Kurdistan Observer

The state of Turkey has given itself the authority to antagonise anything related to Kurds and Kurdistan since the tricky establishment of the Turkish state after Lausanne treaty 1923 after double crossing the Kurds together with the colonialist powers, Britain and France and dividing the homeland of Kurds (Kurdistan) among Turkey, Iran, Syria and Iraq and depriving the Kurds of their legitimate right of independence and self-determination.

The Turkish state since then, is not only pursuing a policy of forced assimilation against the Kurdish population in North Kurdistan ( The part of Kurdistan occupied by Turkey), denying them every right to use their mother tongue (which has nothing to do with Turkish language), in communication, publication and broadcasting, denying Kurdish parents the right to give their children Kurdish names and changing the Kurdish names of Kurdish towns and villages to unpopular Turkish names....etc, but it gives itself the right to interfere and intervene in every part where the Kurds live, even when these Kurds are outside the recognized borders of Turkey like in Iraq, Iran, Syria or anywhere in the world, the sick man of Europe lives still under the notion of the sick ottoman Empire and so gives itself the right to dictate the Fate of Kurds, and whenever there is any serious attempt by the Kurds to grasp their own legitimate rights as a nation with its own language, culture, history and aspiration, Turkey interferes directly in the affairs of Kurds to foil these attempts.

With the establishment of safe heaven in South Kurdistan (i.e. Iraqi Kurdistan) in the aftermath of the second gulf war in 1991 to protect the Kurdish population against the orgy of murder and destruction by the notorious republican guards of Saddam Hussein after the brutal suppression of the Kurdish uprising in 1991, the Iraqi Kurds managed to the surprise of friends and enemies in changing the face of the country, establishing government institutions, rebuilding their destroyed villages and towns, creating the rule of law and marching with wide steps towards a civil democratic society with full respect for all ethnic and religious minorities which live together with Kurds in Iraqi Kurdistan (including Assyrians, Cheldans and Turkmen) where every body enjoys unrestricted cultural and national rights in a manner unprecedented in the Middle-East, establishing in reality a de facto Kurdish state where the Kurds administer themselves successfully in all aspects of life despite the hardships of double sanctions by the international community and the Iraqi regime, giving at the same time friendly and peaceful overtures to the neighbors like Turkey, Iran and Syria and opening itself to the entire world, the Kurds in essence proved without doubt their ability to run their own affairs successfully to the detriment of their hostile neighbors. The Iraqi Kurds have extended the hands of friendship and cooperation to all neighboring countries including Turkey, and instead of welcoming this attitude, the Turkish authorities adopted a very hostile attitude to the new administration and is trying on regional and international level to campaign for denial of Kurdish rights in Iraqi Kurdistan and objecting to assignment of any role to the Iraqi Kurds by the American administration in their determination to change the regime of Saddam Hussein by all available tools, including military means, they have created a puppet organisation through the Turkish intelligence called Turkmen Front with the sole purpose of
antagonizing the Kurdish aspirations of a co-federation with the Arabic population in a united democratic Iraq.

The Turkish state is trying to use these mercenaries to revive its ambitions to take control of the oil fields in the Kurdish city of Kirkuk under the excuse of protecting the Turkmen from Kurds!!!, although it is the Iraqi authorities that are waging a campaign of ethnic cleansing in Kirkuk against Kurds and Turkmen in Kirkuk, deporting these people after dispossessing them to the de facto state of Iraqi Kurdistan, and forcing the remaining to change their nationality to Arabic if they want to stay in Kirkuk, the Turks turn a blind eye to the real plight of Turkmen in Iraq and is trying to depict the Kurds as enemies of Turkmen, although in reality the Turkmen are enjoying unprecedented freedom in liberated Iraqi Kurdistan and the Kurdish authorities are allowing them to have their own schools in Turkish, own Radio und TV stations and to have their representation in the administration and guaranties the rights of all minorities and their right to elect their representatives in any federalstic future government of Kurdistan, including the parts occupied now by the Iraqi regime like Kirkuk , Khanaquin and shangar. The Kurds have been themselves subjected to historic injustice and they are adamant on applying democracy and the rule of Law without any discrimination against any ethnic or religious groups that inhabit Kurdistan with Kurds.

The Kurdish administrations in Arbil and Sulaimany must realise that their achievements are enormous and are there to stay and flourish and in no way subject to compromise or intimidation by Turkey or Iran or nationalistic elements in the Iraqi opposition. The Iraqi Kurds must state their demands for the right of self-determination, including the right of independence or a co-federation within Iraq loud and clear, and their leaders must avoid ambiguous and shy statements just to please countries like Turkey or certain elements in the Iraqi opposition, the major Kurdish political parties must have a common stand and avoid stabbing each other in the back for narrow transient political gains on the expense of the rights of Kurdish people. The Kurds have already a de facto state and they have proven themselves to be a modern, tolerant and democratic force and they should not wait for future Iraqi leaders to (donate) them their rights, because they are already in possession of these rights and no honorable Kurd is ready to accept any thing less.

The Iraqi Kurds must have iron-clad commitments in writing from American administration that the federal solution will be continued as it is now with the addition of the parts occupied now by the Iraqi regime like Kirkuk or demand a Referendum in Kurdistan under the United Nations auspices to determine the choice of the people of Kurdistan after the imminent Fall of the regime of Saddam Hussein. They should ask the American administration to press Turkey not to interfere in the internal affairs of Kurds in Iraqi Kurdistan, the future of Kurds in Iraq is something which must be settled within the Iraqi opposition and with a clear commitment of the American administration and the international community away from the biased and chauvinistic interferences of neighboring countries.

Dr.Nazad Hawramany
Switzerland