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Quick guide on Kurdistan

A collection of threads on topics that get updated regularly :
Peshmerga, Kurdistan Universities, Consulates in Kurdistan, Construction in (Hewler, Slemani, Dohuk, Kerkuk).Top Kurdish Holidays, Top Kurdish News Sites, Top Kurdish Terms. ...

Quick guide on Kurdistan

PostAuthor: Kurdistanwarrior » Mon Aug 03, 2015 10:03 pm

Sorry if ive been a bit off. This will make it up.
Why Kurdistan was not Independent
The Sykes-Picot agreement was a disastrous attempt to impose western colonialism. This secret agreement was concluded by two British and French diplomats, Sir Mark Sykes and Georges Picot in 1917. It gave Syria, Lebanon and Turkish Cilicia to the French and Palestine, Jordan and areas around the Persian Gulf and Baghdad to the British. This treaty had the potential to help the Middle East until the British found Kirkuk (Southern Kurdistan) to be an oil rich city. Under his plan, many ethnic groups including the Kurds, would have some degree of regional autonomy within each state. Unfortunately, he was overruled by the Foreign Office, who thought it would be easier to deal with a stronger central government.
After WW1, the British, French and the Americans introduced 5 treaties. One of the treaties were the Treaty of Sevres. This treaty was not good enough for the Kurds; it split up the Ottoman Empire, leaving most of the Kurdish region clear for independence. There was a planned boundary for the Kurdish region but it was rejected by the Kurds since it failed to include a Kurdish city called Van (now occupied by Turkey). The ottomans were actually open to signing the treaty. But the Turks were not. You need to understand that the ottomans and the Turks are different since there were Kurdish positions within the military and within the empire. Anyway, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk was not open to this so he challenged the Ottoman powers and created a rival government in Ankara. So if the Allies wanted to scissor up the Antalonian Peninsula to go ahead with the treaty plans, then they had to go through MKA and his new state. The allies thought MKA was bluffing so they sent in troops to get rid of him.
He wasn’t bluffing. This resulted in two years of war; this was knows as the Turkish War of Independence. At the end of it, the Greek were finished, Armenia was annexed, the Ottomans were almost finished and the Kurdish referendum/question was scrapped. This was all formalized by the Treaty of Lausanne, (1923) which created new borders.
He we will split into the history of the other Kurdish states after this:
Iraq
A meeting with Cornel Arnold Wilson and Kurdish Leaders took place in December 1918. This meeting was a plea from the Kurdish leaders to have British support for an independent and united Kurdish state under British independence. The solution was Shaikh Mahmud Barzanji. A puppet leader was given by the British to control the Kurds. The British thought they had solved it and foolishly left it, leaving the Kurds in a horrible state. Barzanji launched 2 revolts against the British. He was imprisoned and sent to India. The British imposed harsh law on the Kurds until there were threats given by the Turkish government to attack on the Mosul governorate. The British could not suffer from an attack from the Turks so Sir Percy Cox, a British military official and administrator to the Middle East especially Iraq and Churchill decided to bring Barzanji back to control the system. When he came back to Kurdistan, he was proclaimed the King. He created a functioning and popular state within the Kurds. The British had realized that they had lost a lot of power and the oil fields were out of their control. They exiled Barzanji to South Iraq, where he eventually died there.
After this, there was no real resistance by the Kurds since they were powerless. Yes, you had the Barzani clan (completely different from Barzanji) which did stick up for Kurdish rights but that created more harm than good. After the 14th of July Revolution in Iraq, a new leader called Abdul Qasim invited KDP Kurdish leader Mustafa Barzani to meet him in order to establish new relations. Abdul promised full autonomy for the Kurds, he did not live up to that promise so instead of using dialogue in order to achieve that goal, Barzani started a war against the Iraqi army. Barzani won. The soviets pressured Iraq to create a peace treaty with Barzani which caused the two sides to become allies.
In 1968, the Baathist Party (Saddam Hussein) launched a coup in Iraq. In 1969, the Baathist powers launched a campaign to end the Kurdish insurrection. In 1970, an “autonomous” Kurdistan was declared by the Baathists but this had no meaning since there was no self-governance. In 1973, the US made a secret agreement with the Shah of Iran to begin funding the Peshmerga against Bagdad through the CIA and Mossad. The Baathists fought back, pushing the Kurds to the Iranian border. The Iranians and the Iraqis created the Algiers agreement to keep the peace between the two. This agreed that neither side can help or assist the Kurdish fighting.
Saddam grasped the Kurds by the use of Arabisation. Arabisation is the use of moving poor or middle class Arabs into Kurdish areas; slow ethnic cleansing. It was mainly used in Mosul and Kirkuk. Mosul used to be a Kurdish city, now it is mostly Arab. Kirkuk is moderately still Kurdish but with hints of Arabs, Turkmen and Assyrians.
In 1978, the Kurds tried to fight back against Saddam. In 1978 and 1979, 600 Kurdish villages were burned down and around 200,000 Kurds were deported to the other parts of the country.
I need to clear up that the Baathist regime, as tough as it was, did well in implementing (a moderate version) of socialism through subsidisation, cheap resources, affordable goods and a good competitive marketplace. However this was about to change…
In 1986, the Baathist created an ethnic cleansing genocide called the Al-Anfal campign. Saddam appointed Ali Hassan al-Majid to be in charge of the campaign. The Iraqi government implemented anti-Kurdish policies to top it all off. This campaign included the use of ground offensives, the systematic destruction of settlements, mass deportation, aerial bombing, firing squads and chemical warfare. There were quite a few concentration camps as well. I won’t go on the details of this too much but a lot of people died in excruciating circumstances. 50,000-100,000 civilians were killed, 4000/4655 villages were destroyed, 250 of them were gassed using chemical weapons. 1754 schools, 270 hospitals, 2450 mosques and 27 churches were destroyed. It was truly brutal. After this, Saddam wanted to completely obliterate a city that could not be known to the public. This was called Halabja. On March 16, 1988, the Baathist forces completely gassed the town of Halabja with Mustard gas. 5000 people were killed in minutes. 10000+ were injured and some died due to complications. There was very little international recognition except for the YN putting forward a no fly zone at 36th parallel. However this was not good enough since it didn’t apply for some of the major Kurdish citys like Suli and Kirkuk which is pretty poor.
