WHO ARE THE KURDS?

ICurdi(‫ )ﮐﻮﺭﺩ‬they are an Iranian ethnic group originating from Western Asia. Geographically,
this predominantly mountainous area, known as Kurdistan, includes much of the
Southeast Turkey, northern Iran-western, northern Iraq and northern Syria.
Scattered communities of Kurdish ethnicity also live in Central Anatolia and Khorasan. Furthermore, in the course
In recent decades, a large number of Kurds have settled in the main cities of Turkey.
Western (particularly in Istanbul), as well as in Western Europe, mainly in Germany
and in Scandinavia. Numerically, it is estimated that the Kurds number between 30 and 45 million.
individuals and therefore constitute the largest ethnic group lacking national unity.

They mainly speak Kurdish and Zazaki. Regarding religion, the majority
The Kurds practice the Shafi'i branch of Sunni Islam. In Central Anatolia, part of the Zaza community.
practicing Alevism, while in Iraq and Iran there are numerous communities practicing Yarsanism and
Yazidism.

With the end of World War I, the Kurds had the real opportunity to create their own
national state following the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire and thanks to the influence that they had
The 14 points by Wilson, among which there was talk of the freedom of all peoples until then under domination.
of the Sublime Porte. There will be the Treaty of Sèvres, the only international legal-political document.
that provided for the creation of an independent Kurdish state, but this treaty was not ratified.
from the participating countries, Italy is leaving because the clashes with Great Britain and the other allies were not
still flattened. The struggle of individual states for the protection of national interests therefore
the Treaty of Sèvres was nullified, while in 1923 the Treaty of Lausanne was signed that replaced it.
of Sèvres and that made no mention of Kurdistan as an autonomous national entity. This
The event has led to numerous nationalist claims resulting in various rebellions and guerrillas.
and following systematic genocides.

When thinking of the Middle East from a Western perspective, one often tends to overlook the Kurdish factor, and it is worth...
to say the presence in historically shaken territories by wars and divisions of power of a people that
Currently, there is no state. However, the Kurdish issue is crucial for the stability of this area.
The world, moreover, the situation of the Kurds and of Kurdistan offers several examples of analyzed situations.
during our lessons.

The Kurdish question has returned to the fore in recent years as the Kurdish militias, made up of
The brave fighters have been decisive in countering the advance of the Islamic State in Syria and Iraq.
The Kurds have become the perfect elite of Western nations in this now large-scale struggle.
global, because close to secular values, with self-government structures or military formations that
They contemplate an active role for women. However, they often result in being sacrifiable on the altar of
geopolitical alliances following their military contribution. The mission of the Turkish army
in the Kurdish enclave of Afrin (on Syrian soil) in January 2018, without opposition from
Russia and StatUnitne is an example. After two months of siege, the Turkish army, supported
from the Free Syrian Army, has conquered the main city of the Kurdish province in the North of
Syria, known as the mountain of the Kurds (Kurd dagh). Afrin together with the provinces of Kobane and Jazira.
it formed Rojava, the part of Kurdistan in northern Syria. Kurdish forces have paid the price
of their long struggle against Daesh in Raqqa, Manbij, and Kobane.
Therefore, when talking about the Kurds, a fundamental role is played by the will to deny.
of their existence subservient to the designs of those in power. The Kurds have often been guardians.
ignored the state entities that are later found after the Treaty of Lausanne, and often not
they are not even recognized with official minority status: they receive an education
based on a language unknown to them as it is not spoken in the community to which they belong, it
derives a classification of the Kurdish languages as dialects. In some cases, even the Kurdish language
is banned by the central government.

The denial of Kurdish identity has occurred through the state propaganda of governments that
they took turns administering the areas with Kurdish minorities inside, ultimately leading to real and
own military campaigns, also through the use of chemical weapons (Saddam Hussein, 1991) and
deportations.

However, after years of social struggles and claims, after the time of denial and attempted ...
assimilation, to date, at least in some parts of Kurdistan, the Kurds are recognized as
ethnicity, for example in northern Iraq, where they also have an administrative entity
regional.

An essential role in the process of forming a Kurdish national identity has also been played by the
freedom of manifestation and expression experienced in the countries of the diaspora, and obviously also by
social networks that have reinforced the idea of Kurdish identity and therefore the right of this ethnicity to exist, to
to be a people with a specific culture that is neither Turkish, nor Arab, nor Persian.

