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  • The Harvard Crimson

    The Harvard Crimson
    By: Mark A. Adomanis

    KurdistanObserver.com Pity the Kurds
    Oct 4, 2004

    Largely ignored in the current coverage of the crisis in Iraq is the
    continuing plight of the Kurdish people. The slaughter of Saddam's gas
    attacks in the late 1980's stands out in the public consciousness, yet
    few have a historical perspective broad enough to truly understand the
    duration and severity of the oppression that has been foisted upon the
    Kurds.

    It's no exaggeration to say that the Kurds are victims of one of
    history's greatest ongoing tragedies; they've been consistently
    tortured, killed, oppressed and forcibly unsettled for well over a
    century. And while there are certain similarities between the
    mistreatments of the Kurds and the repression of other minorities-the
    Armenians and the Jews come immediately to mind-the Kurds are unique
    in that they have no state of their own. They were promised a state in
    the Treaty of Sevres in the aftermath of the First World War, but
    Kemal Ataturk's ascension to power in Turkey prevented this from
    happening.

    A sizeable presence in the Middle East, the Kurds number roughly 20
    million and reside in a broad swathe from Southeastern Turkey, to
    Northern Iraq and Western Iran. The largest concentration of Kurds in
    the region-around 10 million- resides in Turkey and comprises upwards
    of 20 percent of the country's population.

    For being such a substantial minority in Turkey, the Kurds enjoy
    little in the way of representation or freedom. The Turkish government
    severely repressed Kurdish culture to such an extent that children
    couldn't even be given Kurdish names until as little as a decade
    ago. But because of its desire to join the European Union, the Turkish
    government has begun publicly imploring the acceptance of the Kurds
    residing within its borders. These efforts though, for the most part,
    disguise the ongoing draconian regulation of the Kurds. Just this past
    July, several Kurdish activists were charged by Turkish police for
    speaking in their native tongue at a political rally. While the
    trumped-up charges were later dropped because of massive international
    outcry, the fact that they were levied at all demonstrates clearly
    that Kurds still have a long road to full equality.

    The terrible suffering of the Kurds continues apace in the cauldron of
    postwar Iraq, as the recent massive car bombing in the unofficial
    Kurdish capital of Kirkuk and the beheading of three Kurds by
    insurgents have gruesomely illustrated. These two vile acts are merely
    small additions to the long list of outrages suffered since the
    removal of Saddam Hussein. Kurds stand out as targets not only because
    of their ethnicity and language, but also because of their staunchly
    pro-American actions. The Kurds are deeply grateful for America's
    creation of the `no fly zone,' which enabled them to enjoy at least
    some sense of autonomy after the First Gulf War ended. The Kurd's
    famed peshmergamilitias played a significant part in Operation Iraqi
    Freedom and continue to battle against the terrorists waging a
    guerilla campaign.

    While our policing of the no-fly zone allowed the creation of a
    nominally independent Kurdish nation, we owe the Kurds a far greater
    historical debt.This is primarily because they are one of the few
    reliable allies we have in the region; the proto self-government
    centered on Kirkuk has been resolutely and nearly unflinchingly
    pro-American over the past decade. However, our reasons for further
    helping the Kurds are not limited to their current assistance to our
    cause. Twice in the past century the Kurdish people have responded to
    the calls of American presidents to overthrow their oppressors, only
    to rise up and be slaughtered by the thousands. While the Kurds heeded
    Woodrow Wilson and George H.W. Bush, if the only outcome of following
    American desires is mass slaughter they would be wary of aiding us in
    the future; and the Kurds occupy too strategically important an area
    to risk loosing as allies.

    Virtually every other people that have suffered as greatly as the
    Kurds have come out of the experience possessing a nation of their
    own, but the Kurds remain stateless. No country that lies within the
    traditional Kurdish homeland grants full freedom or protection-as of
    today there is still no nation where the Kurds can truly be
    Kurdish. If we can salvage little from our invasion of Iraq, a true
    Kurdish homeland where the Kurds can live in peace and with dignity
    should be at the top of the list.

    Mark A. Adomanis '07, a Crimson editorial editor, is a government
    concentrator living in Eliot House.
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