Turkey And The Kurdish Nation  
by: Mohammed M. A. Ahmed

Aug 23, 2002

Though the Arabs and Persians have been no less oppressive and
opposed to Kurdish national aspirations, they have maintained a much lower profile than the Turks on the Kurdish issue. Why does Turkey harbors such a strong hate and opposition to the Kurdish nation, which helped their ancestors build the Ottoman empire? Kemal Ataturk was able to skillfully manipulate the Kurdish population of Northern Kurdistan by promising them partnership in the new state of Turkey. Instead of treating the Kurds as equal partners, the Kemalists later denied their very existence. They embarked on the assimilation of the Kurds with a view to wiping out the Kurdish nation.

The Turks thought that by denying the Kurds the right to speak
their mother tongue and exercise their cultural heritage, they will
eventually become Turks within a few decades. After almost eight decades of Turkey`s oppressive policy, the Kurdish nation is very well and kicking. They called the Kurds Mountain Turks who had forgotten their mother tongue and cultural heritage. The Kurds were deprived not only of their civil rights, but also of equal economic opportunities with the rest of population. As a result, the Kurdish region, which is endowed with many natural resources, including oil and water, has remained underdeveloped with high rates of unemployment, low per capita income, high child mortality, and a very low literacy rate.

Turkey's unwise policy has certainly negatively impacted not only
the Kurdish economy, but also the overall economy of Turkey. Just imagine how much contribution some 15 million educated and skilled Kurds could have made to the Turkish economy during the past decades. Its Kurdish policy has left the Turkish economy in shambles, prone to collapse without continued American/ IMF help. Despite the billions of dollars of IMF (International Monetary Fund) money pumped into Turkey's economy, inflation is sky-rocketing and unemployment is rampant in the country. Instead of investing in economic development and social justice, Turkey spent some eight billion dollars a year fighting the Kurdish rebels during 1984-1999.

Due to the rigid and irrational government policy and its
discriminatory practices against the Kurds, the Kurdish region has suffered much more than the rest of the country. In the absence of a better outlet for expressing their political and social grievances, the Kurdish Workers Party (PKK) emerged in 1984 and rose up against the central government, which is controlled by ideologically oriented armed forces who claim to be the guardians of Kemal Ataturk`s legacy. If their claim that that they are protecting a pluralistic democratic system is correct, why then has the
European Union made the revamping of the Turkish constitution a prerequisite for joining their club?.

Assisted by the western states, Turkey was able to capture, try,
and imprison Abdullah Ocelan, the leader of the Kurdish uprising in Northern Kurdistan-Turkey. Under pressure from the European community, the PKK changed its strategy from armed struggle to political activism. It renounced acts of violence, called for an unconditional cease-fire, and demobilized its activities inside Turkey. In order to pacify the Kurdish movement in Turkey, the European Community called on Turkey to discontinue the death penalty,
allow broadcasting in Kurdish, and legalize education in Kurdish. The
European Union has made these changes, among others, as a prerequisite for opening a membership dialogue. Turkey has recently made some cosmetic changes in its constitution to reflect these requests. However, reading between the lines reveals that bureaucratic obstacles for obtaining government permits are expected to render exercising these so-called new rights almost
impracticable.

Though some commentators have placed a positive spin on this
change, many Kurds are skeptical about its application. However, the revised constitution makes no mention of the Kurdish identity, which the Kurds have long sought. This shows the lack of sincerity on the part of the government of Turkey, which dose not want to abandon its outmoded stand on the Kurdish issue. Knowing the long history of Turkey and the mentality of its leaders, practicing the western style democracy in the country is far fetched. It must be remembered that democracy is not a panacea and that the Kurds still have a long road of struggle ahead of them. Turkish officials are not likely to abandon their paranoia about the Kurds and their national aspirations. It is
time for Turkey accept the fact that the Kurdish culture is deeply rooted in the region and that they are too numerous to be assimilated by them.

During the cold war Turkey deflected outside criticism of their
human rights abuses under the pretext of fighting communism. Now Turkey is justifying its undemocratic practices by fighting the radical Kurds and Muslims. I wonder if there is any difference between the authoritarian militarist system of Turkey and those which existed in Latin America several decades ago.

