Kurdish Spring Updates!

Insertfunnyusername,

First of all my apologies for late answer, lately I have had time only randomly get on GLP, mostly just checking the recent updates on Korean crisis and how it's unfolding, one thing is for sure that whole world is infected with crisis spots, and once the first shot is taken the domino effect will take place and it will extend all the way from Asia-Pacific across the Zagros mountains in Mesopotamia to Middle East and onward, in Middle East region people are sensing that major crisis is on the way. When it comes to stability of the entire Middle East region, the key to unlock peace and harmony there does not reside within Israel-Palestianian conflict, neither does it reside in the hands of Turkey that ever since Kemalists came to power chose western orientated and secularistic model of governing, but the key to regional harmony and stability reside within the Kurdish Question. If same amount of energy and will was invested on Kurdish Question that has been invested on Arab Spring for example, Middle East would finally know peace and harmony, for Kurds have always been catalyst to major changes that would lead region out of dark ages, and this is another reason why solving the Kurdish Question has been such a perplexing subject, for there is no interest nor will to solve the Kurdish problem on behalf of regional and imperialistic powers.

Unfortunately the element that Kurds themselves also lack and is necessary to their freedom from shackles of slavery of servitude is UNITY. Kurds have always been best at serving others interest rather than their own, they have for long relied on existential support but each time they have been disappointed…and still they keep doing the very same mistakes that have kept them under the leash of their oppressors ever since the power struggle began. The answer may very well lie with in the case of Stockholm Syndrome.

Kurds are once again about to play in to the hands of their oppressors this time by the lead of Abdullah Ocalan, I personally think that just as Kurds got screwed by the Ataturk under the guise of “Unity and Fraternity among Muslims” so we are about to witness history repeating itself, only this time it wont be Ataturk but rather Erdogan, and honestly I don’t trust Ocalan, how could I trust a man who is sitting in high security Prison with no person being able to see him other than except few, and yet he somehow is given time and space to dictate the fate of millions of Kurds ? Unfortunately Abdullah Ocalan has been able to invent this Cult-like personality around him, with all the mystery and prowess, and the majority of Kurds in northern Kurdistan (South-East Turkey) truly worship him. (which I can understand why)

This Peace Truce only affirmed my previous suspicions about Ocalan, for as I read the it I did not feel like I was reading one being written by hands of Ocalan but rather by Erdogan, for indeed it’s weird to see Marxist-Socialistic movement leader with almost atheistic world views to embrace the idea of "fraternity and solidarity under the flag of Islam", this one was one big red flag to me. Erdogan seems to be working on uniting the different fractions of region under the flag of Islam, following exact footprints of Kemal Ataturk, I just hope that Kurds wont be fooled this time with all that “Islamic Unity” bullshit.

We are living interesting times for sure, let’s see how the script will unfold my friend. I don’t know if you know this already or not but Iraq’s Kurdish President Jalal Talabani is in critical condition and the news around him are very shady, he has not appeared in TV or given any speeches for long time, he is currently under treatment in Europe I think, this will be major blowback to Kurds, even though I personally don’t like him neither agree with his policies.

Regards

KS

I will try to give you more intel on Kurdish Question once I get more updates :)

PKK leader warns of ‘great war' if conflict does not end

April 13, 2013

ZARGALI, Iraqi Kurdistan,— In a safe house made of cinder blocks and surrounded by grazing goats and sheep, nestled high in the remote mountains of northern Iraq, a Kurdish fighter who has waged a guerrilla war against Turkey for nearly three decades remains defiant in the face of peace.

“Our forces believe they can achieve results through war,” said the fighter, Murat Karayilan, who commands the thousands of fighters of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or the PKK.

For all the costs of the long war, Mr. Karayilan, his fighters and millions of Kurds believe it helped them achieve something they never would have without armed struggle: a recognition of Kurdish identity and more democratic rights.

Now, as the PKK negotiates peace with Turkey to end one of the Middle East’s most intractable conflicts, it is clinging to its guns despite demands by Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkey’s prime minister, that it lay them down as a condition of talks. This defiance suggests that the peace process, despite the hope it has engendered on both sides, could be longer and more arduous than at first anticipated.

“Our guerrillas cannot give up their arms,” said Mr. Karayilan, in an interview here in the safe house, which had a freezer full of ice cream and satellite television despite its remote location. “It is the last issue, something to discuss as a last issue to this process.”...The skies above these mountains have gone quiet, for now, as the bombing runs by Turkish planes, their pick of targets aided by imagery provided by American drones, have ceased in order to allow the talks to proceed.

