March 31, 2003	Monday	Muharram 27, 1424

ISTANBUL: “For the first time in world history Kurds will gain international recognition,” says Umit Firat an independent Kurdish intellectual from Istanbul, predicting the outcome of the US war on Iraq.

“At least Kurdish autonomy in Iraq will have international guarantors such as United States and Britain, instead of Iraq’s ruling Baath Party’s broken promises of 1970s,” says an optimistic Firat, who believes United States’ hold on Iraq will remain unaffected even if the US war plans do not unfold as foreseen by Washington.

Firat’s words reflect general feelings in the Kurdish world that the fall of Saddam Hussein’s regime will bring Northern Iraqi Kurds further autonomy and even greater say in a future Iraq.

However, Turkey’s strong opposition to a Kurdish independence state narrows the limits of Kurdish optimism, bringing their aspirations down to expectations of recognition on a local level in a future multi-ethnic Iraq.

Iraqi Kurds, alarmed at an imminent Turkish army incursion into Northern Iraq, have this week breathed a sigh of relief at the denial issued by Turkey’s chief of staff General Hilmi Ozkok.

“Unless our forces in Northern Iraq are attacked, there is a massive emigration or the armed groups in the region engage in fighting, there is no reason for us to send additional troops in the area,” Ozkok assured.

“This wise and courageous decision would certainly pave the way for a better understanding and cooperation to address all the legitimate concerns of Turkey and the local Kurdish population,” said KDP (Kurdistan Democratic Party) leader Mesoud Barzani in a public statement.

This “would lead to more stability and security in the region, first and foremost for Turkey’s own interests,” he told journalists.

Iraqi Kurds, who are now calling for the attention of the Kurdish world for international recognition, inhabit a relatively small chunk of the Kurdish lands divided into four parts after the collapse of the Ottoman Empire.

Most of the 12 million former Ottoman Kurds now live in southeastern Turkey. An additional two million Kurds live in northern Iraq, one million in Iran and fewer than one million in Syria. Small Kurdish populations also exist in Kyrgyzstan, Azerbaijan and Russia.

Kurds are the sole ethnic group of the former Ottoman Empire who have failed to regroup themselves around a nation-state after the disintegration of the empire during and after the First World War.

While the Arabs of Maghreb and the East, Bulgarians and Armenians have gained independence, Kurds suffer from tribal divides and live in four different states under ‘foreign’ rule.

For the region’s rival nation-states, and particularly for Turkey, Kurdish nationalism and Kurdish independence have always comprised a security threat that the government fears may end up with disintegration of the country.

Throughout modern Turkish history, Kurds have revolted against Turkish rule for 27 times. The last insurrection was quelled in 1938 and was followed by coercive assimilation of Kurdish identity, to the extent of denying the existence of Kurds — even in language.—Dawn/InterPress News Service.