Kerkuk Kurdistan e

Kurdistan: Birth of a Nation?

In northern Iraq, stretching in a crescent from Iran to Syria, is one the strangest states to emerge in the world over the past half century. In theory, Iraqi Kurdistan is not independent but it is more powerful than most members of the United Nations. It has an efficient army. It remains part of Iraq but Baghdad has little influence on its actions. An old saying in the region claimed bitterly that "the Kurds have no friends but the mountains". But today its leaders make and break Iraqi governments. Once the White House and Downing Street ignored their existence, but now they are received with acclaim as important allies by George Bush and Tony Blair.

A COMEDY OF ERRORS: AMERICAN-TURKISH DIPLOMACY AND THE IRAQ WAR

USA, 14/4 2005 — Turkey and the United States have for more than half a century enjoyed a special relationship. Turkish troops fought alongside Americans in the Korean War. As one of only two North Atlantic Treaty Organization members to border the Soviet Union, Turkey truly was a frontline state throughout the Cold War. In the wake of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, the Turkish government reaffirmed its alliance. Within a month, the Turkish Grand National Assembly voted 319-101 to send troops to Afghanistan to assist the United States in its Global War on Terror.1

The Safe Haven in Iraq – What does Safe Haven mean?

KURDISTAN, 3/4 2005 — A haven is a ‘place of safety or refuge’ it is a protective term that connotes the concept of a location where people are cared for or looked after; a little like an old people’s home perhaps. The idea of creating a Safe Haven projects a kind of benevolent aura onto what is a military protection zone in northern Iraq. Its usage or misuse in this context is patronising towards the Kurds and detrimental to a truthful representation of the situation in the region.

The Superpowers and the Iraqi Kurdish Safe Haven 1991-2003

KURDISTAN, 3/4 2005 — The Kurds, although they have never achieved permanent nation state status, over the centuries continually resisted subjugation by other nations. Thus the presence of a large Kurdish population with aspirations of independence prevents Turkish allies from forging the same thing in this country: a unified nation with a strong central government. The Iraqi Kurds, who consider their nation to be Kurdistan and not Iraq, have been a thorn in Saddam’s side for years and since 1979, there is evidence that he has used every weapon, including dislocation, starvation and poison gas against them. During 1954 and 1955, Iraq played a catalytic role in the formation, of the Baghdad Pact, which fulfilled John Foster Dulles’s vision of a northern tier alliance to contain the Soviet Union.

What Future for the Kurds?

[30/3 2005] The Kurds, as a people divided between four states, pose an intellectual and policy issue of great importance for the future of the region and of these specific countries. Of course, deciding "who is a people" in the contemporary world is a political question rather than a legal process, a subjective self-identification, or historically based assertion. In the international political system only those who have attained, or were granted, state sovereignty are regarded as peoples.

The Denial, Resurrection, and Affirmation of Kurdistan

[17/3 2005] — In January 2004, one of us traveled from the city of Erbil, known in Kurdish as Hewlêr, the site of the Kurdistan National Assembly, into the Republic of Turkey to begin a journey to London. The border checkpoint is at Ibrahim Khalil in Kurdish, or Habur in Turkish. By prior agreement, he was not required to go through the usual rigors of inspection by the Turkish military, who are usually more discourteous, inquisitorial, and disobliging than the conventional border police and visa inspectors. No such luck awaited another traveler, a professional consultant who held a U.S. passport and had hitched a ride in the same vehicle.

Green Money, Islamist Politics in Turkey

Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's Justice and Reconciliation Party (Adalet ve Kalkinma Partisi, AKP) swept to victory in Turkey's parliamentary elections on November 3, 2002. More than two years later, the Islamic-oriented party finds itself more popular than ever. But while the AKP came to power on the strength of its image as fresh and honest amid a sea of corrupt establishment parties, the AKP's own finances have become murky and worrisome. At best, it appears that AKP leaders have blurred the distinction between business and politics. More troubling yet is the pattern of tying Turkish domestic and foreign policy to an influx of what is called Yesil Sermaye, "green money," from wealthy Islamist businessmen and Middle Eastern states.

Was Abraham a Kurd?

[22 Jul 2004] - In the heart of every Kurd I have met is a yearning for a country called Kurdistan.

Ancient Sumerian and Akkadian tablets describe how the King of Shuruppak saved his family, animals, and seed from a great flood by building a boat under divine instruction. Some scholars surmise that Noah's boat came to rest in the Ararat Mountains near the still inhabited ancient town of Shairnakh - "city of Noah" in Kurdish - and the Kurdish village of Hashtiarn, meaning "eighty people."

Serbestî-English Summary: NATO’s New Spot of Influence and Kurdistan

ISTANBUL, TURKEY, July 20-The deliverance of authority to new Iraqi government and the NATO Summit in Istanbul coincided on the same day, or was made to coincide on the same day and consequently in the closure communique of the NATO Summit, it was informed that an agreement has been reached on fully collaborating with the new Iraqi administration; in that context, it was announced that, in order to provide internal and external security of the country, NATO would help Iraq and it would train police forces as well as military of Iraq...

