Inhumanity Against Kurds Must End
It is about time for the Western powers to stop dictating Kurds. It is about time to leave Kurdish nationalism alone! Kurdish nation will seek its destiny on its own and in due course. It will promptly find a rightful place in history.
Kurds never listened to the Westerners until 1925. That is two years after the modern Republic of Turkey was founded out of the ashes of the Ottoman Empire.
By then, the empire was already dismembered and forty-five newly found states had declared independence. There was no Kurdish state among them.
Some Kurds today may surely believe that they missed the boat then. That also explains how a Kurdish intelligentsia came into being soon after. Now the fight was no longer against a decaying and dismembering empire of the 19th century but realities of the 20th.
The integrity of Iran, Iraq, Turkey, and Syria where 90 percent of the Kurds lived was now at stake. Plus, there was Israeli-Palestinian conflict and bipolar world to consider.
The tag of war between the US and the European Union was also a factor. In short, carving a nation-state was simply not realistic or possible anymore.
Kurdish Intelligentsia
A century later, Kurds are some of the most displaced and devastated people of the region.
The Kurdish intelligentsia, that led them to date, does not fare any better either. Some view them as the relics of the 20th century. Others would like to see them replaced with realistic visionaries.
In either case, some Kurds nowadays may very well feel new opportunities must not be spoiled in the hands of self-serving Western ideals. Maybe most others may also be feeling that it was mistaken to leave the herd, the Muslim ummah, in the first place.
The West Must Leave Kurdish Nationalism Alone
Since the coming of the Biden Administration, Turkey has been consolidating socio-economic presence both in northern Iraq and Syria. Turkey will not stop until the total elimination of all pro-Western militia by brute force.
To that end, New Turkey has been steadily increasing operations in the bordering regions. Brazen, result oriented and sustaining military deployments are permanent. Plus, there is long term investment in infrastructure where Turkish armed forces are ending up.
Coupled with China making inroads in Iraq and Russia already in Syria, the West is left with one single option. It is to leave Kurdish nationalism alone. Also, it must accept the fact that the destiny of Kurds is with Turks. But that is not all.
Ironically, there is also urgency for the West to join New Turkey instead of confronting it from now on. Otherwise, China and Russia will work closely with Turkey. They will surely try to dictate some of the terms without much say from the West.
The West Missed the Window of Opportunity
With WWI, the last Turkish empire, the Ottomans, was dissolved. Modern Republic of Turkey replaced what was left of it. Turks, finally, were no longer the masters of the Muslim faith.
Fledgling republic was no match to object to the powerful Western powers that were now dominating the century.
Some in the Christian world sought that Kurds could be separated from the rest of Muslims. After all, they had the upper hand. Yet, much to the dismay of the West, Turks reappeared formidably a century later.
The West simply could not capitalize on the window of opportunity in the interim. The pretext of nationalism simply did not work for Kurds.
Even so, it had created a successful wedge between Arabs and Turks. Twenty-two Arab states came out of the Ottoman Empire to form their nation-states.
Nowadays, while suffering continues, there is no prospect in sight for an independent Kurdish state. The only alternative left is to find the rightful place again in the Muslim ummah while the new world order is evolving.
Turks Simply Put an End to the Ill-Conceived Western Ideals
In the 20th century, Kurds in northern Iraq first achieved some milestones. They lived in the north of 36th parallel, in a semi-autonomous enclave, for about a decade.
After that, ill-conceived Western ambitions spoiled everything for them. Some in the West tried to build a Kurdish state specifically for their own purpose.
Turkey stepped in. First, it stopped the military flights from Incirlik NATO base. Without enforcing a no-fly zone over the Kurdish enclave there was no way to sustain the autonomy.
Suddenly, an organic autonomous region for Kurds was no longer. After that, in 2003, Turkey did not allow the invasion of Saddam’s regime in Iraq from the north. It sought to prevent, and successfully, once again, yet another Western mischief.
Finally, in 2017, Turkey decided to put an end to this charade. First, it threatened to invade northern Iraq unless Kurds totally agreed to the Turkish demands.
After that, in Syria, Turkey began insisting for a buffer zone to cleanse the region from the rest of the Kurdish militia. After three major incursions, Western ideals were practically dead and buried there too.
