From Genocide to Self-Rule
The Long March to Freedom
Georg Kristiansen
Livonia Print
1992 was an important year for the Kurdish people. An autonomous Kurdish republic was established in Iraqi territory and the first free elections were held in Kurdistan. Since then the Kurds have been involved in building their own state based on democratic principles.
Historically the Kurds have been denied their rights as a people and have been targets for cruel massacres, torture and attempts at extermination. They constitute the largest ethnic population - approx. 40 million people - in the world, which is deprived of any political status, despite the fact that Kurdistan geographically is a clearly defined area. Their land is essentially divided politically between Turkey, Iran, Iraq and Syria.
Lately we have seen positive developments even in the Turkish part of Kurdistan. It has become more accepted to talk of the Kurds as a separate ethnic group. A new TV channel started broadcasting in Kurdish in 2009, and at the official launch of the channel Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan began his speech in Kurdish.
Georg Kristiansen is a photographer. He visited Kurdistan for the first time in 1975, and ever since he has followed the development of the area through his camera lens. He has met survivors from the attacks with chemical weapons in Halabja, he has met Kurds who over and over again have been forced to witness the destruction of their home villages and he has at first hand also experienced their joy of freedom after the liberation from the terror regime of Saddam Hussein.
Georg Kristiansen focuses on the progress of the autonomous region of Kurdistan in Iraq, but he also depicts other parts of Kurdistan. In addition, Jamal Alemdar, the representative for KDP in Europe 1971-1976, and other Kurds have contributed with their own texts.
Contents
Preface / ii
Who are the Kurds? / 14
Kurdistan - a Divided Country / 14
Geography and Natural Resources / 14
It all Started in the Time of the Medes / 36
The Situation of the Kurds after World War I / 36
Ups and Downs of Kurdish Hopes / 51
Al-Anfal / 60
Kurdistan Today / 94
Freedom of Expression / 98
A Fertile Land / 100
Many Religions / 124
A Village in the 1970s / 132
The Artisan Quarters in Diyarbakir / 147
Poems / 168
Captions / 178
PREFACE
My first encounter with Kurdistan goes back to my student days in the 1970s, when I met Kurds living in Sweden as refugees. They were actively involved in campaigning for the human rights of the Kurdish people, and their right to use their native tongue. Many of my Kurdish friends encouraged me to travel to their country and report about events there. In 1975 I travelled for the first time to the Turkish part of Kurdistan. I have taken a keen interest in the Kurdish people and their homeland ever since, and to date I have visited the region some ten times. My journeys have resulted in numerous newspaper and television reports as well as books and exhibitions, both in Sweden and abroad, attracting great attention.
The aim of this book is to introduce the Kurdish people and Kurdistan as seen from my perspective as a photographer; most of the pictures in the book were taken in the Turkish and Iraqi parts of Kurdistan.
In March 1991,1 went on a journalistic trip to the newly liberated Iraqi Kurdistan. During my brief stay I experienced first-hand the rejoicing of the Kurdish people, having been liberated from the terror regime of Saddam Hussein. However, I also witnessed the joy of freedom quickly turn into fear and terror as people once more were forced to flee in the face of advancing Iraqi troops.
Since 1992 the Kurds are in control of an autonomous region inside Iraqi territory. In the years 2005-2007 I visited the liberated areas several times and met many people who expressed great joy and optimism for the future. For the first time the Kurds needed not fear atrocities, and were able to express their thoughts openly and speak their native language - rights that are taken for granted in Sweden and in many other countries.
Georg Kristiansen, September 2009
Who are the Kurds?
So, who are the Kurds? It depends on whom you ask. The Kurds are the descendants of an ancient culture, unfairly treated by history. For this rough treatment they are partly themselves to blame for some misguided choices, but geography and geology also play an important part. The region is rich in oil, and the Kurdish nation has suffered the fate of essentially being divided between four different states, where they have no freedom in the real sense of the word.