BETRAYAL

NEW YORK, 11/6 2004 — June 11, 2004 -- THE United States has a reputation for rewarding its enemies, while taking our friends for granted. It's not very reassuring to potential allies. Now we're proving yet again that we can't be trusted.

The Resolution's Weakness

By WILLIAM SAFIRE
NEW YORK, 9/6 2004 — In his eagerness for the approval of the Shiite religious leader — and driven by desperation to get yesterday's unanimous U.N. resolution in time for the G-8 meeting — President Bush may be double-crossing the Kurds, our most loyal friends in Iraq.

What future for the Kurds?

by KHALED SALIH
COPENHAGEN, 26/5 2004 — It is a courageous decision to organise a conference with the title ‘The Kurds: One People – Four States - What kind of future?’, even though the title only asserts the fact that the Kurds as a people are divided between four states and asks an intellectual and policy oriented question about possible future prospects. In a democratic society this can be done without violent clashes between groups, political parties or involvement of security forces preventing organisation of such a conference.

How to Get Out of Iraq

By Peter W. Galbraith
In the year since the United States Marines pulled down Saddam Hussein's statue in Baghdad's Firdos Square, things have gone very badly for the United States in Iraq and for its ambition of creating a model democracy that might transform the Middle East. As of today the United States military appears committed to an open-ended stay in a country where, with the exception of the Kurdish north, patience with the foreign occupation is running out, and violent opposition is spreading. Civil war and the breakup of Iraq are more likely outcomes than a successful transition to a pluralistic Western-style democracy.

Let the Kurds be

JERUSALEM, 28/5 2004 —As the Iraqi saga meanders even further into the unknown, one thing still seems solid there: Kurdish reliability.

For the past 13 years, the non-Arab minority that constitutes roughly a third of Iraq has effectively lived as an American protectorate, and remarkably so. As if to confound all the many prophets of doom among its many hostile neighbors, the burgeoning Kurdistan has displayed a remarkable measure of political stability and economic vitality, particularly considering the volatile neighborhood of which it is a part.

Standing up for Syrian Kurds

WASHINGTON, 18/3 2004 — Inspired by the liberation and liberalization of Iraq, the fragile seeds of freedom are growing in other areas of the Middle East. Last week, Syrian Kurds began rallying to receive the same liberties enjoyed by their ethnic brethren in Iraq, only to face a wave of repression. To nurture those democratic desires, President Bush should stand up for the Kurdish dissenters -- condemning the crackdown and giving public support to the rights of Kurds to assemble peacefully and address their grievances to the government.

The U.S. Is Brewing Up a Disaster for the Kurds – Proposed constitution's strong centralized government ignores 13 years of autonomy

By Brendan O'Leary
IRBIL, Iraq, 29/2 2004 — The Bush administration wants to impose an extremely centralized interim constitution on Iraq. That's a recipe for disaster.

The plan of L. Paul Bremer III, the U.S. civilian administrator, will not fly, except perhaps in Arab Iraq. The reason is that Iraq is not one nation but at least two. Some Arabs on the U.S.-appointed Governing Council are making a deal with the Coalition Provisional Authority. Nothing surprising about that, but the deal would be at the expense of the Kurds and of Iraq's other nation, the semiautonomous region of Kurdistan. It would sacrifice secular principles, women's rights and meaningful federalism, so Americans should pay close attention to what is being done in their name.

The Kurds Must be Allowed Responsibility for their own Security

By KHALED SALIH
HAWLER, 16/2 2004 — I recently came in touch with a woman that had lost her two brothers in the genocide-campaign of Saddam during the 1980s, a campaign which he most “affectionately” called the Anfal campaign.

2004 Local Elections in Turkey and the Kurds

by Mutlu Civiroglu
[21/2 2004] — On March 28, 2004 the local elections are going to be held in Turkey. While on one hand the Kurdish people are hopeful with the elections, on the other hand, there are serious concerns about participating in the elections under the SHP banner. The local elections will be held to choose new mayors and municipal council members. The local elections in Turkey are held every 5 years and unlike the general elections, no threshold is implemented in these elections. Therefore, all parties, regardless of their size or whether they are either in the parliament can win mayor ships or municipal council seats. Clearly, this has a great significance for the Kurdish people as it is the only time that Kurdish cities can be easily represented by a Kurdish party.

THE KURDS BETWEEN THE DESIRE FOR FREEDOM AND THE REALITY OF AN UNFAIR WORLD

by Shahin B Sorekli
SYDNEY, 20/2 2004 — When the American forces entered Iraq last year I was confronted by some one in Sydney who asked: What will the Kurds do when the Americans leave Iraq? He was blaming the Kurds for supporting the Americans and was of the opinion they would be forsaken by the USA again only to be punished for what they did.

Reflections On A Sovereign Iraq

Henry A. Kissinger
[USA, 8/2 2004] — The self-imposed deadline of June 30 for the transfer of sovereignty from American to Iraqi authorities is often treated as marking the start of US disengagement. In fact, the formal end of occupation changes the nature of the American engagement, not the need for it. It requires a new strategy for converting power into legitimacy and hence a new dimension to diplomacy.