The international news we hear is often about conflicts, strife, and violence in hotspots around the globe. Many conflicts pit people of one ethnic or religious group against those of another. People fight over power, territory, control, and money. But many conflicts are deeply rooted in the past. Each title in the World in Conflict series examines one conflict, in detail, providing readers with the background information necessary to understand how each conflict started in the first place and how it has escalated to become headline news. The book’s final chapter discusses attempts to achieve peace on both international and grassroots levels. In Kurdistan: Region under Siege, readers will learn about the conflict that pits the Kurds against the governments of Turkey, Iraq, Iran, and Syria. For centuries, the Kurdish people have occupied the mountainous region where these Middle Eastern countries meet. Because Kurdistan has been an area of great strategic and economic importance for these countries, the Kurds have suffered persecution and have repeatedly been rebuffed in their efforts to control their political and cultural destiny. The Kurdish struggle has been marked by violence and repression. Over the past few decades, the Turkish and Iraqi governments in particular have killed tens of thousands of Kurds and driven hundreds of thousands from their homes. Kurdish groups in Turkey and Iraq fight this repression, but divisions within the Kurdish community have prevented these groups from launching a unified struggle.
Kari J. Bodnarchuk is a journalist, editor, and adventurer who has traveled to 30 countries in Africa, Asia, Europe, North America, and the South Pacific. While working as an editor and reporter for a Massachusetts newspaper group, Kari developed and ran a Rwanda relief effort to collect clothing and money for medicines. She traveled to Rwanda in 1994 to report on the distribution of these supplies in refugee camps and hospitals around Rwanda and eastern Zaire. Kari now writes for newspapers and magazines and runs classes on adventure travel. She is also the author of Lerner Publications’ Rwanda: Country Torn Apart.
Contents
About This Series / 6 Words You Need to Know / 7 Foreword / 8
Introduction / 10 Land Area and Terrain / 10 Population and Displacement / 13 Kurdish Culture / 16 Social Structure / 17 The Kurdish Struggle / 18 Groups Involved in the Kurdish Conflict / 20 Major Players / 22
Chapter 1 The Recent Conflict and Its Effects / 24 Violence in Turkey / 25 Kurds in Iraq and Iran / 28 Kurds against Kurds / 31
Chapter 2 The Conflict's Roots / 34 Caught between Empires / 35 Challenging Ottoman Authority / 38 The Rise of Nationalism / 41 World War I / 42 Hopes for Independence / 44 Kurdish Hopes Dashed / 47 The Struggle for Mosul / 48 The Treaty of Lausanne / 50 Kurdish Insurrections / 51 Resistance to Arab Rule / 52
Chapter 3 Entrenched Positions / 56 The Mahabad Republic / 56 Reform and Revolution / 58 Shifting Positions / 61 The March 11 Agreement / 63 The 1974-75 War / 65 Revolution in Iran / 68 Iran-Iraq War / 71 Emergence of the PKK / 73
Chapter 5 What's Being Done to Solve the Problem / 90 Humanitarian Aid / 92 Groups and Organizations / 94 Conflict Resolution / 96
Epilogue / 98
Chronology / 99
Selected Bibliography / 101
Index / 102
About the Author and Consultants / 104
FOREWORD
byAndrew Bell-Fialkoff
Conflicts between various groups are as old as time. Peoples and tribes around the world have fought one another for thousands of years. In fact, our history is in great part a succession of wars—between the Greeks and the Persians, the English and the French, the Russians and the Poles, and many others. Not only do states or ethnic groups fight one an-other, so do followers of different religions— Catholics and Protestants in Northern Ireland, Christians and Muslims in Bosnia, and Buddhists and Hindus in Sri Lanka. Often ethnicity, language, and religion—some of the main distinguishing elements of culture—reinforce one another in characterizing a particular group. For instance, the vast majority of Greeks are Orthodox Christian and speak Greek; most Italians are Roman Catholic and speak Italian. Elsewhere, one cultural aspect predominates. Serbs and Croats speak dialects of the same language but remain separate from one another because most Croats are Catholics and most Serbs are Orthodox Christians. To those two groups, religion is more important than language in defining culture.
