A Syrian Kurdish girl with Kurdistan flag in Rojava. Photo: AFP
Araz Barwari | Exclusive to Ekurd.net
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad claimed Thursday that the “Kurdish issue” does not exist in his country, calling it “illusive and a lie”. He also claimed that Kurds living in northern areas are originally from Turkey.
“Regarding the so-called ‘Kurdish issue’, there is nothing called a ‘Kurdish issue’ in Syria for a simple reason: Kurds have been living in Syria throughout history but some [Kurdish] groups who live the north came [to Syria] during the last century due to Turkish [government] oppression,” Assad told Rossiya-24 in an interview aired on Thursday.
However, and according to the historical records and archaeological evidences, Kurds of Syria have lived in Syria for thousands of years. They are the descendents of the Mittanis, and Mittanis are the ancestors of Kurds. The Mitanni empire covered an area reaching from the eastern Mediterranean coast to the east of present-day northern Iraq from the 15th century to the middle of the 14th century BC, almost 3400 years ago. Its heart was in what is now northeastern Syria, where its capital Washukanni was probably located. Akkadian texts from the site of Tell el-Amarna in present-day Egypt show that the Mittani kings interacted as equals with the Egyptian pharaohs and the kings of Hatti and Babylonia.
Furthermore, German and Kurdish archaeologists have recently uncovered a Bronze Age palace on the eastern bank of the Tigris River in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. It is a solid evidence that proves Kurds have always existed in the areas they reside on now in Syria, Turkey,Iran’s and Iraq. And If you go back to the beginning of history of human beings, the time of cave men, and hunters, nations and boundaries have not existed among people. And all people including
Arabs,Turks and Persians at some point in the history were hunters, tribes and nomads and member of a people having no permanent abode, and who travel from place to place to find fresh pasture for their livestock.They eventually settled and began building and developing the land they reside on and this is when and where your history of civilization starts.
Despite the fact that so many empires swept Kurdish villages and areas all across with military attacks, invasion and wars but none of them could completely destroy Kurdish identity because Kurds as the descendants of Lulubies, Mitanis, Guties and Medes, have always managed to survive as a cultural entity regardless of their strong neighbours, and outside invaders. They often accepted to be subservient and continually cooperated with their neighbours and even joined forces with them in war times.
Kurds have also converted to their religions and followed their political ideologies under pressure, threats and force The history of Kurds is similar to the history of Jewish. They have been struggling to preserve their identity and survive all along history.Kurds are about 40 millions of population, an ethnicity that is not one or two millions to get rid of by military force or to digest them with assimilation policies. They are still not only stateless but also don’t have the basic human rights in the countries they live in.
The right to self determination of ethnic groups is legal and has been recognized in international law. But Ultra nationalistic sentiments combined with religious zealotry of Turkey, Iran and Syrian regimes, which are against democracy, plurality and diversity, have become a big obstacle for Kurds to obtain their rights in these countries. And as a result, the recognition of democratic rights of Kurds and the formation of Kurdish autonomous regions in these countries have remained unfulfilled.
All areas in these countries where Kurdish population reside, have remained undeveloped or not as developed as areas where Turks, Arabs, Azars and Persian population live. This is clearly discrimination and violation of the Kurdish minority rights. The mentality of these regimes particularly of Turkey, Syria and Iran, works upside down. Their minds are twisted because If they let a Kurdish autonomous region in Syria be established, a region where it is run by democratic principles and institutions, and based on respect for human rights and rule of law, it will be of much benefit for the state of Syria interns of peace, security and economic development and prosperity, just as the autonomous regions have turned to work out brilliantly for their states in Europe.
There are tons of reports online written by international social and political experts who have said that, there are many benefits of regional autonomy of Kurds for both Kurdish population and the majority Arab,Turks, Persians population and other ethnicities in the region, if a Kurdish autonomous region established within these countries.
The reports generally say, ” First, the autonomous region of Kurds in Syria will manage their resources based on their own regional development objectives.Just like the Kurdish autonomous region of Iraq, the Regional Government will be familiar with the set of resources that they have, as well as the major competencies of the region, in terms of the region’s agriculture, tourism, environment, infrastructure and industries in order to produce specialized products, goods or service, unique only to the region.
Secondly, there will be an opportunity for the regional autonomous Government to create their own revenue sources from taxes, fees and charges. Although, the region is mandated to share in the national taxes, it is also entitled to have an equitable share of the national wealth.
Thirdly, the Kurdish Regional Government will have the liberty to formulate and implement projects and programs that are fit to the conditions, needs and priorities of the region. Policy makers may properly identify these sectors’ needs so that they can be able to formulate projects and programs that will effectively help these marginalized members of society.
Lastly, the ultimate goal of a Kurdish autonomous region in Syria is to be self-reliant and independent from the National Government. This means that region shall be essentially on its own, fully utilizing their resources, and knowledgeable of their weakness, and look for the best combination in order to maximize their potential. In this way, the region can rely on its own assets to improve the welfare of their people, without much aid from the National Government or other donors.
The proposed Kurdish autonomous region in Syria also has some identified disadvantages, some are political and social in nature but the most related disadvantage of autonomy to Economics may be excessive taxation.
Since the autonomous government has the liberty to create new sources of revenues, the people may be burdened with more taxes, especially local business enterprises and residents. Businesses may be in prone to double taxation, because taxes/fees may be paid to both the regional and national government. While residents may be burdened with more fees and charges, when transacting with government agencies.
Finally and the most important, one of the concerns of those who are opposed to the autonomy from the two earlier plebiscites is the possible abuse of those in authority, zeroing on corruption.
The Regional Government, having the liberty to allocate and disburse funds for the projects that they, the Regional Government, themselves have decided and approved, officials may be put their self-interest first over the interest and welfare of their citizenry.
Corruption was already proven in many studies done around the world to be the main reason why people remain to be poor. Corruption steals the economic opportunities of citizens to be productive from the equal utilization of resources, and income equitably redistributed in order to improve their welfare.
In conclusion, the benefits of having autonomous regions outnumber the disadvantages. The benefits are ideal. It will definitely help the citizens, especially those from the marginalized sectors.
However, if corruption will not be solved or removed from the autonomous government system, like it is happening now in the autonomous region of Kurdistan of Iraq, ordinary citizens, cannot reap the benefits of autonomy in the future, and state will not either, no matter how ideal, no matter how noble the purpose of autonomy is.”
Araz Barwari is a law student at the University of Nawroz in Kurdistan of Iraq.
The opinions are those of the writer and do not necessarily represent the views of Ekurd.net or its editors.
Copyright © 2020 Ekurd.net. All rights reserved