Why Do the Kurds Still Lack an Independent State?

TL;DR

The Kurds lack an independent state because postwar borders divided their homeland among five territories, whose governments later centralized power and suppressed Kurdish autonomy. Although Kurdish groups repeatedly fought for self-rule and received foreign backing, outside powers generally treated them as temporary strategic partners, withdrawing support when Kurdish independence threatened other regional goals.

Transcript

• Up in the Zagros Mountains have long lived a people called the Kurds. There are people with a centuries long history of fighting back against invaders who have crossed through their lands, resisting conquest in the name of defending their shared cultural identity. Some living as nomads, a people with no friends, but these mountains. (suspenseful ... Read More

Key Insights

• The Kurds are a people from the Zagros Mountains with a centuries-long history of resisting invaders and defending a shared cultural identity. Some lived as nomads, while Kurdish communities retained substantial autonomy and freedom even after the Ottoman Empire took control of their territory.
• Postwar borders divided Kurdish lands because European plans changed after Turkey's new leader opposed surrendering territory and resources. Instead of establishing borders around a Kurdish homeland, the victorious powers drew borders through it, splitting what could have become Kurdistan among five separate territories.
• The hardening of national borders restricted Kurdish movement and livelihoods after European powers left and new countries became independent. Their leaders sought to centralize authority around common national languages and cultures, treating Kurdish identity, autonomy, and independence movements as threats to political unity.
• Kurdish resistance took both political and violent forms throughout the 1900s. Early uprisings were crushed, while later movements continued demanding autonomy or independence. Although Kurdish communities faced different conditions across Iran, Iraq, Syria, and Turkey, they remained connected by aspirations for Kurdish self-rule.
• Iraq's promises of Kurdish recognition and political representation proved unreliable under Saddam Hussein. His regime continued repression and used deadly chemical weapons against Kurdish towns, systematically killing thousands of civilians in a genocide that the transcript says killed at least 50,000 Kurdish people, probably more.
• Turkey's Turkification campaign sought national unity by denying Kurdish citizenship, outlawing the Kurdish language, and excluding Kurds from politics. Armed resistance later emerged through the communist-oriented Kurdish Workers Party, or PKK, whose violent tactics led Turkey and most Western powers to classify it as a terrorist organization.
• Foreign support for Kurdish movements was repeatedly conditional on strategic usefulness. The Soviet Union backed Kurds in Iran, Syria supported the PKK against Turkey, and Iran and Iraq armed Kurdish groups inside each other's territory, but these relationships ended or shifted when patrons' geopolitical interests changed.
• United States support gave Iraqi Kurds limited protection and autonomy but did not secure independence. After encouraging an uprising against Saddam Hussein, the United States initially provided no military support as his forces crushed it, and later opposed Kurdish independence despite their cooperation against Saddam, insurgents, and ISIS.

Questions & Answers

Q: Why do the Kurds not have an independent country?

The Kurds do not have an independent country because the settlement following World War I divided their homeland rather than enclosing it within Kurdish borders. Turkey's new leader resisted a plan that could have created Kurdish territory, and European powers abandoned it. Later governments hardened the new borders, centralized authority, and suppressed Kurdish demands for autonomy or independence. Foreign supporters generally backed Kurdish movements only when those movements served wider strategic goals.

Q: How were Kurdish lands divided after World War I?

After the European powers defeated the Ottoman Empire, the victors discussed how to divide its former territory. Older European maps labeled the Kurdish-inhabited area as Kurdistan, and the British initially wanted to mark much of it as Kurdish territory. Turkey's new leader opposed losing the land and its resources, pushed European forces out, and helped derail the proposal. The final borders cut through Kurdish lands and separated the Kurds among five territories.

Q: How did Iran respond to Kurdish demands for autonomy?