There were still bloody clashes going on between Iraqi forces and Kurdish troops. After an uneasy and shaky balance of power was reached, the Iraqi government fully withdrew its military and other personnel from the region in October 1991 allowing Iraqi Kurdistan to function de facto independently. There were two parties ruling: the KDP and the PUK. They had both suffered a bloody civil war between the two for power. They had finally reached a mutual agreement. However the Kurdish region in Iraq was falling apart. They were suffering from two embargos: one from the United Nations (On the whole of Iraq) and one from Saddam Hussein on the Kurds to keep fighting them. The severe economic hardships caused by the embargoes fuelled tensions between the two dominant political parties, the KDP and the PUK, over control of trade routes and resources.
After 1996, 13% of the Iraqi oil sales were allocated for Iraqi Kurdistan and this led to a relative prosperity in the region. Saddam had established an oil smuggling route through territory controlled by the KDP, with the active involvement of senior Barzani family members.
After the Iraq invasion, the Peshmerga had an active role in getting rid of the Iraqi army around of the Kurdish area. And from there, it has been smooth sailing for the Southern Kurd. Yes we had the whole ISIS thing but we are dealing with that very well.
It is being protected by the Peshmerga. The Peshmega is split up within two fraction: the PUK and the KDP Peshmerga. These are armed wings of the party’s fighting for the country. A mass amount of foreign investment came into the region, making it more stable. And it is relatively safe.
Iran
During WW1, the Persian government was pretty weak so some Kurds took advantage of this and took back Kurdish land, free from Persians. Unfortunately, the Shah made sure this was stopped quickly and effectively. The same happened in ww2. These were known as the Simko revolts since the guy who started the revolt was called Simko.
In 1946, the KDP-I, with the help of the Soviet Union created a Kurdish state called The republic of Mahabad. It was under the leadership of Qazi Muhammed. He was very popular and so was the state among Kurds. Unfortunately this state did not last a year since the Soviets did not leave enough time to set up a new army. So when the Soviets left in December 1946, government forces were able to enter Mahabad unopposed. Around 1,000 died during the crisis.
Since then, there have been many revolts against the Iranian government. There is a lack of weaponry to fight the Iranians. Also it’s extremely restricting and strict there. There are many journalists, poets, activists, writers and teachers killed for being “separatists” or “betrayers of God” for supporting Kurdistan.
Pjak (Free Life for an Eastern Kurdistan) is the Iranian wing of the PKK for Iran. They have actively been fighting the Iranian state in order to achieve freedom and autonomy. Their effect is very little but their message is very powerful. PJAK and PDKI-I are the only Kurdish groups actively fighting the Iranian regime.
Syria
After the fall of the Ottoman Empire, a man called Suleiman Abbas ruled the first Kurdish region in Syria. This area at the time was known as Jazera or Mesopotamia. This was unfortunately annexed by the Syrian republic. Osman Sabro and Daham Miro with some other Kurds founded the KDPS (Kurdistan Democratic Party of Syria). Their main objective was for Kurdish rights and social/economic change. They were banned and made non-existent after a violent crackdown.
After this was very little. The government made sure people were not fighting back through sheer force (like Iran). Also there was a strong Arabisation campaign to eradicate Kurds in areas like Jazira. Millions of Kurds were stripped from their citizenships and identity cards, making them useless since they cannot move to other countries, they can’t marry, study and vote.
During the Syrian civil war, the Rojavans were getting ready to fight back. On 7 October 2011, Kurdish leader Mashaal Tammo was gunned down in his apartment by masked government agents. During Tammo's funeral the next day in the town of Qamishli, Syrian security forces fired into a crowd of more than 50,000 mourners, killing five people. This was the start of daily protests. These protests turned into fighting.
The Kurdish Democratic Union (PYD) established a functioning democracy in Rojava. This was a libertarian-socialist state, using democratic Confederalism (Abdullah Ocalans ideology) as a basis for the states functioning. This is all protected by the YPG and the YPJ.
Turkey
After the Turkish state was established, there were many rebellions to get rid of Turkish oppression. One of them was the Dersim rebellion in 1937 under the leadership of Seid Reza. They got cities like Dersim and Kochgiri. The Turks could not fight the Kurds so they sent a delegation to “give support”.
Instead of giving support, the Turks killed Seid Reza and launched a bombing campaign aghainst the Kurds. Over 100,000 Kurds were killed. Not olnly did they do this but they forced Turkism to everyone. Mostly every adult was forced to go to Turkish millatery to fight Kurds.
Another event was the Ararat Revolution in 1926. People were finally able to live freely. Unfortunately the Kemalists of the surrounding areas killed thousands of Kurds as well as burning Kurdish villages like Hakary. The Turks started killing from Wan to Chalderan and killed about ten thousand. They go through village to village and burn thousands of people. A common practice was assaulting pregnant women, causing them to miscarry and clubbing babies in front of their parents.
The Turkish army continued their bloody rampage on Kurds resulting in 660 villages looted and burned with 15206 houses destroyed. They exiled revolutionary families from Kurdistan to Izmir. During this exile, thousands of children died due to thirst and hunger. The Turks created a massive pit and buried hundreds of alive Kurds and wrote: Kurds and Kurdistan have been buried here.
The PKK destroyed this sign and wrote: The Kurdish revolution and freedom fighters of Kurdistan started from here.
IN 1976, the PKK was established by Abdullah Ocalan, a Kurd who was taught to be a Turk. It is a separatist movement and for Kurds to have rights. Kurds were not allowed to talk in Kurdish. Their language, culture and folklore was banned. If one uttered the word Kurdistan in a good light, they were at risk of execution. Any person who spoke out for Kurdish rights were shot at. It was logical for Kurds to fight back.
3 million have been displaced over this conflict. I won’t go in detail because it is extremely hard to understand but both sides have committed horrific activities with major propaganda spewing out of Turkish media to demonise Kurds while the PKK using narcotics as a form of gaining money.
In 1991, a female Kurdish politician called Leyna Zana gave her parliamentary oath stating: swear by my honour and my dignity before the great Turkish people to protect the integrity and independence of the State, the indivisible unity of people and homeland, and the unquestionable and unconditional sovereignty of the people. I swear loyalty to the Constitution. I take this oath for the brotherhood between the Turkish people and the Kurdish people

