BARCELONA, Spain – The wars in Syria and Iraq have placed Kurds in the global spotlight, granting them a historical opportunity to project their pluralistic and moderate ways, according to the latest book by one of Spain’s foremost experts on the Kurds. “Kurds are living an unprecedented historical moment,” said Manuel Mortorell, speaking to Rudaw English about his new book, Kurdos (or Kurds, in Spanish). “For the first time all the big world powers –- including the USA, Russia and the European Union -- are recognizing the importance of the Kurdish factor in the Middle East,” said Martorell. He explained that, for the first time on such a scale, the world was learning about the Kurds’ secular and moderate ways, as well as their skill at fighting the Islamic State (ISIS) and other jihadi groups. “Until now, world powers were only supporting dictatorships and Islamic movements. Now, they recognize that the federal conception of the Kurds in the Middle East, a pluralistic Middle East diverse in religions and cultures, could be a way out to the grave crisis in that part of the world,” the author pointed out. In his book Martorell explains why the Kurdish people -- being mostly Sunni Muslims -- are today spearheading the fight against ISIS and other radical jihadist movements in Iraq and Syria. “My book wants to explain to the West that this attitude, which makes Islam compatible with democracy and coexistent with other religions and cultures, is nothing new. It is something that Kurds have always supported,” he said. In a way, Martorell wants to reassure the West that only a particular view of Islam is a threat to the world, and that most Muslim societies in the Middle East are not. “Local Muslims together with other non-Muslim communities are the most interested in finishing with the threat of ISIS, which is endangering a lifestyle that has prevailed for centuries,” Martorell said. The book also explains the situation over the past several years in Iraq, Iran, Syria and Turkey – the countries where the world’s estimated 30 million Kurds are scattered. It particularly denounces ISIS genocidal brutalities against the Kurdish-Yezidi community in Shingal, as well other Kurdish religious communities and the Christians. He also deplores “the ethnic cleansing of Turkish President Tayip Erdogan against the Kurds.” The book cover has a striking photograph of a Kurdish Peshmerga woman flashing her fingers in a victory sign. “The picture was chosen by the publishing house because Kurdish women have achieved immense popularity due to their fight against the Islamic State,” Martorell said. “The fight of Kurdish women in Syria, Iraq, Iran and Turkey has smashed a stereotype about women in the Middle East,” he explained. “To see Kurdish women fighting in the frontlines to stop forces terrorising the planet has been an eye opener,” said Martorell. The book has been published by the Los Libros de la Catarata publishers and presented this month in the Spanish city of Pamplona. Several years ago Martorell published an adaptation in the Basque language of the famous Kurdish Epic Mem-u-Zin.
