Ismail Beşikci Independence 30.08.2017 — iraqi kurds goes to referendum for independence.
For example, today’s Kurdish generations, from time to time, say, ‘Our ancestors did not leave us a free country; we have to fight this. But the fight is becoming more and more difficult…” he criticizes. Today’s Kurdish generations must also make a great effort for independence and freedom so that they do not face such criticism from their children and grandchildren in the future.
As the Kurds go to the election box on September 25, 2017, they should not think about their differences between themselves but about their future children and their grandchildren. Trying to leave a free country to their children and grandchildren should be a fundamental thought, a fundamental excitement, that determines the behavior of the Kurds. For example, today’s Kurdish generations, from time to time, say, ‘Our ancestors did not leave us a free country; we have to fight this. But the fight is becoming more and more difficult…” he criticizes. Today’s Kurdish generations must also make a great effort for independence and freedom so that they do not face such criticism from their children and grandchildren in the future. The vote must go with such a feeling and thought.
The Kurds, Kurdistan in the 1920s, the League of Nations was a great disaster. Division, fragmentation, division is the greatest disaster a nation can suffer in history. This has the effect of breaking a man’s skeleton and brain. The two imperial powers of the period and the two-rooted states of the Middle East are very clear in their cooperation on this issue. But those who do this don’t seem to regret it. They are still talking about Iraq’s unity, not even talking about their Kurdish hunters. Those who say ‘we oppose the breakup of Iraq’ have nothing to do with the Kurdish state of Kurdistan being divided, fragmented, divided. They are insensitive to the pain that this situation creates. They’re pretending there’s no such problem. Those who will take these processes into account are the Kurds.
How does that reflect today? Today, the Kurds have more than 50 million inhabitants in the Middle East. But he is not a member of the family of nations. For example, the United Nations is not represented in the Islamic Conference. It cannot participate in the Olympic Games held every four years. But 40 states in the world have less than a million inhabitants. Today, 193 of the 212 states worldwide are members of the United Nations.
For over a hundred years, the Kurds have been fighting. In the process, they encountered massacres, exiles, and genocides. On March 16, 1988, a genocide took place in Aleppo. Between 1983 and 1988, during Saddam Hussein’s reign, “which gas is more poisonous, it causes more mass deaths…Their experiments are massacres and genocide. In Western countries, these experiments are known to have been carried out on mice and on Kurdish prisoners in their villages and prisons. It is now possible to observe the process at the Suleymaniye Central Security Headquarters, which is now used as a museum. It is also known that no democratic Western country has responded to these genocides in Kurdistan. It is well known that the Islamic Conference, held in Kuwait on March 18, 1988, did not give rise to any reaction. The demonstration in Tel Aviv on March 17 is the only one in the world to protest the massacres of the Saddam Hussein regime against the Kurds against genocide. But those who have not reacted to these massacres and genocides, who have never spoken about them, today are talking about the unity of Iraq. And this is a very indicative process in history.
I have a couple of words to say to the democratic Western countries. The standing attitudes of these states, the monarchist, racist, and tribal regimes in the Middle East, corrupt the fundamental values that make the West, the Kurdish desire for national freedom and national equality, and the suppression of state terror. However, it is essential that the universal values that make the West a West, such as equality, freedom, and freedom of expression, always stand firm.
In the 1990s, the Soviet Union broke up. Fifteen new states emerged. This process has been very naturally welcomed in the world. In the same period, it was scattered in Yugoslavia. Seven states came out. This process was naturally included in the world, in Europe. It is also known that during this period, Czechoslovakia was divided into the Czech Republic and Slovakia. But those who naturally respond to these processes when the problem comes to Iraq say nothing but Iraq’s unity. Today, they have this attitude, even though a state called Iraq does not survive. Iraq is considered very sacred. This is an indicative development in the history of the Middle East.
In this regard, looking at how Iraq was established in the 1920s is useful. The Ottoman Empire’s territory in Mesopotamia was shared, while Britain, Baghdad, and Basra also formed a new country by adding the Mosul province to the provinces. The name of the new government would be Iraq. At that time, Mosul occupied the territories of today’s Salemania, Hewler, Duhok, Kyrgyzstan, Xaneqin, and Shengal. The Kurds have always opposed the inclusion of the then-Mosul Province in Iraq. He has always expressed his national wishes. But these demands have always been suppressed by the armed forces of the state/states, by the police forces. Mosul was an oil zone, and Britain was trying to add Mosul to the country that designed the yen. At that time, the imperial powers did not even accept the Kurds’ desire for independence as a colony. The colony has a status at deficient levels. Kurdistan is not even a colony.
One of the states that calls Iraq a unity is the United States. I need to say a few sentences on this. To do this, referring to the US’s Iranian policy is necessary. This policy requires limiting Iran’s influence in the Middle East and imposing an embargo on Iran. There is a profound contradiction between the US’s and Iran’s policies on these issues. Today, every investment in Iraq is an investment in Iran. Today, the Iraqi government is very strongly influenced by Iran. For example, Khashoggi Shabi, although an Iraqi organization, is mainly ruled by Iran.
Let’s remember the years of 2010. The US has invested billions of dollars in the Iraqi army. The second-largest headquarters of the Iraqi army was in Mosul. In June 2014, Mosul was transferred to ISIS. At that time, the Iraqi army’s position in Mosul was around 55,000. The army left Mosul without ever fighting before confronting ISIS. All the weapons and equipment of the military. Weapons warehouses, tanks, armored personnel. It’s in the hands of ISIS. It is well known that these weapons were later used against the Kurds. Who did the US invest in, and who were the proceeds of this investment used against?
Today, investment in Iraq is an investment in Iran. By investing in Iraq, the US itself is breaking the embargo it is trying to impose on Iran. It is clear that Hashdi Shabi is fighting with the Kurds more than ISIS, and if he finds an opportunity, he will widen and deepen the war.
Brotherhood is, of course, important. But the most essential condition of the Kurdish-Arab brotherhood, including sovereignty, is that the Kurds have every institution that the Arabs have. ‘I’m my big brother, you’re me, listen…’ Fraternity doesn’t come from understanding. This always creates tension. The Kurdish Arab Brotherhood could be formed in the medium term, even if not in the short time when the Kurds also have sovereignty. But today’s regime never creates brotherhood. Neighboring two states and neighboring states with healthy relations can form an Arab-Kurdish brotherhood.
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