Speech at the demonstration of the Yezidi-Kurds in Berlin the 28th August 2007

Tilman Zülch, President of Society for Threatened Peoples International, held this speech at the demonstration of the Yezidi-Kurds in Berlin on August 28, 2007.

Today we gathered here and mourn about the 500, maybe even 600 children, women and men – Yezidi from the Sinjar area at the border to Syria. So far we do not know for sure who the murderers were. But we have the impression that there are forces all around this area that try to destroy and drive away the thousands of years old community of the Yezidi, and thus have the goal to erase a very old culture and religion. Many of the victims are still hospitalized in Kurdistan, struggling to survive. Our thoughts are now with them.

The Sinjar area is an obstacle for terrorist, fundamentalist or chauvinist movements which have been active ever since the invasion of US troops in southern and middle Iraq. Some of them are Al-Qaeda, forces of the former Baath regime, Sunni and Shiite fundamentalists, and probably also terrorist groups that are supported from Syria, Turkey or Iran.

The Yezidi religious community experienced many persecutions – during the Ottoman times, during the Saddam regime. So far no one knows the exact number of how many Yezidi were killed under Hussein. Tens of thousands of them were deported and forcibly settled in camp-like ghettos.

Society for Threatened Peoples still remembers the expulsion of the Yezidi from Turkey in the 1980s very vividly. Thousands of them fled to Central Europe, especially to former West Germany. Here these refugees were supposed to be deported. Together with the evangelical churches and the support by Prof. Gernot Wiesner and his wife Irina – both long standing members of our human rights organization – we managed to achieve the recognition of the Yezidi as collectively persecuted religious refugees. Regarding this achievement, we will never forget the support of the Minister of the Interior of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW), Dr. Herbert Schoor. Back then we published a whole series of documentations, articles, appeals, flyers and special editions of our journal "Pogrom".

Together with the Organization of the Yezidi in Germany we organized a rally at the former concentration camp Bergen-Belsen, which initially had been prohibited. This rally, the demonstration in front of the Ministry of the Interior of NRW, our Yezidi-Congress in Hannover on the very day of the fall of the Berlin Wall on November 9, 1989, and the book "The Kurdish Yezidi – A People on the Way to Ruin", had led to the final breakthrough. Today, there are about 60,000 Yezidi living in Germany. Here they have found a new home.

„The Way to Ruin" is now threatening the Yezidi of the Sinjar area. What can we do about this in Germany? Our possibilities are very limited. Even the German government, would it be willing to help, would have only little influence in Iraq. We have already asked the German Ministry for Foreign Affairs and the one for Economic Co-operation and Development for urgent help for the people in Sinjar. But protection for the people in the Sinjar area can probably only come from within Iraq.

The Yezidi speak Kurdish, and the majority considers itself being part of the Kurdish people. Already in 2003, before the beginning of the American-Iraqi War, representatives of Yezidi organizations gathered at Society for Threatened Peoples in Göttingen, after an initiative by Malah Izdian in Oldenburg. Their resolution demanded for a self-governed Sinjar territory as part of the Iraqi state of Kurdistan. Two Yezidi ministers belonged to this government. From this government, help was sent to the injured. From there police forces were delegated to protect the inhabitants of Sinjar. The Yezidi in Sinjar have a right to self-government. This right is guaranteed by Article 140 of the Iraqi Constitution. Let us hope that the mostly peaceful situation in the Iraqi state of Kurdistan will have a positive impact on the region of Sinjar, as well. Let us hope that that was the last terrorist attack. The Sinjar region has a right to unite with the Iraqi state of Kurdistan – as an autonomous, self-governed region. This will provide protection for the Yezidi religious community.

Gulan: Women writers conference

Dalmira Tilepbergenova (left) and Bahtinisa Abdurehim. Dalmira is the chairman of The Central Asian PEN.

The text in Kurdish.

The PEN of Finland arranged one week ago in Helsinki a conference for Central Asian women writers. When I started writing columns to Gulan I decided to write about different topics. But during the summer I have written only about the political situation. When I plan to write something else there is always an acute crisis which needs to be commented immediately. But this time I decided to tell about culture and the Central Asian literature conference.

There were eight women artists from Kyrgystan and Kazakstan. Some other participants told for example about the situation in Tibet and East Turkmenistan. Both Tibetan and Uyghur people suffer under the Chinese rule in a same way as Kurds in Turkey. Even their language is threatened.

Unfortunately there were no Kurdish writers in the conference. It would have been interesting for them to hear the experiences of other writers. There is one thing which connects Central Asia, Kurdistan, Tibet, East Turkmenistan and many other countries: the Silk Road. Lots of items has been transported via it from east to west. But the travellers have transported also stories, legends, oral and written culture. The culture around the Silk Road has been especially rich for centuries. And Silk Road is not only history, there is much traffic even nowadays.

