Is it northern Iraq or Kurdistan?

As a hundred Turkish, Kurdish and some more Iraqi Kurdish intellectuals looked for peace and future in the "Searching for Peace and a Future Together" meeting, this question, although, seems a semantics issue, must have in fact planted in the subconscience a relevance to the future of Turkey in the region and even an impact on it.

The two-day conference held under a heavy attention of the Turkish media, local press, even al Jaziraah TV was also followed by ten thousands or hundreds of thousands in Turkey and Iraq through the live coverage of the Kurdistan TV and a Turkish TV channel. No matter how strong the emphasis of Turkish participants on "togetherness" in the future was, Kurdish attendants realized that intellectuals from Turkey stressed the "northern Iraq" word. This is how the question "Is it Northern Iraq o Kurdistan?" became the central topic in the meeting.

With the awareness of existing "mental blocks" and of internal balances in Turkey, participants from Turkey must have thought that uttering the word "Kurdistan" may trigger unnecessary sensitivities over the issue. Terming a group of people whom their existence was denied for a long time as "Kurds" and seeking a common peaceful future with "Kurds" was overall a critical and valuable step.

Slowly and gradually, it is...

However, preferring "Northern Iraq" over the word "Kurdistan" was perceived by Kurds as the continuation of the denial mentality and policy. We gathered for the "Searching for Peace and a Future Together" conference together with a hundred intellectuals from Turkey and as much that of Iraqi Kurdish. Officials of both parties approved this conference and gave their support.

Where did we meet?

In Arbil.

Where is Arbil?

For many of us, it is a city in Northern Iraq. Official discourse in Turkey has even adopted the expression "north of Iraq" instead of "Northern Iraq". So we were in Northern Iraq or in the north of Iraq.

There is nothing wrong with this geographically. But for Kurds this is the capital of the Northern Iraq Regional Administration, or NIRA. The wording "Northern Iraq Regional Administration" is already in the Iraqi Constitution. Meaning, the locale is a legal entity beyond any geographical and cultural perception.

The most courageous intellectuals from Turkey can utter "Kurdish Regional Administration" but they are having a hard time to say "Kurdistan". There is no problem with "Kurds", yet pronouncing "Kurdistan" is quite difficult. It must have been extremely difficult to make a progress from "Kurd" to "Kurdistan" as the officials go back ward and move from the expression "Northern Iraq" to the "north of Iraq".

Turkish-Kurdish poet Bejan Matur put her mark on the first day of the conference in Arbil with an unforgettable speech both for hearts and minds, titled "Language, Identity, Culture: Common Values".

As she told the story of her grandfather who secretly listened to the radio together with the elderly in the village in the early 1970s, Matur said: "Some people were calling themselves Kurds in a remote country behind the mountains and were struggling for their identity. I felt that my grandfather and the elderly in the village were feeling proud of being Kurd though they didn’t name themselves as oneÉ Just like the radio stations they listened secretly, their emotions were revealing the feeling of being fugitives. For Kurds living in Turkey this is mostly the case. They were trying to live in a country where their identities were not recognized." She expressed the deep and strong ties between Kurds in Turkey and Kurds in Arbil.

This is the connection that most Turks are unaware or that doesn’t make much sense in their world of perception. Still, it is an important connection which is of interest to some.

As for her first arrival to Arbil, Matur said the following:

"Like many other Kurds going to Northern Iraq to pursue the possibility of a country surrounding all of us through a spiritual bond, I was excited too. I am also excited and proud to witness how Kurds self-governing themselves in this land where the word ’Kurdistan’ is being uttered freely. I am interested in the possibility of freedom rather than that of a countryÉ"

After hearing these remarks I thought that uttering the "Kurdistan" word is equal to the freedom of Kurds and that even if the "Northern Iraq" bares no such intention it is still being ignored by "Ankara politics". Matur also made a political analysis over this world of meanings:

"We all witness that Kurds in Turkey were clenched with Kurds in the South by every decision, every word to exclude Kurds in the South. Differences among Kurds were swiftly eliminated as common values were at issue. As Kurds in Turkey are extremely affected by every single word or every implication about their brothers in the South, it was impossible for Turkey to produce a policy against them and it should not be possible. Turkey is on its way to be a country of realities; being a country of a reality imposed by life. As much as Kurds in the South need Turkey for democratization, Turkey needs Kurds in the SouthÉ"

The situation is good because we were looking for peace and future "together" in Arbil!