|
Turks,
Kurds, and Jews |
| Source
: ekurd.net, Gerald A. Honigman |
|
Kurd Net
does not take credit for and is not responsible for the
content of news information on this page |
|
Turks, Kurds, and Jews
24.10.2007
By Gerald A. Honigman, eKurd.net Contributing Writer
- correction 1
|
|
|
|
October
24, 2007
-Gerald A. Honigman, (ekurd.net)
What’s Good For The Goose…
ain’t good for the gander.
I just found out from one of my Middle East sources
that the United States and Britain recently made a
joint call for Iraq to take immediate steps to halt
cross-border attacks by the Iraqi-based Kurdish PKK
into Turkey.
The Voice of America’s David Gollust reported from
the State Department that the issue dominated a
Washington meeting between Secretary of State
Condoleezza Rice and British Foreign Secretary David
Miliband. While both welcomed statements by the
Iraqi government condemning attacks by the PKK, they
say it’s now time for more tangible action to be
taken by the central government in Baghdad and the
Kurdish Regional Authority if a large-scale Turkish
invasion is to be avoided. |
Gerald A. Honigman is a Florida educator who has done extensive
doctoral studies in Middle Eastern Affairs. He has created and
conducted counter-Arab propaganda programs for college youth, has
lectured on numerous campuses and other platforms, and has publicly
debated many Arab spokesmen. His articles and op-eds have been
published in dozens of newspapers, magazines, academic journals and
websites all around the world. |
I agree…and have told my Kurdish friends the same.
No nation should be expected to tolerate such
attacks.
But, here’s my problem…the typical State Department
double standards and hypocrisy so readily practiced.
Let’s back up a bit. And before I proceed, please
understand that there is much about the Turkish
Republic that I admire. That does not mean, however,
that a cover-up is in order.
After World War I, Mustafa Kemal--Ataturk--saved
what was left of the Ottoman Empire and saw to the
birth of the modern Turkish Republic.
Now minus most of its former European and Near
Eastern territories, Turkey drew its lines in the
sand beyond which no further territorial losses
would be tolerated. The Armenians and Kurds
especially got caught up in this bloody turmoil.
Forming about one-fifth of Turkey’s population (the
same percentage of Arabs who live in an Israel about
one-fortieth Turkey‘s size), the Kurds are found
mostly in the southeastern region. They’ve lived in
the particular area for millennia…long before an
Arab or Turk ever set foot there.
During the age of the spread of the Dar ul-Islam
especially via various Arab and Turkish empires, the
Kurds jumped on the Islamic bandwagon. Salah-al-Din
was the Kurdish nightmare of Christendom during the
Crusades.
But, by the 19th century, emerging ethno-nationalist
revolts for independence had already begun. During
the era of World War I, a common saying among
Western diplomats regarding the war’s aftermath and
the collapse of the Turks’ empire went something
like this… Arabia for the Arabians, Armenia for the
Armenians, Judea for the Judeans.
Along these same lines, one of President Woodrow
Wilson’s famous 14 Points addressed Kurdish
independence as well. The British held out such
hopes to the Kurds until they received a favorable
decision from the League of Nations in 1925 tying
the oil of the Kurdish north to the new British
Mandate of Mesopotamia in the Mosul decision. From
then on, British petroleum politics aligned with
Arab nationalism to squash the one best chance Kurds
ever had to achieve independence in the new
nationalist era. Over thirty million Kurds remain
stateless to date as a result of that abortion. And
when we read or hear about them today, they’re more
often than not simply referred to as rebels,
separatists, and so forth. Frustrated in seeing
others achieve independence, and often subjugated
(or worse) by Turks, Arabs, and Iranians now ruling
most of the lands they lived in for millennia,
revolt they did…
To deal with the fear of further geographical loss,
the Turks decided that only one culture would fit
all in the land. So, for example, Kurds were
henceforth recreated as “Mountain Turks”--with even
their language outlawed. Ismet Cherif Vanly’s book,
The Syrian Mein Kampf Against The Kurds (Amsterdam
1968), showed Arabs following the same game plan. An
Arab Saddam would do likewise in Iraq, and so forth,
with similar nightmares to be found in multi-ethnic
Iran as well.
Into this state of subjugation, the Kurdish PKK was
born in Turkey.
