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Journalist lectures on Kurds' future
7.3.2006
By Matthew Abbott |
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Members of the Kurdish
minority in Iraq will likely form their own
independent nation in the next several years,
according to author and journalist Kevin McKiernan,
who gave a lecture in Dartmouth Hall Monday
afternoon.
The talk, sponsored by the Dickey Center's War and
Peace Studies Program, included a screening of
McKiernan's award-winning 2002 PBS documentary "Good
Kurds, Bad Kurds."
This documentary derives its title from the apparent
distinction made by some American policy-makers when
dealing with the Kurdish people in the Middle East
and is a central theme of the film.
While the Kurds who were persecuted and massacred by
Saddam Hussein in Iraq have been labeled "Good
Kurds," those who fought against and were persecuted
by American ally Turkey are termed "Bad Kurds."
The film highlights the plight of the Kurds in
Turkey, and the oppression under which the Turkish
government held them, which has largely been ignored
by the American media. It traces the role of the
Kurdistan Workers Party, or PKK, and its founder,
Abdullah Ocalan, in fighting for cultural and
political rights for Kurds in Turkey. |
Kevin McKiernan lectures on the Kurds in Dartmouth
Hall on Monday.
Photo: The Dartmouth |
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The Kurdish people are the largest ethnic population
in the world without their own homeland. The area
known as Kurdistan is not an independent state and
stretches across the borders of five sovereign
nations.
While the plight of Iraqi Kurds has been used in
part to justify the American-led invasion of Iraq
and overthrow of Saddam Hussein, many American
policy-makers have refrained from condemning Turkey,
which McKiernan and human rights organizations
allege has committed widespread atrocities against
Kurds and attempted to suppress their culture.
With recent changes in Iraq's government following
the American-led invasion, new prospects exist for a
Kurdish state. In his book "The Kurds: A People in
Search of their Homeland," which was released today,
McKiernan draws a parallel between Kurdish and
American Indian attempts to resist assimilation and
declare sovereignty.
"In my opinion, the Kurds will separate [from
Iraq]," he said.
The formation of an independent Kurdish state could
provoke further instability in an already troubled
region.
According to government professor Allan Stam, who
introduced McKiernan, the Turkish ambassador to
Israel spoke to him concerning the prospects for
Kurdish independence.
"Turkey today, or in the future, cannot or will not
tolerate an independent Kurdistan," Stam said the
ambassador told him.
McKiernan's talk also highlighted the existence of
and potential for further conflict in the region.
Violence has resumed in the last several months,
with PKK rebels based in Northern Iraq entering
Turkish territory and fighting.
"Turkey will surely intervene if this civil war
expands anymore," McKiernan said.
The conflict is of particular concern to the United
States because the Kurds in Iraq have acted as an
American ally, even though the PKK has been branded
as a terrorist organization.
McKiernan stated that the major hope for peace and
understanding depends upon finding middle ground
between the Turkish government and the PKK so that
civilians do not have to pledge their support to one
side or another to avoid retribution.
www.thedartmouth.com
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