Revandız

Revandız (Rewandiz) is a Kurdish settlement located in Güney Kürdistan, within the borders of present-day Irak. In the early 20th century, in the post-World War I period, it entered the archive records of the Osmanlı and Türkiye Büyük Millet Meclisi (TBMM) as one of the important scenes of Kurdish-British relations and conflicts.

British Contact and Seyit Taha

Immediately after World War I, Revandız was one of the focal points of relations between regions under British influence and local Kurdish actors. It is reflected in the archive documents of the period that Seyit Taha of Şemdinan met with the British political administrator in Revandız; in this meeting, he received 26,000 lira, rifles, and ammunition from the British. This contact was evaluated together with the British efforts to form an alliance between Seyit Taha and the Nasturiler, and Seyit Taha's relationship with the Nasturiler was not approved by the Kurdish tribes (Cilt 3, s. 122).

TBMM Period and Detachment

In the early 1920s, Revandız came to the forefront in the context of military activity affiliated with the TBMM government. According to documents, the weapons of the Revandız Detachment, which entered Iranian territory in Şino, en route from Revandız to Türkiye via Savuçbulak (Mehabad), were confiscated by Iranian authorities, and the detachment was not allowed to enter any city. This issue was the subject of a telegram dated 26 May 1923, sent to Adnan Bey with the signature of Hariciye Vekâleti Vekili Hüseyin Rauf Bey, and correspondence sent by İstanbul Murahhası Adnan Bey to the Hariciye Vekâleti regarding the attitude of Iranian military units towards the detachment (Cilt 3, s. 140).

Lausanne and British Pressure

During the same period, it is also stated in the documents that tribes in Irak sympathetic to the TBMM government were subjected to British bombardment, their towns and villages were destroyed; and the British engaged in political provocations within the Misak-ı Millî borders, pursuing the formation of a Kurdish entity. These developments surrounding Revandız were intertwined with the broader diplomatic context in which the Kürdistan issue was negotiated during the Lozan Konferansı process (Cilt 3, s. 140).