Kurdishaspect.com - By Martin Zehr
Within SouthWest Asian region there remains a historical impulse for a political reconfiguration of the states in the region. There is conflict throughout the region between numerous forces. Conflict in Lebanon, conflict in Iran, conflict between Turkish militarist and Kurdish armed forces, conflict between Baathists and fundamentalists, conflict between Hamas and Fatah, conflict between Sunni and Shi'a and conflicts between Arabs and Jews and Arabs and Kurds.
If Israel is proposing a new relationship with the Kurdish people's movement for national recognition in Turkey as a result of new antagonisms with the Turkish government, this may only be a continuation of the policy in which "the enemy of my enemy is my friend". Syria, Israel, the U.S., Turkey, Iraq and Iran have long sought to promote conflicts through the use of military aid to internal forces in Lebanon, in Kurdistan, in Iran and in Palestine. There is NO victory for any of these forces when they are manipulated for the benefit of various regimes or powers. It becomes simply a carrot tied to a stick used to beat oppressed peoples that leads to no political solutions. There are many political movements in the region that have paid the price for failing to map out their own strategy for recognition and political representation and empowered other states to influence or direct them.
International support needs to be predicated on the actions of governments and the national demands of the peoples of the region.
The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) has actively demonstrated an effort to resolve conflicts with Turkey and Iran through trade and diplomacy. It has pleaded with the U.S. and the Iraqi government to implement the Kirkuk Referendum without using military force. It has maintained contact with Kurdish organizations and movements in Turkey, Iran, Syria and abroad. It has met with the representatives of various governments in the world to resolve the conflicts. Yet these actions have not been given media coverage. It is not reasonable for those who support peace in the region to so totally disregard the contrast as it is demonstrated between the actions of the KRG and the actions of other governments in the region.
Whether the motivations of the KRG are so distinct or the situation is so dire that there are no other options, the KRG continues to work vigorously for political recognition of the Kurdish nation without provocations. In 2005 President Barzani made the statement: "Regarding the Kurdish nation divided among neighboring countries, we assure our brothers that our hearts and minds are with them and we feel their suffering. Since there is no place for violence in the world today, we hope they resort to civilised and modern methods for advocating their rights because violence brings only death and destruction to the Kurds. Similarly, we hope these countries listen to the demands of our brothers and use dialogue with them".
The question that follows is: Why are those who seek to resolve conflicts in the region, so isolated from support by the international community? Let us not try to tax the resilience and perseverance of the Kurdish people and the KRG beyond their limits. Their right to self-defense remains fundamental to the continuation of Kurdish political rights and their national survival as a people in the region after the U.S. withdrawal. Until the Kirkuk Referendum is implemented, the central government in Baghdad would do well to grasp the ramifications of stirring up the oil debate over and over again. Likewise, the Israeli government's shift in regards to Kurdish people should grasp that assistance will never obligate Kurds in northern Kurdistan to subordinate their movement to Israeli national and strategic interests. What the Kurdish nation needs from the international community is trade, cooperation, recognition and political and economic pressure on those governments in the region that deny Kurdish rights.
Lessons learned through sacrifices have been burned into the hearts of the people and leaders of Kurdistan. The Kurdish nation will never allow themselves to be so vulnerable as to enable those who seek to crush them to commit their heinous crimes. Neither will they allow other nations to determine their national destiny. Time and again the Kurdish people have sought for a just and peaceful resolution and recognition by the international community. No one knows better than the Kurdish people the cost of violence. All nations and peoples are encouraged to increase ties. Those states that continue to deny Kurdish political organizations the right to represent their people need to be addressed by the international community.
The path ahead is treacherous for the Kurdish nation, but there is no going back for the Kurdish nation. No going back from the consolidation and development of the Kurdish Autonomous Region in southern Kurdistan. No going back from the implementation of Article 140. No going back in the right for representation of Kurdish people in the Turkish Parliament. No going back in the defense of Leyla Zana's freedom and freedom for all Kurdish political prisoners in the region. And no going back to the mass murders and forced relocations by states that seek to deny the Kurdish peoples their basic human rights. The Kurdish people are alive. The road is forward.
