The participants also criticized themselves in this context. The main theme of our self-criticism consisted of the following:We are having difficulty accepting the regional Kurdish government in Iraq. We mumble and stumble in our speech when we are supposed to talk about this regional, international and constitutional political reality. The Turkish general public has concerns and some visible justifications in addition to some aspects related to the subconscious in our indifference to this reality.
We argue that there is a federal state in the making in the north of Iraq and it is backed by the US and Israel. We have certain problems with Israel, but our military and political relations are maintained at the highest level. Our “strategic partnership” with the US has evolved into a “model partnership.” The US is disrupting the structures in the Muslim world including Afghanistan and Yemen, creating chaos and imbalance. Still, our officials assert that we enjoy harmony with the US concerning foreign policy issues. In other words, we can establish all sorts of relations with the US and Israel, but won’t allow others to do so. We are having a hard time confessing that this is only a superficial justification that does not sound at all convincing.
Rather, we have underlying concerns. We say that if a federal Kurdish state is established in northern Iraq, it will be a South Kurdistan, and it will automatically be associated with a North Kurdistan. In time, South and North may decide to unite, and this means the fragmentation of Turkey. While it cannot be said that this is nothing but paranoia or an unfounded concern, Massoud Barzani acknowledges the following: “It is true that Kurds are dispersed in four different countries. They have problems, too. Each Kurdish group will settle their problems with their respective countries. The problems of Kurds are the internal issues of their respective countries.” Barzani may be using such discourse “for the time being.” But will we be justified if we assume that he has dark ulterior motives for the distant future and oppose every step Kurds take? We have no choice but to accept what he says as sincere and act accordingly until he or others change their discourse.
The Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) is located in the Kandil Mountains in northern Iraq, and this represents a major problem. Currently, the Kurdish regional government offers cooperation with Turkey to deal with the PKK. But before that, if we manage to make some progress toward the ultimate settlement of the Kurdish issue internally, the northern Iraq dimension of the issue will be mitigated to a great extent. In sum, we have to sweep our home before dealing with the external dimension.
Most of us are unaware of the role our subconscious plays with respect to accepting the Kurdish reality. We can recall that our politicians and intellectuals would make references to “tribal leaders wearing poşu and şalvar” until very recently. We have nearly severed our ties with the traditional state since 1856. Still, we tend to assume ourselves to be a “great nation with a strong culture of statecraft,” and we regard the societies of the Middle East as “tribes or clans.” However, there is no difference in essence between our modern nation-state and the nation-state that Kurds are trying to establish today. Both are imitations of certain models in Europe, where the original copy of this model has been preserved in Paris since the French Revolution. Our error is that we attempt to employ the Orientalism the West has used against us and use it against other Muslim peoples in the same manner. We don’t realize what a strange situation we are in.
A political reality has come into being in northern Iraq regardless of our will. It has certain regional, constitutional and international support and backing. Most Middle Eastern countries have already accepted this reality. But we still refuse to give it official recognition.
We still tend to view northern Iraq as a purely political and military issue. Paris is close to us while Arbil is distant and foreign. Our media organizations still portray this human geography as the realm of the people living in chaos, terror and insecurity in a prehistoric era and threatening us. However, when you fly to Arbil on a one-and-half-hour flight from İstanbul, you will see a calm, tranquil society that is like Urfa or Mardin. Its inhabitants are warm, and they like Turkey. They are eager to establish ties and dialogue with Turkey. But they never intend to be kept from the process they have set in motion.