We have witnessed an increasing number of conflicts in modern times—why? Three reasons stand out. One is that large empires— such as Austria-Hungary, Ottoman Turkey, several colonial empires with vast holdings in Asia, Africa, and America, and, most recently, the Soviet Union—have collapsed. A look at world maps from 1900, 1950, and 1998 reveals an ever-increasing number of small and medium-sized states. While empires existed, their rulers suppressed many ethnic and religious conflicts. Empires imposed order, and local resentments were mostly directed at the central authority. Inside the borders of empires, populations were multiethnic and often highly mixed. When the empires fell apart, world leaders found it impossible to establish political frontiers that coincided with ethnic boundaries. Different groups often claimed territories inhabited by others. The nations created on the lands of a toppled empire were saddled with acute border and ethnic problems from their very beginnings.
The second reason for more conflicts in modern times stems from the twin ideals of freedom and equality. In the United States, we usually think of freedom as "individual freedom.” If we all have equal rights, we are free. But if you are a member of a minority group and feel that you are being discriminated against, your group’s rights and freedoms are also important to you. In fact, if you don’t have your “group freedom,” you don’t have full individual freedom either.
After World War I (1914-1918), the allied western nations, under the guidance of U.S. president Woodrow Wilson, tried to satisfy group rights by promoting minority rights. The spread of frantic nationalism in the 1930s, especially among disaffected ethnic minorities, and the catastrophe of World War II (1939-1945) led to a fundamental reassessment of the Wilsonian philosophy. After 1945 group rights were downplayed on the assumption that guaranteeing individual rights would be sufficient. In later decades, the collapse of multiethnic nations like Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia, and the Soviet Union—coupled with the spread of nationalism in those regions—came as a shock to world leaders. People want democracy and individual rights, but they want their group rights, too. In practice, this means more conflicts and a cycle of secession, as minority ethnic groups seek their own sovereignty and independence.
The fires of conflict are often further stoked by the media, which lavishes glory and attention on independence movements. To fight for freedom is an honor. For every Palestinian who has killed an Israeli, there are hundreds of Kashmiris, Tamils, and Bosnians eager to shoot at their enemies. Newspapers, television and radio news broadcasts, and other media play a vital part in fomenting that sense of honor. They magnify each crisis, glorify rebellion, and help to feed the fire of conflict.
The third factor behind increasing conflict in the world is the social and geographic mobility that modern society enjoys. We can move anywhere we want and can aspire—or so we believe—to be anything we wish. Every day the television tantalizingly dangles the prizes that life can offer. We all want our share. But increased mobility and ambition also mean increased competition, which leads to antagonism. Antagonism often fastens itself to ethnic, racial, or religious differences. If you are an inner-city African American and your local grocer happens to be Korean American, you may see that individual as different from yourself—an intruder—rather than as a person, a neighbor, or a grocer. This same feeling of “us” versus “them” has been part of many an ethnic conflict around the world.
Many conflicts have been contained—even solved—by wise, responsible leadership. But unfortunately, many politicians use citizens’ discontent for their own ends. They incite hatred, manipulate voters, and mobilize people against their neighbors. The worst things happen when neighbor turns against neighbor. In Bosnia, in Rwanda, in Lebanon, and in countless other places, people who had lived and worked together and had even intermarried went on a rampage, killing, raping, and robbing one another with gusto. If the appalling carnage teaches us anything, it is that we should stop seeing one another as hostile competitors and enemies and accept one another as people. Most importantly, we should learn to understand why conflicts happen and how they can be prevented. That is why World in Conflict is so important—the books in this series will help you understand the history and inner dynamics of some of the most persistent conflicts of modern times. And understanding is the first step to prevention.
