 THE KURDS - QUEST FOR IDENTITY.
di Friday, 13.December. @ 09:30:27 CET
The Conference in Washington D.C., April 17-18, 2000.
On April 17-18, in collaboration with its newly founded Mustafa Barzani Chair of Global Kurdish Studies, the Center for Global Peace at the American Univer-sity in Washington D.C. held a conference on the theme "The Kurds - Quest for Identity". The conference took place on the main campus of the University with more than 200 participants from the U.S., Canada, Europe, Kurdistan Iraqi and the Middle East. Its purpose was to analyse the political, economic and cultural problems that confront the Kurds and the region of Kutdistan, in a global con-text. Furthermore, the conference explored a variety of prospects for reconci-liation among Kurdish factions and for co-existence between the Kurds and the peoples and states of the Middle East.
Prior to the conference the Turkish media had staged a slanderous campaign a-gainst its being held, nevertheless, it proved to be a truly academic confe-rence at which widely different ideas and opinions were brought forward and dis-cussed. No political parties or groups had been invited to participate; but mem-bers of such groups were among the audience: a representative of the Democratic Party of Kurdistan Turkey, Kani Xulam from PKK-controlled AKIN, a number of leading members of the Democratic Party of Kurdistan Iraq, and the Prime Mi-nister as well as a number of ministers and civil servants from the regional government of Arbil in the region of Kurdistan Iraq.
There were accents of current politics in the contribution made by Francis Ricciardone from the U.S. State Department as well as in the answer given by Nercivan Barzani, the Kurdish Prime Minister.
The conference was opened by Professor Abdul Aziz Said, Director of the Cen-tre for Gobal Peace. He made the point that a just solution of the Kurdish question was of crucial importance for the promotion of peace and prosperity in the Middle East: "Governments in the region have no long-term plans for their relationship with the Kurds that go beyond the ending of civil wars and the dis-play of force". Dr. Louis W. Goodman, Dean of the School of International Ser-vic greeted the participants in the conference, and Professor Carole A. O'Lea-ry read a letter to the conference from Mme. Danielle Mitterand, France Liber-tes, which contained her urgent call for peace:"Peace among the different Kurd-ish groups and factions - a must, in order for them to unite their voices. Peace is the basis for the solution of all problems among the peoples and so-cieties of the region". - Next, Professor Edmund Ghareeb gave an analysis of the visionary leadership of Mustafa Barzani in the advancement of Kurdish cul-tural and political rights.
The first session - "The Kurds in the Global Arena" - was chaired by Richard Murphy, Senior Fellow in the Council for Foreign Affairs. There were three presentations. One, on "The Arab World and the Kurds", was by Dr. Michael Col-lins Dunn, editor of The Middle East Journal. - In his contribution, "Perspec-tives of an American Diplomat", Francis j. Ricciardone from the United States State Department found it significant that, although formerly among the cul-turally and geographically most isolated people on the planet, the Iraqi Kurds had undertaken an open and broad discussion with the outside world, with great competence and spirit. "Their position in the world arena is hard won through an epic and painful process of learning." - Analysing "The Development of the European Perspective", Dr. Kendal Nezan, President of the Kurdish In-stitute in Paris, argued that according to the growing European consensus Tur-key, with its NATO membership and as an important trades partner with Europe, holds the key to the Kurdish question in general: "The solution of the Kurdish problem in Turkey will be an essential contribution to the solution for the kurds in the neighbouring countries".
After the first session, during the lunch break, Dr. Shafiq Quazzas, Minister for Humanitarian Assistance and CO-operation, in a programmatic speech gave a historical account of the Kurdish struggle and search for a "current, intelli-gible and measurable" Kurdish identity, which could offer a "meaningful defini-tion of co-operation between the governing states and their Kurdish people".
The second session - "Case Study: Iraq" - was chaired by David Mack, Vice-president of the Middle East Institute. He pointed out that the Kurdish people in I-raq is "most vulnerable when their own leaders do not work together".
The first speaker, Dr. Ali Babakhan from the Kurdish Institute in Paris, dealt with "Federalism as a Model for Democracy in Iraq". - Dr. Andrew Parasi-liti, Harvard University, and Rend Rahim Francke from the Iraq Foundation con-tributed to the controversial theme of the policy of economic sanctions. Dr. Pa-rasiliti argued that the sanctions do not have the intended results, as their effects are borne by the Iraqi people, whereas Mrs. Francke found that the ef-fects of the sanctions in Kurdistan Iraq are positive. - The last speaker, Dr. Hanna Yousif Frei from Kent State University, dealt with the theme "The Iraqi State, the Opposition and the Way to Reconciliation".
