Memoires, Iraq & Kurdistan (1908 - 1923)

Anılar, Şeyh Mahmud Berzenci Hareketi [Türkçe, İstanbul, 1995]

Yadașt, Bașûrê Kurdistanê û Șoreșa Șêx Mehmûd [Kurdî, İstanbul, 2010]

Memoires, Iraq & Kurdistan (1908 - 1923) [Français, Birmingham, 2007]

Memoires, Iraq & Kurdistan (1908 - 1923)

Refîq Hilmî

New hope

In 1998 i.e. one century after the Birth of my father I published the English translation of Volume I of his Memoirs (Yaddasht) promising the rest at a later stage. It was not intended that that stage will be 9 years. However a number of unfortunate events and reasons meant that I could not complete the job until now.

Besides this, many momentous events and upheavals have occurred since 1998. The attack on the World Trade Centre towers in New York, invasion of Afghanistan followed by that of Iraq, and the horrendous murder and mayhem which have been committed for the past four years have added great urgency to the need for telling the story describing the first British invasion of Iraq at the beginning of the First World War.

The reader may be well aware of the goings-on in Iraq today; all the lies and deception; the fraudulent “elections”; the declared “humanitarian” aims to justify Genocide and highway robbery of Iraq’s resources; the threat of the lurking evil from which the country has to be “saved”; the “liberation” of occupied and exploited colonies from their ...

Table of Contents

Volume I / 3
Part 1 / 3
Book One / 3

De'ja'vue / 5
Preface / 17
Author’s Introduction to Part One / 33
1 / 37
The War Is Over! / 37
2 / 39
Surrender / 39
The Ottoman Empire after the Treaty / 39
3 / 43
Mustafa Kama! in Anatolia / 43
The Cabinet of Farid Pasha and Mustafa Kamal / 47
4 / 51
The Empire Signs at Sevres / 51
(Article 62) / 52
(Article 63) / 52
(Article 64) / 52
5 / 55
The Treaty of Sevres / 57
6 / 59
Kamal Turns against the Kurds / 59
7 / 61
The Sixteenth-Century Treaty of Union / 61
The Kurdish Principalities and the Ottoman Sultan Saleem the First / 61
8 / 65
Centuries of Oppressio / 65
9 / 67
In the Aftermath / 67
Southern Kurdistan, During the Last Days of the First World War / 67
10 / 71
Who is Sheikh Mahmud and what do we know about his Life Style? / 71
The Mosul Scandal / 77
and the Murder of Sheikh Sa’id and his son Sheikh Ahmad / 77
12 / 83
The Return of Sheikh Mahmud to Slêmanî / 83
After Sheikh Mahmud’s Return to Slêmanî / 87
13 / 89
The First World War and Sheikh Mahmud / 89
Return of the British to Kirkuk / 95
14 / 99
The Arrival of Captain Noel in Slêmanî / 99
15 / 103
Ruler of Kurdistan / 103
16 / 107
Sheikh Mahmud and the Peace Conference / 107
17 / 109
The Situation in SlemanT during the First Period of Sheikh Mahmud’s Rule / 109
18 / 113
Major Noel’s Journey in Turkey Accompanied by Fa’iq-i Tapo / 113
to Drum up Support for the Independent Kurdish State / 113
19 / 117
Slêmanî after Noel’s Departure / 117
Slêmanî during Soane's Rule / 117
20 / 123
What were Sheikh Mahmud and his Government Doing? / 123
21 / 127
My Return to Koysinjaq with Captain Beale / 127
Beale was the unparalleled "Wrath" of the Almighty / 131
22 / 133
The Decline of Sheikh Mahmud's Influence / 133
Among the Tribes / 133
Sheikh Ameen of Sindolan / 134

