18. WHAT ALL WORLD SHOULD KNOW ABOUT KURDISTAN

KURDISTAN - the land that belongs to Kurdish Nation, to Kurds. The country that was divided between Turkey, Iran, Iraq and Syria as a result of the Lousanne Treaty, that deprived Kurdish Nation the chance for the own state, breaking all the promises given three years earlier in Sevres. The country that doesn't exist on the world's map, but exists on the map of nearly 50 million Kurdish hearts, in which in spite of all the hope for freedom and independence is still burning.



The red lines on the map above shows the artificial borders, that divided Kurdistan into 4 parts that were given under 4 states control. The biggest part of the country is what we call Bakuri Kurdistan (North Kurdistan) – this part is under Turkish control and we estimate the population of Kurds living there to be about 20 to 25 million people. Next part, which is now within the Iranian border is called Rojhalati Kurdistan (East Kurdistan), where up to 10 million Kurds live. Rojawai Kurdistan (West Kurdistan) is the part controlled by Syria and we have about 3 million Kurds living on that territory. The last part is called Bashuri Kurdistan (South Kurdistan) – its Kurdistan Autonomous Region, that in the past used to be under Iraqi control, but finally gained the right to self-determination and became an autonomous region, where about 5 million Kurds live.

LANGUAGES – that are used by Kurdish people are Kurmandji, on North and West territory, which is written with Latin script (so called Hawar script) and Sorani in the rest of the country, written in so called Arabic script (although some letters of Sorani alphabet are different from Arabic ones, that's why it’s called Sorani script). We also have few local dialects, as Badhini, Hawrami, Zazaki, Kelurhi, Leki...


KURDISTAN - Kurds, who became a national minorities within the borders of Syria, Iran, Iraq and Turkey, for many years used to be a subject of brutal policy of that states, which purpose was to destroy Kurds as a nation, deprive them their identity and national culture and in the result – assimilated them completely. Kurdish Nation experienced enormous oppressions, discriminations, humiliations as well as exterminations. To make this issue more clear let’s take a closer look at the particular parts of Kurdistan and the policy of each of the four states that occupy these parts.

IRAQ

After many years of oppression and heroic struggle to retain the existence of Kurdish nation and Kurdish culture, one part of Kurdish land finally gained autonomy and the right to self-determination. This part, called by Kurdish people Bashuri Kurdistan (South Kurdistan) once being freed from Iraqi dominance, established its own authority – the President, the Government, the Parliament and the law. But not so many years ago, just back to 80's XX century this part of the country used to be regularly destroyed and people murdered every day by the regime of Ba'ath party under the leadership of Saddam Hussain. The Anfal Campaign carried on in 80's is the best known period during which more than 182 000 Kurds were killed, up to 4000 villages destroyed as well as more than 1750 schools, 270 hospitals, 2450 mosques, 27 churches and the city of Qaladze with the population of 70 thousand was razed. Ba'ath regime also displaced more than 200 000 Kurds (according to some sources this number could reach even up to 1 million people). As the Iraqi army entered the territory of Kurdistan, mass migration of Kurdish people to North took place in 1991, in which more than 20 000 lost their lives as a result of cold, hunger and difficult conditions of life. The most significant point in Anfal Campaign were a series of chemical attack, that the best known took place on 16th March 1988 in the city of Halabja, where more than 5000 people were killed within one day and thousands others lost their health. Altogether up to 250 town and villages were attacked by chemical weapon.









