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'Greater Kurdistan' myth or reality? 6.11.2007
By Michael Jansen
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November
6, 2007
The Kurds are doomed to fight forever for their
existence. They have a very powerful sense of
national identity and a strong unslaked desire for
self-determination but, after nearly a century of
striving to achieve national independence, remain
divided within the four countries created Iraq,
Iran, Turkey and Syria by Britain and France when
the Ottoman Empire collapsed in the wake of World
War I. The semi-autonomous Kurdish region of Iraq is
the latest manifestation of the Kurd's drive for
self-determination. While it remains tied to Iraq in
many ways, this region regards itself and acts as an
independent entity in all but name. Over the past
week I have travelled from Sulaimaniyah in the east,
to Erbil, the capital, in the west, and Duhok, in
the north near the Turkish border and back to
Sulaimaniyah by another route. But I have not seen
even one Iraqi flag. Everywhere public buildings fly
the Kurdish flag of red, white and green with the
sun in the centre. This flag waves proudly from the
walls of the ancient citadel at Erbil and is
emblazoned above the entrance to a football field on
the outskirts of Duhok. In Cyprus where I live,
public buildings fly both the white and gold banner
of the internationally recognised Republic, and the
blue and white Greek flag which proclaims the
cultural identity of the majority of the inhabitants
of the republic and the island.
In the north, occupied by Turkey since 1974, the
flags of the breakaway Turkish Cypriot entity (a red
star and crescent on a white background) hangs
alongside the Turkish flag (a white star and
crescent on a red field). The Turkish Cypriot emblem
proclaims the existence of the entity only Turkey
recognises while the Turkish flag symbolises both
the ethnicity of the Turkish Cypriots and their
protectors and masters. The Cyprus Republic also
displays the European Union flag alongside the
national and communal banners. If the Iraqi Kurds
were serious about their connection to Arab Iraq
they would use the example of the Cyprus Republic
and fly the national flag alongside and, even,
slightly higher than the communal flag.
But the Kurds do not do this because they are
fighting for their independence and the flag gives
them the illusion that they have gained or are on
the way to reaching this goal. While the
longstanding dream of the Kurds is independence in
"Greater Kurdistan," they have not, however,
designed a unified strategy for acheiving this
dream. Indeed, individuals and factions differ
profoundly on both the nature of a Kurdish entity
and its scope.
Nationalists harbour the aspiration for an
independent "Greater Kurdistan" but realists
understand that, at least for the foreseeable
future, the best they can expect is autonomy within
established states.
Erbil resident Hamido Das was born in Turkey and
served for three years in the mountains with Turkish
peshmerga fighters. He refers to southeastern Turkey
as "north Kurdistan," the Kurdish majority provinces
of Iraq as "south Kurdistan," Kurdish areas of Iran
as "east Kurdistan," and the Kurdish inhabitanted
region of Syria as "west Kurdistan." While many
other Kurds are not quite as frank, they view the
Kurdish homeland in much the same way.
Representatives of the Iraqi Kurdish Regional
Government speak of the "dream" of Kurdistan,
without specifying whether their dream is for an
independent Iraqi Kurdistan including "the disputed
areas" or "Greater Kurdistan." The "disputed areas"
include the city of Kirkuk and nearby oil fields,
Khanaqin, Mahmour, and Sinjar, where the Yezidis, an
ancient Kurdish sect, live.
www.ekurd.net
Arab Iraqis reject these territorial demands while
Turkey and Iran regard Iraqi Kurdish ambitions as an
existential threat because Turkish and Iranian Kurds
also seek an ethnic homeland. Iraq's neighbours are
prepared to go to war to prevent both the Iraqi
Kurds and their own Kurdish citizens from achieving
self-determination.
Between 60-80 realists met last week in Irbil, the
capital of the semi-autonomous Kurdish region of
Iraq at the end of October to discuss Kurdish
polity. Dr Sherzad Ameen Al Najjar, a professor of
political science at the University of Salahaddin,
said the majority of participants, who came from
every part of Kurdistan, agreed that "each part of
Kurdistan must find its own way." Since all four
countries where Kurds dwell vehemently oppose their
demand for autonomy or independence, "it is
impossible to change borders now. The heart
recognises no borders, but the brain makes borders."
Most also said the Turkish Kurdish Workers Party (PKK)
should lay down its weapons and initiate dialogue.
"Nobody said the PKK is a criminal organisation but
all asked it to leave Iraqi Kurdistan."
Those attending the four day event were academics,
journalists and intellectuals. In its final
declaration, the conference called for co-operation
amongst the different areas where Kurds live and
common policies. The feeling of the conference was
that Turkey and its Kurdish citizens could begin
talking and proceed step by step to an agreement. Dr
Al Najjar observed that during this year's election
72 Kurds were chosen for parliament, 50 affiliated
to the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP)
and 22 independents. He said that this demonstrated
that the PKK does not represent all Turkey's Kurds.
Indeed, the PKK has lost ground to more moderate
political forces in recent years and this may be why
it has resumed attacks on Turkish troops.
It is significant that several Kurdish men I met
during my short stay here say that they had once
fought with the peshmerga guerrillas in the
mountains. Some against Turkey, others against the
Iraqi army, and still others against the Iranian
regime.
Kurds stick to the dictum: "I fight therefore I
exist." Peshmerga are in key positions in the
government, administration, and business. Peshmerga
veterans are said to number 100,000 and receive
pensions ranging from $50-500 a month, depending on
period of service and rank. Some 20,000 former
fighters are also employed by the Ministry of
Peshmerga as forest rangers and could, if properly
trained and led, become the vanguard of the region's
nascent ecological movement.
Having, as peshmerga opposition activists put it,
"come down from the mountains," the fighters have,
however, failed as governors and administrators.
They have not delivered what the Iraqi Kurds want
and expect from their rulers. Kurds from all levels
of government, the civil service and society openly
express dissatisfaction with the mismanagement and
corruption that reigns in this region. Amongst the
critics of the establishment is Kadir Aziz, head of
the Workers' Party and representative of the
presidency for monitoring the work of the committee
dealing with implementation of Article 40 of the
2005 Constitution. This article provides for a
referendum for the residents of Kirkuk and other
"disputed areas" to decide whether they want to be
annexed to the Kurdish region. The situation must be
very serious if someone of Aziz's stature speaks so
frankly about corruption. Others say peshmerga
veterans must now campaign for good governance.
www.ekurd.net
So far reformists have made little headway because,
since the Kurdish Democratic Party of Massoud
Barzani and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan of
Jalal Talabani reached a power-sharing agreement in
1996, these two parties have run the Kurdish region
a joint fiefdom, dividing the jobs and benefits more
or less fifty-fifty. This means that neither of the
dominant parties is ready for change. This
undermines development and retards retarding
economic growth in the sole relatively stable
province of Iraq.
godubai com/gulftoday
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