Ayatollah Khomeim 's Islamic Re-
public is trymg to reassert its author-
ity in the outlying districts peopled by
the Kurds, a separate ethnic group
that has been trying to gain autonomy
With slightly different details the
same news could have been written
4,000 years ago
An identical political process can
be discerned on clay tablets from the
reign of the Emperor Sargon and for
most of the central rulers from his
time to ours, A strong monarch falls.
For a year or two, his heirs or sup-
planters struggle to establish them-
selves in the capital, and in the mean-
time the tribal outskirts of the empire
enjoy an interlude of self ruTe. But
when the new king gains control of his
throne, he turns to subduing the rebel-
lious provinces, and an oppressive
peace prevails until the next succes-
sion-
The Kurds have been the oldest
running victims of this “process,” and
their position today is little better than
it was in 2000 B,C , The eight million
or more mountain dwelling members
of this group live, with their own lan
guage and culture, in adjoining re
gions of Turkey. Iraq and Iran, Since
these three countries are, respec
tively, pro-American, pro-Soviet and
neutral, no great power can support
an independent united Kurdistan. So
the Kurds are doomed to sporadic mi-
nority uprisings, apparently in rota-
tion in each of the three,
This situation jars sharply with the
Western diplomatic mind as shaped
by ethnic nationalism and Woodrow
Wilson's principle of self-determina-
tion So, with a three-year exception
during the break-up of the Ottoman
Empire, the West has tried to ignore
the Kurdish existence, There ye been
no UN resolutions on their behalf, No
international committees of intellec-
tuals have organized, even though (or
perhaps because) the Kurds have de-
cided to eschew terrorism and fight
like men International human rights
groups have been so Indifferent that,
during the revolt in Iraq, a Kurdish
student in England claimed that the
only resolution lie could obtain on
their behalf was a resolution from the
Society for the Prevention of Cruelty
to Animals condemning the indiscrim
mate bombing of donkeys and farm
animals.
An independent Kurthstan is not
exactly a human right, of course, any
more than an independent Ukraine or
an independent Confederacy, But the
plight of the Kurds is at the very least
a grim reminder that happy endings
do not abound in foreign affairs They
may live for the next 4,000 years
through the same cycJe of rebellIon
and repression, The U,S. seems will
ing to let it happen that way, and this
tragic realism only leaves us wonder
ing why our diplomats have such a
Pollyannish urge to find a quick fix to
so many other foreign dilemmas,
The Kurdish T igedn
ff31 a r l am ed l 23 (m mmn m/Jilm ‘am+. 2 , d m,
P oQrm. Hi ma Nay papa I a all S ama a a I llllQ 3
IS
The Kurdish Tragedy
Rep ad ed mar on ESSO of he a yri h a ncr Fu e renro u to nra E C W a t e snaon