Unlike Israel (where Arabic was made the second
official language of the State, where Arabs who side
with Hamas, Fatah, and others dedicated to Israel’s
destruction serve in Parliament, and so forth),
Kurds were simply expected to deny their own
identity for the sake of Turkish nationalism. Keep
in mind that twenty-one Arab states already surround
Israel--before the creation of their proposed 22nd.
So now we come to the current mess…
A multi-ethnic Iraq which was artificially put
together for largely others’ interests the same way
another “nation “ --Yugoslavia--was upon the breakup
of empires in the early 20th century, will probably
not survive an American withdrawal…and this might
not necessarily be a bad development. I’ve written
about this often elsewhere, so won’t expand upon
this now.
Compared to the tragic situation in the Arab areas,
Iraqi Kurdistan--with its imperfections--is still a
shining light. Arabs and others have fled to there
to escape the barbarism.
Amid the mountain strongholds of the Kurdish north,
however, PKK Kurdish fighters from Turkey have taken
refuge. In so doing, they may very well set back the
progress Kurds have finally made towards full
autonomy--and perhaps, later on, even independence.
Having long felt cheated by the 1925 Mosul decision,
Turkey is very likely considering a move on the oil
of Iraqi Kurdistan if conditions permit. A breakup
of Iraq might be the ticket later on…as Iran also
eyes the Iraqi Shi’a south (once part of an earlier
Iranian empire).
For now, with American forces still engaged, the
Turks’ limited goal will remain focused as it has
been…keep what’s happening among Iraqi Kurds from
spreading northwest.
A Turkey which lectures Israel about the need to
create a second state for Arabs (Jordan being the
first) within the original 1920 borders of that
other British Mandate, Palestine, threatens war if
some thirty million stateless Kurds finally get a
slice of justice in the nationalist age…and in
Iraq--not Turkey!
For their part, Kurds in Turkey must understand that
they will never achieve what the PKK supposedly is
fighting for there. As stated above, Turks have
drawn their lines.
Having said this, if Turkey wants to be seen as
something better than the racist despotisms which
are also in the region--like those which gas Kurds,
engage in genocide in the Sudan, and so forth--then
it will have to vastly improve the lives of its
Kurdish citizens. Again, think about the comparison
with an Israel which, in many ways, is far more
endangered by its potential fifth column than Turkey
is.
Currently, as seen above, Condi and the Foggy Folks
expect the KRG and Baghdad to produce what all the
support the American State Department has given
towards the creation of Arab state # 22 has yet to.
While it is in the KRG’s own interest to bring an
end to PKK attacks from Iraqi Kurdistan, the
hypocrisy is still sickening.
The State Department expects an Israel about
one-fortieth the size of Turkey to give away the
store at the arm-twisting party it’s planning at the
upcoming summit, knowing full well that with all of
the support it has given to Abbas and his fellow
latter day Arafatians, the leopards haven’t changed
their spots. They’re just smirking as they see their
well-known destruction-in-stages plans for Israel
unfold nicely due to Washington. Arafat, Abbas, and
all of their comrades never lifted a finger--with
tens of thousands of armed military and police at
their disposal--to stop the constant barbarism
against Jews in restaurants, buses, teen nightclubs,
pizzerias, shopping malls, homes, and so forth. In
fact, they funded it and were often a part of it.
Yet, with American interests now directly at stake
in Iraq, that same State Department expects Iraqi
Kurds to simply ignore the very real grievances of
their people in Turkey when dealing with the PKK.
While it’s true that this situation cannot continue
as it is and PKK attacks from Iraq must stop, I must
also end this with a question…
Why is it that the State Department feels free to
bully Israel into suicidal concessions regarding
creating Arab State # 22, but mere talk of improving
the plight of subjugated “Mountain Turks” or
creating State # 1 for Kurds is still unspeakable?
eKurd.net,
Copyright by Gerald A. Honigman. You may reach the
author via email at: honigman6 (at) msn.com .
Gerald A. Honigman is a Florida educator who has
done extensive doctoral studies in Middle Eastern
Affairs. He has created and conducted counter-Arab
propaganda programs for college youth, has lectured
on numerous campuses and other platforms, and has
publicly debated many Arab spokesmen. His articles
and op-eds have been published in dozens of
newspapers, magazines, academic journals and
websites all around the world. Visit his
website at
http://www.geraldahonigman.com/
Top |
Kurd Net
does not take credit for and is not responsible for the content of news
information on this page
|
|
|
® 