The USA Journals Volume 03 Issue 07-2021
63
The American Journal of Political Science Law and Criminology
(ISSN
–
2693-0803)
Published:
July 30, 2021 |
Pages:
63-67
Doi:
https://doi.org/10.37547/tajpslc/Volume03Issue07-10
I
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‘
ABSTRACT
This article discusses the Kurdish problem, its actuality, some ethno-political aspects of the problem,
the existence of different, sometimes contradictory approaches to issues related to the Kurds, as well
as international legal aspects of the problem. The article focuses on the fact that the Kurdish problem
is not only a regional problem in terms of ethno-politics, but also a comprehensive problem at the
international level. It is revealed that the ethno-political issue related to the Kurds is being assessed on
the basis of controversial and mutually exclusive approaches.
KEYWORDS
Kurds, Kurdistan, ethno-political problems, PKK, New Middle East, Khoybun, Iraqi Kurdistan, “Great
Kurdistan”.
INTRODUCTION
Today, the Kurds are considered to be one of
the largest nations who do not possess their
own independent statehood in the world.
Analysts and researchers attempt to study this
problem as an ethno-political problem.
Another subtle aspect of the issue is that the
Kurds remain as a geopolitical problem that
affects the territorial integrity of regional
actors such as Turkey, Iran, Syria and Iraq, and
ultimately the architecture of the entire Middle
East. In turn, this problem has a serious impact
on the balance of power in world politics,
increasing the likelihood that it will become a
global problem. Indeed, any radical change
related to the Kurds alone could become a
factor in the complete revival of large and
numerous ethnic groups that do not have their
own state all over the world. From this point of
Ethno-Political Aspects Of The Kurdish Problem: An Analysis
Of Different Approaches
Fotima Nazarova
2nd Year Student, Tashkent State University Of Oriental Studies, Uzbekistan
Journal
Website:
https://theamericanjou
rnals.com/index.php/ta
jpslc
Copyright:
Original
content from this work
may be used under the
terms of the creative
commons
attributes
4.0 licence.
The USA Journals Volume 03 Issue 07-2021
64
The American Journal of Political Science Law and Criminology
(ISSN
–
2693-0803)
Published:
July 30, 2021 |
Pages:
63-67
Doi:
https://doi.org/10.37547/tajpslc/Volume03Issue07-10
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view, there is a need for in-depth study of this
issue, the development of in-depth scientific
research, substantiated debates on its ethno-
political aspects.
The purpose of the article is to reveal the
ethno-political aspects of the Kurdish problem.
In view of the goal, views on the Kurdish
problem, the influence of major and regional
powers, and the justification of international
legal aspects of the problem were identified as
tasks.
Methods
: Historical, structural-logical, content
and comparative methods are used in the
article.
THE MAIN FINDINGS AND RESULTS
It should be noted that research or books on
the Kurdish issue have been conducted on the
basis of different approaches, and this process
continues due to some political and national
interests. The versatility of this research is
closely related to its different assessments by
Western, Russian, Turkish, and Arab scholars.
The history of the origin of the Kurdish ethnos,
its
peculiarities,
the
Kurdish
national
movement, the role of the Kurds in the socio-
political processes in the region, the
relationship of external forces with the Kurds,
the work on approaches to solving the Kurdish
problem is covered in detail in the works of
such specialists as David McDowall, Martin van
Bruinessen, Wadie Jwaideh, Michael Gunter,
Jemal Nebez, Karen Culcasi, Michael Eppel,
John Limbert, Henri Barkey, Graham Fuller,
P.Olson, Basil Nikitin, Radwan Ziadeh, Mehrdad
Izady, Robin Mills, Works by Connor, Gareth
Stansfield and others, Ziya Gökalp, Ali Rıza
Sheikh Attar, Mehmet Akbaş, Ihsan Şerif
Kaymaz, Bekir Bicer, Taha Özen, Hatem Ete,
Ahmet Buran, Faik Bulut, Nihat Ali Özcan,
Ulrike Dufner, Semahat Sevim, Abdur in Turkey
Qasimlo, Fatih Ünal, Yılmaz A. Octav Özden
Zeynep, Fuat Aksu, Hüseyin Alptekin and M.S.
Lazarev, Tibet Abak, M.V. Gladyr, M.A.
Gasratyan, O.I. Jigalina, Xoshavi Babakr, S.M
Ivanov, N.Z. Mosaki, O. Mazur (Karimov, 2021,
p.8.). Abdullah Ocalan, the founder of the
Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), who fought
for an independent Kurdish state, also has a
book entitled "The Kurdish Problem and the
Solidarity of the Democratic Nation Model:
Protecting the Kurds Trapped in Cultural
Genocide" (Ocalan, 2016). In this book, the
author details the origins, life and activities of
the Kurds, the Kurdistan Workers' Party and its
ideological foundations, and the decisive role
of the Kurds in the history of the Middle East.