Volume 1 / 139
Part 2 / 139
Book Two / 139

23 / 141
Introduction to Part Two / 141
24 / 143
Another Example of / 143
British Intrigue / 143
aimed at reducing Sheikh Mahmud's influence / 143
Ahmad Nuri / 143
The Post and Telegraph Inspector / 143
25 / 147
The Appearance of the Start of Sheikh Mahmud's Revolt / 147
26 / 151
My Trip to Rawandiz with Beale / 151
27 / 153
Sheikh Mahmud’s First Revolt and its Outcome / 153
Secret Post-Midnight Talks between Sheikh Mahmud and Simko / 157
Turkish awareness of the Secret Discussions between Sheikh Mahmud, Simko and me / 163
Tayer Ameen Afendi Masraf, Sheikh Mahmud and the Turks / 165
Agreement between / 167
the Kurds and the Turks on Sheikh Mahmud’s Requirements / 167
The British at Kirkuk and Major Soane were in Real Pain / 169
28 / 179
The Situation in Rawandiz during the Darband Battle / 179
29 / 187
Sheikh Mahmud’s Error in this Rebellion / 187
Rawandiz & I, after Beale's Departure to Hewler / 188
My Arrest in Rawandiz and Dispatch to Koya Prison / 190
30 / 193
My Life in Prison / 193
31 / 199
The "Friendly” Indian / 199
32 / 207
Abdulla Agha-i Haji Tayer Agha-i Hawezi / 207
33 / 211
My Release from Prison / 211
34 / 213
The Trial of Sheikh Mahmud / 213
in Baghdad and his Exile to the Andaman / 213
Islands / 213
35 / 221
The Greek Army Invasion of Turkish Territory / 221
36 / 225
The fall of Venizelos's Government / 225
The Outcome of Bakir Sami's Efforts and his Agreements with France and Italy / 233
37 / 237
News of the Kurdish Question in Istanbul / 237
38 / 243
Mustafa Kamal and the Kurds / 243
(Sheikh Mahmud Died!) / 243
39 / 249
Specific Factors Contributing to Mustafa Kamal's Success / 249
Some Special Reasons / 249

Volume II / 253
Parti / 253
Book Three / 253

40 / 259
After the Turkish and Greek Battles and Turkish Victory ..259
41 / 265
After Sending Sheikh Mahmud to India / 265
The Conditions in Kurdistan / 265
42 / 267
The Revolt of the Iraqi Kurds in Amedt (Amadiya) and Akre (Aqra) / 267
43 / 277
The Coming of Ozdemir Pasha to Rawandiz / 277
44 / 285
In SlemanT after my Release / 285
45 / 289
An Encounter with the Major / 289
46 / 297
Sayid Taha of Shamdinan and the Kurdish Question / 297
47 / 301
The Kurds themselves / 301
Shared in the Failure of the Kurdish Cause / 301
The Return of Mustafa Pasha Yamulki to Slêmanî / 303
48 / 305
Iraq under the Mandate / 305
49 / 313
Summary of the Kurdish and Arab Revolutions in Iraq (1919-1922) / 313
80 / 343
Hamdi Beg-i Baban / 343
51 / 351
Mustafa Kamal’s Revolution in Turkey / 351
52 / 353
Turkish Designs for Mosul / 353

Volume II / 359
Part 2 / 359
Book Four / 359

Open Letter to all the esteemed critics / 363
Our Meeting at the home of Azmi Beg-i Baban / 365
53 / 371
Hamdi Beg’s Arrival in Slêmanî / 371
54 / 377
The Kurdistan Independence Society / 377
55 / 379
The Battle between the Kurds and the British at the Ranya Darband / 379
The British Conference in Cairo and the Discussion of the Kurdish and Arab Issues / 380
56 / 387
The Fate of the Independence Society / 387
57 / 393
A Telegram from Kirkuk / 393
I was close to becoming Ahmad Agha’s Agent And later his Clerk / 393
We wanted to establish a Library / 397
I was appointed Teacher in Kirkuk at the Dhafar (Victory) School. 401
58 / ֡407
The Najma Newspaper / 407
59 / 413
I Had Been Misledl / 413
60 / 415
The Day I was Fired / 415
61 / 419
Another Page from the Revolution of the Iraqi Arabs / 419
62 / 427
British Political Organisations in Iraq / 427
63 / 437
The Outcome of the Revolution in Iraq / 437
Iraq and Faisal’s Accession to the Throne / 437
The Kurdish Question / 437
Faisal in Syria / 443
64 / 451
Faisal was Crowned King of Syria / 451
65 / 459
How the Turks Achieved their Goals in the Conferences / 459
The London Conference and the Kurds / 460
The Question of Kurds and Armenians / 463

