(b.1869 Constantinople - d. 1930 Aleppo), was Kurdish journalist and poet.
Early life and family
Mevlanzade's grandfather was called Mehmed Bey he was one of the notable personages of Süleymaniye and descended from Khâlid-i Shahrazuri, Mevlanzade's father was Abdurrahman Nacim Efendi who was born in the Şehrizor district of Süleymaniye, Abdurrahman entered into the civil service and became head of Diyarbakır Court and later head of the Beirut Court of Appeals, he was also a poet and died in Harpoot in 1895.[2] Mevlanzade's wife was Nuriye Ulviye Mevlan Civelek.[3]
Journalism and exile
Mevlanzade Rifat Bey was one of the most notable and widely read journalists of the national. He was the owner and editor in chief of Serbestî and friend of the slain journalist Hasan Fehmi. He spent most of his life in exile including France, Yemen, Egypt, Syria and Greece.[4] An opponent of Abdul Hamid II he was initially a member of the Young Turk central committee but later one of its most ardent critics[5] and later a member of the Liberal Entente party.[6] He was among the few public figures in the ottoman state who condemned CUP policies against the Armenians, noting that the deportations carried out were systematically planned by the Young Turk as a means to solving the Armenian question by genocide.
He was an opponent in three different periods, firstly against Abdul Hamid II, secondly against Committee of Union and Progress and thirdly against Mustafa Kemal Atatürk.
Kurdish nationalism
He met with Dimitrios Gounaris to this end. Mevlanzade was also a prominent member of the Society for the Elevation of Kurdistan and defended the Fourteen Points by Woodrow Wilson according to which all nationalities rights within are to be considered.[7]
He was close friend of Celadet Bedir Khan and Süreyya Bedir Khan whose articles he published.
He was the official spokesmen of the Society for the Elevation of Kurdistan.
References
Henning, Barbara (2018). Narratives of the History of the Kurdish Bedirhani Family : Continuities and Changes. University of Bamberg Press. p. 394. ISBN 978-3863095512.
"Faik Bulut | Bir Kürt diplomatı olarak Mevlanzade Rıfat (2)". Independent Türkçe (in Turkish). 2020-06-28. Retrieved 2020-08-12.
"Faik Bulut | İflah olmaz bir Osmanlı aydını: Gazeteci ve siyasetçi yanıyla Kürt Mevlanzade Rıfat (1)". Independent Türkçe (in Turkish). 2020-06-21. Retrieved 2020-08-13.
Ozoglu, Hakan (2011). From Caliphate to Secular State: Power Struggle in the Early Turkish Republic: Power Struggle in the Early Turkish Republic. ABC-CLIO. p. 68. ISBN 978-0313379574.
Chalabian, Antranig (1988). General Andranik and the Armenian Revolutionary Movement. University of Michigan. p. 226.
Özoğlu, Hakan (2004-02-12). Kurdish Notables: Evolving Identities, Competing Loyalties, and Shifting Boundaries. SUNY Press. ISBN 978-0-7914-5993-5.
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