It is clear that when we talk about the conflicts
in the Middle East, two extremely important
factors come to mind: the religious and ethnic
factor. Naturally, the conflicts that reflect the
main picture of ethno-religious factors in the
region are the Arab-Israeli conflict and the
Kurdish problem. The Kurdish issue, like the
Arab-Israeli conflict, is a long-unresolved issue
that has not been studied in depth.
The Kurds are one of the oldest and most
numerous ethnic groups in the Middle East
who have not been able to have their own
independent state in the world. The total
number of Kurds, according to the latest data,
is about 30-40 million. 47-54% (about 15 million)
of Kurds live in Turkey, 20-32% (6.6 million) in
Iran, 16-20% (6 million) in Iraq, and the rest in
other countries (2.8 million in Syria). 800,000 in
Germany, 150,000 in Azerbaijan, 100,000 in
Israel, 10,000 in Lebanon, 40,000 in
Turkmenistan, and 20,000 in the United States
(Karimov, 2016, p.107-108).
The USA Journals Volume 03 Issue 07-2021
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The American Journal of Political Science Law and Criminology
(ISSN
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2693-0803)
Published:
July 30, 2021 |
Pages:
63-67
Doi:
https://doi.org/10.37547/tajpslc/Volume03Issue07-10
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At the heart of the Kurdish problem is the fact
that for centuries the aspirations of the Kurds
to have their own independent state have been
denied by both regional and international
forces. The Kurds have already caught the
attention of the international community by
demanding their cultural, social and political
recognition and trying to establish their own
independent state in a region divided between
the four states.
The solution of the Kurdish problem of
regional significance is hampered by the fact
that each country has different policies
towards the Kurds in its territory, and in turn,
the diversity of ideas and actions of the Kurds
in each country towards a separate state. One
of the main reasons why the Kurdish problem
is still going on is that Kurdish leaders in the
20th and 21st centuries have taken different
paths for liberation movements (some have
chosen militancy, some have chosen the
diplomatic
path).
Well-known
Kurdish
orientalist and diplomat Vasily Nikitin lists three
stages of the Kurdish national movement in his
fundamental work called “The Kurds” (Nikitin,
1964, p.284-285). The first stage began with the
revolt of the feudal lords, disobedience, social
coups, while the second stage coincided with
the revolution of the young Turks, who fought
for their national identity. The third phase
began after the First World War (the Treaties of
Sevres and Lausanne) when the Kurdish
problem became an international problem.
According to the scholar, when Kurdish
National Committee (Hoybun) formed in 1927,
it became the first institutional structure to
coordinate the Kurdish national movement.
The current phase of the Kurdish national
movement began in 2003 with the invasion of
American forces to Iraq, followed by the
establishment of an autonomous region of
Iraqi Kurdistan and its acquisition of certain
powers.
Another noteworthy aspect is that the analysis
of the geographical location and population
prospects is of particular importance in
understanding the Kurdish problem. If
Kurdistan is unified as a whole, its land area will
exceed 500,000 square kilometers. In other
words, Kurdistan will become an equal state
with France, not a district or province. In short,
the Kurdish problem is not a problem of ethnic
minorities in any country, but a hot regional
problem in the Middle East. Another root cause
of the problem is geographical location. In
turn, the geographical factor is divided into
geocultural, geoeconomic and geopolitical
factors. These four factors play a major role in
a deeper understanding of the Kurdish
problem (Stefano, 2016, p.22-23).
First, the Kurds have sufficient basis to claim
Kurdistan territory. They have lived in this area
for two thousand years. That is why they are
constantly fighting to have their own state.
Second, the geo-cultural factor also plays an
important role in the escalation of the conflict.
The Kurds are ethnically and culturally
completely different from the Turks and the
Arabs. They have their own language, as well as
distinct currents in religious beliefs. The same
factors have been cited by the Kurds as the
basis for an independent state. These factors,
in turn, have led to the development of
conflicts with the governments of Kurdish-
populated countries.
The third factor is the geo-economic factor.
Kurdistan is needed by Turkey and Arab
countries for oil and gas reserves. That is why
the four states do not want to lose Kurdistan.
The USA Journals Volume 03 Issue 07-2021
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The American Journal of Political Science Law and Criminology
(ISSN
–
2693-0803)
Published:
July 30, 2021 |
Pages:
63-67
Doi:
https://doi.org/10.37547/tajpslc/Volume03Issue07-10
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In this regard, it is necessary to mention Iraq.
The reason is that a number of embargoes and
sanctions were imposed on the country's
economy before the US invasion of Iraq. With
the exception of Iraqi Kurdistan, the region
was essential for Iraq's economic recovery
after the overthrow of Saddam Hussein.
Finally, the last factor is the geopolitical factor.
