Abdullah Beğik

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Abdullah Beğik, better known as Mullah Abdullah Timoqi, was a Kurdish imam, Islamic scholar, cleric, and activist born in 1889 in Gümüşörgü, Kozluk, in the Ottoman Empire. He studied at local madrasas and preached in Kurdish, refusing to promote Turkish nationalism in mosques. After the 1934 Surname Law, he was required to use the surname Beğik, but he refused to identify with it.

Timoqi was arrested and tortured several times, including after the coups of 1960, 1971, and 1980. The PKK later reached Kozluk; he sheltered militants in his home, even though he and the PKK sometimes disagreed on doctrine. Turkish forces raided his house, and in 1985 he fled to Syrian Kurdistan, where he settled and later stayed at the Mahsum Korkmaz Academy, earning great respect from PKK members.

He became close to Abdullah Öcalan and taught him about Islam, helping shape Öcalan’s religious views. He died on February 2, 1992, in Al-Hasakah, Syria, at about 102 years old and was buried there. He had six sons and five daughters. In his final years Öcalan cared for him.

Timoqi supported an independent Kurdistan, not just better status within Turkey or the Ottoman restoration. He told Öcalan he wished to live to see an independent Kurdistan, and Öcalan said it would come soon. At Timoqi’s funeral, Öcalan called him “the pedigree of independence” and urged Kurdish fighters to honor him in their future victories.

A park in Batman was briefly named after him, which caused controversy.