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He believes that any right achieved by means of
power struggle will not have any purpose, and the
cultural rights of the people of Iraqi Kurdistan
gained since early 1970s is a clear example of that.
According to Ibrahim, the recent initiations of the
European Union to grant cultural rights to the
people of Kurdistan could very well be another
attempt to maintain the balance of power. He says
the suggestions of the EU are for the purpose of
these countries to get rid of the Kurdish issue
without solving the matter indefinitely.
"Since the coming to power of Khatami, cultural
rights have been abandoned," says Ibrahim. "And the
reason for that is to descend the Kurdish issue from
a national one to a less important one." He believes
that this EU request is nothing more than another
discussion for the Iranian authorities to further
demeaning the issue, which can only be solved
through the right to self-determination, to an
inferior issue.
Playing with the Kurdish issue for their own
self-interests
Ibrahim states that all that certain nations and the
superpowers are doing is simply playing with the
Kurdish issue for their own self-interests. They
have made the Kurds one of their strongest cards to
be played when they want to threaten or put pressure
on the countries that contradict them. "Whenever
they think their interests can be met via other
means, they go ahead and turn their back to Kurds."
Although, Ibrahim believes the Kurds have been able
to gain huge accomplishments. He says that Kurds,
themselves, are able to put forward their issue on
their own and prove their existence, both internally
and internationally.
However, Abdulbaqi Yousef, former president of the
Kurdish Union Party of Syria, who is now the party's
politburo member, considers the decision to be a
positive one from which he says the Kurds can
benefit to a great extent. "I hope the European
Union will seriously take the Kurdish issue into
account and not just use it as an excuse to pressure
the countries with Kurdish populations," he says.
This Kurdish political party official also mentioned
that his party had prepared a protocol between the
European Union and Syria for the same rights;
however, Syria refused to sign it and the European
Union did not do anything to confront that
seriously. (The Union) simply said that the Kurdish
issue in Syria, Iran, Turkey and Iraq can only be
calmed down through democratic polls in the region,
adding that this would bring about and stabilize
security in the area.
European countries try hard to help and solve the
Kurdish issue
Yousef added that the Kurdish factions are capable
of benefiting from any international initiation on
the Kurdish issue, and the Kurds should exert their
efforts to help themselves. According to him, the
Kurdish issue is no longer an internal problem; but
a global matter which concerns the region and the
world politics. International opportunities have
made governments worldwide to review their politics
and policies towards Kurds. "The Cold War had really
downsized the Kurdish problem, and the opportunity
that exists today is not in the interests of those
countries upon which the Kurds have been
distributed," Yousef says.
He adds that it is necessary for the Kurds to
flourish democracy within themselves to rejoin a
greater Middle East currently undergoing region-wide
democratization.
The opinion of Haval Abubakir, journalist and
professor at the University of Sulaimaniyah;
however, is that Europe wants to have a voice in the
Middle Eastern negotiations which has so far been
able to show its presence in both, Iraq and Lebanon.
He says if the bordering countries did decide to
grant the Kurds cultural rights, it would only be to
prevent the Kurds in the region to reach the stage
at which the Kurds in Iraq are. They would only do
that to give the least amount of rights to Kurds.
Abubakir believes that certain European countries do
try hard to help and solve the Kurdish issue, but
certain Kurdish factions are with the idea of having
the Kurdish problem internally within the borders of
the states without any external power attacking any
of the countries, Turkey, Iran or Syria. They do not
want their rights to be under the attacks of global
politics and international balancing of power.
"Today, the Kurds are an effective force," he says.
"This is one reason behind the decision of some of
the European Union member-states for their
initiation," adding that Iran and Syria are now
under major threats. Finding a solution for Kurds
peacefully in their borders would be much better
than what is happening in Iraq today.
Abubakir added that through having these cultural
rights granted to them, the Kurds would then be able
to gradually find all their self-determination
rights. He believes that if Kurds, after they are
given their cultural rights, make efforts towards
obtaining their political rights and establish their
government departments within themselves, they would
then be taking a more "right" path, briefly
referring to the Kurdish government in Iraq as an
example to his opinion.
kurdishlobe net
The use of the term "Kurdistan" is vigorously
rejected due to its alleged political implications
by the Republic of Turkey, which does not recognize
the existence of a "Turkish Kurdistan".
Others estimate as many as 40 million Kurds live in
Big Kurdistan (Iraq, Turkey, Syria, Iran, Armenia),
which covers an area as big as France, about half of
all Kurds which estimate to 20 million live in
Turkey.
The Kurdish flag flown officially in Iraqi Kurdistan but
unofficially flown by Kurds in Armenia. The flag is
banned in Iran, Syria, and Turkey where flying it is
a criminal offence"
Southeastern Turkey:
North Kurdistan (
Kurdistan-Turkey) wikipedia
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