The Modern Kurdistan by Ali Kurdistani

For some of you, the title of this article may seem strange as it is not clear what “the modern Kurdistan” means exactly. Kurdistan may not seem modern because of two reasons: first, the Kurds do not have an independent state yet, Second, should a completely independent Kurdish state include parts of Turkey, Syria, Iraq, and Iran or only include Iraqi Kurdistan, the region that Iraqi Kurds currently control and are therefore more independent than other Kurds in the Middle East?

The history of the Kurdish people is complex. The big powers of the early 20th century divided the Kurds and their land among four Middle Eastern states, Turkey, Syria, Iran, and Iraq. The lives of those Kurds were shaped under the rules of those states and even their thought and culture was influenced by Persian, Turkish, and Arabic influences in those countries in which they are still living in today.

Because of dividing the Kurdish people among those states, the Kurds living under foreign governments with hostile policies against the Kurds, could not unite and work together to get their own rights as the people of other Middle Eastern nations did.
In my view, the modern Kurdistan means the current Iraqi Kurdistan and this region, in my view, will determine the future of the Kurds in the Middle East.
Since the Iraq War, Iraqi Kurdistan has made progress in different aspects and those political and economic changes that have happened and are happening in Iraqi Kurdistan are also influencing other Kurds in Turkey, Iran, Syria.

Since Saddam's regime has been removed from power, the Kurdish issue has become an important national and international political issue as more and more people around the world are focusing on what is going on in Iraqi Kurdistan.
The Kurdistan regional government (KRG) within Iraq is the only Kurdish government in the Middle East and in the world as it represents the Kurdish voice and Kurdish interests. The KRG does not only represent the Kurds within Iraq, but it also represents Kurds worldwide although it cannot and has no right to interfere in regional states that contain a Kurdish population.

Sometimes, those regional states of Turkey, Syria, and Iran allege that Kurds are interfering in their internal affairs and making problems for them but this is untrue, because these governments have always made and continue to make problems for the Kurds within their countries and for the Kurds in Iraq as well.

It is known around the world that the Kurds do not have their own independent state yet but they do have the Kurdish independent government within Iraq. It's true that this government is not one-hundred percent independent, but it’s a Kurdish government representing Kurdish rights and interests, and therefore it's natural if the KRG and the Kurds within Iraq help the Kurdish people worldwide, as all states and governments around the world help their own people everywhere.

The Kurdish situation is really different than any other issue in the region because the Kurds do not have an independent state yet, and therefore Kurds need to help each other. The Kurdish situation is like the Jewish situation in the early 20th century. Just as Jews around the world united and helped each other to establish their own independent state, Kurds ought to do the same.

The Kurdish people and government of Iraqi Kurdistan are helping the Kurds in the region directly and indirectly, since in the last few years, many Kurdish individuals and families from Iran, Syria, and Turkey have moved to Iraqi Kurdistan and are continuing to do so, especially after Saddam’s removal. Those Kurds are living, working, and studying in Kurdish homes, Kurdish jobs, and Kurdish schools under native Kurdish rule.

This migration is happening after Saddam's removal because during his rule, the Kurds within Iraq and the Middle East could not help each other and collaborate because of the hostile rogue state policies against the Kurds. Due to these policies, the Kurdish people within Iraq and other regional states could not understand each other’s problems. For example, Kurds within Iraq had little relations with the Kurds in Turkey except for a few individuals, they were not knowledgeable and familiar about the Kurdish question within Turkey and vice versa.
I have met some Kurds from Turkey who have no knowledge of what Saddam did against the Kurdish people in the town of Halabja in 1988 (Saddam attacked Halabja with chemical weapons killing many people). This lack of understanding was also true of Kurds in Iran and Syria.

Another major obstacle for Kurds to understand their mutual problems in the Middle East is the presence of different Kurdish written and oral dialects. For example, the Kurds of Turkey and Syria write with a Latin alphabet and speak in what is called the Kurmanji dialect, but the Kurds in Iraq and Iran write with the Arabic alphabet and speak in the Sorani dialect, therefore it is really difficult for Kurds to understand each other if they live in different countries.
But I as I mentioned before, many Kurds from Iran, Syria, and Turkey have moved into Iraqi Kurdistan after the beginning of the Iraq War and as a result of employment at governmental and non-governmental institutions, Kurds are now learning each other’s dialects and are developing a mutual understanding and social cohesion.

Iraqi Kurdistan has become the headquarters of Kurdish national and political movements and Kurdish opposition parties from Iran, Syria, and Turkey have offices in Iraqi Kurdistan. These parties are getting support from Kurds of Iraqi Kurdistan.

Most of the Kurdish people within Iran, Syria, and Turkey are sympathetic to the Kurdistan regional government and its leaders despite the presence of their own political parties and leaders. But now that Iraqi Kurdistan is becoming the general Kurdish headquarters and its leaders are becoming the leaders of the Kurds in the Middle East in general, the modern Kurdistan is unifying Kurdish political, security, and economic projects in the Middle East.
In my view, without the support of the West, and especially the American people and government, a modern Kurdistan will not be a success in terms of economic, security, cultural and educational factors.

The modern Kurdistan still needs a lot of changes and more modernization and this will not happen without the knowledge of experience. The Kurds need a lot of guidance which they have to take from modernized Western countries to further modernize the Kurdish political, economic, educational and legal institutions.

One has to realize an important point: a modern Kurdistan will be the most pro-American country in the Middle East, and the Kurds of Iraqi Kurdistan will be the best friends of the American and European people.

As a Kurd from Iraqi Kurdistan, I would recommend that Kurdish young free thinkers should work with American free thinkers to promote modernization and global values in the modern Kurdistan. And in other ways the modern Kurdistan needs more internationalization in all aspects especially in terms of education to educate the new Kurdish generation on international laws, international relations, and international ideas.