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Kurdish
Culture, Identity, and the Challenge of Regional Co-Existence
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Source : The Elliott School of International Affairs |
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Kurd Net
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Kurdish Culture, Identity, and the
Challenge of Regional Co-Existence
30.11.2007
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A conversation with the Special Assistant to the
KRG Representative, Mr. Heyrsh Abdulrahman
The Middle
East Peace Group and the Conflict Resolution Forum
The Elliott School of International Affairs, Lidner
Family Commons, Suite 602, Wednesday, November 28th
2007
November
30, 2007
Heyrsh GW speech, Middle East peace Group on
November 28th 2007
Good evening and thank you for asking me to join
you. It was just a few years ago that I was also a
university student in nearby Virginia. To me, the
university was one of the greatest experiences of my
life – it gave me the chance to think, to challenge
and learn and to begin to see how the life ahead of
me could be rewarding and meaningful.
I have not been disappointed so far!! Yet in those
few short years since my graduation, much of the
world has dramatically changed, including the part
of the world – Kurdistan and Iraq – where I was born
and that I think of when I hear the word “homeland.”
The changes have been positive, for the most part,
yet are a good reminder of one of the lessons I
learned in university – for most questions answered,
many new questions often arise.
And so we now look at the new question of where do
we go from here in Iraqi Kurdistan and in the
surrounding areas. And how do I, you and all of us,
ensure that the path forward is one of peace and
continued reconciliation, a “teaching example” to
the world of how a new democracy can begin and grow,
build trust and cooperation with its neighbors and
ensure its citizens human rights and opportunities.
The purpose of your organization, the Middle East
Peace Group, is to create meaningful encounters
between people and make people think differently
about their own issues. www.ekurd.netUncensored,
meaningful encounters are crucial to understanding
and harmony. It’s not just what you learn in a
textbook but also what you learn from the human,
personal connections.
It’s an important time to be talking about Iraq and
the region. Americans are engaged in debate on what
their presence will be in the democracy they helped
to birth. Iraqis of all backgrounds, realizing they
now can actually talk and discuss politics and
decide their future, are trying to build upon the
framework of federalism developed in our new
constitution to make it strong and vibrant.
For Iraqi Kurds, we are ready to join in this
development. In a sense, we have been blessed with
more than 15 years of experience in limited
self-rule. Protected by the United States, the
United Kingdom and France in the aftermath of the
1991 Gulf war, Iraqi Kurds were able to begin the
rudimentary steps toward a democracy and free
enterprise system. When Iraq’s liberation became
complete with the multi-national intervention in
2003, Iraqi Kurds had a living, breathing microcosm
of a democracy that all of Iraq could embrace.
It has been said of the Kurds that “We have no
friends but the mountains.” For nearly all of our
existence this has been largely true -- we have been
attacked, persecuted and threatened by our neighbors,
and made to feel unsafe and unwelcome in the lands
of our birth.
Nowhere was the brutality more severe than when
Saddam Hussein spent most of twenty years trying to
liquidate our people. Through the horrors of Halabja,
the Anfal and a merciless military campaign, the
Baathist regime sought our complete elimination as a
people. Yet, after the loss of hundreds of thousands
of Kurds, and the destruction of our infrastructure
and our villages and way of life, we have survived
and today we are recovering in every sense of the
word – economically, culturally, politically and
socially.
I mention this history because it is important to
understand how it has impacted our views on Iraq and
our behavior today. After the first Gulf War in
1991, through the efforts of the United States and
others the Kurdistan Region became essentially
self-governing. We were cut off from the rest of
Iraq in military terms, but also in economic terms.
Saddam Hussein refused to supply us power, water,
trade, food, nor any of the essentials of life. It
was a time of great struggle and great challenge for
our people. We were free in many ways, but we were
deprived, hungry and barely able to create the
conditions for life. With the help of the United
States, and other friends abroad, we have come a
lone way.
One of those friends is Turkey. We could not have
accomplished any of these democratic triumphs
without the help and support of our neighbors in
Turkey. Throughout many of the struggles and
violence I mentioned earlier, the Turks were our
allies. They sheltered us and provided us comfort
and resources when the rest of the world had
abandoned us. To be sure, we have had our
differences, but more often than not, the Turks have
been our brothers in the struggle for peace and
freedom. We rely on Turkey for most of our foreign
trade. We want to work with Turkey and other
interested parties to find a long-term political
solution which can bring peace and cooperation back
to the border between Iraqi Kurdistan and Turkey.
We are emerging from a difficult period in our
history, but we are optimistic as we look to the
future. After decades of repression and violence,
Kurds, and all the groups who share our region are
building the institutions of democracy and freedom.www.ekurd.net
We are learning how to be responsible leaders and we
are committed to playing a constructive and positive
role within Iraq. Iraqi President Jalal Talabani,
who is a Kurd, has dedicated his life to re-building
a federal democratic Iraq. Many of our Kurdish
brothers hold high positions in Baghdad. We want the
idea of Iraq to work and we want to be part of it
provided that the new Iraq protects us and our way
of life.
We are grateful for the support which we receive
from abroad, and for the liberation of our country.
We are aware that a great debate is being conducted
in the US and elsewhere regarding whether to
maintain military troops in Iraq. While it is for
Americans to decide, I can tell you that your
presence over the past four years has accomplished a
great deal. Iraq is far from perfect, it faces many
and difficult challenges in the years ahead. But
progress is being made. We will continue this work,
whether American troops remain or not.
But I want to say today the sacrifices you have made
have not been in vain. Iraq is free today, and at
least one part of Iraq, the Kurdistan Region, is
becoming the kind of peaceful, democratic and
tolerant society that America and the allies hoped
when they committed to the liberation of Iraq.
Reconciliation comes in many forms. You know this
well. The Middle East Group was founded by Adi
Timor, who was born and raised in Israel but had
never met a Palestinian until she was participating
in a conflict resolution workshop at George Mason
University. Now there is this vibrant student
organization with the goal of sustaining meaningful
dialogue about conflicts in the Middle East.
Mother Teresa once said, “If we have no peace, it is
because we have forgotten we belong to one another.”
Working together economically, politically and
socially is one of the strongest way to achieve that
important goal.
Your two-year-old organization has the goal to build
and shape a new community of young leaders that are
willing to provide a fresh perspective on the
ongoing conflicts and assist in introducing new
ideas and ways to help achieve peace in the Middle
East. I suspect I would be a member of your
organization if I were a student here today. www.ekurd.net
Very soon, if not already, it will be up to our
generation to provide the brainpower and strength to
make our world a better place, to build on what was
left us and improve upon the many things needing
work. I hope all of us can find our corners of the
world that call to us and, through our actions we
will triumph.
Conflict Resolution Forum
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