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THE KURDISH QUESTION
- ITS HISTORY AND PRESENT SITUATION
- Kemal Burkay
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- During recent years the Kurdish
question has reappeared, more intensely than before, on the international
agenda. For years, this question has been of fundamental concern
to the countries of the region, and it has led to extensive internal
controversies and economic and social crises. In order to further
an understanding of the Kurdish question in its present dimensions,
a summary of its historical and geographical background is necessary.
- Language, Religion, and History
- The Kurds are, together with the
Arabs, Persians, and Armenians, one of the most ancient peoples
of the Near East. The country they inhabit is called Kurdistan.
The Kurds have their own language, Kurdish. Kurdish is a member
of the Indo-European family of languages; like Persian, Afghan,
and Beluchi, it is one of the Iranian languages. Kurdish is unrelated
to the Arabic or Turkish languages.
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- Literary works have been written
in the Kurdish language since the tenth century A.D. Kurdish is
a lively and rich language that has managed to survive despite
all the oppression and bans to which it has been exposed. There
are hundreds of poets, writers, and researchers writing in Kurdish.
Many dictionaries and grammar books have been written for the
Kurdish language. Kurdish folklore also has a very rich tradition.
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- Over time, various dialects have
arisen within the Kurdish language. The most widely disseminated
dialect is Kurmanci. It is spoken by about 90% of the Kurds in
Turkey, in Iranian and Iraqi Kurdistan in the northern areas near
the Turkish border, and by the Syrian Kurds - that is, by about
60% of all Kurds. The Sorani dialect is spoken by about 25% of
the Kurds. This dialect is spoken in the middle and southern regions
of Iranian and Iraqi Kurdistan. Zazaki is a third dialect, which
is spoken in certain regions of Turkish Kurdistan. In the southernmost
parts of Kurdistan, Gorani and other dialects are spoken.
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- The great majority of Kurds, about
75%, are Sunni Moslems; about 15% are Alevite Moslems. The Alevites
are in the majority in the northern and western areas of Turkish
Kurdistan and in the Chorasan region of Iran. In Iran and Irak
there exist other religious groups such as Shiite Kurds (Feyli)
and the Ehlihak ("the people of God"), who are closely related
with the Alevites. In the various parts of Kurdistan, especially
in the region where the borders of Turkey, Iran, and Irak meet
and in Armenia, there are Kurdish Yezidi communities. In earlier
times, the Yezidi faith was a widely shared religious orientation.
Its roots go back to Zoroastrianism. Finally, in the middle regions
of Kurdistan there are small groups of Christianity.
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- Kurds have played a significant
role in the history of this region since its early epochs. A great
deal of information on this can be found in numerous Greek, Roman,
Arab, and Armenian sources. According to them, the Kurds founded
several important states during the Islamic epoch between the
tenth and thirteenth centuries, such as Shaddâdiden, Marvâniden,
and Ayyûbiden - as well as in the distant past. Sultan Salahaddin
(Salâh al-Dîn), the founder of the Ayyûbid state,
which included Egypt, Syria, and Kurdistan, played a particularly
significant role in history.
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- The Turks, whose roots are in Middle
Asia, migrated to Anatolia via Iran after the eleventh century
and founded the Selchuk and subsequently the Ottoman states. For
a long time, Kurdistan was the theater of military clashes between
the Ottoman and the Persian empires. During this period, the Kurdish
princes sided first with one side, then the other, thus maintaining
their autonomy. But in the year 1638, Kurdistan was officially
divided between these two states in the Treaty of Kasri Shirin.
From that time until the mid-nineteenth century, both states made
armed attacks on the Kurdish princedoms in order to destroy them.
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- The Kurds' struggle against these
two great states took on a nationalistic character at the beginning
of the nineteenth century. Kurdish princes such as Bedirkhan and
Yazdânsher, as well as religious leaders such as Sheik Ubeydullah,
fought for the unity and independence of Kurdistan, but they were
defeated.
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- After World War I, the Ottoman
Empire became past history: new states arose on its former territory.
According to the Treaty of Sèvres, which was signed on
10 August 1920, the state of Kurdistan was also to be established
in the region. But this intention was not subsequently implemented.
