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Kurds: The Engine of Democracy
21.9.2007
By Joseph Puder
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September
21, 2007
Sherkoh Abbas, President of the Kurdistan National
Assembly Syria (KNA-S) was the guest speaker at an
Interfaith Taskforce for America and Israel (ITAI)
luncheon on Wednesday, August 29, 2007, at
Philadelphia’s Union League.
ITAI’s chairman Charles Kahn Jr. introduced Mr.
Abbas and greeted the roomful of participants, which
included a number of Protestant clergymen. Rev.
William Sutter delivered the invocation.
A native of Western Kurdistan (Syria), Sherkoh Abbas
is a longtime Kurdish-American activist who has
successfully united the Syrian Kurdish movement, and
created a coalition of Syrian opposition groups
(Kurdish and Arab), whose aim is to bring freedom
and democracy in Syria. Abbas is also the founder
and director of the Center for Democracy in the
Middle East and co-founder of the America-Kurdistan
Friendship League (AKFL). In March 2006, Abbas
organized a conference at the U.S. Senate in
Washington that brought together all the oppositions
groups in Syria, including Sunni-Arabs, Kurds,
Christians, and Druze. |
Sherkoh Abbas, President of the Kurdistan National
Assembly Syria (KNA-S) |
Abbas is also the
President of the Kurdish-American Committee for
Democracy in Syria, and co-founder of the Kurdish
National Congress.
He has testified at the U.S. Congress on behalf of
stateless Kurds in Syria, and organized a conference
at the European Parliament to address the issue of
Kurdish human and national rights within Syria.
Abbas is a prominent leader of the Kurdish Dorkian
tribe.
Abbas began his presentation with a short history of
the Kurdish people. “Kurds” he said, “live in the
Middle East divided among 4-5 nations: Iran, Iraq,
Syria, Turkey, and the former Soviet bloc. We call
the Iran portion as East Kurdistan, Iraq as south
Kurdistan, Syria as West Kurdistan, and Turkey as
North Kurdistan. The area of Kurdistan is larger
than France. Kurds number about 40-50 millions:
10-12 million in Iran, 5-6 million in Iraq, 3-4
million in Syria, and 25-35 million in Turkey.”
Explaining that Kurds have been oppressed for more
than a century by Arab, Persian, and Turkish rulers,
Abbas reminded the audience that “Saddam Hussein
gassed 5000 Kurds in Halabja in 1988,” and that
other regimes like the Assads in Syria have
“practiced ethnic cleansing against the Kurds and
stripped them of Syrian citizenship.” Kurds want
democracy in the Middle East for obvious reasons-it
would benefit them. At the very least, they are
seeking federalism in Iraq, Iran, Syria and Turkey,
if not outright independence.
Turning his attention to U.S. policy in the region
Abbas asked: “Can you imagine 50-100 million ethnic
and religious minorities in the Middle East becoming
part of your (American) team, promoting democracy,
human rights, and fighting Islamic radicalism?
50%-75% of these minorities are moderate Muslims who
want secular governments. They are anti-radicals and
pro-American, and moreover are willing to stand and
fight against the radicals in the Muslim world. It
could change the outcome in Iraq, and may very well
produce amazing results for America in Syria, Iran
and Lebanon.”
Abbas pointed out that the U.S. has lost its focus
in the war of ideas against radical Islam. “In my
view, the U.S. moved from its original goal of
democratization of the Middle East and supporting
its allies, to pleasing certain powers in the Middle
East.”
The Kurds, he charged, could become “the engine for
democracy” in the Middle East with support from the
free world, particularly the U.S. and its allies.
Kurds have the advantage of knowing the languages,
cultures, and religions of the Middle East region;
therefore it would be much easier for them to spread
democracy than for 150,000 American troops in Iraq.
“It is therefore essential for the U.S. to support
democracy advocates in the Middle East, and most
naturally the Kurds, because they are the only
people who have embraced the American vision of
democratization in the Middle East,” Abbas added.
Abbas related his personal experience in Syria
regarding the role of the government-controlled
media in Syria: “Growing up in Syria and well
through my high school years, and very much until I
left Syria, I would hear or watch on TV anti-Jewish,
anti-American and anti-democracy propaganda that
caused me to imagine Americans and Jews as
monsters.” He added, “The Syrian propaganda accused
Kurds of being agents of foreign nations like Israel
and America.” Abbas questioned why the U.S. and to
some degree Israel, continue to protect such regimes
and why instead are they not supporting democracy
and those willing to fight for it.
Repeating his message he declared, “In a nutshell,
America and its allies: Israel, U.K., Canada,
Australia, and the Europeans need to reevaluate
their policies in the Middle East and move away from
the status-quo of protecting oppressive regimes that
spread radicalism, terrorism and violence, to
supporting democracy and human rights for minorities
in the region.”
Addressing the Iranian threat, Abbas asserted that,
“Iran has created a forward base in northern Israel.
Iranians are in Syria and Lebanon, and are spreading
south and west. Today, Abbas said, “More than
100,000 Iranians are in Syria and Lebanon promoting
and exporting death and destruction, violence and
radicalism. It would be wise for Israel to support
the Kurds and other minorities in Iran to contain
the Tehran Ayatollahs, and provide some breathing
room for the Iranian opposition, to bring democracy
to their country.”
In ending, Abbas reminded the audience of the newly
established America-Kurdistan Friendship League (AKFL)
and exhorted the audience to visit and invest in
Iraqi Kurdistan. He cited the 4000 Kurdish villages
destroyed by Saddam Hussein and suggested that, “Now
it is an opportunity for American business to invest
and rebuild Kurdistan in multiple areas such as real
estate development, infrastructure building, oil and
water. The Kurdish Regional Government (KRG) he said
“Is business friendly and most friendly to
Americans.” Abbas invited the audience to go with
AKFL on a mission to Kurdistan.
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