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• 6th London Kurdish Film Festival - Call for submissions
• An interview with Omer Said Ali, former member of politburo of Patriotic Union of Kurdistan-PUK
• Mam Jalal: ”I have decided to stay active in politics until I reach 65, afterward, even if the whole nation begs me, I will retire”

Defending Kurdistan

• KurdishMedia.com - By Karwan Qader
• 23/10/2007 00:00:00

The most critical issue on almost all Kurds' minds is the talks of a Turkish invasion. The Turkish parliament finally approved a resolution granting the military approval to invade Southern Kurdistan (also known as northern Iraq). Turkish politicians and generals claim that their purpose for the invasion is to destroy PKK camps in the region. However, the reality is that Turkey is disturbed by the autonomy Kurds have gained in Iraq. They are disturbed by the growing international acknowledgment of a Kurdistan that lingers along their border and the legitimacy that Kurds have been able to achieve. As a response, the Turkish state has taken several steps in addition to the 400,000 soldiers that have been deployed along the Turkish-Iraqi border. They have sent messages to the Iraqi government demanding arrests of 140 individuals (36 of which are in the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG)). They have even went as far to demand the arrest of the President of the Kurdistan region's son. The Turks have even already begun launching small operations along the border this week but were stopped short in their tracks when Kurdish rebels effectively ambushed their troops and destroyed their plans. But most importantly in addition to all these things, Turks have ignored all Kurdish calls for a peaceful solution and have effectively rejected political dialogue with Kurds on all accounts.

However, Kurds will not be so quick to adhere to Turkish demands. Despite all the domestic problems, corruption, and democratic issues that Kurds face in their own semi-autonomous region, the Kurds realize what they have gained in Iraq is their right and nothing like they've ever experienced before. Kurds realize that this Kurdistan state that they have been able to create and maintain in northern Iraq is the ultimate prize of all Kurds. This is a prize that Kurds have been trying to win for generations upon generations. Through all the injustice and genocide against the Kurdish people by the oppressive states surrounding and occupying them, Kurds have finally earned their own state to rule their own affairs. They have finally seen peace in a region of the world that is infamous for war. Even during a bloody Iraqi war, Kurdistan remains the only peaceful region. Hence, politicians and generals in Turkey should be considered foolish if they believe Kurds would be willing to give up their own rights so easily.

In a recent speech to his people, the Kurdistan region's president, Massoud Barzani, declared that Kurds would not accept any offer from Turkey outside of peace and dialogue. Many Kurdish politicians like Barzani have come to realize that the PKK problem stems from Turkey's own problem with Kurds. The Turkish state has oppressed the Kurdish people for decades upon decades and has denied them their political, economic, social and cultural rights. Rather than tackling these issues and granting Kurds their rights, the Turkish State has believed in the use of force to further suppress and oppress their Kurdish minority.

This Turkish suppression and oppression was once believed to only be used against Kurds in Turkey. However, now, the Turkish state has decided to try and directly enforce these same anti-Kurdish policies against Kurds across the border in Iraq.

It is natural that the Kurdish reaction to Turkish aggression will be what is just: Resistance. Kurds have reacted by coming together as a united people like no other time before. Kurds have launched protests all over Southern Kurdistan and have pledged to resist Turkish aggression. Kurdish politicians in the Kurdistan Regional Government all the way to Kurdish rebel leaders in the mountains of Qandil have pledged to defend the Kurdish people's semi-autonomous region of Kurdistan in Iraq to the last drop of blood. Kurdish youth have formed groups pledging to join the resistance if Turkey should invade. Peshmerga forces are growing as Kurds begin to understand the reality behind the Turkish threat. Few nations understand such threats like the Kurds do. This is a nation who has struggled under Iranian, Turkish, Syrian and Iraqi regimes for decades (if not centuries). And the Kurds in Southern Kurdistan understand that just as they resisted against Saddam when he plotted to annihilate the Kurdish people, they must resist against the Turkish government who is plotting to annihilate them.

This is why Kurds are united; their very existence as a nation is at risk. Turkish aggression like aggressions from other past and present regimes is calling to wipe Kurds off the map and destroy all they have gained. The Turkish military and government claims they wish to invade Southern Kurdistan for a few hundred rebels when there are thousands in their own territories. The Turkish military and government's true wish is to invade Southern Kurdistan for the few million Kurds who have gained the rights that the Turkish government has worked so hard to deny to their own Kurdish minority. However, aside from these threats, Kurds know their solidarity with one another is the key to their success. Kurds understand that so long as they rightfully stand by one another, no force can strip them of their rights so easily. This is the reality of resistance.

However, aside from the tensions and the call for resistance, Kurds are still offering peace and Turkish politicians and generals who value the peace and stability of their own country, as well as the lives of their own soldiers, should consider this peace offering. The Turkish politicians and generals should come to realize that the days of forceful wars are over and that the days of dialogue are here. The Turkish politicians and generals should realize that there is a simple solution to their problem with Kurdish rebels. They should realize that this peaceful solution has been offered by the PKK and KRG over one year ago today when the PKK attempted to offer a ceasefire that the Turkish politicians and generals so quickly rejected. The Turkish politicians and generals should realize that this offer of peace still stands. And, at the very least for their own sake, begin peaceful dialogue with Kurds. Otherwise, as many Kurdish politicians and their people alike say, resistance will continue forever and the Turks will never find their solution.

• KurdishMedia.com - By Karwan Qader
• 23/10/2007 00:00:00