This dissertation looks at the activities of the Kurdish nationalists from Turkey who were exiled in Syria and Lebanon during the period of the French mandate, and especially Jaladet and Kamuran Bedirkhan. Scions of a princely Kurdish family from the Botan region in Eastern Anatolia, the Bedirkhan brothers initiated a Kurdish cultural movement in exile following the failure of two armed rebellions against the new Turkish Republic in 1925 and 1930. Central to this cultural movement was the publication of journals in Damascus and Beirut, namely Hawar (1932-1943) Ronahi (1942-1945), Roja Nu/Le Jour Nouveau (1943-1946), and Ster (1943-1945).
This study critically analyzes these Kurdish periodicals and other publications from Syria and Lebanon in the 1930s and 1940s to understand how exiled Kurdish nationalists imagined a new Kurdish identity in the Middle East following the collapse of the Ottoman Empire and the rise of the nation states. Kurdish journals became the platform for a vibrant discussion about the future of the Kurds across the region. They also became the vehicle for the formalization and spread of a national language as well as the construction of a new identity, rooted in tradition but also with the aim of creating new Kurdish men and women.
","abstract_html":"<p>This dissertation looks at the activities of the Kurdish nationalists from Turkey who were exiled in Syria and Lebanon during the period of the French mandate, and especially Jaladet and Kamuran Bedirkhan. Scions of a princely Kurdish family from the Botan region in Eastern Anatolia, the Bedirkhan brothers initiated a Kurdish cultural movement in exile following the failure of two armed rebellions against the new Turkish Republic in 1925 and 1930. Central to this cultural movement was the publication of journals in Damascus and Beirut, namely Hawar (1932-1943) Ronahi (1942-1945), Roja Nu/Le Jour Nouveau (1943-1946), and Ster (1943-1945).</p> <p>This study critically analyzes these Kurdish periodicals and other publications from Syria and Lebanon in the 1930s and 1940s to understand how exiled Kurdish nationalists imagined a new Kurdish identity in the Middle East following the collapse of the Ottoman Empire and the rise of the nation states. Kurdish journals became the platform for a vibrant discussion about the future of the Kurds across the region. They also became the vehicle for the formalization and spread of a national language as well as the construction of a new identity, rooted in tradition but also with the aim of creating new Kurdish men and women.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Akturk, Ahmet Serdar"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Doctor of Philosophy in History (PhD)","degree_level":"Dissertation","degree_discipline":null,"degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Sonn, Richard D.","Antov, Nikolay A."],"advisors":["Gordon, Joel S."],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2013,"date_issued":"2013-08-01T07:00:00Z","date_published":"2013-08-01T07:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T01:00:19Z","subjects":["Social sciences","Communication and the arts","20th century","Journalism","Kurds","Lebanon","Middle East history","Nationalism","Press","Syria","Islamic World and Near East History","Near and Middle Eastern Studies","Near Eastern Languages and Societies"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://scholarworks.uark.edu/etd/866","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Sonn, Richard D.","Antov, Nikolay A."]},{"key":"dc:contributor.advisor","label":"Advisor","values":["Gordon, Joel S."]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Akturk, Ahmet Serdar"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date","label":"Dc Date","values":["2013"]},{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2017-09-29T07:00:00Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Dissertation"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Doctor of Philosophy in History (PhD)"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Social sciences","Communication and the arts","20th century","Journalism","Kurds","Lebanon","Middle East history","Nationalism","Press","Syria","Islamic World and Near East History","Near and Middle Eastern Studies","Near Eastern Languages and Societies"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://scholarworks.uark.edu/etd/866"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["This dissertation looks at the activities of the Kurdish nationalists from Turkey who were exiled in Syria and Lebanon during the period of the French mandate, and especially Jaladet and Kamuran Bedirkhan. Scions of a princely Kurdish family from the Botan region in Eastern Anatolia, the Bedirkhan brothers initiated a Kurdish cultural movement in exile following the failure of two armed rebellions against the new Turkish Republic in 1925 and 1930. Central to this cultural movement was the publication of journals in Damascus and Beirut, namely Hawar (1932-1943) Ronahi (1942-1945), Roja Nu/Le Jour Nouveau (1943-1946), and Ster (1943-1945).
This study critically analyzes these Kurdish periodicals and other publications from Syria and Lebanon in the 1930s and 1940s to understand how exiled Kurdish nationalists imagined a new Kurdish identity in the Middle East following the collapse of the Ottoman Empire and the rise of the nation states. Kurdish journals became the platform for a vibrant discussion about the future of the Kurds across the region. They also became the vehicle for the formalization and spread of a national language as well as the construction of a new identity, rooted in tradition but also with the aim of creating new Kurdish men and women.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Imagining Kurdish Identity in Mandatory Syria: Finding a Nation in Exile"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Sonn, Richard D.","Antov, Nikolay A."],"dc:contributor.advisor":["Gordon, Joel S."],"dc:creator":["Akturk, Ahmet Serdar"],"dc:date":["2013"],"dc:date.available":["2017-09-29T07:00:00Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["This dissertation looks at the activities of the Kurdish nationalists from Turkey who were exiled in Syria and Lebanon during the period of the French mandate, and especially Jaladet and Kamuran Bedirkhan. Scions of a princely Kurdish family from the Botan region in Eastern Anatolia, the Bedirkhan brothers initiated a Kurdish cultural movement in exile following the failure of two armed rebellions against the new Turkish Republic in 1925 and 1930. Central to this cultural movement was the publication of journals in Damascus and Beirut, namely Hawar (1932-1943) Ronahi (1942-1945), Roja Nu/Le Jour Nouveau (1943-1946), and Ster (1943-1945).
This study critically analyzes these Kurdish periodicals and other publications from Syria and Lebanon in the 1930s and 1940s to understand how exiled Kurdish nationalists imagined a new Kurdish identity in the Middle East following the collapse of the Ottoman Empire and the rise of the nation states. Kurdish journals became the platform for a vibrant discussion about the future of the Kurds across the region. They also became the vehicle for the formalization and spread of a national language as well as the construction of a new identity, rooted in tradition but also with the aim of creating new Kurdish men and women.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://scholarworks.uark.edu/etd/866"],"dc:subject":["Social sciences","Communication and the arts","20th century","Journalism","Kurds","Lebanon","Middle East history","Nationalism","Press","Syria","Islamic World and Near East History","Near and Middle Eastern Studies","Near Eastern Languages and Societies"],"dc:title":["Imagining Kurdish Identity in Mandatory Syria: Finding a Nation in Exile"],"thesis:degree_level":["Dissertation"],"thesis:degree_name":["Doctor of Philosophy in History (PhD)"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T01:00:19Z"}