Jumping on the Kurdish Bandwagon

Nearly everyone seems to be talking and writing about the Kurds and Kurdistan these days.

The wide variety of “experts” includes retired military officials (who always wait until they are retired to support Kurds); politicians from all over the world; and of course journalists — many who have never written about Kurds before or even traveled to Kurdish areas. Your friends might even be weighing in on social media.

They are outraged by what is happening in Iraq and Iraqi Kurdistan, but those who have been following the situation closely know that Kurds and other enemies of the terrorist Islamic State (IS) were crying out for international support long before the extremists invaded Iraq earlier this summer.

It’s only since this past June that many in the west began learning about Kurdistan, about the importance of this place and its peoples. It was not until the seeming abrupt takeover of Mosul, Iraq's second largest city, that the international community started to realize that serious steps must be taken to stop the tsunami of IS, whose deadly tentacles began spreading toward the “disputed territories” adjacent to the Kurdistan Region and particularly vulnerable districts inhabited by ethnic and religious minorities.

Most had also never heard of the Yezidi religion until several weeks ago, when the community was forced to flee and were stranded on Mount Sinjar (Shingal in Kurdish.)

Most had never learned that these people have been persecuted and discriminated against for centuries in Iraq, Syria and Turkey; that they are demonized as “devil worshippers”; and that their faith precedes Islam, Christianity and Judaism.

Once IS took over the Shingal area, the world started hearing about the atrocities that were committed against Yezidis by extremist Muslims, the same group that has been terrorizing a large part of the rest of Iraq.

The fate of the Yezidis is also tied to that of Iraq’s Christian communities, the overwhelming majority of whom have also fled to the Kurdistan Region.

Meanwhile the Shabak, Kakayi and other marginalized groups have been clamoring for protection. Hopefully it will not take yet another tragedy for the international community to learn of their existence (or their extinction.)

The ethnic cleansing that took place in and around Mount Shingal  eventually forced the world to pay attention, bringing this esoteric and unique group into the homes of millions who had never heard of Yezidis. It has forced the international community to implement policies that seek to protect this minority group, and, conversely, embolden those who could hasten the downfall of those responsible for the continued madness perpetrated by IS.

While it is good news that the US, Canada and several European countries have begun sending humanitarian aid as well as weapons to the Kurdish Peshmerga forces. What most journalists and analysts do not openly discuss is that if Kurdistan falls, so too does the rest of Iraq and Syria along with all of its rich history, cultural tapestry and natural resources.

Many international writers — who again, have little to no experience with the Kurdistan Region — still actively and patronizingly offer their suggestions and criticisms as well as policy analysis, with many continuing to advocate for the Kurds to remain part of Iraq.

Some are even invited to Kurdistan on “state visits” so they can tour famous sites and landmarks and then give speeches to eager ears. But they never declare their commitment to supporting an independent state.

Some articles have implicitly or explicitly argued that because the Peshmerga have lost battles against IS, the Kurds cannot support themselves independent of the failed Iraqi state.

Moreover, people who have trepidations about or are in outright opposition to Kurdish independence cite the fact that the two main Kurdish political parties are splitting the region.

They perhaps do not know that that the Civil War between the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) ended in 1998 and that there is a genuine desire and plan to transform the Peshmerga forces, once divided by party loyalties, into a single, unified Kurdish Army. 

The skepticism begs the question: were the same preconditions used for the Palestinians, when the United Nations recognized Palestine as a non-member state last year? Have South Sudan, Kosovo and East Timor solved all of their domestic and foreign disputes?

Although there is a sudden interest in all things Kurdish — whether the Yezidi religion or the romanticization (and hyper-criticism) of the Peshmerga — it all misses the point that the Kurds in Syria and Iraq are on the front lines defending themselves and others from the metastasizing disease called the Islamic State.

Many policymakers, politicians and writers have the gall to continue demanding that Kurds remain part of a “unified” Iraq — despite the fact that Kurds are almost unanimously opposed to IS; that the Kurdish people have been oppressed and persecuted and had genocide committed against them by various iterations of Baghdad since Iraq's inception; and that almost every Kurd wants to live in a free and independent state.

What happened to the concept of self-determination?

This pernicious insistence is a stark slap in the face of the Kurds and their leaders, who have fought a chauvinist Baghdad, are now embroiled with fighting IS and are hosting about 1 million refugees and internally displaced people. Not bad for a state within a (failed) state.

The Kurdistan Region has never been more ready for independence and indeed maintains all the trappings of a modern state. Instead of fighting the tide and making excuses why they should not make such a declaration, naysayers should be thinking of ways to help them defeat the worst terrorists the world may have ever seen and thank them for standing in the way of an even more chaotic region.

Benjamin Kweskin is an American writer, researcher, and speaker. He has MA in international studies and political science. He lived this past year in Erbil, Kurdistan Region.