Abdulrahman Badirxan's perspective, written in the first Kurdish newspaper, on the Hamidiye regiments, formed during the late Ottoman period. The connection made in certain narratives between Kurds as some (imaginary) singular entity and the Hamidiye is incorrect. Abdulrahman Badirxan and the educated Kurds around him recognized that the situation was manufactured by elements of the Ottomans and their hired Kurdish clients.
Kurdistan newspaper (early 20th-century):
Before [Abdülhamid II] ascended the throne, the Kurds were knowledgeable and civilized people, having brotherly relations with Armenians and avoiding any kind of confrontation. Then what happened? Did [Kurdish] civilization and knowledge turn into barbarity, ignorance, and organized rebellion? Who else carries out the atrocities in Kurdistan but the members of the Hamidiye divisions, who are armed by the sultan and proud of being loyal to him? For example, there is Mustafa Pasha, the head of the Mîran tribe, within the borders of Diyarbekir [province]. He used to be a shepherd ten or fifteen years ago in his tribe, and was called "Misto the Bald." We do not know what he did to become a favorite of the sultan, but his talent in creating scandals appealed to the sultan, who thought that he would assist in shedding blood and hurting people. He made him a pasha and introduced him with the title of commander of a Hamidiye division. Now imagine what such a man is capable of doing-a traitor whose own son has even become an enemy to him, and a person who has outraged his daughter-in-law. Would he not butcher the Armenians and pillage the Muslims?
Some sources also include references to history's silenced majority. Their opinion on the Ottoman-sponsored Kurdish tribesmen was consistent with that of the families of Kurdistan's former rulers. In 1907, a Kurdish man from the Bilikan tribe characterized the excessive hostilities in the following words:
Formerly we lived with the Armenians like brothers. Religion was the only difference. Now we are always quarrelling, about I know not what. Are we in fault? Are the Armenians in fault? I know not-by God, I know not. All of us suffer, Kurd and Armenian alike. Soldiers come in every day, eat our chickens, beat our men, and demand taxes twenty-five years in arrear. How will it end? The Hamidieh rob us, the Vali robs us, the Mudir robs us. What are we to do? How are we to live?
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