Kurdish Destiny Has Always Been With Turks
Kurds are a warrior nation like Turks have been all their lives in that region. Kurds too adopted Muslim faith like Turks as early as when they first came face to face.
Nothing has changed for these brethren races but one thing remained constant. Turks have never been stateless in their 2000-year history whereas Kurds never had their own state.
Instead, all throughout their history, they preferred to live with Turks and as part of the Muslim ummah. In other words, what transpired in the 20th century is nothing but an aberration.
20th Century:
Only an Aberration for Kurds
The efforts of the Kurdish intelligentsia did not grow bigger than a flash in the pan in the 20th century. Fledgling Turkish Republic, in the early 1920s, referred to Kurds as “Mountain Turks.”
When the Western demands increased, Turkey started to call them Kurds. It had no choice. Imposition from the West was too intimidating to ignore.
Handful Kurdish tribes, accordingly, gained confidence. They were, now falsely, enticed to ally with the West. Promptly, they revolted only two years after the republic was established.
Within a decade, their journey was over. The Sheikh Said Rebellion in 1925, Dersim and Zilan in the 1930s proved that the brusque force will not do against Turks.
The fact that the Turkish denial of Kurdish existence ended in 1991. Yet, it cannot be construed as a gain for the West. Three decades after that Turks were no longer talking about Kurdish problem in the modern republic.
Now, whatever left of the Kurdish militia still leveraged by the Western powers was on the defensive or disarray. In the surrounding countries, Turks were adamant to pursue a universal policy for the immediate region.
Turkish armed forces, now, were after them in Iraq and Syria. They were making decisive and methodical advances to eliminate them completely from the region once and for all.
1980 and 2016 Coup d’Etats
Ironically, the destruction of the Kurdish militia began in 1980. The West inspired coup d’état in Turkey launched the Kurdish nationalism anew. Western initiative, in a sense, became the beginning of the end.
With the 15 July 2016 coup d’état attempt, Kurdish chapter ended. Kudish armed struggle inside Turkey was no longer tolerated. Fittingly, this was also the first coup that failed in modern Turkey history.
The 45th President Donald Trump, in retrospect, summarized it well. “Turks put an end to the forty year work in four hours.”
Turkey simply went after any foreign influence inside the country under “democratic” pretext which was in fact criminal activity. Summarily, what began with a US inspired coup d’état came to a dead end with yet another US inspired coup d’état.
Since 2016, Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s regime has done two things. One, it terminated Kurdish terrorism within Turkey proper. Two, it set sights, and plans in action, both in northern Iraq and Syria to terminate it there as well.
The tally so far, Turkey is setting up new military bases every day in the two neighboring countries. It is effectively cleansing the region from terrorist Kurds and their cohorts.
So far, technological superiority of Turkey, over the US, China, Russia, and Israel combined, has made the difference.
21st Century:
A Destiny with Turks
In the 21st century, Turks are formidable again. New Turkey, with a great leap forward in the defense industry developments, is growing leaps and bounds. There is no telling what the future holds when fast rising economic growth is also put into the equation.
The goals are wide ranging. Bringing nearly 400 million or so Turks under one cultural umbrella is one dimension. Unification of seven independent Turkic states of our times into an economic and military union is yet another.
Then, there is the issue of leadership in the Muslim ummah. Coupled with the balancing act the Turks will play in the new world order between the East and the West, the prospect is very real.
All in all, this time Turks with Muslims may even become a larger and more powerful union than the Ottomans achieved. With such a prospect within the grasp of Turks, the overwhelming majority of Kurds would surely yearn to go back.
They would like to stay with what worked for them in the past. After all, continuing with a Western adventure, that did not deliver anything but misery, will not make sense to no one.
On that note, New Turkey is making great strides with Operation Claw Eagle against Kurdish militia. Yet, it is also important to point that New Turkey is also bolstering these operations with increased permanent deployments in the surrounding countries.
Operation Claw Eagle-2
For example, on 10 February 2021, an unthinkable military operation took place. The Turkish Armed Forces began Operation Claw Eagle-2 against PKK positions in the mountainous Gara region in Northern Iraq, close to the Syrian border.
