OP/ED pieces are restricted to
columnists who contribute their opinions solely to the Kurdistan Observer
The Kurds and Turkey
By: Harkool Saadalla
April 16, 2007
History is a witness that the Kurdish people have never mobilized any effort to
invade other nations in the region or conquer lands and territories belonging to
others. Yet, unfortunately, the same cannot be said for many of our neighboring
nations and states in the region. History has many examples of invasion,
injustices and territorial grab carried out by them under the banners of unity
and religion in some cases, or by changing historical facts or shamelessly
denying the existence of other nations in other cases. Tragically, the Kurdish
nation and Kurdistan have been at one time or another and in one part or another
victim of all the above scenarios of occupation. Naturally, the Kurds have
resisted all attempts of aggression against them including attempts aiming at
denial of their just rights and their very existence as a separate people.
Today and again, the Turkish generals and government are resurfacing every
effort and excuse in order to put down the legitimate dreams of the people of
Kurdistan in general and the Kurdish nation in Turkey particularly. The Turkish
generals, masters of the political establishment in Turkey, have chosen to open
two fronts recently – a military one in the Northern Kurdistan region in Turkey
and a campaign of threats and intimidation against the Kurdistan Regional
Government (KRG) in Iraq.
In Northern Kurdistan, the Turkish generals have amassed a tyrannical military
force in the region supported by tanks, air power, and the mightiest military
machinery they have to terrorize the Kurdish nation and to engage in mass
arrests and killing. Undoubtedly, this military campaign as the case with many
similar ones in the past would fail to halt unrest in Northern Kurdistan let
alone defeat the Kurdish movement and aspirations for freedom.
The Turkish ruler’s campaign of intimidation and threats against the KRG and its
President Massoud Barzani has been based on lies and fabricated claims aimed to
stir trouble in this shining part of Kurdistan with its newly found freedom,
stability and prosperity. Terrified that this freedom and prosperity in Southern
Kurdistan would entice the Kurds in Turkey for greater aspiration for freedom,
the Turkish generals seem to have made it their mission to stir trouble in the
peaceful Southern Kurdistan. So they make the unfounded claim that the KRG is
assisting Kurdish freedom fighters in the bordering mountains. Other times, they
make threats of intervening in Kurdistan to protect rights of the Turkmen
minority in Kirkuk. How ironic that the Turkish regime would protect the rights
of no more than half a million Turkmen in Southern Kurdistan while depriving 30
million Kurds in Turkey. Suffice to say that the Turkmen minority in Kurdistan
is a participant in the government as a distinct people and enjoy all the rights
and freedoms under the KRG constitution – those rights that 30 million Kurds in
Turkey can only dream of having at this moment in history.
It is time the Turkish rulers understood that threats, talk of war and the
fascist attitude of feeling supreme over the Kurdish people is not going to
solve Turkey’s problems. It is the right time for Turkey to understand that the
only viable road to a lasting peace and security is to engage in a serious
dialogue with the Kurdish representatives to reach a just agreement in which the
Kurdish people have their full rights and freedoms. Only then can Turkey join
the civilized world, rightly claim democracy and partake in the European Union
as an equal and effective member.
