SA upholds cause of Kurdish people

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The Kurdish cause for self-determination was placed firmly on the South African agenda in recent weeks when both the ANC and SACP adopted resolutions on the Kurdish question, at their respective conferences. The ANC resolution, which will be sent for final ratification to the December elective conference, said: “The ANC supports the Kurdish peoples’ struggle for political rights, peace and justice in the Middle East and urges all role-players to engage for a political solution in the conflict. The ANC further calls for the release of Kurdish leader, Abdullah Ocalan, and all political prisoners.” Meanwhile, the SACP’s 14th national congress also called for the release of Ocalan, the unbanning of Kurdish political formations and a peaceful resolution of the conflict. Nilufer Koc, the co-chairperson of the Kurdistan National Congress (KNK), attended both conferences and was pleased with the outcome. She was on a visit to garner support among the government and civil society for the Kurdish struggle. The KNK is a coalition of hundreds of political parties, civil organisations and individuals from across Kurdistan and the diaspora. It is advocating for a peaceful resolution of the Kurdish question across the Middle East.

The Kurdish cause has been championed in South Africa by the Kurdish Human Rights Action Group (KHRAG), which was formed in 1997. Its former chairperson, Judge Essa Moosa, who died earlier this year, worked tirelessly to create awareness of the plight of the Kurds. He had lobbied intensely over several years for the adoption of resolutions on the Kurds by the ANC and its allies. The outcomes this month are testimony to his drive and dedication.

SUPPORT: Jeremy Cronin at the SACP’s 14th national congress in Boksburg.Picture: Nokuthula Mbatha

The secretary of KHRAG, Mahmoud Patel, said the adoption of the resolutions were long overdue and the result of continuous campaigning by the rights groups over many years. He said the resolutions were shaped by the reality of the Kurdish condition.

“The release of Abdullah Öcalan, and all political prisoners and the resumption of a political process that puts all players on an equal footing are of paramount importance to a stable democratic future,” said Patel.

The Kurdish people, numbering 40 million, are the largest ethnic group in the world without a state. Their historical homeland, Kurdistan, between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, was partitioned by European colonial powers after World War I, resulting in the Kurds finding themselves as oppressed minorities in four countries. There are 20 million Kurds in Turkey; 8 million in Iraq; 7 million in Iran; 3 million in Syria and 2 million spread over the rest of the world. Kurdistan used to be part of the Ottoman Empire.

With the collapse of the empire in the early part of the last century, Britain and France divided up the region. Since then the Kurdish people, like the Palestinians, have been fighting for their freedom, independence and basic human rights.

In all four countries they find themselves in, they have been denied their identity as Kurds or the right to speak their language, practise their customs, sing their songs, educate themselves in their mother-tongue, belong to their own organisations or to have their own newspapers, radio stations or TV stations. Various separatist Kurdish movements emerged over the years and were violently crushed.

The Kurds have suffered terrible violence over time, the most brutal being the poison gas attack on thousands of Kurds by the Saddam Hussein regime and the razing of hundreds of Kurdish villages during military rule in Turkey. They have endured a long history of cultural assimilation and a general denial of their human rights.

The militant Kurdish movement, the Kurdish Workers’ Party (PKK), headed by the imprisoned Ocalan, began an armed struggle against the Turkish state in 1984, a war that has claimed more than 40 000 lives. Nelson Mandela had agreed to provide asylum to Ocalan in 1999. The Kurdish leader was travelling to South Africa when he was abducted in Nairobi, Kenya, by Turkish and Western security agencies.

He was sentenced to death for treason, a sentence that was later commuted to life in prison. He has been serving his sentence under harsh conditions on Imrali Island, off the coast of Istanbul. A peace process initiated in Turkey in 2012 collapsed two years later. In recent years, the Kurdish liberation forces have played a leading role in the battles against the Islamic State group.

JAILED: Kurdistan Workers Party leader Abdullah Öcalan. Picture: AP

The Kurdish defence forces are now preparing to liberate the city of Raqqa (Northern Syria), which is the home of the IS group.

Initially, Kurdish demands included the re-establishment of Kurdistan but in the last decade, they have spoken more of regional autonomy or democratic federalism.

The demands of the Kurds are to be recognised as a national group in democratic states in which they can enjoy basic human rights, freedom, dignity and equality - states in which they will be free to form their own political, civic and social organisations.

The Kurds in Northern Syria have begun building democratic governance structures in recent years. These have been severely disrupted owing to the rise of IS. The governance structures in areas such as Kobani and surrounds have been uniquely inclusive, accommodating Arabs, Kurds, Yazidis, Assyrians, Christians, Muslims and a range of other groupings. The Kurds are hopeful that this model can survive and expand, and trigger the development of vibrant local democracies in many parts of the Middle East.

* Mansoor Jaffer is a writer, musician and activist who previously served as an executive member of the Kurdish Human Rights Action Group.

** The views expressed here are not necessarily those of Independent Media.