Volume II / 467
Part 3 / 467
Book Five / 467

A Plea and a Minor Correction / 471
The First Cabinet of / 473
Sayid Abdul Rahman / 473
Al-Naqeeb and the Kurdish Question / 473
Discussion of the Kurdish Question / 483
For the Attention of the Royal Palace of His Hashimite Majesty / 491
66 / 499
The Anglo-lraqi Treaty / 499
How the Founding Council Was Convened / 501
And the Valiant Efforts of the People / 501
How the Treaty was Pushed Through / 505
The Peace Conference and the Kurdish Question / 507
The British and the Arabs / 511
67 / 517
Turkish Meddling and Intrigue / 517
The Society of Kurdistan / 523
68 / 525
Back to Teaching / 525
Mustafa Pasha and Isma’il Agha-i Shukak (Simko) / 529
The Mosul Question / 533
And the Second-round Government of Sheikh Mahmud / 533
The conditions in Slemani Prior to the Return of Sheikh Mahmud / 541
The Ceremony of Raising of the Kurdistan Flag / 541
Raising the Flag of Kurdistan / 545
69 / 546
I did not see Sheikh Qadir until the Return of Sheikh Mahmud / 547
70 / 549
The Return of Sheikh Mahmud to Slemani / 549
The Period of Sheikh Mahmud’s Self-imposed Seclusion and the Establishment of the Ministerial Cabinet / 555
The Ruler Comes out of Seclusion / 561
The Manner with which Sheikh Mahmud had Conducted Himself before King Faisal and the High Commissioner / 565

Index / 571

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Rafiq Hilmi was born Rafiq Salih in 1898 in Kirkuk to a military family. Right from the start he demonstrated a more than average degree of intelligence, strength of character, command of languages and a logical and well-organised approach to life. He acquired the Hilmi surname as an honour for excellence while studying in Istanbul.

His only surviving brother Shafiq, an officer, died fighting for Turkey at the beginning of the twentieth century during or around the war years (exact date and place uncertain).

Hilmi went to Istanbul at a very early age where he studied mathematics and engineering in the Military School there. That was when he met Kurdish patriots from all comers of Kurdistan and witnessed the early years of the First World War and saw for himself the excesses of the British and French occupiers in the city and the effects of the Capitulation Law imposed on the Turks as a result.

Realising that the war presented a unique opportunity for the weak and oppressed nations to gain some form of self-determination he decided to dedicate his entire life for the service of the cause. His excellent education, systemic thinking and training prompted him to document the events and collect all sorts of relevant information about everything which was going on around him.

This also drove him to study and research history, geography, philosophy and politics which later helped him write many books on the history, language and politics of the region.

The contrast between Hilmi and his background and surroundings, suffering from centauries of ignorance, oppression and backwardness could not have been greater in addition to being probably the first political analyst in Kurdistan ever. Later he established and led the very first and only Kurdish political party founded on a modem style and principles as well as spending a great part of his life educating and teaching his people.

The Woodrow Wilson 14-point declaration and Lloyd George’s announcements promising a new world order based on fairness, freedom, development and liberty for the oppressed nations and a better world, were exactly similar to today’s dubious claims made by George Bush and Tony Blair. Then as now the intention was pure and simple hegemony and exploitation and the Kurds were among the outright losers.

Be that as it may many a prominent Kurdish politician and statesman was educated under Hilmi and coached by him in politics and analytical logic. The famous Barzani, Mustafa and Jalal Talabani were among his disciples at one time or another, even though they both took diverse roads from his advocated line. Hilmi believed in self-reliance and the full right of the Kurds to self-determination and kept his principles right to the grave. Perhaps that is why he died penniless and in debt.

Rafiq Hilmi’s Memoirs (Yaddasht) were, first published in Kurdish in 1956. It was the based on documentation of the events of the years surrounding the First World War and their repercussions and effect over the Kurds and Kurdistan as well as over Iraq and the Iraqis.