For the first time, Turks went beyond contiguous territory to their border in pursuit of terrorists. Logistically and politically, they showed will and capacity.
No one in the West expected what Turks were capable of until then. Reportedly, ever since, similar operations are ongoing and sure to increase in number and size.
Operation in Arabic countries
Simultaneously with these military operations, Turks are also establishing new military bases in Arab states. In Qatar, Somalia and Libya, there are already well established operational ones. The progress in others for similar bases and operations are rumored but not officially announced, except those in northern Iraq and Syria.
Sudan and Tunisia may very well be the next two prospects for Turkish bases but they are not alone. From Oman to Lebanon, a number of other countries are already mentioned where Turkish forces may also be deployed sooner than later.
For example, Turks are welcomed in varying countries in Muslim Africa, but also in Asia. On the other hand, it is not a requirement for the country to be part of the Muslim ummah. Other countries, reportedly, requested deployment of the Turkish Armed Forces in their territory.
The Difference between the Turks and the West
Two specific US military nightmares come to mind when beyond Turkey proper accomplishments of the Turkish Armed Forces are examined. One was committed during the Carter Administration in the Iranian desert. The other took place in Somalia and became the legacy of the Clinton Administration.
There are two main reasons why the US forces face calamity and abort deployments, when Turks have no such history so far. One, Turks operate in regions and countries where they reigned for the past 1000 years. Two, Turks venture to areas where they are familiar with religion and culture.
Plus, unlike Western powers, Turks do not try to impose their own values where they end up. Toleration is a big part of the Turkish tradition. It can easily be traced back to the Seljuks and the Ottomans, the 15th and 16th Turkic states, respectively, in recent history.
Hence, Turks are welcomed whereas the rest is not: Nightmares, thus, are avoided.
Bottom Line for the Kurdish Nationalism
Kurds live in countries where they share culture and religion. There are sizable Kurdish communities in Turkey, Iran, Iraq and Syria. In Armenia, there is a much smaller Kurdish community.
None of these countries ever wanted to see their borders change to create a Kurdish state. So, they all quietly agreed on the status quo that protected their territorial integrity, beginning with Turkey in 1923.
WWII did not change the reality. Invasion of Iraq with massive American military might, after the Iran-Iraq war in 1980s, did not impress anyone. Then came the futile and pitiful effort of the Globalists with the Arab Spring.
That was the latest hoorah in 2010. A decade later, Iraq and Syria are still a big mess. Armenia is in no better shape after misguided Western manipulations in Karabakh.
Iran is still intact and formidable as ever despite all the efforts of the West against the regime since 1979. Meanwhile, Turkey has risen as the domineering economic and military power of the region.
All the while, there is no noticeable Western power in sight with enough military might to effect a change by force. On the contrary, eastern powers with their rapidly rising economies are making greater and steady inroads in the region.
Leave Kurdish Nationalism Alone!
It is Cluster of States Time
Seeking Kurdish Nationalism under these circumstances does not have much chance. To find international support for the cause does not fare well either.
In that respect, leaving Kurdish nationalism alone will be the best alternative. Kurds will be able to exploit their interest better alone.
Clusters of states soon form more productive unions around a center state. The modern Republic of Turkey, widely acknowledged as New Turkey, is a natural candidate for such a center state role in this region.
By 2024, portions of the Middle East, Caucasus, Balkans, and North Africa are sure to become part of the Turkish domain. Kurds will be part of this cluster irrespective.
Hence, it is better that Kurds start quantifying their status in this quasi-union to come out ahead of everyone.
Future is Now!
Where does the Kurdish nationalism go from here? No one knows at this time, but it is not going anywhere with the Western forces, agents, manipulations and interferences.
Meanwhile, in the age of clusters of states, in the evolving new world order, it is time to redefine the Kurdish nationalism. Turks would surely cherish the challenge.
After all, they had once managed to keep together under one flag seventy different nations. They lived together and in dignity for six centuries. They can do it once again and Kurdish nationalism can find its rightful place with the rest of them in this new mix.
With ever decaying West and ever rising East, there is no alternative anyway, except for dreamers living in their bubble. And they are mostly in Wash DC and other handful Western capitals.