Turkey has oppressed not only the Kurds of Turkey, but has also
exerted considerable uncalled for pressure on their peaceful Kurdish
neighbors to the south. Though the Kurds of Southern Kurdistan-Iraq have proven during the past eleven years to have effectively ruled themselves. They have amply demonstrated to be capable of exercising democratic principles better than Turkey. Numerous political parties created by different ethnic groups are freely functioning throughout Southern Kurdistan-Iraq and have their own radio and TV stations. This is more than what could be said about the Turkish secular democratic system, which has denied many ethnic groups, including the Kurds of self-expression

Turkey has become a major obstacle to any progress on the Kurdish
issue not only in Northern Kurdistan-Turkey, but also in Southern Kurdistan. Despite considerable goodwill shown by the Kurds of Southern Kurdistan, Turkey has not missed a single opportunity to demand from the Kurds or the Americans that they oppose creation of any entity bearing the name of the Kurds, whether it is a Regional Kurdish administration, Kurdish Federation with Iraq, or Kurdish autonomous region in northern Iraq. The Kurds and the Americans have obliged the Turks that any change in the political status of
northern Iraq (the Kurdish region) will take place in the context of
negotiations between the opposition groups within Iraq`s present boundaries.

As part of the Iraqi opposition groups, the Kurds are negotiating
to create a federal system of government in Iraq should Saddam Hussein`s regime is overthrown. The Kurds already their own de facto state, which is providing the basic economic, social and security services to their own people and have considerable contact with the outside world. However, eleven years of self-rule is being continuously threatened by Turkey, Saddam Hussein and occasionally by the Americans. When the Under Secretary of Defense Wolfowitz recently visited Turkey to insure its cooperation for possible American attack on Iraq to remove Saddam Hussein from power, the Turks made their help conditional on preventing the Kurds from declaring independence or creating a federal form of government in Iraq. Wolfowitz responded positively to the Turkish demand. Hopefully, Wolfowitz is not repeating the same thing
Kissinger did to the Kurds in 1975, when he bartered them for the territorial gains of the Shah of Iran.

The Kurds should make their cooperation with the Americans for
ousting Saddam conditional upon their protection of the Kurdish enclave from Saddam or Turkey until such time when a satisfactory solution is found for resolving the Kurdish issue. Hopefully, the Kurdish representatives who recently consulted with American officials in Washington have been provided with some kind of explanation regarding Wolfowitz`s statements in Turkey about the future political status of the Kurds of Southern Kurdistan and that
they have gained reliable assurances of support for the protecting the Kurdish enclave from both Iraqi or Turkish aggression. It is time for the Kurds to elevate their campaign to a higher level by reminding the international community of their responsibility towards them. The Arab states should bear a major responsibility for what has happened to the Kurdish people. Among the so-called Kurdish Arab friends, not a single Arab or Islamic state condemned Saddam for his chemical attacks on the Kurds during 1988. Some Arabs still tell the Kurds why are you such a complainer and that they have suffered as much them in the hands of Saddam. I wish it was possible to quantify and compare the Kurdish pain and material losses during the past years with those suffered by their neighbors.

Self-interest and national ideologies of the neighboring states
have overshadowed the broader issues of humanity, economic prosperity, justice and peace in the Middle East. They have failed to separate wrong from right. The oppressors of the Kurds have so far denied them due process of law. The Kurds are building some hope on the future role of the International Criminal Court. At present the Kurds have a limited access to the European criminal justice system to address their grievances. In search of their human and civil rights, the Kurds are being punished by the neighboring states individually and collectively. How could the European Union admit a country
like Turkey to its ranks while it punishes the Kurds for demanding their human rights. Political correctness has overshadowed the democratic principles and the rule of law.

In the case of the Iraqi Kurds, there are over 18 tons of
self-incriminating documents against Iraqi government officials for
atrocities they committed against the Kurdish people. So far no real action has been taken against those criminals. In fact some of those who consider themselves as Iraqi military defectors are being treated as possible future leaders to replace Saddam. This is an easy way for the allies to escape their major responsibilities towards the Kurdish people. While the UN Security Council members were quick to establish tribunals to bring those responsible for war crimes in Bosnia, Rwanda and Kosovo to justice, crimes committed against the Kurds are still pending. The real solution to peace, stability, and economic prosperity is the rule of law and the practice of democratic principles. The ideology and rigid political practices pursued by countries like Turkey and Iraq are the root causes of chaos and instability in the Middle East.

This is a golden opportunity for the Kurds of Southern Kurdistan to
develop a strategy, based on their record of the past eleven years of self-government, for creating a Kurdish entity in northern Iraq. It is time that they call discuss the Kurdish issue with Turkey openly. Turkey should stop meddling in their affairs by using or using the Turkman Front and other threats. Turkey should remember what happened to the Shah of Iran and its secular government. The Turkish present policy is no better than that of the former Shah of Iran.