Iran allowed Kurds some political rights, but the government rejected their demands for greater autonomy and independence and repeatedly used violence to suppress them. After the Soviet Union armed Kurdish forces following World War II, those forces briefly declared their own country. United States pressure led the Soviets to withdraw, after which the Iranian government, backed by the United States and United Kingdom, crushed the movement. Another Kurdish uprising was suppressed during Iran's 1970s revolution.

Q: What happened to the Kurds under Saddam Hussein in Iraq?

Iraq's government initially offered to recognize Kurds as an ethnic group and guarantee them political representation, but the arrangement became a false promise. Under Saddam Hussein, repression continued and eventually included deadly chemical attacks on Kurdish towns. The attacks systematically killed thousands of Kurdish civilians in a genocide. The transcript states that at least 50,000 Kurdish people were killed, probably more, after Kurdish forces received Iranian support during the Iran-Iraq conflict.

Q: How were the Kurds treated in Syria?

Kurds in Syria had citizenship and some rights under French control, but later Syrian governments oppressed them. By the 1970s, authorities were arresting and deporting Kurds, confiscating their land, and transferring it to Arabs. The Syrian government removed 140,000 Kurds from the country. Syria later supported the PKK with money, weapons, and operating space to pressure Turkey, then expelled the group after Turkey threatened an invasion.

Q: What is the PKK and why is it controversial?

The Kurdish Workers Party, or PKK, is an armed insurgent organization with communist ideology that emerged after Turkey crushed earlier Kurdish resistance. It became one of the largest resistance movements against the Turkish government. The PKK used tactics including suicide bombings, improvised explosives, and youth militia fighters, arguing that violence was necessary to resist oppression. Because of these tactics, Turkey and most Western powers consider the organization a terrorist group.

Q: How did foreign powers use Kurdish fighters for political goals?

Foreign powers supported Kurdish groups when doing so could weaken an opponent. The Soviet Union armed Kurds against Iran, Syria enabled the PKK to operate against Turkey, and Iran and Iraq funded Kurdish uprisings inside each other's territory. The United States encouraged Iraqi Kurds to rise against Saddam Hussein and later fought alongside them. Such support was conditional, however, and sponsors often withdrew or limited it when their priorities changed, leaving Kurdish communities exposed to retaliation.

Q: Why did the United States not support Iraqi Kurdish independence?

The United States worked with Iraqi Kurdish forces against Saddam Hussein, insurgents, and later ISIS, but its support did not extend to creating an independent Kurdish state. Iraqi Kurds held a vote in which 92% favored independence. The United States still withheld support because it worried independence would destabilize the new Iraqi state it had helped establish. The episode demonstrates that cooperation with Kurdish fighters remained subordinate to broader United States regional objectives.

Summary & Key Takeaways

• Kurdish communities in the Zagros Mountains preserved a shared cultural identity and considerable autonomy under Ottoman rule. After World War I, British officials considered Kurdish territory while dividing the defeated empire, but Turkey's new leader resisted. European powers ultimately drew borders through Kurdish lands, splitting the population among five territories.

• As the new countries consolidated power, their governments restricted Kurdish movement, political participation, language, land ownership, and demands for autonomy. Kurdish communities responded through politics, uprisings, and armed resistance. Iran, Iraq, Syria, and Turkey each suppressed Kurdish movements, while Saddam Hussein's Iraqi regime carried out genocidal chemical attacks against Kurdish civilians.

• Regional and global powers repeatedly supported Kurdish fighters when doing so weakened an opponent. The Soviet Union, Syria, Iran, Iraq, and the United States all used Kurdish movements for strategic purposes, then limited or withdrew support. Iraqi Kurds gained protected autonomy and overwhelmingly voted for independence, but the United States opposed statehood concerns.

• Key Insights highlights the recurring pattern in which Kurdish aspirations for self-rule collided with state centralization and foreign strategic interests. Kurdish fighters sometimes gained weapons, protection, political recognition, or temporary autonomy, but patrons abandoned them when alliances shifted. The result was persistent statelessness, repression, displacement, and repeated failed independence efforts.