In the Treaty of Lausanne, signed on 24 July 1923, that part of
Kurdistan which had been part of the Ottoman Empire was carved
up again. Part of it was included in the British and French Mandates,
where Syria and Iraq later came into being. The largest part of
Kurdistan remained within the state borders of the Republic of
Turkey, which had been founded on the ruins of the Ottoman Empire.
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- The Ottoman and the Persian Empires,
which had divided up Kurdistan between themselves, did not question
the existence of the Kurdish people at any time. The Republic
of Turkey also initially defined its new borders as the "borders
of the Misak-i Milli (National Pact), which include the areas
settled by the Turkish and Kurdish majority". About 70 Kurdish
Members of Parliament were present at the first session of the
Great National Assembly in Ankara; they were officially designated
as the "MPs of Kurdistan". The Turkish representative, Ismet Pasha,
declared at Lausanne: "The Kurds and the Turks are the essential
components of the Republic of Turkey. The Kurds are not a minority
but a nation; the government in Ankara is the government of the
Turks as well as of the Kurds."
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- However, after the signing of the
Treaty of Lausanne, Ankara's policy rapidly changed. The structures
of the new state were designed wholly in accordance with Turkish
interests. The Kurds' existence was denied. The Kurdish language,
the practice of Kurdish culture, even the concepts of "Kurdish"
and "Kurdistan" were forbidden. The Kemalist leadership paid not
the slightest attention to the multi-cultural structure of Anatolia,
which was in fact a mosaic of different ethnic groups. The keystone
of their policy became the melting of other languages and cultures
into the Turkish language and culture, thus creating "a unified
nation". Article 39 of the Treaty of Lausanne, according to which
the citizens of Turkey have the right to freely use their respective
languages in all areas of life, was trampled upon, and the Kurdish
language was totally forbidden in the educational system and the
printed media. Speaking about the Kurds and criticizing the oppression
of them was held to be a severe crime and was massively punished.
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- In 1925 the Kurds, led by Sheik
Said, rose up against this policy. But this uprising was brutally
suppressed; tens of thousands of Kurds were killed and driven
into exile. There were more Kurdish uprisings in subsequent years,
the major ones taking place in Ararat in 1930 and in Dersim in
1938. The Turkish state waged war in Kurdistan on a permanent
basis.
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- After 1938, there was a relatively
peaceful pause that lasted about 20 years. However, it is not
surprising that the Kurds - who had no national rights and were
being subjected to massive oppression, who were forced into poverty
and ignorance, who saw all peaceful and legal avenues of political
struggle closed off to them - once again began to arm themselves
against the cruel oppression of the Turkish state. Since 1979,
Turkey has ruled Kurdistan through military law, a State of Emergency,
and a dirty war.
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- Similar developments unfolded in
the other parts of Kurdistan. The Kurds living within the borders
of Iraq, or southern Kurdistan, have also been resisting oppression
since World War I. They staged uprisings that were led first by
Sheik Mahmud Barzenci (1919-1923), then by Sheik Ahmed Barzani
and his brother Mustafa Barzani (1933 and later). These uprisings
also ended in defeat. But in Iraq, at no point was Kurdish identity
denied. Moreover, because of the uprisings the Kurds were granted
certain cultural rights. They were given schools, universities,
radio broadcasts etc. In this part of Kurdistan, Kurdish culture
is relatively well-developed.
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- The greatest Kurdish uprising in
this part of Kurdistan began in 1961 under Mustafa Barzani and
lasted until 1970. In 1970, the Kurds reached an agreement with
the central government concerning an autonomous region. However,
the government in Baghdad stalled the Kurds and ignored the conditions
of the agreement. For this reason, the war broke out again in
1975. With several pauses, this struggle lasted until 1991.
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- The war against the Kurds has been
expensive for Iraq. In order to halt Iran's support of the Kurds,
the Saddam Hussein regime initially made territorial concessions
to Iran. Then, to win back these areas, it started the destructive
eight-year war against Iran which devastated Kurdistan. Iraq even
used poison gas in its attacks on the Kurds. After this war ended,
Iraq moved on to its invasion of Kuwait, with whose subsequent
developments the reader is doubtless familiar.
