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The
Kurds and their Desires in Iraqi Karkuk
By: Chamoun Danho - Sweden
The Russian journalist “Lina Sobonina” had
raised two important issues in a recent interview conducted with
the Kurdish Leader Masoud Barzani, which was also published in
an Arabic Newspaper (Azzaman Newspaper – November 14, 2001).
Many of the past’s secretive issues, in addition to the solution
or complication of the Kurdish problem, are connected to these
two issues. Due to the importance of these two matters, we will
stop at them, in hopes of clarifying them to serve the truth.
While we do sympathize with the Kurds and their causes, as long
as they are humanistic and legitimate.
1- The Claim of Federalism and State:
Mr. Masoud Barzani, who is the leader of the
Kurdistan Democratic Party, declares through his response to the
question of the Russian journalist regarding the Kurds’ claim of
Federalism and their hopes in creating their state on the land
of Iraq as follows: “It is true that the wish of all Kurds is
the creation of an independent state officially and
democratically, but the international and regional
circumstances, do not permit the raising of the slogan of ‘The
Independent State’ and we must be realistic and raise slogans
that are potentially achievable.”
It shows through this declaration
that was made by Mr. Masoud Barzani, in which he expressed the
opinion of a wide section of the Kurds, as if the non-Kurd Iraqi
is the occupier of the Kurds’ land, and that the Kurds have
resided in North Iraq since time immemorial! Thus, Barzani
clarifies for us that the wish of all the Kurds is to create the
Kurdish State. We add, but on the lands of others!
This picture, which reveals that
the descendents of Babylon and Ashur (the true Iraqis) occupy
the lands of others, is very far from the truth and very
unrealistic. The existence of Kurds in Iraq does not necessarily
mean that they have the right to take a part of it. Otherwise
then, it would be also rightful for the Turks in Germany to
create a Turkish State there because there are more than 5
million Turks in Germany due to migration. In other words, the
number of Turks in Germany is more than that of Kurds in Iraq.
There is also the Moroccan community in France and there are
many other examples in different areas of the world. It is
obvious these days that the Kurds obtaining political and
self-governing autonomy in Iraq no longer satisfies their goals.
Hence, they have first declared a clear goal, which was ‘The
True Self-Governing for the Kurds’, but now this goal has
advanced to ‘Federalism,’ while Mr. Barzani has shown “a clear
flexibility” through his postponement of the plan of ‘The
Kurdish State,’ because the regional and international
circumstances do not permit the achievement of this plan. Also,
a short while ago, Mr. Barzani had openly declared before his
staff, the following: “Federalism is a natural right for the
Kurdish people, which cannot be abandoned and they (the Kurds)
have not demanded an independent state, not because this is not
their right, but because they know the current international
circumstances, and they are not proceeding in taking any steps
that may not be in the interest of the Kurds.”
2- Karkuk:
Kurdish or Iraqi?
The Russian journalist asked: “It
is known that the important points of disagreement between the
Kurds and the central government of Baghdad, is focused around
the area of Karkuk, isn’t it better for you to be flexible and
to let go of this city in order to achieve your goals quickly?”
The response of Mr. Barzani was clear: “A
flexibility such as the one that was mentioned in the question
is impossible, because Karkuk’s land is Kurdish with its people
and history, but it is possible that we can agree with the
government of Baghdad about the technical measures.”
This response by Barzani contains a great
deal of belittlement and arrogance towards the history and the
people of Iraq. Rather, it has a distortion of the history of
the entire region in a way that does not call for optimism at
all. It also contains a tone of radicalism similar to that
talked about by the Arabists. The world’s museums and all of the
history books and resources, undoubtedly prove that Karkuk,
Mosul, Arbil, ...etc. are all Iraqi Mesopotamian cities, to
which the Kurds have come to them in the recent times from the
Zagros Mountains, which are bordering Iraq. These newcomers had
also carried out many vicious campaigns of Kurdification against
the local indigenous inhabitants of these cities with an Ottoman
support and at times Persian. Thus, the Assyrian, Arab and
Yezidi Iraqis had been displaced towards the Center and South of
Iraq or to the outside of Iraq. With the beginnings of the 19th
century, the Kurds had gradually been successful in changing the
ethnical and linguistic map of Northern Iraq to their benefit
and to change its historical name ‘Jazira’ to ‘Kurdistan’. The
historians remind us of the vicious campaigns of Kurdification,
for example: A Kurdish Prince, Muhammad Pasha who is known as
the Prince “Kor” had seized, in the year of 1832 AD, the
villages of Assyria and plundered the village of Hattara (in the
region of Shikhan) and he killed of Elqosh, a Chaldean village
in North Iraq, a hundred and seventy-two men not counting the
women and children. Then he caused havoc in the villages of the
Shikhan through killings and raids, and then killed Ali Beg, the
Prince of the Yezidis. They also killed 200 men, many priests
and deacons in Beth Zabday, an Assyrian region currently in
Turkey, which has been Kurdified. And in Esfes, they killed 80
men, a dignitary, a priest and they captured the women and
children in early October of 1834. Additionally, they inflicted
many catastrophes on the Yezidis in the East of Mosul and killed
many of them.
