Kurds in Iraq

The history of the conflict between the Kurds and the government of their homeland of Iraq up to about 1980 is covered in two books. One book addresses specifically the Kurdish question in Iraq as a historical narrative, the other covers the same issues through history in essays by several different historians and commentators. The two books taken together offer a picture of the conflict and of the peoples of this part of the world, showing how the two sides differ, how they are alike, and how the differences are having a greater effect than any similarities.

Edmund Ghareeb in his book The Kurdish Question in Iraq says that he intends to offer a brief examination of the history of the Kurdish question in Turkey and Iran and then concentrate on the Kurdish question in Iran and specifically on the "Iraqi Baath government's attempts since 1968 to achieve a political understanding with the Kurds concerning their status in northern Iraq" (ix). Ghareeb views the issue as one in which the leaders of Iraq have tried to accommodate the Kurds, and he states that these leaders wish to maintain the territorial integrity of the country and keep primary decision-making powers in Baghdad even as they are willing to grant the Kurds limited powers of self-rule and cultural expression. However, attempts to bring this about have failed because of unrest and armed clashes.

Ghareeb first considers the origins of the Kurdish question, noting that Iraq was occupi

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d control over the Kurdish area, established a sophisticated intelligence apparatus, and other moves raising questions in the Baathist government. The Kurdish question has had a strong role in deteriorating relations between Iran and Iraq over this period, and relations between the two countries have been characterized by suspicion and hostility since the return of the Baath to power in 1968. Self-rule and a degree of autonomy were conferred on the Kurds in 1974 with an Autonomy Declaration. There was by then a split in the Kurdish ranks, and many fought against the new system. At the time this book was written, Iraqi leader Saddam Husain was still trying to rally Kurdish support for the autonomy process in Kurdish areas. Editor Gerard Chaliand in his book People Without a Country brings together essays by different writers on the Kurdish issue at different times in history. Kendal first offers an analysis of the Kurds under the Ottoman Empire, beginning with the origins of the Kurdish National Movement, describing the Kurdish uprisings in the nineteenth century, through the First World War and the period after it. Significant in the latter period was the Treaty of Sevres in 1920 in which France gave its approval for the

Category: History - K