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- Saddam Hussein suffered a massive
defeat in his war against the allies. The Kurds were initially
subjected to mass expulsion, but later a United Nations declaration
created a security zone for them. The refugees returned to their
homeland. In what is now known as "northern Iraq", i.e. southern
Kurdistan, the Kurds created a parliament and a national government.
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- But the Iraqi problem has still
not been solved today. The country is being subjected to a UN
embargo, and the Iraqi Kurds are in an extremely difficult situation.
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- The state of Iran has practiced
a policy of oppression against the Kurds similar to that of Turkey's
Kemalist regime. After World War II, when Iran was occupied in
the north by the Soviet Union and in the south by Great Britain,
the Kurds were able to pause for breath and they quickly organized
themselves. The Democratic Party of Kurdistan was founded and
subsequently the Kurdish Republic of Mahabad was proclaimed. But
soon thereafter the government in Tehran, with the political support
of Great Britain and America, annihilated the Republic of Mahabad.
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- But the Kurdish people's resistance
has not ceased. When the Shah's regime ended in 1978, this part
of Kurdistan could once again enjoy freedom. Yet this phase did
not last long either. It was soon followed by the attacks of the
new regime of the mullahs. The armed resistance to this regime
that began in 1979 is still continuing today.
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- In summary, the Kurdish people
have continually resisted the cruel oppression and colonialization
of them in these three major parts of Kurdistan, both before and
after World War I, up to the present day. They have struggled
to keep alive their identity, claim their national rights, and
freely determine their own destiny. During this struggle, the
Kurds have lost hundreds of thousands of their people and have
been the victims of mass expulsions. Tremendous suffering has
been inflicted on them. This is in fact a case of genocide. But
unfortunately, neither the League of Nations nor the United Nations
have lived up to their responsibilities in the face of our people's
tragedy. They have merely been onlookers of these events.
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- Geography and Population
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- The number of Kurds in the four
parts of Kurdistan and within the borders of the four countries
that have divided it up between themselves totals about 35 million.
This makes the Kurds, after the Arabs, Turks, and Persians, the
fourth-largest nation in the Near East.
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- Kurdistan, which has since time
immemorial been inhabited by the Kurds, has a territory of 500,000
square km, which is as large as that of France. In other words,
the Kurds are not a minority in their country; they are the majority.
The Kurdish question is not the problem of a minority of the population
of this or that country; it is the question of a divided country
and a nation. Like all other nations, the Kurds too have the right
to self-determination.
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- The borders that divide Kurdistan
are neither natural, economic, nor cultural borders. They are
artificial borders that have been drawn against the will of the
Kurdish people according to the interests of the forces that did
the dividing and the balance of power. In many cases these borders
have divided villages, towns, even families, and have had divisive
and destructive effects on economic, social, and cultural life.
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- The largest part of Kurdistan,
which in terms of both its population and its territory makes
up about one-half of the total, lies in the north inside the state
borders of Turkey. This part amounts to one-third of the total
territory of Turkey, and includes more than twenty provinces in
the "eastern and northeastern regions". Other parts, according
to their size, are eastern Kurdistan (within the borders of Iran),
southern Kurdistan (within the borders of Iraq), and Kurdish areas
within the borders of Syria.
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- In all of these parts a large number
of the inhabitants - between 80 and 90% - are Kurdish. A certain
proportion of the Kurds have lived since earlier times, or because
of the migrations and refugee movements of recent times, in other
regions and in the large cities of these countries. If we count
these as well, then about 18 to 20 million Kurds live within the
borders of Turkey, 8 to 10 million in Iran, 5 million in Iraq,
and 1.5 million in Syria.
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- About one-third of the labor migrants
who have left Turkey in the past 20 to 30 years and come to the
countries of Europe are Kurds. If we add to this the number of
Kurds from Turkey and the other parts of Kurdistan who have fled
to Europe in recent years for political and economic reasons,
the number of Kurds living in European countries comes to about
1 million. Because of migration and refugee movements, Kurdish
communities have also formed in North America and Australia.
