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Europe,
Turkish gambit, and Kurds as the indestructible pawn |
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Europe, Turkish gambit, and Kurds as the
indestructible pawn 4.9.2006
By Novosti political commentator Pyotr Romanov |
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MOSCOW. ,--
Turkey is a venue of yet another series of
explosions, and although nobody has taken
responsibility for them, everyone is convinced that
the Kurds are to blame.
This is most certainly so. Since the U.S. Liberation
of Iraq, the Kurds have become markedly more active.
They've got a firm foothold Iraqi territory. For the
umpteenth time now, one of the world's most ancient
and unfortunate peoples have started dreaming again
about the Great Kurdistan.
A rare nation can boast of such an ancient history
as the Kurds, who are now represented in the UN.
They were mentioned by the Egyptians, Babylonians,
Sumerians, Assyrians, and the Urartus. The Kurds
have everything - ancient roots and a carefully
preserved culture. They are numerous: in different
estimates, they number between 20 and 30 million
[ 39 to 40 million according to Wikipedia] . But
the Kurds miss something that even a tiny Pacific
island has - statehood. Some of them live in Turkey,
others in Iraq, still others in Syria, Iran,
Azerbaijan, and Armenia. In some places they live
better than in others, but mostly they are not doing
very well.
On the one hand, Turkey, Iran, and Syria, as well as
other countries where Kurds live, perceive them as a
permanent threat to their territorial integrity, and
do not welcome them for that reason. In some places,
Kurds are openly harassed. On the other hand, the
modern world prefers to shut its eyes to the Kurdish
problem because it is extremely explosive and
practically insoluble.
When we played chess as kids, we coined a term "the
indestructible pawn" to describe a situation where a
pawn in the middle of the chessboard was an obstacle
to maneuvers by almost all other pieces. But nobody
dared touch it for fear of an unpredictable
aggravation of the situation for both sides. The
Kurds are playing the same role today. Many things
will collapse in our fragile world if we touch this
problem. At the same time, ignoring the interests of
such an ancient and numerous nation means provoking
it. Untreated disease will only get worse.
Europe is probably the most interested party in
solving the Kurdish problem, but it does not seem to
be aware of this yet. For all the reservations,
Turkey is slowly moving towards membership in the
European Union. It is hard to understand the logic
of the European Union members, who is ready to
sacrifice quality to quantity. They do not have a
common Constitution yet, have quarreled over the
wars in Iraq and Lebanon, and have not worked out a
common stand on the Iranian nuclear file (it is
enough to recall Spain's special position). Yet they
are ready at accept new members to the detriment of
the Union's quality. Isn't it reckless to open the
door to the Turks when at one time Europe is a scene
of the 'caricature scandal', at other time - of
'flames in Paris suburbs', to say nothing of acts of
terror of markedly non-European origin? If the EU
cannot take adequate measures to counter the flood
of illegal immigrants, what will it do when they
become legal?
Along with Turkey the Europeans are going to inherit
the Kurdish pawn, which will continuously make their
life more difficult. If the Kurds find life in
Turkey too hard to bear, they will go to Europe. If
they remain in Turkey and continue their struggle
for independence, the politically correct Europeans
will have to either shut their eyes to how the Kurds
are treated in Turkish prisons, or engage in
time-consuming but futile efforts to persuade the
Turks to grant them large-scale autonomy.
Curiously, different sociological polls show that
the Europeans are not at all happy to see Turkey as
a EU member. The Austrians are adamantly against
that. However, EU bureaucrats are not too worried,
and for all the concerns Turkey is slowly but
steadily moving towards the Union. Why?
There is a version but it is not up to me to discuss
it
Source: rian ru
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 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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