In the films of Dalmira Tilepbergenova from Kyrgystan the traditions are very strong. Traditional culture and history of own nation are sources of strength when the people search new values in the Post Soviet society. Islam and even Islamic extremism replace the communist values after the collapse of Soviet Union. What it means for women writers? They stay at home and tell fairy tales to their children instead of writing for a bigger audience. The strengthening of Islamic values means for many women writers that their husbands do not like that their wives get attention from other people. Not even comments to a written story. Of course telling fairy tales to children is very important. It is the way how the oral traditions have been transformed for the next generation for centuries. But why not do both: tell fairy tales at home and write them down?

After the cultural week-end it was quite a shock for me to open internet and look what is going on Kurdistan: Turkey and Iran plan a joint military attack to South Kurdistan. Turkish Daily News writes that Masoud Barzani accuses Turkey being engaged in intelligence activities via its Consulate in Mosul. And according to The New Anatolian KDP claims that Turkish and Syrian intelligence services were involved in the bomb attacks against Yezidi Kurds in Sinjar. So I was wrong last week when I wondered whether al Qaeda was behind this atrocity. But al Qaeda has been active in Iraq in other places even during last days.

So next week I return to political issues. It takes lots of time to understand what is going on. And when it will be peace in Kurdistan - Kurdish writers will write big epics about this war.

*****

Antology of the seminar Kyltymätön uuni - naiskirjailijat ja sensuuri is published by LIKE and The PEN of Finland. It is both in Finnish and in English, and can be ordered from LIKE also to abroad. The title means An oven which is always hungry - women writers and cencorship.

LIKE is also my publisher. We are now making the lay out of my next book Serhildan.

By the way, the name LIKE has nothing to do the English word like. First the name of publishing house was Lieke, which is old Finnish language and means fire. There happened to be one family whose name is Lieke and for some reason they did not like the publishing house to have same name as they have. So the company took one letter away from the name and became LIKE.

Gulan: The arrival of al Qaeda to Iraq after US army

The text in Kurdish.

When I write these lines it is not yet clear which group is behind last week's suicide bomb attack against the Kurdish Yazidi community in Gir Uzeir and Siba Sheikh Khidir. There are rumours about al Qaeda, others speak about Syrian involvement in the attack and some others connect it to Kerkuk, article 140 and the fact that there is not so much time left to the 31st December of this year.

I consider now the first possibility, al Qaeda. Despite there is no evidence that it was behind this attack, its influence is growing in Iraq. I repeat that with this analysis I do not claim that al Qaeda was behind the attack against the Yazidis.

The Iraq war is everyday in the headlines of European newspapers but most people have forgotten why it started. President George W. Bush was sure Saddam Hussein's army has weapons for mass destructions despite the UN survey team Unmovic led by Hans Blix did not find any evidence of them in spring 2003. Also President Bush claimed that Saddam had been some how involved in the September 11th attacks in US.

During the last four years American soldiers have not found any biological, chemical or other mass destruction weapons. Also it has became clear that al Qaeda did not exist in Iraq. I mean, before the American army entered there. After the arrival of Americans also al Qaeda started building its networks in Iraq. Now it makes its invisible strongholds stronger day by day. There is a real danger that when American soldiers one day return home their inheritance in Iraq will be al Qaeda.

When the soft partition of Iraq continues the Shiia South and the Kurdish North have clear perspective. The identity of the people in these areas is based on religion or ethnicity. And the economy is in order thanks to oil. For them autonomy or independence is a step to a better future.

But in the middle, in the Sunni Arab areas, the situation is different. Their previous well being was based on the oppression of the north and the south. What is left when it is taken away? Frustration, lack of oil and poverty. Good basis for al Qaeda type bitterness. Remember the Taleban movement was not built on Afghan traditions despite it describes itself as a religious movement. Maybe the Sunni Arab area will turn into a similar area controlled by hate, fear and self-made interpretations of Islam.

If anything positive can be said in connection to last week's horrible attack, it is that happened outside the KRG area. The Kurdish autonomous area is peaceful and the regional government is working hard to hinder terrorism arriving there. So it is easy to guess how the people of Kerkuk and the near by areas will vote in the referendum.

Two weeks ago Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki went to Ankara. According to the media in his meeting with Prime Minister Recep Tayipp Erdogan the main topic was PKK. It should have been al Qaeda which is the real danger to both the countries. Iraq and Turkey and whole the world should make cooperation against this threat.

Gulan: The Kurds in international mass media

The text in Kurdish.