We have seen above that the Middle Eastern
states do not want to lose control of the
region. On the other hand, the Kurds have their
own political problems. There are various
political forces whose views on Kurdish
political life contradict each other. These
political forces are not unanimous in resolving
the Kurdish issue. After all, the Kurds
themselves are politically divided into two, but
even more confrontational, and above all, the
issue of solving their own internal problems
arises. Meanwhile, the Kurdish factor by major
power centers could serve as a major weapon
and tool for those seeking leadership in the
Middle East. Geopolitically, this issue is
particularly evident in the so-called “New
Middle East” concept of the United States.
Although a number of forces pursue
geopolitical goals by supporting the Kurdish
struggle for national independence, Kurdish
movements in various locations intend to be
independent from external forces. They say,
"The Kurds have no friends, only mountains"
(Peter W.Galbrataith, 2016). All Kurds except
for the Kurds in Syria are mountain peoples. At
a time of increasing pressure on them, Kurdish
resistance movements carried out operations
mainly from the mountains. Therefore, such
statements are common among them.
States in the region have always been
concerned that the Kurdish independence
could destabilize the situation in their own
countries and in the region, and that the
territorial unit could be torn apart. Therefore,
in order to maintain their territorial units, the
governments of the region have been trying to
suppress the Kurdish movement by force. The
radical actions of the Kurds further complicate
the
problem.
Iraq's
pursuit
of
full
independence is also a serious concern for
Kurdish neighbors. Some analysts predict that
the Kurds in Iraq may be the backbone of the
Kurdish state-building process. In Turkey, the
Kurds are demanding an amendment to the
existing constitution, which would establish
the Kurdistan Autonomy within the Republic of
Turkey. This is not in the interests of Turkey,
which pursues the idea of a “single state” (Van
Bruinessen, Martin, 1996, p.29-32). On the
other hand, the “Great Kurdistan” ideology of
the Kurds, which has become more active in
Syria in recent years, is of serious concern to
Syria and its government, which are already
divided. The situation in Iran is very different
from that of the Kurds living in the rest of the
region. It should be noted that today the Kurds
do not have enough influence to affect the
territorial integrity of this state.
At the same time, another serious problem is
the lack of a unified approach to ethno-political
issues in international law. In particular, on the
one hand, the principle of self-determination of
peoples and nations, on the other hand, the
principle of territorial integrity of the state
contradicts each other. For example, in the
case of the Kurds, Turkey, Syria, Iraq, and Iran
prioritize the principle of territorial integrity,
while they take the first principle as their basis.
Most notably, from an international legal point
of view, Kurdish organizations are seen by
some quarters as separatist or terrorist groups,
while in some cases they are seen as a nation
fighting for their freedom. For example, Turkey
The USA Journals Volume 03 Issue 07-2021
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The American Journal of Political Science Law and Criminology
(ISSN
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2693-0803)
Published:
July 30, 2021 |
Pages:
63-67
Doi:
https://doi.org/10.37547/tajpslc/Volume03Issue07-10
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has listed the PKK as a terrorist organization,
calling its activists terrorists. PKK militants tried
to hinder the development of the tourism
business in Turkey by blowing up hotels and
kidnapping foreign tourists. According to
Turkish special services, Kurdish terrorists are
not seeking a peaceful confrontation. PKK
activists are carrying out the same terrorist
acts in Turkey. PKK is also known as an
organization that organizes self-immolation of
Kurds in different parts of the world
(Goyibnazarov, 2013, p.87. In some cases,
external forces other than the Kurds
themselves, particularly the United States,
have been seen as financially and militarily
supporting Kurdish forces in various parts of
the Middle East as a national movement. This
requires
serious
consideration
by
the
international community that the existing legal
approaches to ethno-political issues will be a
factor that will complicate the current
situation.
CONCLUSION
There is ample reason to say that the Kurdish
problem is an ethno-politically complex
problem not only regionally but also
internationally. It is important to understand
that the Kurds have long been divided into four
states, and that they are fighting for their
independence in the same regions. In addition,
it is the fact that these struggling processes of
the Kurds are being turned into an important
tool for their geopolitical goals by certain
forces, and the lack of a unified international
legal approach and mechanism on ethno-
political issues, makes it necessary to study this
problem carefully and find a constructive
solution.
REFERENCES
1.
Goyibnazarov Sh. International terrorism:
roots, factors and sources. (in Uzbek) –
Tashkent: Uzbekistan, 2013. – P.87.
2.
Karimov F.E. The Kurdish factor in ethno-
political processes in the Middle East.
Abstract of the dissertation of Doctor of
Political Sciences (DSc). (in Uzbek). –
Тashkent: 2021. – p.8.
3.
Karimov F.E.. Ethno-political problems in
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4.
Nikitin V. Kurds. (In Russian). – Moscow.
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