In the last days of the Sheikh Mahmud era Hilmi was sent back to Ankara on horseback with a special mission entrusted to him for negotiating the Sheikh’s requirements of the newly-formed Mustafa Kamal administration but his mission ended in failure and he managed to get back to Slemani by the skin of his teeth. The round journey took more than a year with no news of his situation until he got back to his then small family. The seventh booklet (to be published later) describes that journey in detail.

Rafiq Hilmi as we shall see was right in the middle of events and he recorded everything honestly, objectively and in great detail. His was not the history read from books but experienced in full in person and everyone who has read his Memoirs has vouched that it is the fullest and best account of the period and events in question.

After the foundation of Iraq and in the late thirties Hilmi established the Hiwa (hope) party with a group of young patriots who had previously been involved in left-wing politics along international lines copying from the Italian political scene. The Hiwa (Kurdish for Hope) party took the Kurdish political scene by storm and its ideas spread like wildfire.

Almost everyone became a paid-up member to such an extent that all the educated young men, army officers, tribal leaders as well as city traders, government employees and rural community chiefs joined it which made the British extremely worried about its growing strength and influence. That is why they resorted to double-crossing and plotting against it until its eventual break-up in 1946 and the establishment of the Kurdish Democratic Party.

After that Hilmi worked mainly in education in a topsy-turvy way, reaching as far as Director General and Inspector of Education, passing through Education Director in several govemorates in Iraq, and plain teaching jobs at other times. Hilmi was promised that if he kept away from politics there were no limits to his professional prospects but he was not the kind to do so.

Besides his own family he kept a much larger population as his own family and helped thousands and thousands to find their ways to development and success financially as well as morally and physically. In 1954 he was appointed Deputy Governor of Baghdad among whose most important achievements was the building of the embankments on the riversides of the Tigris to save the city from seasonal flash floods which previously used to cause havoc and great casualties.

Finally in 1959 he was appointed Cultural Attaches representing Iraq, back to Turkey where he only remained for one year because of his overt pro-Kurdish activities. In Iraq however Hilmi is well known for his services in education in both Arab as well as Kurdish areas.

Rafiq Hilmi passed away in 1960 aged 62 but with a larger-than-life record of achievements the envy of many in Kurdistan and Iraq.

About this book

Before his death Rafiq Hilmi managed to publish just six booklets some of which was also translated into Arabic. They have now been translated into Persian and Turkish without permission from the family and reprinted several times. The seventh booklet was published in 1992 by his eldest daughter the Late Professor Pakiza in Baghdad.

This first English edition of the first 5 booklets presented in two volumes is to be followed by Volume 3 as soon as the translations are complete. Unfortunately the biggest and most important part of Hilmi’s eventful and exciting life has not been compiled and remains in loose form, perhaps never to be published. His second eldest daughter Nahida has gathered some of all that and recently published in Kurdish part I of Rafiq Hilmi’s life with part II still under print (for 4 years now) courtesy of the Kurdish administration which has been dragging its feet quite noticeably.

Thus, the compiled and published Memoirs are composed of three volumes consisting of seven booklets.
Volume 1 consists of parts 1 and 2 (booklets 1-2)
Volume 2 consists of parts 1 to 3 (booklets 3-5)
Volume 3 consists of parts 1 and 2 (booklets 6-7)
This book contains Volumes 1 and 2 and is subdivided into 70 sections while Volume 3 is being translated to be published later.

.....

Refîq Hilmî

Memoirs - Yaddașt, Iraq & Kurdistan (1908- 1923)
Iraqi Kurdistan and the Revolutions of Sheikh Mahmud

New Hope

Newhope Publication
Memoirs - Yaddașt, Iraq & Kurdistan (1908- 1923)
Iraqi Kurdistan and the Revolutions of Sheikh Mahmud
Refîq Hilmî

First Kurdish Edition 1956
First Complete English Translation 2007
ISBN: 978-0-9555299-1-7
A Newhope Publication

www.nevvhopepublishing.net
Email: fariedun.hilmi@btinternet.com

Memoirs-Yaddasht
© Dr F R Hilmi 2007

Yaddaşt Memoirs
Refiq Hilmî
Rafiq Hilmî 1898 - 1960