Geography/History The Kurds A Nation Without A State Introduction Of Essay Example For Students

Geography/History The Kurds: A Nation Without A State Introduction Of Essay Geography/History The Kurds: A Nation Without a State IntroductionOf all the ethnic groups in the world, the Kurds are one of the largest that has no state to call their own. According to historian William Westermann, The Kurds can present a better claim to race purity.. .than any people which now inhabits Europe. (Bonner, p. 63, 1992) Over the past hundred years, the desire for an independent Kurdish state has created conflicts mainly with the Turkish and Iraqi populations in the areas where most of the Kurds live. This conflict has important geographical implications as well. The history of the Kurdish nation, the causes for these conflicts, and an analysis of the situation will be discussed in this paper. History of the KurdsThe Kurds are a Sunni Muslim people living primarily in Turkey, Iraq, and Iran. The 25 million Kurds have a distinct culture that is not at all like their Turkish, Persian, and Arabic neighbors (Hitchens, p. 36, 1992). It is this cultural difference between the groups that automatically creates the potential for conflict. Of the 25 million Kurds, approximately 10 million live in Turkey, four million in Iraq, five million in Iran, and a million in Syria, with the rest scattered throughout the rest of the world (Bonner, p. 46, 1992). The Kurds also have had a long history of conflict with these other ethnic groups in the Middle East, which we will now look at.The history of Kurds in the area actually began during ancient times. However, the desire for a Kurdish homeland did not begin until the early 1900s, around the time of World War I. In his Fourteen Points, President Woodrow Wilson promised the Kurds a sovereign state (Hitchens, p. 54, 1992). The formation of a Kurdish state was supposed to have been accomplished through the Treaty of Sevres in 1920 which said that the Kurds could have an independent state if they wanted one (Bonner, p. 46, 1992). With the formation of Turkey in 1923, Kemal Ataturk, the new Turkish President, threw out the treaty and denied the Kurds their own state. This was the beginning of the Turkish-Kurdish conflict.At about this same time, the Kurds attempted to establish a semi-independent state, and actually succeeded in forming the Kingdom of Kurdistan, which lasted from 1922-1924; later, in 1946, some of the Kurds established the Mahabad Republic, which lasted for only one year (Prince, p. 17, 1993). In 1924, Turkey even passed a law banning the use of the Kurdish language in public places. Another group of people to consider is the Kurds living in Iraq. Major conflict between the Kurds and Iraqis did not really begin until 1961, when a war broke out that lasted until 1970. Around this time, Saddam Hussein came to power in Iraq. In 1975, Hussein adopted a policy of eradicating the Kurds from his country. Over the next fifteen years, the Iraqi army bombed Kurdish villages, and poisoned the Kurds with cyanide and mustard gas (Hitchens, p. 46, 1992). It is estimated that during the 1980s, Iraqis destroyed some 5000 Kurdish villages (Prince, p. 22, 1993). From this point, we move into the recent history and current state of these conflicts between the Kurds and the Turks, and the Kurds against the Iraqis. Causes for ConflictThe reasons for these conflicts have great relevance to geography. The areas of geography relating to these specific conflicts are a historical claim to territory on the part of the Kurds, cultural geography, economic geography, and political geography. These four areas of geography can best explain the reasons for these Kurdish conflicts. First, the Kurds have a valid historical claim to territory. They have lived in the area for over 2000 years. For this reason, they desire the establishment of a Kurdish homeland. Iraqis and Turks, while living in the area for a long period of time, cannot make a historical claim to that same area. Media Violence EssayAs far as the United States is concerned, Kurdistan probably should not exist. During Operation Provide Comfort, the U.S. helped out the Kurds in Iraq, but did nothing to help the Kurds in Turkey. The reason for this is that Turkey is a NATO ally, while Iraq is one of the U.S.s worst enemies (Marcus, p. 9, 1994) By helping out the Kurds, the U. S. would be siding with enemies of the Turks, which could create problems that the U.S. government would rather not deal with. This type of situation does not exist in Iraq, however, since the U.S. is not on friendly terms with Husseins regime.There are two main views on how to deal with the conflicts. The KDP, led by Masoud Baranzi, seeks limited political autonomy within Iraq (Hitchens, p. 36, 1992). Interestingly, many Kurds would accept being a state of Iraq, holding some autonomy, provided that Hussein was removed from power, a democracy was installed, and the Kurds were treated as equals (Bonner, p. 65, 1992). This means that some of the Kurds do not believe it is absolutely necessary that they have their own state, only that they are recognized as equals by the Iraqi government. On the other hand, Jalal Talabanias PUK says that the Kurds should hold out for more political concessions from Iraq (Hitchens, p. 36, 1992). It is possible that they would try to use guerrilla warfare tactics to frighten the Iraqi army into meeting its demands. Analysis: Looking Ahead to the FutureLooking at the current state of the conflict, the end does not seem to be near. On one hand, the Kurds have been struggling to gain their independence for a number of years, and even though they have been locked in a ten year guerrilla war with the Turks, have come too far to stop fighting and accept the harsh treatment they have received from the Turks and Iraqis. Even though Turkey has lost a large number of troops dealing with the perceived Kurdish menace, they do have the support of the U.S. , and that in itself seems to be a good enough reason to keep the war going.As for the situation in Iraq, the situation is a bit more complicated. The plan of KDP seems like a plausible solution. However, the plan is not likely to succeed until Hussein dies or is forced out of power. The Iraqis also do not seem very willing to give up their territory to the Kurds. The plan of the PUK has a small chance to work, assuming that guerrilla tactics would scare the Iraqi government. By simply holding out, the Kurds would gain nothing, because the Iraqis are not threatened by the Kurds per se. However, by attacking the Iraqis, the Kurds run the risk of a counterattack which they probably could not effectively deal with. Basically, that would make the situation for the Kurds even worse than before. ConclusionWithout the support of a large powerful nation such as the U.S., the Kurds will probably never establish an independent Kurdish state. The Kurds do not have enough military power to fight off the Turks and Iraqis without help. The Iraqis and Turks would not be willing to give up their economically important territory to people which they perceive a threat to their way of life and will most likely continue to fight the Kurds. The Kurds have no choice but to continue fighting until either they or the Turks and Iraqis are defeated, as both groups are unwilling to allow them to remain in their countries. The future definitely looks bleak for the Kurds.