IDENTITY AGAINST BORDERS

Kurdistan, understood as the land of the Kurds, does not exist; it is not a state but a vast mountainous region.
which can be defined as a border territory and which includes a boundary on the margins of four worlds
cultural, namely Arabic, Persian, Turkish, and Russian. In the daily life of the Kurds living in the region, there
they are family units divided by borders, people who, for their trade or business, or simply for
visiting relatives must cross a border. The borders have also been repeatedly crossed.
from the exodus of Kurds fleeing wars: the Kurds moved from Iraq to Iran after the failure of their
rebellion in 1975 and after the intifada of 1991. Twenty years later, it's the turn of the Iraqi border that welcomes
civilians fleeing the war in Syria. Over the borders, several parts have taken place in the last forty years.
consistent conflict between the PKK (Kurdistan Workers' Party) and the Turkish state.

The border has a strong symbolic value for this people, it has often been useful to escape death.
has given hope to the nationalist movement but has also brought to light the rivalries between the groups
endogenous politics. In fact, the Kurds are not a monolith; within them there are many divisions often
detached from belonging to rival clans and families. Consider the Kurds and the areas where they are divided as
a unique entity is a mistake as there have often been bloody struggles in history that have seen
Kurds opposing other Kurds. This is due to tribal dispersion and the homogenizing action of Islam.
They impeded for centuries the rise of nationalist awareness and the formation of the Kurdish state.

So even today the Kurdish formation is tribal, despite the growing presence of instances.
nationalistic. The usual image of a tribal system is that of a society based on close
family relations. But the numerical importance and organization of the tribe can vary over time in
There is still a strong political component since the tribal group identifies with its leader.
who can attract many affiliates is also responsible for economic relations outside the tribe
the same that make one group more or less influential compared to another. Furthermore, the kinship bond is more
strong in peripheral areas as the state is unable to meet the various needs such as the right to
Greetings or at work. To try to erode this tribal system, they have put several things into play.
systems, including a very ingenious one popular in Turkey in the 1980s, based on a breakdown
from the inside, namely that of the guardians or protectors of the village, paid in Ankara and employed in the lot
to the Pkk. This system will also be used by Baghdad subsequently.

Although the Kurdish population has been separated politically, socially, and linguistically over time
the history has somehow been connected (even emotionally) through common
denominators. Thus it became possible to imagine a sort of pancurdism. To speak of Kurdistan, the land of
Curdi is a way to stay connected to a common idea and to build a discourse around it.

Today, the emerging transnational Kurdish identity is essentially that of the diaspora that is giving
life to a new Kurdishness. It has especially concerned Kurds outside the geographical Kurdistan because there is a
possibility to speak freely about their Kurdish identity. The Kurds of the diaspora talk about food,
the folklore, the customs, the proverbs that describe the natural beauties of the territory or the village of origin.
Rebwar Rashed, co-president of the Knk (National Congress of Kurdistan), born in 1999 in Brussels as
attempt to provide a common platform for various groups and political parties in the Kurdish area, argues that for the
consolidation of Kurdish identity not only in the eyes of themselves but also in the eyes of the surrounding world,
populated by valuable potential allies, there is a need not only for Kurdish politicians but also for musicians.
writers, intellectuals who dare to speak of reconciliation and coexistence.

At the moment, Kurdistan is the quintessential case of an imagined community that plays a role
indispensable solidarity among the Kurds of various parts. Furthermore, this has largely contributed to
to internationalize the Kurdish cause.

RESOURCE CONTROL FOR POPULATION CONTROL

Water, which has always had a salvific role in Middle Eastern and Arab culture, is
used as a weapon by the state to weaken the Kurds, although the situation in the main Kurdish cities is
however marked by a deficit of adequate infrastructure, also due to its peripheral location
within the nations of the Kurdish territories.

From the very beginning of Operation Peace Spring, one of Erdogan's main objectives has been to
to undermine the water resources of the autonomous administration, thus bending the population of
Rojava is forcing families to leave the border territories. To do this, the army of Ankara has more
Once attacked the dam of Alouk. On October 9, 2019, there was a fierce attack by Ankara on the Alouk aqueduct.
in Serekaniye, a city that was located in the so-called safe zone. The structure provides water to about 400
Thousands of people were hit by Turkish artillery during the advance towards Ras al Ain. The attack left
Without water, about half a million people in the region, including hundreds of displaced people in the.
refugee camps in the area, but the system resumed operation 10 days later. However, there was a new attack and
the dam became inoperative again, this time reaching the site and restarting the water was not possible. The dam
there were control by jihadist militias loyal to Turkey who did not allow anyone to approach the
structure, with the clear intention of blocking any repair intervention. The International Red Cross
and the Arab Red Crescent had to rely on the al Hamma dam that has just been returned to
function, and on private cisterns. However, this is an emergency situation. The Turkish attacks have not
Regularly, access to water is denied to a large number of people for hours or entire days.
even during the Covid emergency.
Turkey, in the various operations conducted since the beginning of the war, seems to be pursuing a well-defined strategy.
it is necessary: to attack water resources and take possession of the dams to subdue the enemies. Even during
In the Afrin offensive in 2018, Turkish troops attacked and rendered three pumping stations inoperative.
of water. Even in that case, the lack of normal water resources had caused quite a few problems to
Kurdish soldiers and the local population besieged in the city.