The third and last session of the day - "Case Study: Turkey" - was chaired by Dr. Michael M. Gunter of the Tennessee Technological University. - Dr. Hakan Yavuz from the University of Utah discussed "The State and the Kurdish Question". He argued that, like the Kurds in Turkey, the Turks themselves were still in search of their identity. - The second speaker, Dr. Henry Barkey from Lehigh University, discussed the theme "The Kurdish Question in the post- Hel-sinki Era". Dr. Barkey made the point that the Kurdish question had been cen-tral among European-Turkish differences of opinion, and that, although it is not the only question that separates Europe and Turkey, it will nevertheless to an increasing degree come to play the predominant role. -The last speaker, Dr. Gülistan Gürbey from the Freie Universität Berlin, dealt with the theme "Perspectives for the Prevention of Conflict and for Reconciliation". Dr.Gür-bey: "Until now the international community has often seen the right of self-determination as a destructive factor, because it was too often, and in a su-perficial manner, associated with the right of secession. What is necessary is a method for regulating conflicts which serves the implementation of the right of self-determination and consolidates the international stability. That aim could be attained by granting minority rights and autonomy".
In the evening, Necirvan Barzani, Prime Minister of the regional government Kurdistan-Erbil-Iraq, gave a dinner for speakers participants and the medi-a. On that occasion, in a programmatic speech, a precise and clear answer to Mr. Ricciardone's contribution in the morning, Nercirvan Barzani gave a detailed survey of the historical struggle of the Kurdish people. With reference to Mu-stafa Barzani he said that (his) "struggle personified the fight for freedom and democracy for all Kurds. He also saw a country in which men and women of every religious background, all ethnic groups and all political parties could participate and be recognized for what they are. At no time, he thought, could terrorrism be an acceptable way to the solution of the Kurdish pro-blem." Nercirvan Barzani continued: "The Kurdish problem is essentially the problem of an oppressed people from whom, at least until recently, the world community has kept a distance. If the international community, from the very beginning, just after the First World War, had dealt with the Kurdish question, many tragedies could have been avoided. It is an international disgrace that it has not been done. However that may be, the time and the conditions are ripe for a fair and just solution. We want the international community to ac-cept that our demands for a fair and just treatment are justified in order that our situation be put right. We are not a vindictive people, we will not shrink from our responsibility to make sure that the necessary legal framework for safeguarding our national security will be set up".
The fourth session, on the morning of the last day - "Case Study Iran" - was chaired by Dr. Nader Entessar from Spring Hill College. Dr. Charles G. MacDonald, Florida International University, dealt with the history of Kurdish na-tionalism in Iran; Dr. Robert Olson from the University of Kentucky examined Turkish-Iranian relations and the Kurdish question; Mr. Neil Hicks from Law-yers' Committee for Human Rights analysed the legal status of Kurds in the Is-lamic Republic. - Dr. Farideh Koohi-Kamali from New School University related the development of Kurdish nationalism to the economic changes in Iranian Kur-distan. Dr. Koohi-Kamali explained : "...it became clear to me that the eco-nomic development in the Kurdish community, in different periods, was greatly important to the way in which the Kurds saw themselves and how they formulated their political demands for independence. Therefore my examination of the eco-nomic development in Iranian Kurdistan should be seen as part of the explana-tion of the development of Kurdish nationalism".
The dinner speech for the last evening of the conference was given by Dr. Mi-chael Van Dusen, Vice-President of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. Dr. Van Dusen urged Kurdish political decision-makers and thinkers to work together: "My message is that the Kurds should seriosly continue on the way of reconciliation within the Kurdish community, while at the same time insisting on the recognition of the legitimate political and economic rights of their community". In reply to a question bearing on the treatment of the Kurds in Turkey, Dr. Van Dusen observed that "in case Turkey does not give all citi-zens of the country a fair treatment, politically and economically, then all the commitments which the country still has in the post-cold-war era will crumble away".
After his concluding remarks, Professor Abdul Aziz Said conducted a final question-and-answer session, which ended the conference
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