Kurds and Turks
Posted on 04/12/2003 11:12:00 AM PDT by a_Turk
Kurds and Turks
Deceased Iranian Kurdish Leader Abdurrahman Qasýmlu wrote in his book "Iranian Kurdistan" that historiacally the Kurds are mountain nomads, that for that reason they were able to protect their personalities and migrant clan systems, but that they for the same reason were unable to evolve socially.
This is the reason that the Kurds have no country.
Claude Cahen the historian writes in his book "Turks in Anatolia" that the Turks have historically been plains nomads, that they had therefore been able to span vast geographical extents in an organized fashion, that they were able to make the transition to urban life with greate ease. This is the reason why the Turks have been able to found state after state.. That one had a mountain character and the other plains, had prevented clashes throughout history and has made it easier for them to cooperate.
Ziya Gökalp had written that the Turks and Kurds had found it easy to turn towards each other, yet lacking the "desert" character had made it difficult for them to mix with the Arabs. Enter today's Irak.
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The term KURDISTAN had first been used by the Selcuk Turks (1040 - 1408). It referred to a vast mountinous area in the east of Iran (yes, east). That's the original land of the Kurds. Later, in the shared geography of Islam, the clans mixed for centuries. The armies of Salahaddin Eyyubi were predominantly Turkish and Kurdish.
North of the Van lake was predominantly Armenian before the Turks entered Anatolia. Also according to Cahen, while the Turks were conquering Anatolia, the Kurds, along with their Oghuz (that's us, the Turks of Anatolia are Oghuz Turks) brethren spread across the plateaus east of the Euphrates. The plains further west, namely in inner and Aegean Anatolia did not inspire the Kurds as much as they did the Turks.
Graham Fuller, and even anti-Turk authors such as John Bulloc wrote that the Kurds were integrated in Turkey like they were no where else, and that Turks and Kurds were today by and large fully intermixed. The root cause of this is explained in the short recap of history I just provided.
The integration of Turk and Kurd became permanent with the large scale urbanization witnessed in Turkey which started in the 50s and gained serious momentum in the 80s.
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To draw internal borders in a country such as Turkey where the children of an empire are integrated to such an extent is now impossible. Therefore the subject of Kurdish ethnicity in Turkey can not be seen as that of a seperate nation, but as a subject of democracy. Needles to say, to be a nation does not require ethnic singularity. Mutual historic and social integration, as well as concepts such as country and citizenship are far more important.
I don't feel foreign at all in Diyarbakir, but how about when I visit Tashkent (ancient Turkic)? Just like Turkish Kurds don't feel like strangers in Izmir, but how about when they visit Dohuk?
Therefore there are things more important than ethnicity. Why can Barzani (KDP) and Talabani (PUK) not integrate? When threatened by Talabani's occupation of Kirkuk, did Barzani not ask Turkey for help?!
In his book "The Kurds", David McDowal explains that Barzani is "Kirmanch" and that Talabani is "Sorani," and that these two dialects can never get along, and that the problem there is not a "party" problem, but that it is an enmity between two different ethnic clans..
Thus: Naturally ethnic identity is important, but concepts like country, citizenship, historic togetherness, social integration and shared fate are more important.
Irak is Irak, and Turkey is Turkey!
Certainly, as a realist, what is in Turkeys interest is in the interest of her 70 million. I look at everything in Irak fromthat perspective.
This is what it's all about.
I'm sorry to say that I think that, economically, at least, things will get worse before they get better. If the pipeline gets frittered away in cozy back-room deals with no real widespread, productive, industrial economic progress in the Southeast, there will be some serious problems which will require some rather drastic solutions.
This is good news. Given the recent collapse of the Iraqi dinar, I would think that New Iraq will be an excellent place to export Turkish Lira loans to pay for these Turkish imports. This will boost the TL. A "TL" zone, similar to the one in Northern Iraq you mentioned earlier in this thread, would boost the Turkish economy quit a bit, with Turkey exporting both capital and commodities.
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As far as clueless politicians are concerned, you are describing a problem which is infecting the entire civilized world. The reason is posited here:
"After years of studying politics I have come to the only explanation of the politics of recent years that explans everything.
Running for, and holding, political office is an effective government affirmative action program for hiring the severely mentally handicapped. It gives mental defectives something to do. It makes them feel good about themselves. It keeps them off the street where they might otherwise hurt themselves. It does not require mental competence. It lets the mentally handicapped feel they are leading productive lives. The presidential frontrunners and the sitting president would be incapable of doing anything else.
It explains everything. "
heh heh. Try saying "Kurds and Turks" real fast 10 times in a row. :-)
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