Kurdistan

It's quite odd that someone like me, with such an interest on Geography, History and Social issues, and that so strongly supports people's right to self-determination, has never paid much attention to the Kurdish people and their fight for their rights, but this previous sort of indiference has now turned into a deep admiration.

I can remember having come across with posters of some left wing Kurdish organization in Frankfurt in 2010 and how they called my attention, but thought of it as some isolated case, as all the mess of the last decades with Fundamentalist Islam has made me think of the Middle East and Left politics as antagonists terms (which is particularly painful if one thinks of the many left wing groups that in the 70's existed in the region, from Palestine to Afghanistan, the Arab Socialism, the Iranian communists later on slaughtered by that beast called Khomeini...). This last May in Berlin, while enjoying the delightful atmosphere of the May Day celebrations (it's really one beautiful experience), I found a lot of stands of left wing Kurdish organizations (along with Turkish ones, which makes the whole thing particularly inspiring), but for whatever the reason, my lack of interest in the Kurdish people remained.

It's been in the last weeks, when witnessing the heroic fight of the Kurdish Army and Kurdish volunteers against Islamic State that my interest in them has grown to the point of admiration. Almost one half of the Kurdish troops are women, courageous, unveiled women willing to give their lives in the fight against the biggest monstrosity the world has witnessed since the Nazi Germany times (the other day my uncle draw a comparison that I pretty liked between the advent of Islamic State and the arrival of an alien race willing to enslave and destroy Humanity). PKK forces, yes, that group branded as terrorist by the Turkish government (that so "friend of the West" government with a clear Islamist agenda, that supports Islamist terrorists in Syria, that represses Turkish left-wing organizations, kills demonstrators and that continues to deny the Armenian Genocide), helped rescue the Yazidis in Mount Sinjar from the torture and death that the Islamic State had in store for them. While starting as a Marxist-Leninist organization, they have moved now into more modern left-wing positions, with a deep commitment to the freedom of the different human groups (Arabs, Christians, Yazidis...) living in their territory.

It's also very interesting to see what's happening in the Syrian Kurditan, Rojava with the People Protection Units (YPG). This militia works on a democratic basis and as happens with the rest of Kurdish troops (PKK, Peshmerga) have the support of the non Kurdish population in their territory. While I'm not much fond of Vice News in general, this video is pretty interesting.

This last months Kurdish people living in Toulouse have been gathering on occasion at Place du Capitole to try to raise concern about the drama being lived in their land.

I could be wrong as I've said I had never been interested in Kurdish affairs until recently, but the Kurdish nationalism seems to me as having mainly a left wing flavour, which makes it an inclusive nationalism (or better, let's call it a sovereign movement) rather than an exclusive one.

Before finishing, I want to note what should be obvious, that while I have an enormous contempt for the current Turkish Islamist ultra-nationalist government, this disdain does not extend to the Turkish population. Obviously the idiots that vote for Erdogan and/or those that continue to deny the Armenian Genocide are scum to me, but there are many secular, civilized Turks that oppose and rebel against their tyrannical government. Even today, hard-line far-left groups (it has sort of a 70's feeling to me) operate in the country.