April 10, 2008 | Michael Gunter
Michael M. Gunter offered a brief overview of his new book titled The Kurds Ascending, which discussed the recent events that improved the Kurdish situation in Iraq and Turkey. He mainly attributed positive developments in Kurdish rights to the US wars against Saddam Husayn, and Turkey’s successful EU candidacy along with Justice and Development (AK) Party reforms within Turkey.
Michael Gunter aimed to offer an optimistic analysis of the Kurdish “problem” in Iraq and Turkey. According to Gunter, the Kurds have formed a Kurdish Regional Government (KRG), so that if Iraq fails to democratize the KRG can succeed independently. Furthermore, in Turkey, the ethnic Kurds have gained democratic rights, which they were previously denied. Gunter then continued to highlight the broad themes in his book.
Gunter perceived the future of Iraq as a win-lose situation in which Kurdish gains would result in Sunni Arab losses. According to Gunter, there already exists a deep resentment among Sunnis in Iraq toward the Kurds. The type of government Iraq selects will greatly impact Kurdish rights; therefore, Gunter considered the development of a Kurdistan as a federal Iraq imperative. Gunter referenced the success of Quebec in Canada to affirm his position. He stressed that if it becomes impossible to create a federal Iraq it would only be ethical to allow the Kurds an independent Iraqi Kurdish state. Furthermore, he felt that most Kurds would opt for independence under the right circumstances.
Gunter then shifted his focus to the Kurdish situation in Turkey. The long-time leader of the PKK ‘Abdullah Ocalan was considered a terrorist to the Turkish government; however, most Kurds viewed him as a freedom fighter. According to Gunter, the Turkish government was also at fault, yet when Ataturk declared Turkey’s objective to achieve a more contemporary civilization, resolving the Kurdish problem became inevitable.
Gunter also addressed the strength of KRG in the new Iraqi government; for instance, the posts of the president, deputy prime minister, and the foreign minister are all held by Kurds. Gunter, considered the KRG to have succeeded in unifying and organizing its people, yet questioned the longevity of their efforts.
Gunter also viewed Turkey’s EU candidacy as a solution to the Kurdish problem in Turkey. Although he acknowledged, that there still exists deep-rooted prejudices among the Turkish nationalists. Furthermore, that the EU must acknowledge the human rights violations committed by Turkey before or else they would be undermining a founding EU principal.
Gunter concluded by offering a solution to the Kurdish problem. He proposed that the citizens of Iraq and Turkey should be educated to believe in democracy for all people regardless of ethnic affinity. Lastly, he conjectured that an independent KRG would act as a buffer between Turkey and the southern regions.
About this Event
Remarks delivered at The Boardman Room at The Middle East Institute, 12:00pm-1:00pm March 6th 2008.
Michael M. Gunter is a professor of political science at Tennessee Technological University in Cookeville, Tennessee and teaches during the summer at the International University in Vienna, Austria. He is the author of five critically praised scholarly books on the Kurdish question, the most recent being Kurdish Historical Dictionary, 2004; The Kurdish Predicament in Iraq: A Political Analysis, 1999; and The Kurds and the Future of Turkey, 1997. In addition, he is the co-editor (with Mohammed M. A. Ahmed) of The Kurdish Question and the 2003 Iraqi War, 2005; and The Evolution of Kurdish Nationalism, 2007. Gunter is a former Senior Fulbright Lecturer in International Relations in Turkey and Israel.
Lena Halasa, an undergraduate student in International Relations at Calvin College and a Programs Department intern at the Middle East Institute wrote this brief. This brief was peer-edited by Andy Watkins is a graduate of the Henry M. Jackson School of International Studies at the University of Washington and works with the publications department in the Middle East Journal.