Since a cease-fire was announced in March by Mr. Ocalan, pausing a war that has claimed nearly 40,000 lives since it began in 1984, Mr. Karayilan has been holding meetings and conferences with his followers to convince them of the merits of a deal that many of them are reluctant to accept for one overriding reason.

The rank and file, he said, “do not believe and trust the approach of Turkey.”

Mr. Erdogan, whose efforts at peace could establish his legacy as a peacemaker and propel him to the presidency next year, has demanded that the thousands of fighters scattered around Turkey lay down their weapons before withdrawing to safe havens in these mountains.

“We don’t care where those withdrawing leave their weapons or even whether they bury them,” Mr. Erdogan said in a recent television interview. “They must put them down and go. Because otherwise this situation is very open to provocation.”...“We want to solve our problems through peace and dialogue,” Mr. Karayilan said. “That is what we believe.”

But, he said, “if they do not accept Kurds as equal citizens, this problem cannot be solved.”

As the commander of the PKK, Mr. Karayilan also has influence — if not outright authority — over the group’s offshoot in Syria, the Democratic Union Party, or the P.Y.D., which has taken up arms in that country’s civil war to defend Kurdish areas. He and many other Kurds believe that the close relationship between the West, including the United States, and Turkey has been at the expense of the Kurds.

“In Syria, Kurds represent more secular and democratic groups,” he said. “However, the West is not developing relations with the Kurds in Syria. Why? Because of their relations with Turkey.”

If the war ends, he said, he hopes to return to Turkey to play a political role in advancing Kurdish rights. “After we put violence aside, then a democratic society has to be formed,” Mr. Karayilan said.

If the war does not end, though, he is ready to fight again.

“If this does not happen, there will be a great war,” he said.

[link to www.ekurd.net]

I've done a couple of threads on the subject.

Thread: HOW ISRAEL IS GOING TO SMASH IRAN - From US Air Bases in Kurdistan. (northern Iraq) UPDATE Jan 11th Eisenhower Task Force arrives in Mid East.

Thread: Israel Can Attack Iran And Syria From Kurdistan

Last Edited by Judethz on 04/13/2013 04:11 PM

Hey KS, thanks for great and insightful post.
I agree that is only a matter of time before major developments in the ME and periphery, the latest ceasefire and rapprochements just confirm it imo. The Kurdish Question has already taken the road for an independent state in the near future, maybe not so fast as some Kurds were expecting but things in ME are influenced by a lot of factors and corporations besides the regional powers interests, but i can see it happening in the next decade or so, maybe sooner if this Sunni vs Shia established front goes full scale this year.

Agree with the siding with the oppressors, it's a tightrope walking, agree with the unity problem too, it's evident in Syria where everyone is doing it's own thing and doesn't have a common united goal, although i have to admit that from my perspective Kurds have already achieved their basic targets in Syria (autonomy, setting various administrations in Rojava etc.), doesn't make that much of a sense to go fight for MB and the rest of the death squads, they have proven that are not your friends many times in the past, actually i was reading on Arab press just 2-3 months ago that "the demonic Kurdistan project has been initiated", lol, and that's the truth actually, neither Arabs, Persians or Turks really want this.

That's why Barzani for the time being has to maintain good relations with one of these 3 players in the region, everyone is contesting the Mosul/Kirkuk oil, even Kemal wanted it in the 20's, even Iran wants it, it's estimated that, bar the Arctic, it's one of the worlds biggest unexploited oil field, 7% of worlds unexploited oil to be exact, that's a lot of oil, there has always been a policy of ethnic population movements and displacements in this region during the last century with this oil being the target.

Bayik stated last week that US had a plan for a Turkish-Kurdish confederation since the 50's and even proposed it to Turkish govt in 1965, seems that we're going to this direction, a federal Kurdish state under Turkish "protection", i was arguing with a Turkish nationalist recently and he said although you guys hate Erdogan and bitch about him and such, you don't see that he's doing exactly what you want because his policies are destroying Turkey in it's traditional form, not far from the truth given the recent developments imo. Interesting view on Ocalan, he's been isolated for a long time for sure, some PKK leading members also seem a bit suspicious so far but BDP and the political dept seem more than happy with it imo, i guess we'll see soon. Yeah i know about Talabani, very influential figure and tribe, very interesting times indeed.
Regards, take care. :)