DATE=1/8/98
TYPE=BACKGROUND REPORT
NUMBER=5-38613
TITLE=WHO ARE THE KURDS?
BYLINE=PAMELA TAYLOR
DATELINE=WASHINGTON
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
// RE-ISSUING TO CORRECT FIRST GRAF OF TEXT //
NTRO: THE MASS EXODUS OF MORE THAN 12 HUNDRED KURDISH REFUGEES
FROM TURKEY AND IRAQ IN THE LAST TWO WEEKS HAS FOCUSED WORLD
ATTENTION ON THE 13 YEAR OLD WAR BETWEEN KURDISH REBELS KNOWN AS
THE P-K-K AND THE TURKISH ARMY. THE KURDS SAY THEY ARE FLEEING A
VICIOUS EFFORT TO SUPRESS THEM, BUT TURKEY SAYS THOSE FLEEING ARE
EITHER CRIMINALS OR MEMBERS AND SUPPORTERS OF THE BANNED P-K-K
GUERRILLA MOVEMENT. BUT WHO ARE THE KURDISH PEOPLE, WHERE DID
THEY COME FROM AND WHERE DO THEY NOW LIVE? VOA'S PAMELA TAYLOR
EXAMINES THOSE QUESTIONS IN THIS BACKGROUND REPORT:
TEXT: THE SUDDEN EXODUS OF KURDS FROM TURKEY AND IRAQ HAS
ALARMED NOT ONLY EUROPEAN GOVERNMENTS BUT SOME KURDISH LEADERS AS
WELL. (MR.) KANI XULAM (PRON: KHOO-LAHM) OF THE AMERICAN KURDISH
INFORMATION NETWORK IN WASHINGTON EXPLAINS:
// ACT ONE/ZOLAM //
THERE'S AN UGLY WAR GOING ON WHICH GOES TO THE HEART OF
THE QUESTION. WE DO NOT WANT THE KURDS TO BE IN EUROPE,
WE WANT THE KURDS BE IN KURDISTAN WHERE THEY HAVE BEEN
LIVING FOR A MILENNIUM. SO WHILE WE APPLAUD THE ITALIAN
GOVERNMENT'S DECISION TO ACCEPT THEM, WE ALSO DEPLORE
THE TURKISH GOVERNMENT'S DECISION TO SEEK A MILITARY
SOLUTION TO THIS PROBLEM.
// END ACT //
MR. XULAM SAID THE TURKISH GOVERNMENT'S ATTEMPTS TO SOLVE THE
KURDISH PROBLEM BY DRIVING THEM OUT IS A FORM OF ETHNIC CLEANSING
SIMILAR TO THAT IN THE BOSNIAN WAR. BUT OTHER ANALYSTS SAY IN
THE CASE OF THE KURDS, THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS A COUNTRY CALLED
'KURDISTAN' -- ALTHOUGH THERE IS A SMALL PROVINCE IN IRAN WITH
THAT NAME. ANOTHER SPOKESMAN FOR KURDS IN AMERICA, MICHAEL
AMITAY OF THE WASHINGTON KURDISH INSTITUTE SAYS THE LACK OF A
DEFINED STATE HOWEVER DOES NOT MEAN THERE ISN'T A KURDISTAN:
// ACT TWO/AMITAY //
KURDISTAN HAS NEVER BEEN DEFINED AS MODERN NATION STATES
ARE LAID OUT WITH BORDERS, BUT IT THERE'S A REGION THAT
STRETCHES ALMOST FROM CENTRAL TURKEY THROUGH THE EAST TO
THE BORDERS OF ARMENIA THEN DOWN THROUGH IRAQ, IRAN,
CORNERS OF SYRIA. AND YOU COULD SAY THAT THE MAJORITY OF
THE POPULATION IN THIS REGION IS KURDISH.
// END ACT //
MR. AMITAY SAYS THERE ARE THREE MAJOR KURDISH CITIES IN IRAQ
(ERBIL, KIRKUK AND SULAYMANIYAH), THREE IN IRAN (MAHABAD,
SANANDAJ, AND KIRMANSHAH), TWO IN TURKEY (DIYARBAKIR AND VAN).
HISTORIANS DIFFER ON THE PRECISE ORIGINS OF THE PEOPLE KNOWN
TODAY AS KURDS. APPROXIMATELY FOUR THOUSAND YEARS AGO, A
NOMADIC, INDO-ARYAN PEOPLE SPEAKING A COMMON LANGUAGE SETTLED IN
THE MOUNTAINS OF WHAT WAS THEN MESOPOTAMIA. THEY NEVER HAD THEIR
OWN GOVERNMENT, BUT HAVE OFTEN FIERCELY RESISTED EFFORTS TO
ASSIMILATE. DURING WORLD WAR ONE THE OTTOMAN TURKS SUPPRESSED AN
EFFORT TO ESTABLISH AN INDEPENDENT KURDISH ENTITY IN WHAT IS
TODAY EASTERN TURKEY, AND IN THE 1970'S AND 80'S BOTH IRAN AND
IRAQ BRUTALLY CRUSHED SIMILAR EFFORTS. FOLLOWING THE GULF WAR OF
1991, THE DEFEATED IRAQI ARMY PUT DOWN A KURDISH REBELLION AND
SENT MORE THAN A MILLION KURDS FLEEING INTO THE MOUNTAINS OF
NORTHERN IRAQ, IRAN AND TURKEY. [OPT] IN RESPONSE, THE ALLIED
NATIONS THAT HAD FOUGHT IRAQ CREATED A SAFETY ZONE IN NORTHERN
IRAQ AND PROVIDED KURDISH REFUGEES WITH FOOD AND OTHER
NECESSITIES. [END OPT]
MICHAEL AMITAY SAYS DURING ALL THESE ATTEMPTS AT SELF-
GOVERNMENT, FEW KURDS SERIOUSLY BELIEVED A SEPARATE, INDEPENDENT
STATE OF KURDISTAN WOULD EVER BE POSSIBLE:
// ACT THREE/AMITAY //
I DON'T THINK THAT'S THE HOPE OF MANY, GIVEN THE REAL
POLITICAL CONDITIONS WHICH EXIST IN THE COUNTRIES THAT
THEY LIVE. I THINK MOST KURDS WOULD BE CONTENT TO LIVE
IN DEMOCRATIC SYSTEMS WHERE THEIR POLITICAL, CULTURAL
AND ECONOMIC RIGHTS WERE ON AN EQUAL LEVEL WITH ANYONE
ELSE IN THAT COUNTRY.
// END ACT //
MR. AMITAY SAYS THE SOURCE OF THE ANIMOSITY TOWARD THE KURDS, IN
TURKEY AND OTHER COUNTRIES, STEMS FROM TWO THINGS -- THAT THEY
REMAIN A PEOPLE APART AND THE FEAR THAT IF THEIR DEMANDS FOR SELF
GOVERNMENT ARE MET, THERE WILL BE SIMILAR DEMANDS FROM OTHER
MINORITY GROUPS. IT ALL BOILS DOWN TO LAND AND MONEY, SAYS
MICHAEL AMITAY, AND THE KURDS OCCUPY A LOT OF LAND, INCLUDING OIL
RICH AREAS OF IRAN. (SIGNED)
NEB/PAM/KL
08-Jan-98 11:24 AM EST (1624 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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