Kurdish Hezbollah

Not to be confused with Kurdish Revolutionary Hezbollah or Kurdish Hezbollah of Iran.
Kurdish Hezbollah
Hizbullahî Kurdî (Kurdish)
Kürt Hizbullahı (Turkish)
LeadersHüseyin Velioğlu †
İsa Altsoy[1]
Dates of operation1983[2] – present
Active regionsTurkey
IdeologyKurdish nationalism
Kurdish-Islamic synthesis
Social conservatism
National conservatism
Islamism
Anti-Zionism
Anti-communism
Political positionFar-right
AlliesFree Cause Party
 Iran (alleged by Turkey)
Opponents Turkey
PKK
Battles and warsKurdish Hezbollah insurgency
Designated as a terrorist group by Turkey[3]

Kurdish Hezbollah (Kurdish: حیزبوڵڵای کورد, romanized: Hizbullahî Kurdî, Turkish: Kürt Hizbullahı)[1][4][5] or Hizbullah,[6] is a Kurdish Sunni Islamist militant organization,[7][8][5][9] active against Turkey,[10][11][12] and the PKK (mainly in the period between 1992 and 1995).[8] It is derogatorily known by its critics as Hizbulkontra (Party of Contra), Hizbulvahşet (Party of Barbarianism), and Hizbulşeytan (Party of the Devil).[13] They are also derogatorily known as Sofik, which is a diminutive of "Sofu", which means "devout" or "practicing".[14][15]

The group, founded by Hüseyin Velioğlu, remains a primarily Kurdish group that has its roots in the predominantly Kurdish southeast of Turkey and among Kurds who migrated to the cities in Western Turkey.[7] The Kurdish Hezbollah began shifting increasingly towards Kurdish nationalism during Velioğlu's final years, and after Velioğlu's death, under İsa Altsoy's leadership, they disarmed and began focusing on charity work for the Kurdish population under various organizations.[16][17][18] The Hezbollah reestablished in 2003 in southeastern Turkey and "today its ideology might be more widespread then ever among Kurds there".[19] Turkish Hezbollah's influence was not limited to Turkey and it has also "left an imprint on Turkish Kurds in Germany."[7] The Kurdish Hezbollah is closely affiliated with the Free Cause Party (HÜDA PAR).[20]

Despite similar names, Kurdish Hezbollah has no relationship whatsoever with Hezbollah of Lebanon, the Kurdish Revolutionary Hezbollah or the Kurdish Hezbollah of Iran.

  1. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference KH was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Growing Influence of the Hezbollah. Qantara.de (2006-12-29). Retrieved on 2011-02-09.
  3. ^ Türkiye'de Halen Faalıyetlerıne Devam Eden Başlica Terör Örgütlerı Archived 2013-01-14 at the Wayback Machine (in Turkish). Emniyet Genel Müdürlüğü.
  4. ^ The real challenge to secular Turkey, The Economist, 31 Aug 2006
  5. ^ a b TTurkish Hezbollah (Hizbullah) / Kurdish Hezbollah Archived 2015-01-02 at the Wayback Machine, turkishweekly.net
  6. ^ Aslı Aydıntaşbaş, Murder on the Bosporus, Middle East Quarterly, June 2000, pp. 15–22, Meforum.org. Retrieved on 2011-02-09.
  7. ^ a b c Steinberg, Guido W. (2013-06-25). German Jihad: On the Internationalization of Islamist Terrorism. Columbia University Press. ISBN 978-0-231-50053-1.
  8. ^ a b "Ḥizbullāh - Oxford Islamic Studies Online". www.oxfordislamicstudies.com. Archived from the original on February 26, 2013. Retrieved 9 November 2018.
  9. ^ Sevinc, Bilal (2008). "Participation in Terrorist Organizations: An Analysis of Left Wing DHKP/C." Michigan State University. Criminal Justice. ISBN 9781109035827. Retrieved 16 February 2016.
  10. ^ Gareth Jenkins Tales from the crypt Archived 2005-12-15 at the Wayback Machine, Al-Ahram Weekly, 3–9 February 2000, Issue No. 467
  11. ^ Ufuk Hiçyılmaz, Aksiyon, 31 January 2005, Maskeli Hizbullah’ın hedefi cemaatler
  12. ^ Cite error: The named reference corry was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  13. ^ "Hizbullah, Hizbul Kontra, Hizbul Şeytan, Hizbul Vahşet ve Hüda Par – Çetin Yılmaz (jiyan.org)". sendika.org (in Turkish). Retrieved 2024-03-03.
  14. ^ Çelik, Adnan (2021-05-09). "'Keep your mouth shut in the day and your door shut at night.': Intra-Kurdish Violence in the Shadow of the State: The case of Hizbullah in Turkish Kurdistan". Kurdish Studies. 9 (1): 37–57. doi:10.33182/ks.v9i1.563 (inactive 1 November 2024). ISSN 2051-4891. Before that date, the townsfolk had generally regarded the few members of Hizbullah there as sofîk (diminutive of 'sofu', meaning 'bigot' and denoting a certain contempt with a touch of humour).{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: DOI inactive as of November 2024 (link)
  15. ^ https://www.academia.edu/81034784/Kurdish_Hizbullah_in_Turkey_Islamism_Violence_and_the_State r. 166 "Sofîk is a disparaging diminutive of the word sofu (devout) in Kurdish."
  16. ^ Elitsoy, Aslı (June 2017). The Kurdish Hizbullah and Its Shifting Attitude towards Kurdishness and the Kurdish Issue in Turkey.
  17. ^ "Release of Radical Group's Leaders Causes Shock in Turkey". Voice of America. 2011-01-31. Retrieved 2024-01-22.
  18. ^ Zaken (1 October 2016). "Thematisch Ambtsbericht". www.rijksoverheid.nl (in Dutch). Ministerie van Algemene Zaken. Retrieved 5 April 2023.
  19. ^ *German Jihad: On the Internationalisation of Islamist Terrorism by Guido Steinberg. Columbia University Press, 2013
  20. ^ "Hizbullah: Tebliğ, Cemaat, Cihat". Bianet. 13 April 2013. Retrieved 22 May 2020.