July 1, 2013

The Differences Between Iranian Kurds And Other Kurds


Read these two articles:
Iranian Kurdish Struggle Linked to Turkey, Syria (Al Monitor, June 14).
Iran awaits 'Kurdish Spring' (Al Jazeera, June 29).

Background briefing: 

As part of its divide and conquer strategy to destroy the unity of the Muslim world, terrorize its inhabitants, and dominate the region for many decades to come, USrael has frequently and cynically exploited the suffering of the Kurds in Iraq, Syria, Turkey, and Iran in order to gain strategic and political leverage over these countries and their populations. 

Some Kurdish groups have heroically resisted the imperialist onslaught on their minds and the Western manipulation of their centuries-long struggle for freedom and self-determination, while other groups, led by self-serving elites, have taken advantage of their peoples' struggle to gain short-sighted and self-centered rewards such as wealth and status. 

Aggressive American-Zionist wars against independent Middle Eastern states and Washington's hubristic policies towards the region will not benefit Kurdish people in the long-term. 

Both America and Israel are guilty of exploiting Kurdish suffering to weaken their geopolitical and ideological enemies in Iraq, Syria, and Iran. The monstrous leaders of these two countries do not care about the long-term social consequences of their policies on the Kurds, but are only interested in using them as pawns in their game, as foreign powers and invaders have done for millennia. 

And so I say to USrael: Leave the Kurds alone. You evil demons do not care about the human rights of Kurds or their long-term collective well-being and freedom. Stop using romantic rhetoric to moralize and legitimize your aggressive, evil, and illegal wars in the Middle East. And stop turning societies, cultures, and peoples against each other. All you want is to sow discord, chaos, hatred, and war in the Middle East for generations to come.  

II. The Differences Between Iranian Kurds And Other Kurds.

Below are excerpts from Christiane Bird's 2005 book, "A Thousand Sighs, A Thousand Revolts: Journeys in Kurdistan."

On how Iranian Kurdistan is different from Iraqi Kurdistan:
"Many things were different in Iranian Kurdistan as compared to Iraqi Kurdistan. The place felt more settled, less raw. In Iran, there were few signs of recent war and many signs of a long-functioning, sophisticated society at work--one into which many Kurds, numbering about 6.5 million out of a total population of 68 million, were comparatively better integrated. For all the problems that the Kurds have had with the Iranian government--almost as many as the Iraqi Kurds have had with their government--they have much in common with their compatriot Persians. Kurds and Persians share a similar language, a similar tolerance, a similar independence of spirit, and a similar outlook toward the Arabs, who conquered both their lands in the name of Islam in A.D. 637


Iranian Kurdistan is not as isolated from the rest of Iran as the Iraqi safe haven was from the rest of Iraq, and many parts contain not just Kurds but large concentrations of other ethnic groups. Between a half million and a million Iranian Kurds also live in Tehran, where they go about their business much like any other Iranians, often unable to speak Kurdish, and often more concerned with issues that affect all Iranians--economics, for one--rather than just the Kurds.


Indeed, a major difference between Iran and Iraq, as well as between Iran and Turkey, is its considerably more heterogeneous population. Iran is only about half ethnic Persian, and holds many major minority groups--including Azeri Turks, Baluchis, Qashqais, Turcomans, Arabs, and Kurds. In contrast, in both Iraq and Turkey, the Kurds are the only sizable minority and make up a much larger proportion of their respective country's total population--about 23 percent in Iraq and 20 percent in Turkey, as compared to 10 percent in Iran. The Iranian government has therefore immediately cracked down on the separatist movements of all its minority groups, as the autonomy of any one group could lead to the breakup of the entire state. The sort of semiautonomy offered to the Iraqi Kurds in 1970 has not occured in Iran. Conversely, the Iranian government has seldom felt quite as threatened by its Kurds as has its neighbors, and in recent decades has offered Kurds more cultural rights--though not political ones--than has Iraq or Turkey." (Christiane Bird. A Thousand Sighs, A Thousand Revolts: Journeys in Kurdistan. 2005. Random House, Inc: New York. Pg. 263-264).
Kurdish views of the false flag 9/11 attacks:
"As we rolled over the wide brown hills, my companions talked about the September 11 attacks. With the exception of Arash, all believed that the attacks had been planned by the U.S. government, as a way to justify future American assaults against the Muslim world. Nothing I could say would convince them otherwise. Many other Iranian and Turkish Kurds I met shared the same viewpoint." (Bird. Pg. 289).
Similarities between Kurds and Persians:
"Kurdish culture is closely related to Persian culture. Like the Persians, the Kurds are probably the descendants of the Indo-European tribes of central Asia, who settled and mixed with the original inhabitants of the region's Zagros and Taurus Mountains about four thousand years ago. The Kurdish language belongs to the Iranian branch of Indo-European languages. Like Persian, it is related to English, French, and German--not Arabic or Turkish." (Bird. Pg. 31).