Internally, the Turkish government is implementing a plan to ensure Turkey has full control over
flow of the Tigris and Euphrates through the construction of dams in their respective basins. Within the next thirty years, the
the Euphrates basin will be drained well before creating the 150 kilometers of the Shatal 'Arab mixing
the Tigers, which will in turn reduce its contribution at the mouth. The barriers that will reduce the amount of
cubic meters essential for the irrigation of the Iraqi plains, particularly planned in Turkey but also
in Syria. This prospect of the drying up of an estuary is not a unique case in lands inhabited by Kurds, in fact
The course of the Atrak river, which marks the border between Iran and Turkmenistan, is obstructed by numerous barriers.
mostly in Khorasan. In Iraqi Kurdistan, besides the Mosul dam, the dam of construction has been ongoing since 1979.
Burn.

WHY IS KURDISTAN AND THE KURDS NOT RECOGNIZED?

It is a strategically important territory due to its wealth of oil and water resources, but it is located in a
situation of underdevelopment due to the absence of a political-administrative unit. 75% of the oil
Iraqi oil comes from Kurdistan, the only deposits in Turkey and the most important in Syria are located in
Kurdistan, also in the area of Kermanshah, Iranian territory but inhabited by Kurds, produces oil.
It is the mandatory passage of some important communication, for example between the republics.
Central Asia, Iran, and Turkey.
The fact that the Kurds have become 4 different minorities inevitably makes a
uniquely addressing the issue and in order to provide a picture as comprehensive as possible becomes
quasi forced to present the different Kurdish independences depending on the sovereign state against which
they fight for their autonomy; almost revealing its disintegration.

The great Kurdistan has never existed except in the rhetoric of nationalism. In Erdogan's Turkey, where
the Kurdish minority is more prominent, repression has returned with states of emergency, as in the periods
darker after the coup. In Syria, Moscow, in its renewed friendship with Ankara, has given the green light
to the Olive Branch operation in Afrin and to the downsizing if not the complete cancellation
of the Rojava entity. Much will depend on how the civil war unfolds. For now, Trump does not abandon the
Kurds because they want to defeat Daesh, but from a political point of view? It is not difficult to imagine that if the
The solution to the Syrian barbarism will not be high-profile; new and old problems will intersect.
The construction of the Middle East in recent years is an American responsibility after all. To the east
On the Euphrates, the Turkish president has the same objectives as rival Syria, namely to cleanse the area of control.
Kurds. Probably until the next spin-off of al-Qaeda or the Caliphate, the Kurds will return to the
forgotten for Western bureaucracies. Also for the Kurds in Iran at the moment there is no possibility that
they exist only within the specific multi-ethnic and multicultural framework of the Persian state.

Thus, Kurdistan is a geopolitical anomaly sustained by circumstances and Realpolitik.

Dogus (Rebirth)
The poisons of the occupiers
they do not reach to dirty
the cave of freedom.
My heart is a sanctuary
illuminated by the sun.
In my heart there is space
throughout the sun
throughout the sea
for my people.
Mount Cudi is freedom.
and the Zagros
the peaks are free
of Herekol and of Munzur.
A sacred altar
to all the goddesses
to all the gods
it is the freedom in my heart.
The mountains have opened the road
in the prisons
fireballs
within me revenge is a storm
and today
I feel the eve of a sudden explosion.
Do not be frightened by my cry.
Inside of me
I am being born again.
Musa

The holy light

I feel desperate

Dreams are being bombarded

Hopes are surrounded by barbed wire

Feelings are shot without scruples

The joys are plundered

They turn off the lights in the eyes of children

They make the cries of mothers increase

I want to believe in a divine light

I embrace my light

How to embrace the earth

….

The sea is no longer clear

The fish cried for the children

And the sea has gathered the waves

The waves got angry

The lifeless bodies on the beach

The sea is not stagnant

How many lives it has stolen!

How many tears have been shed!

And how long to wait helplessly!

The sea is the beginning of a sad story.

And time was ashamed of itself.

But humanity has not been ashamed

And the killer has begun to take a body every day.

The killer is used to killing.

And now, who is it up to?

Daily life in the bazaar of Erbil, northern Iraq

Curdi 2: the men play in the Erbil bazaar

Curds 3 and 4
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