Islam has also had its part to play in keeping the Kurds as second-class citizens. While Arabs, Turks and Persians all have used Islam to strengthen their nations, the Kurds have relegated Islam to a peripheral role in their national identity.
In the Arab world the Kurds are considered a separate nation when it comes to the distribution of wealth or regional investments, not considered equal in the eyes of the Arabs. However, once they ask for recognition of their national rights, they suddenly become part of the Arab world or are even viewed as Arabs.
The Arabs, divided into 22 independent states, some of them with a population of fewer than 250 000 people, share a common language, history, religion and culture. Nevertheless the populations in these countries are kept strictly separated from each other, and travelers between the countries are subjected to rigorous border controls. The Kurds, who number over eight million people, are denied independence and forced to stay a part of Iraq and Syria; until very recently, any talk of national rights was a taboo subject.
Kurdistan - a Divided Country
Kurdistan is essentially divided politically between four countries: Turkey, Iran, Iraq and Syria. In this region, there are about 40 million Kurds, which means that they constitute the largest population in the world which is deprived of any political status, despite the fact that Kurdistan geographically is clearly defined area. However, today Kurdistan is recognized in the Iraqi constitution as a separate region with a population of 5.5 million. This can be compared to Syria with its two million Kurds, Iran with nine million Kurds, and Turkey where more than half of all Kurds live.
Geography and Natural Resources
“Where is the border separating Kurdistan from the Arab lands?” This question was posed by a Western journalist to the legendary Kurdish leader Mustafa Barzani. He replied: “Let the camel be the judge. Let it travel northwards, and wherever it stops, Kurdistan’s border starts.”
In order to identify Kurdistan’s borders, you can draw a straight line from Mount Ararat to the Zagros Mountains and Pishtko Mountains, from there a straight-line westward to the city of Mosul in Iraq, another straight line from Mosul westwards to Askandarun in Turkey. From there a line towards north east to Arzarum in Turkey, and finally a line to the top of Mount Ararat, where we started.
Kurdistan covers a total area of 509 000 square kilometers, which is the equalivent of Great Britain, the Netherlands, Belgium, Switzerland and Denmark put together.
The Kurdistani heartland consists of mountains, which has always served as a protection against various invaders. The highest peak of the Taurus Mountains in the west is 5.158 meters, making it the highest in Kurdistan, while the Zagros Mountains are the second highest. This mountain range goes from the north west to the south east of Kurdistan.
The low-lying plateaus in the south and the highland plateaus in the east form the natural borders of Kurdistan.
Due to the continental climate and high altitude, Kurdistan has extremely cold winters, with high levels of snowfall between December and February, sometimes extending to April. The difference in temperature between summer and winter can be as much as 8o°C.
The rivers in Kurdistan play an important role for the agriculture in the region. Tigris and Euphrates run through Kurdistan on their way to the southern plateaus of Iraq and Syria.
Kurdistan’s main natural resource is oil. According to recent reports Iraqi Kurdistan is floating on an ocean of oil. A new oil law is under discussion in the Iraqi parliament, to determine distribution of oil revenue between the Central Government and the Kurdistan Regional Government.
…..
Georg Kristiansen
From Genocide to Self-Rule
Livonia Print
Livonia Print
From Genocide to Self-Rule
The Long March to Freedom
A Story in Pictures of the Kurdish People
Georg Kristiansen
Photographs
Georg Kristiansen
Texts
Jamal Alemdar: pp. 14, 36-39
Shinwar Maltay: p. 164
Adnan Mufti: pp. 98-99
The remaining texts: Georg Kristiansen
Poems
Sherko Bekas
Cegerxwin Seyda
Goran
Mueyed Tayeb
Adaptation of the Swedish Text
Gudrun Winfridsson
Translation
Fewzi Hirori
Newzad Hirori
Reso Zilan
Gudrun Winfridsson
English Review
Ola Winfridsson
Graphic Design
Per Kristiansen & Johan Kristiansen
Printing
Livonia Print, Riga
ISBN: 978-91-633-4109-0
Information and Orders
www.norrbagge.se
© 2009 Georg Kristiansen
