Ismet Inönü from the

Republican People's Party The Republican People's Party (RPP; , CHP ) is a Kemalism, Kemalist and Social democracy, social democratic political party in Turkey. It is the oldest List of political parties in Turkey, political party in Turkey, founded by Mustafa Kemal ...

(CHP) and in the aftermath of the earthquake that occurred in Varto in 1946 he published a letter in a newspaper opposing

Celâl Bayar Mahmut Celâlettin "Celâl" Bayar (16 May 1883 – 22 August 1986) was a Turkish economist and politician who was the third president of Turkey from 1950 to 1960. He previously served as the prime minister of Turkey from 1937 to 1939. Bayar ...

(of the Democrat Party) who had visited the region much more appreciated by the public than Inönü.

The book ''History of Varto and the Eastern Provinces''

In the book he claimed the

Parthians Parthia ( ''Parθava''; ''Parθaw''; ''Pahlaw'') is a historical region located in northeastern Greater Iran. It was conquered and subjugated by the empire of the Medes during the 7th century BC, was incorporated into the subsequent Achaemen ...

were of Turkish origin and that the Turks immigrated to

Anatolia Anatolia (), also known as Asia Minor, is a peninsula in West Asia that makes up the majority of the land area of Turkey. It is the westernmost protrusion of Asia and is geographically bounded by the Mediterranean Sea to the south, the Aegean ...

in the third millennium before Christ. He calls the Kurds Mountain Turks and argued the Kurdish languages

Zaza Zaza may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Zaza (play), ''Zaza'' (play), written by French playwrights Pierre Berton and Charles Simon * Zaza (1915 film), ''Zaza'' (1915 film), a film directed by Edwin S. Porter * Zaza (1923 film), ''Zaza'' (1 ...

and

Kurmanji Kurmanji (, ), also termed Northern Kurdish, is the northernmost of the Kurdish languages, spoken predominantly in southeast Turkey, northwest and northeast Iran, northern Iraq, northern Syria and the Caucasus and Khorasan regions. It is the ...

only exist due to the Armenian King

Tigranes the Great Tigranes II, more commonly known as Tigranes the Great (''Tigran Mets'' in Armenian language, Armenian; 140–55 BC), was a king of Kingdom of Armenia (antiquity), Armenia. A member of the Artaxiad dynasty, he ruled from 95 BC to 55 BC. Under hi ...

subduing his Turkish subjects and forcing them to forget their Turkish identity. The Zaza were also no Kurds but the Zaza language constituted 70% of Turkic words.Richter, Fabian (2016). p. 32 He then reasoned that the Kurdish Alevis hail from

Khorasan KhorasanDabeersiaghi, Commentary on Safarnâma-e Nâsir Khusraw, 6th Ed. Tehran, Zavvâr: 1375 (Solar Hijri Calendar) 235–236 (; , ) is a historical eastern region in the Iranian Plateau in West and Central Asia that encompasses western and no ...

and were influenced by the Turkic mystic Ahemd Yesevi in the 12th century. Therefore he claimed that when the Turkic

Seljuks The Seljuk dynasty, or Seljukids ( ; , ''Saljuqian'',) alternatively spelled as Saljuqids or Seljuk Turks, was an Oghuz Turkic, Sunni Muslim dynasty that gradually became Persianate and contributed to Turco-Persian culture. The founder of th ...

defeated the Byzantines in the

Battle of Manzikert The Battle of Manzikert or Malazgirt was fought between the Byzantine Empire and the Seljuk Empire on 26 August 1071 near Manzikert, Iberia (theme), Iberia (modern Malazgirt in Muş Province, Turkey). The decisive defeat of the Byzantine army ...

in 1071, the Seljuks did not invade foreign territory but liberate formerly Turkic lands.

Reception

With the Turkish president Cemal Gürsel his book gained prominence in 1961 when Gürsel wrote a foreword of a reprint of it in which he claimed Fırat showed with scientific evidence that Kurds are actually of Turkish origin and deemed the foreign scholars findings of an existence of Kurds as an enemy's fabrication. This book was distributed among university lecturers and students for free. In 2002, this book was brought forward as an argument in a trial against Kurdish university students who wanted to learn the Kurdish language, based on Fırat's claim that Turkish and Kurdish are the same language. In ''The

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...

History of the Kurds'' of 2021, his omission of the Kurdish

Koçgiri rebellion The Koçgiri rebellion (; ) was a Kurdish uprising, that began in the overwhelmingly militant Koçgiri region in present-day eastern Sivas Province in February 1921. The rebellion was initially Alevi, but it succeeded in gathering support from ...

in 1921 and the massacre of dozens of his tribesmen during the

Dersim rebellion The Dersim massacre, also known as Dersim genocide, was carried out by the Turkish military over the course of three operations in the Dersim Province (renamed Tunceli) against Kurds, Kurdish rebels of Kurdish Alevism, Alevi faith, and civilians ...

is seen as noteworthy.

Death

Fırat was killed by his uncle Halo near the Kasman village on 1 July 1949. Fırat was buried in the cemetery of Varto. Halo attempted to escape with his family to

Bingöl province Bingöl Province (; ; ; ) is a province of Turkey. The province was known as Çapakçur Province () before 1945 when it was renamed as Bingöl Province. Its area is 8,003 km2, and its population is 282,556 (2022). The province encompasses 11 ...

, but was captured and imprisoned in

Bitlis Bitlis ( or ; ) is a city in southeastern Turkey. It is the seat of Bitlis District and Bitlis Province.Kenan Evren Ahmet Kenan Evren (17 July 1917 – 9 May 2015) was a Turkish military officer and dictator who served as the seventh president of Turkey from 1980 to 1989. He assumed the post by leading the 1980 military coup. On 18 June 2014, a Turkish cou ...

built a

sarcophagus A sarcophagus (: sarcophagi or sarcophaguses) is a coffin, most commonly carved in stone, and usually displayed above ground, though it may also be buried. The word ''sarcophagus'' comes from the Greek language, Greek wikt:σάρξ, σάρξ ...

for Mehmet Şerif Fırat.

Personal life

His uncle Halo was known as a bandit and in the aftermath of the Sheik Said Rebellion, he lived in the mountains evading exile. He was pardoned in 1929. His nephew Selim, who opposed his uncle's views regarding the Kurds, resides in

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

, Germany, has learned the Kurdish language and is a supporter of the

Kurdistan Workers' Party The Kurdistan Workers' Party, or the PKK, isDespite the PKK's 12th Congress announcing plans for total organisational dissolution, the PKK has not yet been dissolved de facto or de jure. a Kurds, Kurdish militant political organization and armed ...

(PKK). As of 2010, his daughter and granddaughter still lived in the village Kasman of Varto.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Firat, Mehmet Serif 1890s births 1949 deaths Kurdish male writers People from Varto 20th-century Turkish male writers Turkish murder victims Turkish Kurdish people Kurdish Alevis