İshak Sükuti: Kurdish Co-Founder of the Committee of Union and Progress
- Mehmet Özdemir
- 16 hours ago
- 4 min read
Who Was İshak Sükuti?
İshak Sükuti was a Kurdish physician and revolutionary born in 1868 in Diyarbakır who co-founded the Committee of Union and Progress (CUP) — the secret society that would become the Young Turk movement and ultimately overthrow Sultan Abdul Hamid II's autocracy in the 1908 revolution.
He was a student at the Military Medical School in Istanbul when he and a small group of fellow students — including Mehmet Resid, Abdullah Cevdet, and İbrahim Temo — founded the society in 1889. This small founding group included multiple Kurdish members, reflecting the significant Kurdish participation in the early Young Turk movement.
He later went into exile, spending time in Paris and Rome, where he continued revolutionary activities. He died in Rome in 1902 — six years before the revolution he helped set in motion would succeed.
Key Takeaways
• İshak Sükuti (1868-1902) was a Kurdish physician from Diyarbakır who co-founded the Committee of Union and Progress (CUP) in 1889.
• The CUP became the Young Turk movement that overthrew Sultan Abdul Hamid II in 1908.
• He founded the society as a medical student in Istanbul alongside Abdullah Cevdet and İbrahim Temo.
• He died in exile in Rome in 1902, six years before the revolution succeeded.
• He represents the significant Kurdish contribution to the founding of the Young Turk movement.
Quick Facts
Table of Contents
Early Life and Origins
İshak Sükuti was born in 1868 in Diyarbakır — the historical capital of Kurdish culture in southeastern Anatolia. He went to Istanbul to study at the Military Medical School, where he became politically radicalised by the repressive rule of Sultan Abdul Hamid II.
In 1889, along with a small group of fellow students including Abdullah Cevdet (also Kurdish) and İbrahim Temo (Albanian), he founded the secret society that would become the CUP — a clandestine network committed to constitutional reform and the overthrow of Hamidian autocracy.
Historical Context
Sultan Abdul Hamid II's rule (1876-1909) was marked by the suspension of the Ottoman constitution and the establishment of an autocratic surveillance state. For educated young Ottomans — including Kurds, Turks, Albanians, and Arabs — the constitutional reform movement offered a framework for political modernisation.
The CUP, founded by İshak Sükuti and his colleagues in 1889, was the primary vehicle of this movement. It eventually became the dominant political force in the Ottoman Empire, leading the 1908 revolution and governing the empire through World War I.
Major Achievements and Contributions
Co-Founding the Committee of Union and Progress
İshak Sükuti's co-founding of the CUP in 1889 was one of the most consequential political acts in late Ottoman history. The small student society he helped create grew into the movement that overthrew sultanic autocracy, restored the constitution, and ultimately governed the Ottoman Empire through its final catastrophic decade.
His role as a Kurdish co-founder of the CUP demonstrates the significant Kurdish participation in Ottoman reform movements — a dimension of late Ottoman political history that is often overlooked in narratives that present the CUP as purely a Turkish nationalist movement.
Timeline and Key Events
Debates, Controversies, and Historical Questions
İshak Sükuti's Kurdish identity and his role as a co-founder of the CUP are established in historical sources. The question of how to reconcile his role in founding the CUP — which later pursued policies harmful to Kurds — with his Kurdish identity has been discussed by historians.
Legacy and Cultural Impact
İshak Sükuti is one of the most historically significant Kurds in Ottoman political history — a co-founder of the movement that transformed the empire. His Kurdish identity complicates the simple narrative of the Young Turks as purely Turkish nationalists and reminds historians of the multi-ethnic, multi-communal character of the early reform movement.
Kurdish History Connections
Frequently Asked Questions
Who was İshak Sükuti?
İshak Sükuti (1868-1902) was a Kurdish physician from Diyarbakır who co-founded the Committee of Union and Progress (CUP) — the Young Turk organisation — in Istanbul in 1889. He died in exile in Rome in 1902, six years before the revolution he helped launch succeeded.
Was İshak Sükuti Kurdish?
Yes. He was born in Diyarbakır, the historic capital of Kurdish culture in southeastern Anatolia, and is identified as Kurdish in historical sources.
What is the CUP?
The Committee of Union and Progress (CUP) was the secret society founded by İshak Sükuti and colleagues in 1889 that grew into the Young Turk movement, led the 1908 revolution against Sultan Abdul Hamid II, and governed the Ottoman Empire through World War I.
References and Further Reading
Wikipedia contributors. 'Ishak Sukuti.' Wikipedia. Accessed 2025.
Wikipedia contributors. 'Committee of Union and Progress.' Wikipedia. Accessed 2025.
Comments