He was born Kemal Sadik Gökçeli to Sadık and Nigâr on 6 October 1923 in Hemite (now Gökçedam), a hamlet in the province of Osmaniye in southern Turkey. He was born into the only Kurdish family in the village. according to Kemal, some of his family members came from the Caucasus region, while some were of Assyrian origin. Kemal had a difficult childhood, and his family had to flee from Van Province to Diyarbakır Province. From there, they were deported to Adana Province. He lost his right eye in a knife accident when his father was slaughtering a sheep on Eid al-Adha. When he was five years old he witnessed his father being stabbed to death by his adoptive son Yusuf while praying in a mosque. These traumatic experiences left Kemal with a speech impediment, which lasted until he was twelve years old. At nine, Kemal began school in a neighboring village, and later he continued his formal education in Kadirli, Osmaniye Province.