IRAN

The most common method of oppressing Kurds, who live under Iranian regime occupation, is imprisonment and executions. Although the population of Kurds, who live within Iranian borders constitutes up to 15% of total, still half of all executed prisoners are Kurdish. According to the researches Iran takes the second place in the world (after China) in the number of executions – and we can suspect that this number may be much higher than given in official sources.
For many years Kurdish political and human rights activists are arrested and sentenced to many years in prison and very often to death. Prisoners are tortured, often they are not given fair trials nor did they have access to their lawyers, moreover they are forced to confess and testify the things which they didn't commit. In many cases nobody is informed about the execution – the lawyers or the family, also in some cases families have difficulties to get the body of their executed relatives.
Very often the victims of Iranian regime are young Kurds, among them women are not the exceptions. The example can be the case of Roya Toloui, who was tortured and forced to make confessions, which she signed only because her oppressors threatened to burn her two children to death in front of her.
Today we still have a number of Kurds in Iranian prisons, that a lot of them are sentenced to death.
Although in the past Kurds living within the borders of Iran suffered from different forms of oppressions, such as destroying of number of Kurdish town and villages, many arrests and death sentences and around 10 000 killed (in the end of 70's last century).




SYRIA

The same like in other parts of Kurdistan, also in a Western territory Kurdish people experienced a lot of persecutions and oppressions, including arrests, tortures, and killings. Until today Kurdish activists, politicians, human rights defenders, writers, journalists are being arrested and sentenced for many years in prison. In the past a lot of times Kurdish activists, who were arrested, remain in a jail with no trial for many years, a lot of them were secretly murdered or considered as mental – ill.
The significant act of oppression toward Kurds took place on 23 August 1962, when the government conducted a special population census, which deprived Kurds their citizenship and caused around 120,000 Kurds to be arbitrarily categorized as aliens. Today still hundreds of thousands Kurds within the border of Syria remain “stateless”. As a result these Kurds don't have the option of legally relocating to another country because they lack passports or other internationally recognized travel documents, they also may not legally marry Syrian citizens, they don't have the right to vote in elections or run for public office, and when they attend universities they are often persecuted and cannot be awarded with university degrees.
Another step to persecute Kurdish population on that territory was in 1965, when the Syrian government decided to create an Arab cordon - 300 kilometers long and 10-15 kilometers wide area, alongside the artificial borders with Turkey and Iraq. Some 140,000 Kurds were deported and Arabs were brought in and resettled there, also Kurdish names of the places located on that territory were changed to Arabic ones.
One of the most brutal events in Syrian policy against Kurds were on 13th November 1960 in Amuda, where up to 380 Kurdish children were burnt to death while watching the movie in a cinema and on 23rd March 1993, when 72 Kurdish prisoners were also burnt to death in prison of Al-Hasaka city.
Young Kurds (often in the age between 18-22) who served in the army are assassinated and their families get the information that they lost their lives as a result of accident. Also a lot of Kurds were killed in the past years – not only secretly by assassination, but also on the streets, while taking part in protests or demonstrations – these things still happen in Western Kurdistan.
Kurdish language is forbidden, as well as Kurdish clothes, Kurdish names and celebrating traditional Kurdish festivals, such as Newroz, which is considered as Kurdish New Year.