Last week I wrote about different effects what Turkey's attack on South Kurdistan would have. There is one more important aspect but I could not explain it shortly. A full scale war between Turkey and South Kurdistan would bring the Kurdish question to international forums in a scale which is seen never before. This would be for the Kurds the second change to take their place as a nation - but in totally different conditions than during the Sévres days. Now the international community follows the situation from television and internet in real time.

Here in Europe people do not know much now about the Kurds. But every one knows about the Lebanese war last summer. And guess on whose side the sympathy of the audience is!

The public opinion has usually sympathy for the victims in armed conflicts. But in the case of the Kurds it is the opposite: mass media has the perspective of the oppressor, the state of Turkey. This is because Turks are very good to make lobby. They have powerful supporters like American Enterprise Institute and Michael Rubin. Many institutions get money from petrol companies which want to control the oil in Kurdistan. Because of this whole the Western world has the Turkish perspective on Kurds.

Kurds are active in Europe but they do not know how to make cooperation with European organisations. Their diplomacy is Kurd-Kurd diplomacy. But they are aware of this which is a good sign. Seeing the mistakes in any situation is the first step to find the solution. The Kurdish movement is developing rapidly. Kurdish associations in Kurdistan and in Europe are flexible and adopt all the time new working methods. Kurds are much more creative than Turks.
Turkish lobby is now strong but it would be difficult for it to advertise an attack to South Kurdistan.

Now European mass media does not tell much about the Kurds. The Kurdish uprising in Turkey is described as terrorism. Media coverage about Iraq is about the chaos of the Arab areas. There is very little information about the Kurds. An ordinary reader does not understand the complexity of the Kurdish reality either in Iraq or in Turkey. Until now Turkey has been able to keep the dirty reality of the Southeast away from international media. But if the conflict escalates across the boarder, the Kurdish question would finally get in media the place it deserves.

Even if there will not be a war between Turkey and South Kurdistan, the Kurds get more attention in Europe. For example there are many new books about them in English. But this process is still slow. A war would make it faster.

A war is horrifying scenario but its consequence would be that the world could not any more ignore the Kurdish question. Turkey's attack would force the international community to search a political solution to it.

Gulan the 6th August 2007: Rumours from Pentagon

The text in Kurdish.

Last week Robert D. Novak wrote that USA and Turkey are making cooperation to attack the PKK. Novak is columnist in The Washington Post.

It seems that the Turkish army had prepared a "Plan B" for the case that Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and AK Party would win the parliament elections in Turkey. Maybe this was the topic of the secret meeting in Hudson Institute in June.

When Erdogan won the elections, the army put immediately the plan into action.

Turkish newspapers do not question the success of a joint Turkish-American military mission to North Iraq. USA has already lots of problems in the Arab part of Iraq. The Turkish army is also facing daily loses in its own battle field, Southeast Turkey. What would be the result of putting these two armies together in a even more difficult environment?

What consequences Turkey's attack with USA's acceptance to North Iraq would have? One must think at least four areas where the impacts would be different and lead to various effects.
How the battles would go in Kandil and other parts of South Kurdistan? They are difficult area for foreign soldiers but home for the Kurdish fighters. Does Pentagon really think that they could do better there than in the mountains of Afghanistan?

What such an attack would mean to the fragile administration of Iraq? If USA would start an operation in Kandil it should transfer soldiers from Arab areas to Kurdistan. This would increase the difficulties of the American army and make the partition process of Iraq faster. And George W. Bush should transport still more American soldiers to Iraq. Guess what American people think about it. The president elections are after one and half year.

Prime Minister Nouri Al Maliki, when You go to Ankara, be careful! Kurds follow every word you say.

How would the Kurds in Turkey react? Remember that they consider an attack to Kirkuk like an attack to Diyarbakir. How would the Turks react if the battles would not be a success and more Turkish soldiers would die in Iraq than die nowadays in Southeast Turkey? During 1984-1999 Turkey attacked 36 times North Iraq but none of these visits was a success story from their perspective. Escalation of the conflict from Southeast Turkey to Iraq could have also a good effect. When loses of the Turkish army would be big enough Turkey had to accept that the Kurdish question needs a political solution.

And fourth, how a Turkish attack to South Kurdistan would affect the large Kurdish Diaspora community? It follows every battle from internet and satellite televisions. The virtual Kurdish community searches new ways to develop the Kurdish uprising. For example it will analyse Al Maliki's journey to Turkey. What do the Kurds here in Europe think? I have heard many Kurds to say: "I am not a political person. But if the situation in my country becomes still worse I will also do something for my nation."

The Kurdish readers know the answers to my questions. But it seems that decision makers in USA and Turkey do not know.