A Brief Look at Iğdır's Political History

I anticipate that researchers, especially those preparing theses and academic studies, will find it challenging to divide and examine Iğdır's recent political history. I have decided to write this short article both to offer ideas to valuable colleagues undertaking academic work and to inform my readers.

In political science, it has been a tradition to examine the political history of a city, region, country, or even the world by dividing it into periods. My readers who adhere to left-wing or socialist thought will know that human history is divided and examined into periods such as Primitive Communal Society, Slave Society, Feudal Society, Bourgeois Society, and finally, Socialist (Communist) Society. These transitions were, of course, not sharp and sudden. The same approach can be observed, for example, in the political history of the Ottoman Empire: the Beylik Period, the Foundation Period, the Rise Period, the Expansion and Zenith Period, the Crisis and Change Period, the Stagnation and Reforms Period, the Decline and Dissolution Period.

When we question whether a similar classification is possible for the 20th-century history of Iğdır, we can group the periods that emerge under the following main headings:

1. RUSSIAN RULE (1900-1917)

During this period, the Iğdır region served as an advanced outpost for Tsarist Russia. The border between the Ottoman Empire and Tsarist Russia passed slightly above the village of Suveren (Orgof) today, meaning, in a sense, where the University Campus is located. As a border garrison city, Iğdır had a strong Russian Cossack army and an Artillery Regiment. The name of today's "Topçular Mahallesi" (Artillerymen's Quarter) in Iğdır comes from the deployment of the Russian Artillery Regiment there.

1. REPUBLIC OF ARMENIA AND CIVIL WAR PERIOD (1917-1920)

At this point, I would like to draw my reader's attention to something. When the Bolshevik Revolution occurred in Russia in 1917, Lenin, considering World War I an imperialist and partitionist war, demanded the withdrawal of all soldiers from the front. The Russian army, which had occupied Eastern Anatolia as far as Sivas, evacuated not only the Iğdır region but all of the South Caucasus. In the resulting political vacuum, the states of Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan were established. The newly established Armenian state exerted pressure on the Muslim population in the Iğdır region, carried out massacres, and forced them to migrate.

Some Kurdish tribes (Redkî, Brukî, etc.) sought refuge in Ottoman territory. The Azeri population flocked to safe areas in Iranian Azerbaijan. The year 1919, the darkest period in Iğdır's history, is remembered by the people as "Kaça-Kaç" (Flight and Escape). Civil war began in the Iğdır region. The Ottoman Army had not yet set foot on Iğdır soil. The Russian army was already gone. The British occupied Kars, but a similar situation did not occur for Iğdır. The civil war continued with full force, with the Muslim Kurdish and Azeri population on one side, and the Yazidi and Armenian population on the other. Because they lived in the mountainous region, Şamil Bey in Pernavut (Gaziler), Kerem Bey in Orgof (Suveren) and the upper villages, and Ali Mirze Bey and Ahmede Şemo in Eastern Iğdır resisted the Armenian komitacıs (militants). In short, I would like to draw your attention to this point: an interstate war like Russian-Ottoman-British did not take place on Iğdır soil. As in every civil war, the parties sought help from powers they considered close to them for support. In this sense, the definition of "Liberation of Iğdır" should, in my opinion, be re-evaluated. The four ancient peoples of Iğdır killed each other and suffered. Muslim Kurds massacred the Yazidi population, who were of Kurdish origin but had a different religion. Armenian komitacıs of Ottoman origin massacred both Azeris and Kurds (Kucax village).

1. GRAND NATIONAL ASSEMBLY PERIOD (1920-1923)

During this short period, Iğdır was attached to Bayezid, which was an Ottoman province at that time. Numan Efendi, the Deputy Governor of Bayezid, was sent to Iğdır with the status of temporary district governor. As the Aras River was designated as the border during this period, there were reciprocal migrations, and especially the Azeri population coming from Yerevan and its villages crossed the Aras River with great difficulty and settled in Iğdır territory. Families were torn apart, and great suffering was experienced. The Azeri population in the safe zone of Iranian Azerbaijan returned to Iğdır, but this time they preferred to settle in the villages vacated by the Armenians. For example, there was no return to villages like Taşlıca and Alikoçek, which were inhabited by Azeris during the Tsarist Russian period, and these villages remained empty.

