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Kirkuk: Divided Bizeni Tribe Hopes to
Reunite
20.5.2012 |
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Members of the Sheikh Bizeni
tribe in Turkey. Photo Bizeni family archive
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May 20, 2012
KIRKUK, Iraq's border with Kurdistan region,
— Members of the Bizeni tribe, originally from
Kirkuk, were separated during the reign of the
Ottoman Empire. A Bizeni writer says he has asked
the Kurdistan Regional Government to find a legal
way for his tribesmen to return to their original
home.
Bizenis live in different parts of Kurdistan,
particularly Kirkuk city. Today, a large group of
Sheikh Bizenis live in Anatolia’s Heymane area, 65
kilometers southeast of Ankara, the capital of
Turkey.
Historical sources indicate that Sheikh Bizenis were
partitioned during the 15th century, under Ottoman
Sultan Yavuz Selim’s tenure.
Opinions differ regarding whether Sheikh Bizenis
were forced to move to Ankara or moved there
voluntarily.
Emrullah Susli, a Kurdish Sheikh Bizeni, believes
his tribe migrated voluntarily to Chamchamal then to
Cizire and Diyarbakir and finally to Palo in Turkey.
He believes the migration was due to the strong
relations Sheikh Bizenis had with the Ottoman Sultan
at the time.
Susli told Rudaw, “According to research and stories
passed down from our ancestors, Sheikh Baziyan, the
father of the Sheikh Bizenis, supported the Ottomans
during the Ottoman-Safavid war. After the war ended,
the Sheikh Bizenis were facing difficulties due to
their geographical closeness to the Safavid Empire.
Therefore, Yavuz Sultan moved the Sheikh Bizenis to
Cizire and then to Diyarbakir. Later, the Sheikh
Bizenis moved to Palo.”
Due to the lack of pasture lands, the Sheikh Bizenis
moved to central Anatolia and settled in Heymana, 65
kilometers southeast of Ankara. Susli says, “I have
a document that is a decree from Abdul Hamid II that
commands the Sheikh Bizenis be pardoned from taxes
and military conscription. The decree also orders
that the Sheikh Bizenis be free to live and settle
wherever they want.”
Historical documents show that Heymana and central
Anatolia were home to Armenians. During the Armenian
genocide, the Ottomans brought Kurds to live in the
Armenian lands.
“Stories passed down from our forefathers indicate
that when we moved to this area in 1750, there were
some Armenians living in the area,” Susli says.
“Even today, remains of the Armenians can be seen in
our area. The area was an Armenian area.”
Mala Shakhi, a veteran Peshmerga and former Iraqi MP
from the Sheikh Bizenis tribe, has researched the
subject and says the Sheikh Bizenis were forced to
move out of Kirkuk.
“The goal was to de-Kurdify Kirkuk,” Shakhi says.
He adds, “The Sheikh Bizenis were forced to move to
Turkey. They were moved there during the Armenian
genocide.”
The forced migration was done in several phases,
according to Shakhi. “First, they were moved to
Kalaki Yasin Agha (near Erbil), then to Kawrgosk
(Erbil). Some of the tribesmen escaped military
conscription back then and remained in Kawrgosk.
That is why we have a number of Sheikh Bizenis
villages in that area and in Badinan. The villages
were formed by those who escaped military
conscription.”
Even though the Sheikh Bizenis in Heymana are
geographically distant from Kurdistan and deprived
Kurdish language studies, they have protected their
language and still speak it. Susli says they speak
the Kalhur dialect of Kurdish.
“Today, Sheikh Bizenis do not deny their Kurdish
origins,” Susli adds. “All of our children speak
Kurdish before they go to school. But once in
school, the assimilation process and Turkification
starts.”
Susli says he is the first Sheikh Bizeni member from
Turkey to contact the Sheikh Bizenis in the
Kurdistan Region, and that a growing national
awareness of Kurds in Turkey has prompted several
questions.
“Who are we? Why were we made to migrate here? Who
made us migrate? These questions arose in my mind,”
Susli says. “To find answers, I visited the
Kurdistan Region for the first time in 2006. After
several visits,www.ekurd.net
I met a number of Sheikh Bizeni intellectuals. The
dialect we speak in Turkey is very similar to that
of the Khanaqin area in the Kurdistan Region. In the
Kurdistan Region, there are two villages named Khur
Khur and Qaya Bashi; we have two villages with the
same names in our area.”
The progress that has been made between the Sheikh
Bizenis of Turkey and the Kurdistan Region makes
Susli believe a unified leadership for the tribe
will be established in the near future.
Dr. Rashid Mahmood Yosif, a professor at Mosul
University, says the Sheikh Bizenis were forced to
migrate to Turkey and that he has a document that
addresses the Ottoman Empire’s involvement in the
migration.
Today the Sheikh Bizenis live in seven different
areas in northern Kurdistan and Turkey. Dr. Yosif
told Rudaw, “The largest group of the Sheikh Bizenis
lives in Heymana. There are more than 45 Sheikh
Bizeni villages in Heymana. There are also six
villages between Qamishlo and Hasaka.”
Dr. Yosif attended a meeting between Sheikh Bizenis
from Turkey and Kurdistan, and says, “In the
meeting, we suggested a council be formed to run the
affairs of the tribe. In the near future, we will
establish the council.”
Mala Shakhi has different advice for the Sheikh
Bizenis. He says he has submitted a proposal to the
Kurdistan Regional Government that asks them to find
a legal mechanism to allow the Sheikh Bizenis in
Turkey to come back to their hometown, Kirkuk.
Shakhi says, “Their forced migration was to
eradicate the Kurdish identity of Kirkuk city. I
have talked to many of the Sheikh Bizenis in Heymana.
Some of them are businessmen and have indicated a
willingness to come back to Kurdistan.”
He adds, “We are also thinking about carrying out a
Sheikh Bizeni annual festival, like the one for the
Jaffs.”
By Hemin Khoshnaw
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