https://www.mdu.se/

PREFACE

The Hamidiye Regiments and the village guard system are tools of the "divide and rule" policy, pitting Kurd against Kurd. Despite a clear collapse and disintegration, the fact that the village guards continue to serve the Turkish Republic against the Kurdish national liberation struggle demonstrates the current importance of the issue.

It is of great importance to examine the tools used to pit Kurd against Kurd and others, and the collaborative militia organizations that are a constant part of the "divide and rule" policies of dominant states against the Kurdish people, and to draw instructive conclusions from these policies. This is even more necessary today, when the Kurdish and Kurdistan issue is at its most current. It is also crucial for our country to be able to capture history as it unfolds.

There are dozens of issues that need to be addressed and evaluated regarding the Hamidiye Regiments and the village guard system. However, this research focuses on some of these issues.

This study examines the predicament of some Kurds serving others, a persistent and festering wound in Kurdish society from the past to the present, focusing on the role of the Hamidiye Regiments and village guards for a better understanding. 

The following fundamental issues provide a general framework regarding the Hamidiye Regiments: the circumstances under which the Hamidiye Regiments emerged, the causes of the Kurdish-Armenian conflict, whether the Hamidiye Regiments fulfilled the expectations of the Ottoman state, the interest shown by Kurds in the Hamidiye Regiments, the policies of the states outside the Ottoman Empire that the Hamidiye Regiments served, the regiments stance towards the Kurdish national liberation movement, the reasons for the disintegration of the Hamidiye Regiments, certain developments that later transformed some Hamidiye Regiment commanders into leaders of Kurdish rebellions and resistance against the state and the function of the Tribal School, a component of the Ottoman state's policies. 

Regarding village guards, this research examines several fundamental issues to understand their function as part of the Turkish Republic's "divide and rule" policy, pitting Kurd against Kurd: the purpose of the village guard system, the opportunities and privileges granted during its establishment, the role of state oppression and persecution, the situation of guards involved in everything from "headhunting" to kidnapping, and the unstoppable disintegration and collapse of the guard institution despite all measures taken by the Turkish administration.

Despite all this, I would like to emphasize that this research is only a starting point on the subject. Considering that even some "researchers" who advocate for the official ideology have difficulty accessing certain sources on the subject today, the necessity and difficulty of conducting more comprehensive scientific research that exposes the lies and demagoguery of the official ideology becomes clearer.

I extend my sincerest thanks to all my friends who shared their views and suggestions, helped me find some sources and whose rich archives I utilized during this research process.

With the hope that more comprehensive scientific research will be conducted on the Hamidiye Regiments and village guards.

Osman Aytar

January 1992