1. EARLY YEARS OF THE REPUBLIC (1923-1930)

With the proclamation of the Republic, Iğdır was included within the borders of the Republic of Turkey. During this period, which lasted about seven years, significant political and social events occurred in the Iğdır region. We can summarize these under the following main headings:

• The sale of shops and houses vacated by Armenian and Yazidi populations through auction or their allocation to immigrants.
• The arrest and exile of prominent Azeri and Kurdish Beys of Iğdır, or their escape across the border, due to the Law on the Exile of Aghas and Beys enacted in 1926. It is very interesting that in the Iğdır region alone, non-Kurdish Beys (Hacı Ekber Tufan, etc.) were also subjected to exile.
• The Ağrı Mountain Rebellion (1926-1930)
• The declaration of Ağrı Mountain and its surrounding villages as a forbidden zone (1930)
• The murders of Numan Efendi, of Kurdish origin, and İshak Bey, of Azeri origin.

1. HÜSNÜ BİNGÖL PERIOD (1930-1950)

Since the life and struggle of the late Hüsnü Bingöl are of paramount importance in themselves, and my explanation within the scope of this article would be insufficient, I would like to summarize the situation in a few sentences: He resigned from his military officer position and took up duty in MAH (MİT - National Intelligence Organization). He was the regional chief for Eastern Anatolia. Although MAH's Eastern Anatolian center was in Erzurum, Hüsnü Bingöl preferred to settle in Iğdır. If we summarize the main reasons for this:

• Controlling the situation that arose after the Ağrı Mountain Rebellion and punishing the tribes that participated in the rebellion.
• Apprehending and prosecuting those among the Azeri population coming from Iran who were spying on behalf of the Iranian government.
• Apprehending and prosecuting those among the population fleeing from the Soviet Union who were spying on behalf of the Soviets.

1. DEMOCRAT PARTY PERIOD (1946-1960)

With the 1950 elections, a period of pluralism began in Iğdır. Having shed the fear instilled by Hüsnü Bingöl and the single-party rule for years, Iğdır experienced a revival in economic, social, and political life. Cinemas opened. Newspapers began publication. Parties were established. Azeri-Kurdish rivalry did not occur in the initial stage, but in 1954, when Abdürrezak Güneş (Edê Bey), a prominent Kurdish figure, was vetoed by the Democrat Party, which he supported, because he was Kurdish, the Kurdish-Azeri polarization in Iğdır politics gained momentum. This antagonism and rivalry occurred among high-level politicians. It had no resonance at the grassroots level.

1. RIGHT-LEFT POLARIZATION (1960-1980)

Although the 1971 Military Coup occurred in between, the most important feature of this period, which lasted for about 20 years, is that the Azeri-Kurdish polarization changed form and essence, emerging as right-left, and this separation and conflict spread to the grassroots. Although there were left-wing individuals of Azeri origin or, albeit very few, right-wing individuals of Kurdish origin, the general trend was for Azeris to be on the right and Kurds on the left, and for the youth of Iğdır to be incited against each other by "unseen hands" in this unfortunate process.

1. RISE OF THE PKK AND IĞDIR BECOMING A PROVINCE (1980-2000)

During this period, the most important factors affecting Iğdır's sociological and political structure were the PKK gaining sympathy among Kurdish youth and the demolition of rigid sociological structures that had persisted for centuries within villages and tribal systems. With Iğdır becoming a province on May 27, 1992, the interest and influence of Kurds in politics gradually increased in parliamentary and municipal elections, and Iğdır, entering the 21st century, felt the need to redefine its ethnic and sectarian stances.