Kurdistan Archives - Page 7 of 10

March 8, 2017

Trump Administration Working with Putin to Protect the Kurds, is Kurdistan Coming?

Of all the spinoff conflicts connected to the Syrian Civil War and the fight to destory ISIS, the Turkish offensive to wipe out the growing strength of the Kurdish militia in Northern Syria is the most important.

Despite claims to the contrary, Erdogan helped fund ISIS in its early days in order to create enough chaos to further his interests in spreading Turkish power into Northern Iraq and Syria. He both allowed ISIS fighters to travel from Turkey into Syria and provided the same fighters medical attention when necessary.

When stories of Turkish aid convoys reached the news, Erdogan pivoted and joined the fight to “destroy the group.” Turkey then used their offensives into Syria to achieve three objectives: show the world it is not in collusion with ISIS, stand up to Russia, and most importantly destroy the nascent Kurdistan.

Kurdistan factors heavily into Trump and Putin’s post ISIS Syria and Iraq. The Kurdish Peshmerga has been the only force that has showed the ability to defeat ISIS. As long as Turkey stayed out of Syria, the Kurdish YPG could continue gaining ground.

The Battle of Manbij Will Prove Pivotal

Manbij is a Kurdish controlled town just 40km from the Turkish border and this week it has provided the setting for what will no doubt prove to be the beginning of an independent Kurdistan. With Turkey deciding to push out the Kurds who have controlled the town, the Trump administration took the opportunity to team up with Russia in order to thwart Erdogan’s plans.

Bloomberg reports:

A U.S. deployment and a Russian-brokered deal with Syrian forces created buffer zones that headed off any Turkish campaign against the Kurdish forces who hold the town — seen by Washington as key allies against Islamic State and by Turkey as terrorists.

Once again Erdogan’s plans of dominating the Kurds have faltered. With Russia and the US working together Turkey is forced to deal with the reality that the Kurds are here to stay.

Is Kurdistan Next?

Although rumors of an independent Kurdistan have risen higher in the years since ISIS came to power, the reality of the rumors have never been more actual than now. Kurdistan offers the ability to right an historic injustice by creating a state for the Kurds who have been stateless for centuries. In fact, it is the Kurds who are indigenous to the area, going as far back as the ancient Medes. An independent Kurdistan would create stability in the Middle East and act as a buffer to the madness of the Arab tribes to the South and Turkish regional aspirations from the North.

Furthermore an independent Kurdistan would quickly become an ally of Israel in its fight against radical Islam.

Will Trump and Putin make it happen? So far their cooperation in relation to Manbij makes the prospect likely.

December 3, 2016

A Synagogue in Kurdish Iraq? Only a Matter of Time…

The Jewish community in Iraqi Kurdistan has officially submitted a request to open a synagogue in Erbil, the region’s capital.

“Representatives from the Jewish community put forward a request to build a synagogue in the city of Erbil and although they have the right to it, the ministry is yet to agree to issue the licence,” the ministry’s spokesperson Mariwan Naqshbandi told The New Arab. “The ministry of religious affairs includes representatives from eight religious communities, including the Jewish community. Therefore, they have the right to get the licence request approved to build a synagogue.”

On Wednesday the Jewish community in Kurdistan, now numbering only 400 families, marked 71 years since tens of thousands were forcibly expelled from the region. The Kurdish Jewish community wants the Kurdistan Regional Government to recognise what happened to the Jews of the area.

Location of Erbil, Iraq Source: Google Maps

Kurdistan Friendly to Israel

It is a fact that no one wants to admit, at least not publicly, but for years successive Israeli governments have covertly and more recently backed Kurdish independence from Iraq. Kurds are not Arabs and have a traditions of being descended from the Medes who were known to be friendly to the Jewish people. In fact the Kurds and Jews should be considered to two predominantly indigenous people of the area until the Arab population colonized what is today northern Iraq.

Israel currently buys a good portion of its oil from Kurdish areas from a pipeline running through Turkey to the Mediterranean.

As ties continue to grow beyond military assistance, expect direct trade and open relations as long as the Peshmerga can keep ISIS and Turkey from its borders.

September 22, 2016September 22, 2016

Decolonizing Israel and Other Indigenous Peoples

This last week I hopped on to the Lowell Yosef Galin Show for a short interview and discussion in connection this very magazine and its role in presenting an alternative approach to geopolitics and Israel’s connection to other indigenous peoples around the world.

