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ARMENIAN-KURDISH RELATIONS IS A STRATEGIC NECESSITY
Monday, November 17th, 2014
http://asbarez.com/128973/armenian-kurdish-relations-is-a-strategic-necessity/
A Kurdish rally in Dikranagert (Diyarbakir), Turkey. The large banner
reads 'Negotiation or War' and shows a picture of jailed Kurdish
leader Abdullah Ocalan.
BY SETO BOYADJIAN, ESQ.
Inadvertent avoidance of the obvious in a country's external
affairs is sheer incompetence. Deliberate evasion of the same is
mere stupidity. This equation may well explain Armenia's nonchalant
attitude toward Kurdistan and the Kurds.
The obvious that is being avoided or evaded in Armenia's external
affairs is the fact of the rising empowerment of the Kurdish national
movements spreading over eastern Turkey, northern Iraq and northeastern
Syria. Armenia and Armenians can only ignore this geopolitical reality
at the peril of their national interests.
The Kurds are an ancient people. For lack of a united and national
purpose, a definite statehood with ascertained boundaries escaped
them throughout their history. Yet they were a substantive presence
within empires that ruled them. Their nomadic traditions compelled
them to migrate and expand within and outside the boundaries of
their suzerain empires. The ruling empires also used and abused them
by pitting them against one another and against other minorities -
especially against Armenians.
Kurds and Armenians have lived side by side for centuries. Yet,
historically Armenians have had a bitter experience with the Kurds. At
the behests and briberies of Ottoman rules, various Kurdish clans
have maimed, robbed and killed their Armenian neighbors. During the
First World War, the Young Turk government engaged many Kurdish tribes
in the execution of its genocidal plan to exterminate the Armenian
population of the Ottoman Empire.
This bitter experience could have been avoided if the Kurds had
entertained a unity of national purpose and discerned the threat posed
against them by the Ottoman rulers. By the same token, it could have
been avoided if Armenians valued the Kurds and viewed them as common
friends and natural allies against the Ottoman autocracy.
They both failed. They both suffered.
Both Armenians and Kurds missed many opportunities to work together in
protecting their collective interests against the Ottoman chicaneries.
However, they sometimes did cooperate.
Neighborly contacts between Armenians and Kurds started developing as
of the 15th century in the Ottoman Empire. Armenians were situated
in their ancestral lands of Western Armenia; the Kurds were settled
in the eastern parts of the empire. These initial contacts were of
crucial importance to both the Kurds and the Armenians. They grew
out of the concerns for their physical and administrative existence
under the Ottomans.
As this relationship grew, it led to the first official alliance
between the Armenians, the Kurds and other minor Muslim tribes
of Western Armenia, the Caucasus and eastern Turkey. This pact of
alliance was formed in 1459 and included Armenian kings and princes,
Kurdish tribal heads, and Muslim chieftains. (Garo Sassouni, the
governor of Shirak province during the first independent Republic of
Armenia and one of the major organizers of the 1921 uprising against
the Soviet dictatorship in Armenia, renders an excellent historical
analysis of Kurdish-Armenian relations from 15th century to the 1930's
in his series of articles published in Hairenik monthly from 1929
to 1931. In 1969, these articles were published in a book, titled
"The Kurdish National Movements and the Armenian-Kurdish Relations".)
In 1845, the Kurdish Prince Badrkhan forged an alliance with Armenians
to lead an armed uprising against the Ottoman government. For this
uprising, both Kurds and Armenians were able to mobilize an army of
40,000 men.
Even during the Armenian revolutionary movement, the Armenian
Revolutionary Federation-Dashnaktsuniun (ARF) made efforts to join
forces with the Kurds against the Ottoman rulers. Sometimes these
efforts succeeded.
Although they faced the same common enemy, unfortunately such alliances
were the exception and not the rule in the Armeno-Kurdish relations.