After those incidents and painful
persecutions, appeared the well-known Kurdish Prince Bedr Khan
Beg in 1840 AD, who is considered as the Iraqi researcher Hirmis
Aboona says ‘the first tyrant of modern times.’ Many of the
historical resources talk about his horrific actions, which make
it unnecessary for us to discuss his oppressions against the
Iraqis and also against the Syrians.
As for the conflict over the city of Karkuk,
then there is a great disregard to a very important point that
it is an Iraqi Mesopotamian city according to history and
archaeology, and the existence of Kurds or Turkomens or ..etc in
the city despite their sheer size and numbers, does not change
its history or Iraqiness. It is worth mentioning that the city
of Karkuk today has Turkomen characteristics with concentrations
of Arabs, Assyrians and Kurds. Here, we would like to ask Mr.
Barzani, why has he not accepted the suggestions, which ask for
the creation of a self-governing autonomy for the Turkomens or
even creating a Turkomen state in Karkuk? The raising of such a
question to our Kurdish brothers in North Iraq makes them
displeased and nervous as soon as they hear it!
It appears that the Kurdish case has begun
to give the aroma of the Iraqi oil (petrol). Noting that, the
majority of the Kurds’ requests in Iraq after WWI, were
revolving around the Kurds getting a self-governing autonomy and
the right to self-determination in the region of Suleimaniya
only. The Sheikh Mahmoud, whom we would like to consider as the
president of ‘Kurdistan’ in 1922, had considered Suleimaniya as
his capital. Hence, I believe that perhaps designating the title
of ‘Province of Kurdistan’ on the area of Suleimaniya and its
nearby areas only, as a solution. Maybe the taking of such a
step will partake in the differentiation and the separation
between the Iraqi Mesopotamian lands, in which the Kurds reside
such as Arbil, Zakho, Karkuk, ..etc. and the Kurdish area which
was known previously as “Shahrazor – Suleimaniya” and which was
considered part of the Kurdish areas in Persia. With this
suggestion, it is possible to distinguish between the current
‘Expanding Plan of Kurdistan,’ which suppresses the rights of
other peoples and offends their feelings, and the dissolved
legitimate rights of the Kurds, similarly to the other Iraqi
groups. It is truly sad that the black gold [Oil-Petrol] in the
city of Karkuk stands as a barrier opposing peace and love. It
was the previous Kurdish leader, the Mullah Mustapha Barzani
whom had contributed in the creation of a temporary Kurdish
State in Iraq, “The Republic of Mahabad 1946.” He was the first
who had expressed the Kurds’ desires in the Iraqi oil of Karkuk
through his slogan, which he continued to repeat: “Kurdistan
with the Oil!!” Through this point, we would like to mention
that the failures of many negotiations that took place between
the Iraqi Kurds and the government of Baghdad were due to the
dispute over the map of Kurdistan and the aspirations of the
Kurds in expanding the self-governing autonomy to include the
Iraqi city of Karkuk, ‘the Jerusalem of the Kurds.’ Because the
Kurdish leaders know very well that declaring a Kurdish State in
the future in North Iraq before Kurdifying Karkuk (and also the
Province of Nineweh) is considered a useless declaration. This
is where the flexibility of Barzani comes from when he is
saying: “The Regional and International circumstances do not
permit the raising of the slogan of the Independent State.”
Chamoun Danho
A Writer from Syria
Creator of Sargon Book Publishing in Sweden
This
Article Also Appeared in Al-Quds Al-Arabi Newspaper on
Friday 8, February, 2002 - Issue No. 3960
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