TURKEY

Turkish state since the times of dictator Kemal Mustafa Ataturk used to excel in oppressing Kurdish people in many different ways. Any attempts to keep Kurdish identity, practice Kurdish culture and tradition resulted in more persecutions and repressions from Turkish authorities. Anything that was connected with Kurdish Nation and its culture was forbidden and annihilated. Kurdish children have no right to use their mother language, as well as to have the names in that language. And if these children protest against breaking their law to use their mother language – are arrested and put in Turkish prison, sentenced for many years, accused of being “members of illegal organisation”, which means just terrorists. By the way – so called “Anti-Terror Law” is the most often tool used by Turkish authorities in their operations against Kurdish people. Anyone who tries to defend Kurdish minority rights – and I would like to remind that this minority calculates about 25 million people – is accused of being terrorist and put in prison for many years.
Kurdish people under Turkish occupation don't even have the right to be Kurds – they are called “mountain Turks” and they national identity, as well as the existence of Kurdistan and Kurdish culture are denied. Even Kurdish language – the language of millions of people – are considered to be “unknown” language and the letters from Kurdish alphabet – X,Q,W – are banned, as they don't occur in Turkish language.
In 1991 the first Kurdish lady was elected to Turkish Parliament. Her name was Leyla Zana. At the time when she took her oath she was dressed in black and had red-yellow-green ribbon in her hair, the colours that symbolise Kurdistan. This ribbon caused the big outrage and objections from the Turkish MPs, who started to shout. Leyla Zana managed to take her oath in that noisy chamber, but according to the Turkish law she committed a crime, when at the end of her oath she added: "I take this oath for the brotherhood between the Turkish people and the Kurdish people.” She said that in her mother language, in Kurdish language. Leyla Zana was sentenced for 12 years and spent 10 years in prison.
Back to 30's last century, we can mention one of the most brutal act of genocide of Kurdish people. The Dersim Massacre took place in 1937 and 1938 in Dersim. In 1934, Turkey passed a Resettlement Law, aimed at assimilating ethnic minority communities within the country and the forced relocation of around 3,000 people, who were forcibly deported from Dersim. As a result of that was a letter of protest against that law and after the emissaries of the letter were arrested and executed, the rebellion in Dersim started. The numbers of people killed during the events in Dersim is estimated even up to 40 000 and 50,000–80,000 were killed in the aftermath of the Dersim rebellion.
And today we are still the witness of the acts of genocide, although on the smaller scale, but with the use of modern tools, such as war jets and helicopters (Drones and Cobra), illegal and forbidden by the international law chemical weapon. Two examples from just the end of the last year is murder with the chemical weapon 36 Kurdish freedom fighters in the mountains, which left their bodies in a condition which makes them impossible to recognize by the members of the family.





This act of terror took place on 22nd October 2011 and just two months later on 28th December 2011 in Uludere, Roboski Village another 35 Kurds were massacred by Turkish war plane, that most of them was very young people, teenagers and kids (the youngest was 12 years old).




The territory of South Kurdistan, which is outside the official Turkish border is regularly bombed by Turkish jets, also leaving the victims among the civilians, as well as their livestock. In such a way the family of 7 with little kids were torn into pieces on 12st August 2011, when travelling in their car.



At the same time Turkish agents carry on the coordinated action on Kurdish territory in order to arrest politicians, intellectuals, lawyers, journalists, human rights defenders and activists of Kurdish origin. There about 8000 Kurdish activists in Turkish prisons today. Regardless the immunity the houses of Kurdish BDP party are raided and searched.
Kurds who are living within the artificial Turkish borders are mistreated on every day basis – by police, in offices and even in hospitals (the case of Kurdish woman, whose fingers were broken by the medical personnel during giving the birth).
Any attempt to defend the basic human rights of Kurds are qualified as “terrorism” and results in arresting and sentence of prison – it applies also to Kurdish kids, who are put in jail under Turkey’s anti-terrorist laws. In 2010 the number of Kurdish children in Turkish prisons was estimated that about 2700 - most of them were arrested during demonstrations – and approximately another 7000 children were awaiting trial.
The oppressive Turkish policy toward Kurds can be very easy described as genocide of Kurdish Nation in all aspects of life – including cultural and political genocide. This fact should be taken under the consideration of entire Western World and International Community, specially in a situation when Turkey is trying to portrait itself as a model of democracy. Even if we agree that Turkey economy is developing and growing pretty good, it doesn't mean that human rights are respected on that territory. Human rights of Kurdish Nation that lives within the artificial borders of Turkish state are being broken for nearly entire century.



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The modern world can't be blind any longer. Kurds need world's attention and support of civilized world. We appeal to all the people, who agree that human rights are the highest value in our life, who are willing to defend that rights – we appeal to these people – don't be blind any longer, we need your support.
In the entire history, Kurds never attacked any country, state or territory, never started the war with any nation. Even in the last years of American soldiers presence on the territory of Iraq and Kurdistan Autonomous Region there was no single case in which Coalition's soldier would lose his life on the Kurdish territory. Today the land where Kurds have the right to self-determination – South Kurdistan – Kurdistan Autonomous Region is considered to be the safest place in Middle East. Kurds are peaceful, friendly people, who only want to live safe, have the right for self-determination, freedom and independence, who expect their human rights to be respected.