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EUROPE, TURKISH GAMBIT, AND KURDS AS THE INDESTRUCTIBLE PAWN
RIA Novosti, Russia
Sept 4 2006
MOSCOW. (RIA Novosti political commentator Pyotr Romanov) - Turkey is
a venue of yet another series of explosions, and although nobody has
taken responsibility for them, everyone is convinced that the Kurds
are to blame.
This is most certainly so. Since the U.S. invasion of Iraq, the
Kurds have become markedly more active. They've got a firm foothold
on the poorly controlled Iraqi territory. For the umpteenth time now,
one of the world's most ancient and unfortunate peoples have started
dreaming again about the Great Kurdistan.
A rare nation can boast of such an ancient history as the Kurds, who
are now represented in the UN. They were mentioned by the Egyptians,
Babylonians, Sumerians, Assyrians, and the Urartus. The Kurds have
everything - ancient roots and a carefully preserved culture. They
are numerous: in different estimates, they number between 20 and 30
million. But the Kurds miss something that even a tiny Pacific island
has - statehood. Some of them live in Turkey, others in Iraq, still
others in Syria, Iran, Azerbaijan, and Armenia. In some places they
live better than in others, but mostly they are not doing very well.
On the one hand, Turkey, Iran, and Syria, as well as other countries
where Kurds live, perceive them as a permanent threat to their
territorial integrity, and do not welcome them for that reason. In
some places, Kurds are openly harassed. On the other hand, the modern
world prefers to shut its eyes to the Kurdish problem because it is
extremely explosive and practically insoluble.
When we played chess as kids, we coined a term "the indestructible
pawn" to describe a situation where a pawn in the middle of the
chessboard was an obstacle to maneuvers by almost all other pieces.
But nobody dared touch it for fear of an unpredictable aggravation
of the situation for both sides. The Kurds are playing the same role
today. Many things will collapse in our fragile world if we touch
this problem. At the same time, ignoring the interests of such an
ancient and numerous nation means provoking it. Untreated disease
will only get worse.
Europe is probably the most interested party in solving the Kurdish
problem, but it does not seem to be aware of this yet. For all the
reservations, Turkey is slowly moving towards membership in the
European Union. It is hard to understand the logic of the European
Union members, who is ready to sacrifice quality to quantity. They do
not have a common Constitution yet, have quarreled over the wars in
Iraq and Lebanon, and have not worked out a common stand on the Iranian
nuclear file (it is enough to recall Spain's special position). Yet
they are ready at accept new members to the detriment of the Union's
quality. Isn't it reckless to open the door to the Turks when at one
time Europe is a scene of the 'caricature scandal', at other time -
of 'flames in Paris suburbs', to say nothing of acts of terror of
markedly non-European origin? If the EU cannot take adequate measures
to counter the flood of illegal immigrants, what will it do when they
become legal?
Along with Turkey the Europeans are going to inherit the Kurdish pawn,
which will continuously make their life more difficult. If the Kurds
find life in Turkey too hard to bear, they will go to Europe.
If they remain in Turkey and continue their struggle for independence,
the politically correct Europeans will have to either shut their
eyes to how the Kurds are treated in Turkish prisons, or engage in
time-consuming but futile efforts to persuade the Turks to grant them
large-scale autonomy.
Curiously, different sociological polls show that the Europeans are
not at all happy to see Turkey as a EU member. The Austrians are
adamantly against that. However, EU bureaucrats are not too worried,
and for all the concerns Turkey is slowly but steadily moving towards
the Union. Why?
There is a version but it is not up to me to discuss it.
RIA Novosti, Russia
Sept 4 2006
MOSCOW. (RIA Novosti political commentator Pyotr Romanov) - Turkey is
a venue of yet another series of explosions, and although nobody has
taken responsibility for them, everyone is convinced that the Kurds
are to blame.
This is most certainly so. Since the U.S. invasion of Iraq, the
Kurds have become markedly more active. They've got a firm foothold
on the poorly controlled Iraqi territory. For the umpteenth time now,
one of the world's most ancient and unfortunate peoples have started
dreaming again about the Great Kurdistan.
A rare nation can boast of such an ancient history as the Kurds, who
are now represented in the UN. They were mentioned by the Egyptians,
Babylonians, Sumerians, Assyrians, and the Urartus. The Kurds have
everything - ancient roots and a carefully preserved culture. They
are numerous: in different estimates, they number between 20 and 30
million. But the Kurds miss something that even a tiny Pacific island
has - statehood. Some of them live in Turkey, others in Iraq, still
others in Syria, Iran, Azerbaijan, and Armenia. In some places they
live better than in others, but mostly they are not doing very well.
On the one hand, Turkey, Iran, and Syria, as well as other countries
where Kurds live, perceive them as a permanent threat to their
territorial integrity, and do not welcome them for that reason. In
some places, Kurds are openly harassed. On the other hand, the modern
world prefers to shut its eyes to the Kurdish problem because it is
extremely explosive and practically insoluble.
When we played chess as kids, we coined a term "the indestructible
pawn" to describe a situation where a pawn in the middle of the
chessboard was an obstacle to maneuvers by almost all other pieces.
But nobody dared touch it for fear of an unpredictable aggravation
of the situation for both sides. The Kurds are playing the same role
today. Many things will collapse in our fragile world if we touch
this problem. At the same time, ignoring the interests of such an
ancient and numerous nation means provoking it. Untreated disease
will only get worse.
Europe is probably the most interested party in solving the Kurdish
problem, but it does not seem to be aware of this yet. For all the
reservations, Turkey is slowly moving towards membership in the
European Union. It is hard to understand the logic of the European
Union members, who is ready to sacrifice quality to quantity. They do
not have a common Constitution yet, have quarreled over the wars in
Iraq and Lebanon, and have not worked out a common stand on the Iranian
nuclear file (it is enough to recall Spain's special position). Yet
they are ready at accept new members to the detriment of the Union's
quality. Isn't it reckless to open the door to the Turks when at one
time Europe is a scene of the 'caricature scandal', at other time -
of 'flames in Paris suburbs', to say nothing of acts of terror of
markedly non-European origin? If the EU cannot take adequate measures
to counter the flood of illegal immigrants, what will it do when they
become legal?
Along with Turkey the Europeans are going to inherit the Kurdish pawn,
which will continuously make their life more difficult. If the Kurds
find life in Turkey too hard to bear, they will go to Europe.
If they remain in Turkey and continue their struggle for independence,
the politically correct Europeans will have to either shut their
eyes to how the Kurds are treated in Turkish prisons, or engage in
time-consuming but futile efforts to persuade the Turks to grant them
large-scale autonomy.
Curiously, different sociological polls show that the Europeans are
not at all happy to see Turkey as a EU member. The Austrians are
adamantly against that. However, EU bureaucrats are not too worried,
and for all the concerns Turkey is slowly but steadily moving towards
the Union. Why?
There is a version but it is not up to me to discuss it.