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- Natural Resources and Economic
and Social Structures
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- With regard to its mineral resources,
Kurdistan is one of the wealthiest countries in the world. Most
of the zone extending from the Zagros mountain range to the Mediterranean,
which has been known as the "Fertile Crescent" since early times,
falls within Kurdistan.
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- Kurdistan is rich in agriculture.
The plains between the mountain ranges, especially in the warm
south, are well-suited to agriculture because of the composition
of their soil and their favorable climatic conditions. The plateaus
and mountain slopes have extremely fruitful meadowland. All types
of grain, as well as high-quality fruit and vegetables, grow in
the soil of Kurdistan. The Harran Plateau and the areas around
Cezire and Mossul are grain reservoirs for the entire region.
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- Differences in temperature and
elevation between the north and the south have resulted in the
fact that Kurdistan has always been an important country for animal
husbandry. Furthermore, Kurdistan is a reservoir of meat, butter,
cheese, wool, and animal hides for the Middle East.
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- With regard to deposits of petroleum
and other minerals, Kurdistan is a very wealthy country. A large
part of Iraq's oil resources is in Kurdistan, in the regions around
Kirkuk and Hanikin. A part of the important oil resources of Iran
is also in Kurdistan, in the region around Kirmanshah. Turkey's
oil resources are almost exclusively in Kurdistan (in the regions
around Batman, Diyarbakir, and Adiyaman). Syria's oil resources
are also mainly in Kurdistan, in the region around Cezire. Moreover,
our land is rich in mineral resources such as iron, copper, chrome,
coal, silver, gold, uranium, and phosphates.
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- Furthermore, there are rivers in
Kurdistan that are at least as important, if not more important,
than oil. The plateaus and mountains of Kurdistan, which are characterized
by heavy rainfall and in winter a heavy coat of snow, are a water
reservoir for the Near and Middle East. This is the source of
the famous Tigris and Euphrates Rivers as well as numerous other
smaller rivers. With their water, the Tigris and the Euphrates
give life not only to the Mesopotamian plain and the southern
part of Kurdistan but also to Iraq and Syria. These rivers, which
flow down from heights of three to four thousand meters above
sea level, are also very significant for the production of energy.
Iraq and Syria have built numerous dams across these rivers and
their tributaries. But the most important ones are a series of
dams that were built by Turkey as part of the GAP project (Southeast
Anatolia Project). The GAP project is still not complete, but
it already supplies a significant proportion of Turkey's electrical-energy
needs. When the project is finished, both the production of electricity
and agricultural production, through the irrigation of this part
of Kurdistan, will increase manyfold.
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- In antiquity and the Middle Ages,
Kurdistan lay on the trade route between the Far East and Europe
(the Silk and Spice Route). In recent history as well, this significance
has continued. Interestingly enough, Kurdistan is today the most
suitable region for the petroleum pipelines of Iraq and the Caucasus.
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- Kurdistan's extraordinary wealth
and its strategic location are the most important reasons why
our country is still divided and our people still subjected to
so much suffering. For the abovementioned reasons, Kurdistan drew
the attention of the Western colonizing states in the eighteenth
and nineteenth centuries. The English, the French, and the Russians
struggled for control over our country. Then, after World War
I, they once again divided it up according to their own interests.
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- The Russians pulled out of the
region after the October Revolution of 1917. The English and the
French left the region as administrators after Syria and Iraq
became independent. But their economic relations and their influence
continue to exist in the region.
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- Not only the Republic of Turkey
and Iran but also the newly formed national states of Syria and
Iraq have done all that was necessary to keep control over those
parts of Kurdistan that were granted to them and to assimilate
and exterminate the Kurds. They have brutally beaten down Kurdish
uprisings. In this regard they have in most cases cooperated and
reached agreements among themselves. They have plundered the riches
of Kurdistan and prevented it from developing economically, socially,
and culturally.
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- For these reasons, our people must
live in poverty in this wealthy country. The colonial conditions,
the constant insecurity, and the war have prevented our country
from developing its agriculture, trade, or industry. The capital
that has been gained in Kurdistan has always flowed out of our
country. The society has not been able to modernize, and the feudal
social structures of the past have not been dissolved totally.
