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By Abdulmajeed Nizamaddin Gli Rudaw:
On Sunday, shocking photos of seven family members killed by a Turkish air strike emerged on social media websites. Turkey has made no apology, saying that it is pursuing Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) rebels who maintain bases in the mountains of Iraq’s northern Kurdistan region.
An incident like this could go unnoticed in a country where people are killed by insurgents on daily basis. This heartbreaking event, however, carries with it deeper political implications.
It happened in Iraq’s most stable region, where violence is almost non-existent. Turkey and Iran’s frequent and intense bombings of the de facto state of Kurdistan raise serious threats to the future of this prosperous and relatively safe region. It is occurring as US troops are prepared to withdraw by the year’s end, leaving Kurdistan with less protection.
The Kurdistan region is like a fetus in a mother’s womb. It must be born as a state or aborted. The truth is that Iraq will never adopt a federalist system of governance, while Kurds see it as the sole solution for the country.
Recently Iraq’s Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki reiterated his objection to federalism, renewing concern among Kurds. Kurdistan is the only “federal” region in the country.
Despite demands for the creation of additional federal regions, Arabs have largely remained opposed to a decentralized Iraq, seeing it as a “weakness” for the country. The semi-autonomous status Kurds currently enjoys could be a short-term solution, but it’s highly unlikely that it will survive as a long-term option.
On the other hand, as long as there are millions of oppressed Kurds living in Turkey, Iran, and Syria, Iraq’s Kurdistan region will have difficulties maintaining strong relations with neighboring states.
The bitter truth is that all Kurds have one cause and one destiny.
Being world’s largest ethno-national group without an independent state, Kurds, whose distinctive language and cultural separate them from Arabs, Persians and Turks, were divided into four parts after the collapse of the Ottoman Empire in the early twentieth century.
If we break away from Iraq and declare independence or remain as we are, the neighboring powers definitely won’t leave us alone. Being “nice” can afford us some prosperity for now but will never guarantee a lasting future.
I’m afraid we’re living under the delusion that Kurds left the past behind and have achieved all their goals in Iraq. I think the narrative that we are embracing right now is a story of a forgotten dream for freedom.
The “Free Kurdistan” dream has transformed in our minds to a limited freedom in a weak region whose lands are constantly bombed by neighboring states. The Iraqi government, of course, says nothing.
In brief, Kurdistan region, which has an outstanding unique democratic experience compared to elsewhere in the region, can see Iranian and Turkish attacks on its borders as a wakeup call. It should once and for all declare an independent state and achieve de jure sovereignty. We may pay a prize for our secession, but as we Kurds know perhaps better than many others that “freedom is not free.”
Abdulmajeed Nizamaddin Gli is a master’s student in international relations at the City University of New York.
