Modern Kurdish Nationalism: Transregional Movement in the Context of US Foreign Policy
Tugrul Keskin
Professor at the College of Liberal Arts
Shanghai University
People’s Republic of China
Introduction
The Kurdish conflict in the Middle East is the last remaining issue inherited from the colonial conditions left by European imperialist powers at the beginning of the 20th century. Modern Kurdish Nationalism is a more recent phenomenon than Arab, Persian/Iranian and Turkish nationalism which were each established in response to British imperialism in the region; in contrast to Kurdish Nationalism which is based on transregional ethnic and primordial ethno-nationalism rather than cultural nationalism. Kurds populate four different countries in the Middle East; Iran, Turkey, Syria and Iraq and lived mostly in feudal, traditional and tribal social structures in the mountainous areas of these countries until the 1980s. However, the Islamic revolution in Iran in 1979 and the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1989 led to significant changes in US foreign policy toward the Middle East, and specifically on the Kurdish issue. In response to these changes, US policy makers began to invest in Kurdish groups in Iran, Turkey, Syria and Iraq. Although an early relationship between Kurds and US policy makers was established in the late 1960s, the US did not pay much attention to Kurdish nationalism because of the Cold War Policy of the US and its strategic interests in Turkey. Turkey is a key country for the Kurdish conflict in the region, because without Turkey, Kurds could not have an independent state in these countries; therefore, the Syrian conflict should be understood in the context of US Foreign policy toward both the Kurds and Turkey. Turkey is the third strategic piece of US foreign policy toward the Kurdish issue and the last piece is the Iranian Kurds. In this presentation, I analyze US foreign policy vis a vis Kurdish nationalism, and argue that Kurdish nationalism is used against Iran, Syria, Iraq and Turkey by the United States for its strategic national interests.
The Emergence of Modern Kurdish Nationalism
During the late Ottoman era, as a result of the modernization process begun in 1839, the centralization of the Ottoman state was challenged by regional autonomous tribal groups. Most of these traditional groups were based on primordial ethnic ties, living in a very specific region and isolated from the outside world. These included primarily Kurdish groups living in remote areas of the Southeast part of current Turkey. They did not want to be controlled by the state’s modernization and unification strategy. As a result, several rebellions took place in the Ottoman Era led by local tribal leaders against the Istanbul government between 1806 and 1920. Examles were the Babanzade Abdurrahman Paşa Rebellion (1806- Musul), Babanzade Ahmet Paşa Rebellion (1812 – Musul), Zaza Rebellion (1820), Yezidi Rebellion (1830- Hakkari), Şerefhan Rebellion (1831- Bitlis), Bedirhan Rebellion (1835- Botan), Garzan Rebellion (1839- Diyarbakır), Ubeydullah Rebellion (1881- Hakkari), Bedirhan Osman Paşa and his brother Hüseyin Paşa Rebellion (1872-Mardin-Cizre), Bedirhan Emin Ali Rebellion (1889- Erzincan), Bedirhanil and Halil Rema Rebellion (1912-Mardin), Şeyh Selim Şehabettin and Ali Rebellion (1912- Bitlis), Koşgari Rebellion (1920- Koşgiri). Almost all of the leadership of these rebellions were local representatives of the Istanbul government who were not happy about consolidation or sharing their powers with the centralized modern state. Modernization in the Ottoman state structure led to the creation of a new tax system, political and economic control over tribal areas and the unification of the Empire against British and French colonialism. However, WWI also led to some changes in Kurdish Nationalism as some young Kurds pursued education abroad in Europe. There they learned modern ideas of nationalism, and established Kurdish organizations and associations in Europe and Istanbul, such as the Kürt Teali Cemiyeti, Kürt İstiklal Cemiyeti, İstanbul Kürt Talebe Cemiyeti, and so on.
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