The tribal social structure in the rural areas, the system of
large-scale land ownership, the religious sects and the sheikdom
associated with it have persisted. Even today, Kurdistan is ruled
by a semi-feudal social system. There is no significant bourgeoisie
or working class in the modern sense in its social system.
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- The dirty wars that are being waged
by the colonial states in order to beat down the stubborn Kurdish
partisan wars and popular rebellions - which have been going on
since 1961 in southern Kurdistan (Iraq), since 1979 in eastern
Kurdistan (Iran), and since 1984 in northern Kurdistan - have
devastated our country. In view of this situation, in which everything
is being brutally destroyed and people are fleeing en masse in
fear for their lives, it would be senseless to expect any economic
or social progress to take place.
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- Why Has the Kurdish Resistance
Movement Been Unsuccessful to Date?
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- The twentieth century has witnessed
the downfall of the worldwide system of colonialism and the foundation
of new states in former colonies and dependent countries. Why
have the Kurds, with their long history and a rich culture, not
attained their freedom, even though they have continually waged
resistance since the beginning of the nineteenth century and paid
a high price for it?
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- There are both internal and external
reasons for this. The feudal fragmentation within Kurdish society
is one such internal reason. The tribal social structure, divisions
between religious movements and confessions, and the institutions
of large-scale land ownership and the sheikdom have always been
obstacles to the unification of national forces. The medieval
value structure of this system has resulted in the fact that a
national consciousness has arisen only in part.
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- But these are not the essential
reasons. We must not forget that many nations in Asia and Africa
that have won their freedom have been backward with respect to
their economic and social systems, in many cases even more backward
than the Kurds. The true reasons that have prevented the Kurdish
national movement from succeeding are external ones.
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- Initially the Kurds fought against
two great empires, the Ottoman and the Persian Empires. The balance
of power was not in favor of the Kurds, and they had no external
support whatsoever. But the Balkan countries, for example, attained
their independence through the support of powerful Western states
such as Russia, Austria, England, and France. It was the English
and the French that separated Arabia from the Ottoman Empire.
These were the same powers that, in cooperation with the government
in Ankara, carved up Kurdistan once again.
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- The Kurdish rebellions that followed
World War I were opposed not only by Turkey and Iran but also
by the French and the English, which had Syria and Iraq as part
of their mandates. The English in particular used their own forces
to put down the Kurdish national rebellion in Iraq.
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- After Syria and Iraq had gained
their independence, the Kurdish national movement faced the alliance
of these four states. One of the most detrimental effects of the
division is that the territory of Kurdistan is surrounded by these
four dividing states, i.e. by enemy forces. The Kurds have no
connections with the outside world, either via land or sea. It
is very difficult to set up contacts with the outside world. Even
if friendly forces did exist which wanted to help the Kurds from
the outside, there are no routes or points of access through which
this support could reach Kurdistan directly. If the Kurdish national
movement begins an armed rebellion in any of the parts of Kurdistan,
it therefore requests a neighboring country to provide the necessary
base areas or logistic support. But this neighboring country is
still one of the four states that hold another part of Kurdistan
in its control. None of them is interested in a Kurdish victory.
These states merely play the Kurdish card against each other when
they have problems with one another from time to time. This makes
the Kurdish question, which is already complicated enough, even
more complicated. Such relations are extremely problematic for
the Kurdish national movement and occasionally bring Kurdish organizations
into a situation where they are fighting against one another.
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- Aside from this, the Kurdish national
movement has never received any substantial international support.
The basic reason for this is that large and small states that
are not directly involved in this issue put their own interests
in the foreground and do not want to take a position that is opposed
to the four states of the region (Turkey, Iraq, Iran, and Syria).
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- What Is the Solution?
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- The Kurdish national movement has
not been successful, for all of the reasons named above. On the
other hand, the four states in question have not succeeded in
their efforts to melt down the Kurds through assimilation or to
eliminate them. On the contrary, Kurdish national consciousness
has strengthened from year to year, overcome certain feudal obstacles,
and acquired the character of a mass movement. The Kurdish national
movement has organized itself and now includes all social classes
and levels. Kurds in the various parts of Kurdistan have moved
closer together. In all of these countries, Kurdish resistance
has grown stronger; in the three largest parts of Kurdistan it
has taken on the form of armed resistance which it has simply
been impossible to eradicate.