Despite their bitter historic experience, in 1920's a new era began
for Kurdish-Armenian cooperation. After the depopulation of Western
Armenia resulting from the Armenian Genocide, the Kurds in Eastern
Turkey faced the cruel fact of becoming the next victim of Turkish
atrocities. The Republic of Turkey violated their human rights,
persecuted them, burned down their villages and hanged their leaders.
Thus, for Kurds their very own collective survival was at stake;
for Armenians the liberation of their homeland was at issue. At this
point in history, they both realized that they have a permanent common
enemy - Turkey.
To carry out a national uprising against the Turkish central
government, in 1927 the Kurds founded the Khoybun organization.
Armenians participated in this effort. The ARF was instrumental in
the inception of Khoybun and its activities. As of 1925, the ARF was
promoting the Kurdish national movement in Europe and advocating the
Kurdish cause at the Socialist International. The cooperation with
Khoyboun succeeded in establishing the short-lived Republic of Ararat
on October 28, 1927.
After decades of persecution and suffering, today more than 30 million
Kurds are an important political and military presence in the Middle
East. They have a vibrant Diaspora in Europe and North America. They
are educated and sophisticated. They aspire for a united Kurdistan.
The achievement of this aspiration is now a matter of time.
Not only the histories of Kurds and Armenians are intermingled;
but also their fate. They are identical in their struggle, in their
national aspirations and in their destiny. For Armenians, it is more
so, because during the past six centuries the Kurds have influenced
the Armenian way of life, often times they have threatened the
Armenian existence.
Today, they are both shaping their future. In the past they tried to
shape the future separately and paid dearly. Now, as in 1920's, there
is the opportunity to shape the future together. They are destined
to live together. Why not shape the future together? Armenia and
Kurdistan together can become a regional force to be reckoned with.
There are differences and obstacles in terms of territorial
aspirations. But these have been overcome in the 1920's by the
guidelines set in the Treaty of Sevres. They can be overcome again
on the same guidelines.
Similarities are stronger. And the strongest among them is the
commonality of the enemy. Kurds and Armenians both believe in the wise
Kurdish adage: "Bakhdeh romeh tunin eh" - You cannot trust the Turk.
Monday, November 17th, 2014
http://asbarez.com/128973/armenian-kurdish-relations-is-a-strategic-necessity/
A Kurdish rally in Dikranagert (Diyarbakir), Turkey. The large banner
reads 'Negotiation or War' and shows a picture of jailed Kurdish
leader Abdullah Ocalan.
BY SETO BOYADJIAN, ESQ.
Inadvertent avoidance of the obvious in a country's external
affairs is sheer incompetence. Deliberate evasion of the same is
mere stupidity. This equation may well explain Armenia's nonchalant
attitude toward Kurdistan and the Kurds.
The obvious that is being avoided or evaded in Armenia's external
affairs is the fact of the rising empowerment of the Kurdish national
movements spreading over eastern Turkey, northern Iraq and northeastern
Syria. Armenia and Armenians can only ignore this geopolitical reality
at the peril of their national interests.
The Kurds are an ancient people. For lack of a united and national
purpose, a definite statehood with ascertained boundaries escaped
them throughout their history. Yet they were a substantive presence
within empires that ruled them. Their nomadic traditions compelled
them to migrate and expand within and outside the boundaries of
their suzerain empires. The ruling empires also used and abused them
by pitting them against one another and against other minorities -
especially against Armenians.
Kurds and Armenians have lived side by side for centuries. Yet,
historically Armenians have had a bitter experience with the Kurds. At
the behests and briberies of Ottoman rules, various Kurdish clans
have maimed, robbed and killed their Armenian neighbors. During the
First World War, the Young Turk government engaged many Kurdish tribes
in the execution of its genocidal plan to exterminate the Armenian
population of the Ottoman Empire.
This bitter experience could have been avoided if the Kurds had
entertained a unity of national purpose and discerned the threat posed
against them by the Ottoman rulers. By the same token, it could have
been avoided if Armenians valued the Kurds and viewed them as common
friends and natural allies against the Ottoman autocracy.
They both failed. They both suffered.
