[11][12] The Turkish state later contradicted itself during the trial of Sheikh Said, which condemned him to death as a Kurdish separatist.
[13] The Turkish judge during the trial claimed that the revolt was "heading toward one direction: the creation of an independent Kurdistan.
[25] Sheikh Said and the other leaders of the revolt were very conscious of their Kurdish identity and had publicised their separatist motives, regardless of the heavy religious discourse.
Sheikh Said's brother, Abdurrahim, and others in the revolt openly declared their aim of establishing of an independent Kurdish state.
[27] Sheikh Said claimed that his "caliphate" would safeguard "Kurdish honor and religion", and would not extend beyond Kurdistan.
[28] Sheikh Said's closest friends, Hasan Serdi and Fehmi Bilal, were reportedly not Muslim.
"[35] Sheikh Said claimed that even from a religious view, Turkish society practiced a "deceptive" form of Islam.
[43] However, the Sheikh Said revolt was a major turning point, as Turkey stopped its claim over the Mosul vilayet shortly after.
[44] Qajar state documents claimed that in order to win Kurdish support in the Mosul question, Turkey claimed that the Sheikh Said revolt was a British plot and that they only killed the rebels due to their collaboration with the British, however it was ineffective.
Qajar authorities were also worried as many Iranian Kurds were ready to fight against Turkey in support of Sheikh Said.
[47] However, Kurdish Alevis refused to join the revolt, claiming that they were better off in a secular Turkey than a Sunni Kurdistan.