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- It has also cost the oppressive
countries dearly to deny Kurdish identity, deprive Kurds of their
rights, and implement a policy of oppression against them. The
governments of Turkey, Iraq, and Iran are compelled to wage continual
war. This war consumes their financial resources and costs them
human lives. In this respect Iraq, which has to deal with a de
facto partition, is the most interesting example. But the situation
in Turkey is no more rosy than it is in Iraq.
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- For Turkey, the policy of oppression
against the Kurds is the greatest obstacle to democracy and domestic
peace. One of the main causes of the frequent military coups in
Turkey is the Kurdish question. The dirty war that has been waged
for 11 years against the Kurdish people is consuming resources.
Turkey's direct expenditures for the war amount to between 8 and
10 billion US dollars annually. The economy of Kurdistan has been
totally crippled; agriculture, trade, and animal husbandry have
collapsed.
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- A point has been reached at which
the Kurdish question has precipitated a serious economic and political
crisis in Turkey. Violence stretches over the entire social life
of the country like a net. Chauvinistic nationalism and militarism
are intensifying.
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- The government and official spokesman
continue to blame the PKK - the so-called "handful of terrorists"
- for the miserable situation. But the main responsibility of
the present misery and all the suffering that has been inflicted
on both peoples must be borne by the Turkish state itself. The
point that has been reached today is the result of a wrong-headed
policy that has been implemented for seventy years.
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- There is no doubt that this problem
can not be solved by the army or the police. A peaceful solution
is possible through dialogue and the recognition of Kurdish rights,
and this is in the interests of both peoples. Thus peace and democracy
could move into the country, and Turkey as a whole and Kurdistan
in particular could enter into a phase of development.
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- During recent years, groups of
reasonable people have been increasingly criticizing the policy
that has been followed so intensely for the past seventy years,
which has brought nothing to anybody and led the country ever
deeper into an impasse. They have committed themselves to a peaceful
solution. Groups of businessmen and workers, intellectuals and
the media are increasingly allying themselves with this point
of view. The international situation is also forcing Turkey toward
a change of course.
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- In recent years, the Kurdish question
has developed from a regional problem into an international one.
In this connection, the UN resolution to protect the Iraqi Kurds
is extremely significant. Turkey, which wants to be accepted into
the European Union, must adapt its political and cultural life
to European standards, and put into practical effect the international
treaties which it has signed.
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- The conclusion I have reached on
the basis of all I have presented so far is that the solution
of the Kurdish question, despite the unfavorable present situation,
is moving closer. In order to make a peaceful solution possible
as soon as possible, the peace initiatives at the national and
international levels must be strengthened.
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- The Socialist Party of Kurdistan,
of which I am a member, advocates a peaceful and just solution.
Despite all the oppression and provocations to which the Kurdish
people has been subjected and is still being subjected, we have
opted from the very beginning for political and peaceful methods
of struggle. In our opinion, the peaceful coexistence of both
peoples is possible, and therefore our party proposes a federation.
We can find solutions that are similar to those developed in Spain,
Belgium, or Switzerland. The same demands that Turkey is making
for the hundred thousand Turks on Cyprus, it should also grant
within its own borders to the Kurdish nation with its 20 million
people.
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- But for this to happen, first of
all there must be a bilateral ceasefire and negotiations must
be initiated.
-
- In our view, a peaceful solution
to the problem is also possible in the other parts of Kurdistan.
In all parts of Kurdistan, the existence and rights of the Kurdish
people must be respected. Federal solutions based on equal rights
must be devised.
-
- The question of the unity of the
Kurdish nation is a question of the future. I believe that the
Middle East region will experience great changes in the future,
as other regions have done. The despotic, oppressive, and primitive
regimes of today will go, relations between the peoples of the
region will improve, and there will be a phase of rapprochement,
as is happening now in Europe. The borders will lose their significance.
Artificial borders, which today divide Kurdistan with barbed wire
and land mines, will then also disappear.
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