Kurdish Nation is Alive

Thank you Winston for bringing up the Kurdish issue to OPEDNEWS readers. It is the singular aspect of the conflicts that exist in the region that brings to focus the historical context of the British post-WW1 partition of SW Asia. The national struggle for Kurdish nationhood is a dynamic force within Turkey, Iraq, Iran and Syria. Few of these nations have proposed real autonomy as a solution. The military campaign by Khomeini's jihad against Kurds in Iran, the Anfal campaign, the Turkish prolonged military campaigns against the PKK and southern Kurdistan have been the solutions of choice and the political options chosen by the political leaders of these nations.

The Kurds in southern Kurdistan have chosen to seize every opportunity to forward their progress to political self-determination. The overthrow of Hussein and the occupation has weakend the ability of the various forces to crush them, as they have in the past. Even Turkey has been held at bay recently despite its history of military interventions against the Kurds in southern Kurdistan. If the political leadership of the Kurds chose not to take advantage of this opportunity, they would have paid for it later. After the US withdraws there will be NO such opportunity.

There really is no Iraqi nation that is built on national identity or historical foundations. The partitions by the British and French after the fall of the Ottoman Empire were designed to prevent precisely that from occurring. "Divide and conquer" was institutionalized so that there were conflicting interests that always prevented a unified nation. The US invasion and occupation has not changed that. Its proposal to maintain a national centralized authority from Baghdad not only is opposed by Baathists and Sunnis, but also Kurds in nothern Iraq and Shi'a in southern Iraq.

Of course there are now divisions that unite the Sunni and Shi'a against the Kurds. They do not share the same goals as the Kurds nor are they focused on the recognition of Kurdish political rights. If the Kurds move forward while others stand still, the others are certain to whine about this after the fact. Leadership is the willingness to act decisively while others remain frozen.

The future is shaped by the actions taken in the present. For the Kurds this means that they must act to establish sound economical foundations for the future of southern Kurdistan, regardless of the future of the nation of iraq. This means preparing their military that protects them against future raids from Baghdad or Turkey or Iran. This means establishing sound political institutions that are capable of self-government and addressing the needs and concerns of those living within the Kurdish Autonomous Region, whether Kurdish or Arab or Turkomen. This means defining their future for themselves.

by Martin Zehr (38 articles, 2 quicklinks, 2 diaries, 77 comments) on Sunday, February 3, 2008 at 1:08:51 PM