At the turn of the 20th century, roughly between 1890 and 1910, two important local elite groups in the province of Diyarbekir could be distinguished. They were both composed of ethnic Kurds (predominantly), but one Ottoman in character and the other nationalist, or proto-nationalist. What may be regarded as the local Ottoman elite group was primarily tribal, nomadic and rural, loyal to the sultan and with the Hamidiye (cavalry) regiments as an important focal point of power. Their principal leader was Milli ?brahim Pa?a. The (proto-)nationalist elite group was essentially urban in character, composed of Kurdish notables and prominent families, with substantial rural possessions and major trading interests. This elite was close to the nationalist Young Turk movement and more in particular the Committee of Union and Progress. A main leader was Arif Pirinççizade, and later Ziya Gökalp. This contribution aims to deconstruct the conflict between the two elite groups. It will discuss the (personal) backgrounds of the elite groups and mainly focus on confrontations between the groups in the period 1905-1908, but also the position of the elite groups in relation to the 1895 anti-Armenian violence will be touched upon. By working at a local level it is attempted to develop our understanding of the complexity of events such as occurred in eastern Ottoman Anatolia in the second half of the nineteenth century and first decades of the twentieth century.