ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - An official from Turkey’s opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) has sparked outrage by posting a photo of legendary Kurdish leader Sheikh Said hanging as a car air freshener in his office, mocking his execution.
CHP member Alparslan Yilmaz, deputy general manager of Ankara municipality, posted a photo on X of Sheikh Said’s hanging as a car air freshener from his office and wrote “Sait [Said] is rocking in his rightful place in our office!”
The post, which insults the legendary Kurdish figure, caused strong reactions and the Sheikh Said Association strongly condemned the actions of the CHP official.
Mohammed Kasim Firat, Sheikh Said’s grandson who is also head of the Sheikh Said Association strongly condemned the photo, calling it “immoral” and accused them of “spreading hate.”
“They are playing with our nerves with their hatred, grudge, and rudeness,” Firat wrote on X. "We will settle this in front of justice, or our hands will be on your necks on the Day of Judgment."
Firat, a lawyer, told Rudaw that around 100 to 150 people have taken part in the defamation.
“We decided to take them to court. The security forces started investigating them. Turkish law dictates that whoever defames another person can spend up to two years in jail,” he said.
Qasim Firat, another grandson of Sheikh Said, believes that the actions are part of a broader agenda to disrupt the ongoing, intensifying efforts for a renewed Kurdish-Turkish peace process.
“Their goal is not to hurt us, their goal is to ruin the steps being taken now [in the peace process] and provoke,” Firat told Rudaw. “We must act with caution and wisdom and not escalate the issue.”
Sheikh Said revolted against the newly established Turkish state in Diyarbakir in 1925 but was hanged the same year.
This is not the first time the legendary leader has been insulted by nationalist Turks.
In December 2023, the Amed (Diyarbakir) municipality announced that it had started working on a street in the city, introducing it as Sheikh Said Boulevard.
Soon after the announcement, Turkish nationalist politicians, journalists, and social media users condemned the move, claiming that the legendary leader was an enemy of the state and a collaborator of the British.
Umit Ozdag, leader of the Turkish far-right Victory Party, who was quick to denounce the Diyarbakir municipality decision, labeled Sheikh Said as a “traitor.”