Introduction
The landlocked, mountainous region known as Kurdistan is located in western Asia, an area that is also known as the Middle East. Covering roughly 230,000 square miles and nearly equal to the size of the state of Texas, Kurdistan is not a country but rather is a region with undefined borders that includes land in Turkey, Syria, Iran, and Iraq. The Kurdish people, also known as the Kurds, have drawn the borders of Kurdistan to encompass territory in which there is a significant Kurdish population. The governments of Turkey, Iran, Iraq, and Syria do not recognize these borders, however.
The Kurds are considered the largest ethnic group in the world without a country. For the past century, various Kurdish groups have been fighting for the right to express their cultural identity and to govern themselves. More often than not, this struggle has been met with violence and repression. In particular, tens of thousands of Kurds have been killed and hundreds of thousands have been driven from their homes in Turkey and Iraq over the past few decades. But government repression is not the only obstacle facing the Kurds. The Kurdish fight for freedom and unity has also been repeatedly hampered by differences among the Kurds and by rivalries between different Kurdish groups.
Land Area and Terrain
Since Kurdistan doesn’t have strictly defined borders, there is no definitive map of the area. The largest section of Kurdistan covers about 80,000 square miles in southeastern Turkey, comprising nearly 30 percent of Turkey’s total land. Kurdistan also includes 29,000 square miles of northeastern Iraq (about 17 percent of Iraqi land) and 50,000 square miles of western Iran (about 7.6 percent of Iranian territory). In addition, Kurdistan encompasses a small section of northeastern Syria. The Kurdish territory in Iraq includes an autonomous region, where Iraqi Kurds are free to celebrate their culture and practice a certain level of self-rule. There are also Kurdish communities in Central Asia and the Caucasus Mountains. The landscape of Kurdistan is mainly mountainous. Sections of the Zagros, Taurus, and Pontic mountains are found in Kurdistan. The mountains stretch from southern Turkey into northern Iraq and western Iran. In southern Kurdistan, the mountains slope away into the rolling hills and fertile plains of central Iraq. In eastern Kurdistan the mountains give way to the Plateau of Iran. In the mountains, elevations reach higher than 15,000 feet above sea level. The climate is typically cold and snowy. In southern Turkey, for example, the mountains are covered with snow for six months of the year. The plains and valley regions of Kurdistan generally have a more moderate climate.
High mountain peaks provide a dramatic backdrop for this Kurdish village in Turkey. Melting snow and rain feed into the lakes, rivers, and smaller waterways located in Kurdistan and help keep the region fertile.
The mountains in Kurdistan were at one time heavily forested, but the Kurdish inhabitants have chopped down many of the region’s oak, beech, and walnut trees for fuel. Since they don’t replant after chopping down these trees, the woods have thinned out or completely disappeared in some areas. In addition, demand for timber among the nations of the region and the effects of modern warfare have also stripped Kurdistan of many of its trees. As a result, deforestation, soil erosion, and parched land have become problems in certain sections. But some of Kurdistan’s mountains are still blanketed by wild flowers, medicinal herbs, edible vegetables, and stunning waterfalls.
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Kari J. Bodnarchuk
Kurdistan: Region Under Siege
Lerner Publications
Lerner Publications Company World in Conflict Kurdistan: Region Under Siege by Kari J. Bodnarchuk
Series Consultant: Andrew Bell-Fialkoff Editorial Director: Mary M. Rodgers Editors: Chris Dali, Lisa K. McCallum Designer: Michael Tacheny Photo Researcher: Glenn Marier
Library of Congress Cataloging-In-Publication Data
Bodnarchuk, Kari J. Kurdistan: region under siege / by Kari J. Bodnarchuk p. cm. — (World in conflict series) Includes index. Summary: Presents background information on the Kurds and examines the history of their ethnic conflict with other peoples in the mountainous regions of southwestern Asia. ISBN 0-8225-3556-4 (lib. bdg.) 1. Kurds—Politics and government—20th century Juvenile literature. 2. Middle East—Ethnic relations Juvenile literature. [1. Kurds—Politics and government. 2. Middle East—Ethnic relations] I. Title. II. Series. DS59.K86B63 2000 956.6703—dc21 / 99-19500
Manufactured in the United States of America 1 2 3 4 5 6 - JR - 05 04 03 02 01 00
