Why don’t the Kurds have a country?
A bizarre outcome from peace conferences
Although it has been pushed out of our consciousness by the Ukrainian / Russian War, there is still an ongoing low-level conflict over control of land that is inhabited by the Kurds. What is happening there and where did the Kurdish problem come from?
Who are the Kurds?
The Kurds are a nation of people that are native to the Mesopotamian region. They are united by language, culture and race. There are an estimated 30 to 45 million Kurds (Wikipedia). The Kurds are spread over 4 different countries, Iran, Iraq, Syria and Türkiye. The Kurds do not control any country’s government but do control a lot of territory in Syria and Iraq in a semi-autonomous regions.
Americans in particular were introduced to the Kurds as our allies in the war on Saddam Hussein. (US designations for conflicts are used here.) In the 1st Gulf War a united groups of countries attacked Iraq after the annexation of Kuwait. The Iraqi army was quickly driven out of Kuwait, and American forces supplied the Kurdish people in the north open a second front. The negotiated peace agreement imposed several restrictions on Iraq. One of the major restrictions was allowing the Kurds in the north of Iraq to operate as if they were independent. Years of low level conflict in Iraq was resolved for the Kurds, at least as regards to the issue of governing. After the fall of Saddam Hussein and the imposition of a more democratic Iraqi government, the Kurds were officially brought into the national government of Iraq.
This built a sense of place, community, and self-determination within the region. It also let the Kurds hope for a fully autonomous land with the backing of the United States.
Why don’t they have a country?
The reason why the Kurds are without a country of their own is also one of the keys as to why Türkiye has such terrible relations with the Kurdish people.
Before World War 1, Türkiye and much of the Mideast region were under the control of the Ottoman Empire. The Ottoman Empire was on the losing side of that war, allied with the Germany and Austrian-Hungarian Empires. Much has been made of the Treaty of Versailles and how its implementation led to problems in Europe later. But, the Treaty of Versailles also set up goal of plebiscites for many areas with mixed German populations. A plebiscite meant that a public referendum vote was to be held in specific geographic areas to let the population decide which country to join some instances and between independence and territorial status in other instances.
The Ottoman Empire was not a focus in the Treaty of Versailles negotiations. Instead, the Empire was occupied, and plans were made to divide the Ottoman Empire up in the Treaty of Sèvres The Sultan was allowed to stay on the throne, but the area of the Empire would be shrink vastly. Protectorates were carved out of the Empire and divided up between France and Great Britain. This treaty reignited an Ottoman civil war, and Türkiye was established as a secular nation. The Turkish national aims included a redrawing of the Treaty of Sèvres, which happened.
When the Sultan was over thrown, the Treaty of Sèvres was revisited. New national borders were established for Türkiye, and in this iteration, there would be no plebiscite in the Kurdish areas. So the promise of a country was not honored.
Much later, in the 1st and 2nd gulf wars the Kurds were allies of the United States and were protected and governed their own area inside Iraq. During the war against ISIS (or ISIL), the Kurds once again were a formidable force on the ground where the fighting occurred. During the Syrian Civil War they carved out a territory for Kurds, this time in the northeast of Syria. Kurds say this as a change to save the Kurds in Syria in an disputed region.
But America once again let down the Kurds, this time in Syria. In the late 2010s, President Trump gave Turkish leader Erdoğan the right to displace Kurds along the Turkish - Syrian border and create a buffer zone.
But to put the blame on President Trump is lazy. Presidents Woodrow Wilson, George Bush, Clinton, George W. Bush, Obama and Trump all made promises that they did not follow through with. Leaving the Kurds semi-stateless but managing territory as a defacto government in Iraq and Syria.
Why does Tûrkiye not trust their Kurdish population
There are three reasons the Turkish government does not align with the desires of the Kurds.
The Türkiye government sees any establishment of a Kurdish government as a threat to their own government, since there are millions of Kurds in Türkiye.
The Turkish government fought a Kurdish uprising for decades. The memory of attacks and killings by Kurdish forces - as well as the national Turkish policy of attacking the schools, churches and Kurdish populations - have always tainted their discussions.
(MY OPINION) The President of Türkiye uses the Kurds as a tool to build his base. President Erdogan’s base is the less tolerant portion of the Muslim population. The Kurds are an easy group to vilify.
Future of the Kurds
The best possible outcome, at least one that seems reasonable, is twofold.
Kurdish controlled regions operate independently with the government in Iraq and Syria. A success in Syria, like the one in Iraq, might convince the Syria leader to work with it.
The Kurdish residents of Türkiye are integrated politically into the Turkish legal and political system.
If these occur, the United States should encourage and support the Kurdish people.