We discuss:

Israel as an indigenous people
Other indigenous people we should partner with
Western and Arab colonialism
Vision of Israel Rising

[huge_it_share]

September 1, 2016September 6, 2016

BREAKING NEWS: Turkey Driving Hard Against Kurds West of the Euphrates

If it is possible to believe Erdogan, his foray into Syria was for the purpose of driving ISIS from Jarablus, the only piece of land the Syrian Kurds did not control. Erdogan’s forces were of such mass that Turkey was accused of invading Syria. ISIS quickly melted away and the Turkish military set its sights on the true “nemesis” to the Turkish homeland YPG or the Kurdish army in Syria.

One thing has become clear. Erdogan’s actions have put NATO in a very uncomfortable spot. On one hand they have backed the Syrian Kurds as their vanguard attack force against ISIS and on the other they have the second largest NATO force in Turkey openly trying to wipe them out through a fake anti-ISIS operation.

Turkey has long maintained that a contiguous Kurdish state along its border running from the Mediterranean to Iran was an existential threat. In pushing the Kurds back over the Euphrates they are risking the NATO coalition’s strategy against ISIS. The Euphrates must be Washington’s red line. If Turkey is allowed to press on, the Kurds will be forced to pivot elsewhere and not only NATO will lose a valuable indigenous ally, Israel will have squandered years of covert training and arms deals.

August 7, 2016

Kurdistan, Biafra Denied Olympic Representation while non-state “Palestine” Gets Team

With eyes focused on the Rio Olympics, the hypocrisy of who gets to participate as a country or even a territory cannot be ignored. When real nations like Kurdistan, Biafra, and even the Lakota are not present because of political concerns, while non-state former terrorists known nowadays as “Palestine” get a team there is a sort of Alice in Wonderland moment at hand.

The same leftist organizations that are so intent on demonizing Israel and relishing in the inclusion of one of the biggest cheerleaders of anti-Jewish incitement in the world fall silent when it comes to the lack of recognition for the truly repressed nations.

Kurdistan is not only an autonomous zone in northern Iraq, but is the largest group of people never to have a defined homeland. With 14.5 million Kurds in Turkey, 6 million in Iran, another 6 million in Iraq, and 2 million in Syria, the Kurds are busy dying fighting ISIS and getting the shaft by the international community. While the Olympics may just be a sporting event, symbolism matters.

The real reason why Kurdistan has never had an Olympic team and will probably be denied one for the forseeable future is Turkey. Erdogan’s nemesis or bogy man is the Kurdish independence movement. Erdogan has used it at opportune times to deflect opponents and consolidate power. With Turkey’s population standing at 76 million, Kurds make up nearly 20% of the total. This means any weakening towards recognizing a free Kurdistan could potentially rip Turkey apart.

Biafra, a nation in southeast Nigeria was forced by the British colonial masters to merge with Lagos Colony, and Hausaland in 1914 in order to create what is no known as Nigeria. However, the British put a caveat in the decree that merged the three areas together. The charter would only last 100 years. Since 2014 Biafra has had a legal right to pull away from Nigeria.

One of the biggest reasons why Biafra has not seceded from Nigeria is it still remembers the Biafran war for independence in 1967-1970 that failed miserably and ended with between 3 to 6 million dead Biafrans. Not only that, but Britain is vehemently against an independent Biafra, because it would lose much if its control over Nigeria’s oil, which resides in Biafra as well as the Niger River delta where most of the oil is brought through.

The Lakota and other first world people have never been on the radar for going to the Olympics. Accepting them as an autonomous region would be a blow to America’s artificial narrative of protector of freedom and human rights. Afterall, the United States government has been trying to settle the Lakota’s outstanding claim to their land since the Treaty-of-Fort Laramie in 1868 and the government’s own violation of the treaty in 1877 (through the seizure of the Black Hills). So real is their case, the USA has repeatedly tried to offer a financial package, but the Lakota have turned it down demanding only the return of their land.

With these very real cases of national claims being denied, it is beyond strange that the world still sees it just to focus on a group of people who for the most part were coerced into migrating to the Land of Israel just over a century and half ago and have no defining mutual characteristic among them other than the rampant desire to kill Jews. Palestine was synonymous with Israel until the late arch terrorist appropriated the name in 1964. Until then Arabs of the Levant were Arabs.

In order for the Olympics to shake the corporatist wrappings they have become seen as representing, allowing representation to real national entities instead of false one, would be a great place to start the games’ rehabilitation.