She finished by saying this in Kurdish: I take this oath for the brotherhood between the Turkish people and the Kurdish people.
After this speech, she was kicked out of Turkish parliament and was arrested for being a member of the PKK for saying that sentence in Kurdish. Zana and the others were sentenced to 15 years in prison. She was later released in 2004 after pressure from the EU.
In 1999, a plot by Mossad, the CIA, MIT(Turkish CIA) and the Kenyans was plotted to capture Ocalan who was in hiding in the Greek embassy. Kurds were at outrage. Loads of people poured petrol over themselves and burned themselves.
At December 28, 2011, Turkish f16 jets killed 34 civilians. Of those 34, over half were children. When the government was asked why, they replied by saying the targets were smugglers and it was an accident. This caused outrage since the Turkish government has stopped supply’s going through so necessities need to be smuggled through. This sparked outraged and fuelled for the 2011-12 protests. These protests asked for the unlifting off the bans of ELECTED KURDS to go to parliament, unban the PKK, unfair aggression and fair treatment.
This year, the HDP (A Kurdish party) stormed though the Turkish elections with a 13.12% threshold. This was an unpresented win for the Kurds and for democracy. Let’s what happens in the Future for Northern Kurdistan.
Kurdish parties
PDK-I
The Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan was founded in August, 1945 as a response for Kurdish rights. It was founded by Qazi Muhammed. They successfully founded the State of Mahabad, which unfortunately fell. It is a democratic socialist party and it has a branch of the Peshmerga.
PKK
The Kurdistan Workers Party was founded in in 1978 by Abdullah Ocalan. It was an advocate for Marxism-Leninism but soon dropped this title for Democratic Confederalism. It would have gotten involved in diplomatic relations but due to Turkish harsh law, they had to take up arms against the state. They were a prescribed Terrorist group by the UN, Germany, US, Turkey, UK…
PUK
The Patriotic Union of Kurdistan was founded in 1975 by Jalal Talabani. The advocated for Self-determination and a democratic Iraq. They used to be Socialists but now they stand for social democracy. It owns a branch of the Peshmerga. They fought the Iraqi army but now has good relations with the Iraqi government.
KDP
The Kurdistan democratic Party was founded in 1946 by Humza Abdullah and then led by Mustafa Barzani. They advocate for Kurdish rights in Iraq and Kurdish autonomy.
Gorran
The movement for Change was founded by Nawshirwan Mustafa in 2009 and split up from the PUK party. They have done really well in the Iraq-Kurdish elections.