Both Armenians and Kurds missed many opportunities to work together in
protecting their collective interests against the Ottoman chicaneries.
However, they sometimes did cooperate.
Neighborly contacts between Armenians and Kurds started developing as
of the 15th century in the Ottoman Empire. Armenians were situated
in their ancestral lands of Western Armenia; the Kurds were settled
in the eastern parts of the empire. These initial contacts were of
crucial importance to both the Kurds and the Armenians. They grew
out of the concerns for their physical and administrative existence
under the Ottomans.
As this relationship grew, it led to the first official alliance
between the Armenians, the Kurds and other minor Muslim tribes
of Western Armenia, the Caucasus and eastern Turkey. This pact of
alliance was formed in 1459 and included Armenian kings and princes,
Kurdish tribal heads, and Muslim chieftains. (Garo Sassouni, the
governor of Shirak province during the first independent Republic of
Armenia and one of the major organizers of the 1921 uprising against
the Soviet dictatorship in Armenia, renders an excellent historical
analysis of Kurdish-Armenian relations from 15th century to the 1930's
in his series of articles published in Hairenik monthly from 1929
to 1931. In 1969, these articles were published in a book, titled
"The Kurdish National Movements and the Armenian-Kurdish Relations".)
In 1845, the Kurdish Prince Badrkhan forged an alliance with Armenians
to lead an armed uprising against the Ottoman government. For this
uprising, both Kurds and Armenians were able to mobilize an army of
40,000 men.
Even during the Armenian revolutionary movement, the Armenian
Revolutionary Federation-Dashnaktsuniun (ARF) made efforts to join
forces with the Kurds against the Ottoman rulers. Sometimes these
efforts succeeded.
Although they faced the same common enemy, unfortunately such alliances
were the exception and not the rule in the Armeno-Kurdish relations.
Despite their bitter historic experience, in 1920's a new era began
for Kurdish-Armenian cooperation. After the depopulation of Western
Armenia resulting from the Armenian Genocide, the Kurds in Eastern
Turkey faced the cruel fact of becoming the next victim of Turkish
atrocities. The Republic of Turkey violated their human rights,
persecuted them, burned down their villages and hanged their leaders.
Thus, for Kurds their very own collective survival was at stake;
for Armenians the liberation of their homeland was at issue. At this
point in history, they both realized that they have a permanent common
enemy - Turkey.
To carry out a national uprising against the Turkish central
government, in 1927 the Kurds founded the Khoybun organization.
Armenians participated in this effort. The ARF was instrumental in
the inception of Khoybun and its activities. As of 1925, the ARF was
promoting the Kurdish national movement in Europe and advocating the
Kurdish cause at the Socialist International. The cooperation with
Khoyboun succeeded in establishing the short-lived Republic of Ararat
on October 28, 1927.
After decades of persecution and suffering, today more than 30 million
Kurds are an important political and military presence in the Middle
East. They have a vibrant Diaspora in Europe and North America. They
are educated and sophisticated. They aspire for a united Kurdistan.
The achievement of this aspiration is now a matter of time.
Not only the histories of Kurds and Armenians are intermingled;
but also their fate. They are identical in their struggle, in their
national aspirations and in their destiny. For Armenians, it is more
so, because during the past six centuries the Kurds have influenced
the Armenian way of life, often times they have threatened the
Armenian existence.
Today, they are both shaping their future. In the past they tried to
shape the future separately and paid dearly. Now, as in 1920's, there
is the opportunity to shape the future together. They are destined
to live together. Why not shape the future together? Armenia and
Kurdistan together can become a regional force to be reckoned with.
There are differences and obstacles in terms of territorial
aspirations. But these have been overcome in the 1920's by the
guidelines set in the Treaty of Sevres. They can be overcome again
on the same guidelines.
Similarities are stronger. And the strongest among them is the
commonality of the enemy. Kurds and Armenians both believe in the wise
Kurdish adage: "Bakhdeh romeh tunin eh" - You cannot trust the Turk.