Where is Kurdistan

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/ ... _bajar.PNG
Basically between: Iraq, Iran, Syria, Turkey and parts of Armenia/Azerbaijan.
Kurdish Culture
Kurdish have been classified as a hospitable people. Kurds drink tea on a daily basis. Milk, cheese, rice, tomatoes and yoghurt.
Family is extremely important. Parents and grandparents are widely respected and cherished. Kurds always listen told people, even if they do not know them since they are wise.
Newroz or the Kurdish New Year is the first day of spring and is known as the day Kawa liberated the Kurds. We celebrate by dancing halparke, a Kurdish dance around a fire.
A lot of Kurdish culture had been stolen by colonialists. An example would be Kebabs, Hammam, Music, dance, etc.
Conclusion
Over history, Kurds have advocated for pacifism and equality, but instead they have been subjected to mass genocide, killings, raping and the looting of Kurdish land. It is appalling that now, the International community is talking about the Kurds. Not during the Dersim massacre, nor the Halabja genocide and surely not now. For Kurdish independence to be possible, the world powers have support the Kurdish cause. Nevertheless, this requires world powers political and financial interests in Kurdistan. Hence the Kurdish political parties must first unite and show further interests towards the western mind-set.

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Quick guide on Kurdistan

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Re: Quick guide on Kurdistan

PostAuthor: Anthea » Tue Aug 04, 2015 11:58 am

Remember the numerous times Turkey has attacked Kurds in traditional Kurdish homeland

Remember the excessive force with which the barbaric Turkish soldiers carried out their slaughters

Remember that when terrified Kurds fled from Saddam with nought but the clothes on their back

Turkish soldiers SHOT the starving Kurds to prevent them from escaping into Turkey
Good Thoughts Good Words Good Deeds
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