Kurdification

Map of Iraqi Kurdistan

Kurdification is a cultural change in which something ethnically non-Kurdish is made to become Kurdish, usually in contexts of post-Saddam Iraq, in particular in relation to Assyrian Christians, Iraqi Turkmen, Shabak people and the ethno-religious group of the Yazidis.[1][2][3][4] Kurds claim that Kurdification is used for the implementation of article 140 of the Iraqi constitution which ensured to restore the situation before Saddam Hussein's assimilation and deportation policies against the Kurds during Al-Anfal Campaign.

History

In Iraq

Until 2011 (end of U.S. main military presence)

Kurdification has been an open policy of the KRG since 2003, according to Gareth Stansfield, a professor of Middle East politics at the University of Exeter.[5]

Some source have claimed that the Kurds have clear plans for the annexation of the Nineveh Plains to the Kurdish control and they have "always sent their followers to international forums to interrupt international protection for Assyrians".[6] The Hareetz newspaper reported that the Kurds object to the establishment of a protected Christian enclave, because they want to annex the Nineveh Valley, most of whose residents are Christians.[7][8]

Some Yazidis expressed concern over forced assimilation into Kurdish culture and identity. Some have accused the Kurdish parties of diverting US $12 million reconstruction funds allocated for Yazidi areas in Jebel Sinjar to a Kurdish village and marginalizing them politically.[4] According to the Human Rights Watch, in 2009, "The goal of these tactics is to push Shabak and Yazidi communities to identify as ethnic Kurds. The Kurdish authorities are working hard to impose Kurdish identity on two of the most vulnerable minorities in Iraq, the Yazidis and the Shabaks".[9]

Some sources have reported that, since 2003, there have been many cases of Yazidi women being abducted and forced to marry members of the Kurdish security force Asayish.[10] However, the report was never confirmed by other organizations or authorities.

In addition to the Kurdish-speaking majority, there are also Yazidi communities that speak Arabic as their native mother language.[11] In 2002, at the request of a group of Yazidis led by Tamoyan, the Armenian parliament recognized the Yazidis as a separate ethnicity.[12] The United Nations also recognizes the Yazidis as a distinct ethnic group.[13]

A quote from a lawyer Kuryo Meytap in an interview: "The policy of Kurdification is operated for decades. The Assyrian history is systematically distorted, many Assyrian villages still be kept busy, the names of the Assyrian cities and villages are specifically converted into Kurdish."[14]

According to Hunain Qaddo, President of the Iraqi Minorities Council, Shabaks are currently undergoing a process of Kurdification.[15]

On 15 August 2005, Shabaks organised a demonstration under the slogan "We are the Shabak, not the Kurds and not the Arabs", demanding recognition of their unique ethnic identity. The demonstration came under fire from Kurdistan Democratic Party militia.[16]

On 21 August 2006, Shabak Democratic Party leader Hunain Qaddo, proposed the creation of a separate province within the borders of the Nineveh Plain, in order to combat the Kurdification and Arabization of Iraqi minorities.[17]

In 2008, the Assyrian International News Agency reported that Mr Mirza Ismail, chairman of London Yazidis Community-Canada, accused the Kurdistan Regional Government of forcing Yazidis to register as Kurds, expanding Kurdish settlements in Yazidi regions, and forcing Yazidis out of Sinjar city.[18]

The minorities of Iraq have also founded parties to represent their people, for example: the Iraqi Turkmen Front, the Assyrian Patriotic Party, the Yazidi Movement for Reform and Progress and the Shabak Democratic Assembly. They have also founded own militias to defend their villages, for example: the Nineveh Plain Protection Units, the Protection Force of Sinjar and the Nineveh Plains Brigade.[19][20][21][22][23][24] Arabs are also being displaced in previously mixed Kurdish-Arab villages in Northern Iraq.[5]

After 2011

The Assyrian International News Agency claimed that the Kurds have annexed Assyrian, Yazidi and Shabak villages which are now under Kurdish Control in North Iraq and in Turkey.[25][26] In Iraqi Kurdistan, Assyrian politicians of some towns have been replaced with Kurdish ones.[25] The entire Assyrian Triangle (between Greater Zab and the River Tigris) has been occupied by Kurdish intruders.[6][8] Some Assyrians have also complained that they have limited rights and that there are threats against them. Some Assyrians in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq also complained that construction plans are "aimed at affecting a demographic change that divides Assyrian blocs". Also some Yazidis, Shabaks and Turkmens have reported that they are facing a policy of cultural and security control against them, especially in areas which belonged to the Kurds before Saddam's Al-Anfal Campaign.[27]

In 2016, David Romano, Professor of Middle East Politics said that without the YPG and the Peshmerga, the Assyrians of northern Syria and Iraq would all likely be dead, lying in some jihadist-dug mass grave.[28]

In Syria

In October 2015, the Amnesty International reported that the YPG had driven thousands of civilians from northern Syria and destroyed their homes in retaliation for perceived links to ISIL. Majority of the destroyed homes belonged to the Arabs, but also to Turkmens and Kurds.[29] Turkish Daily Sabah claimed that Amnesty International has said that Kurdish PYD conducted ethnic cleansing against Turkmens and Arabs after seizing Tal Abyad.[30] However, Amnesty International has published only one report about the Syrian Kurdish forces and it is related to destroying villages and homes, not ethnic cleansing at all.[31] The Amnesty International report concluded that there are documented cases of forced displacement that constitute war crimes. [32]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Al-Ali, Pratt, Nadje Sadig, Nicola Christine (2009). What kind of liberation?: women and the occupation of Iraq. University of California Press. p. 109. ISBN 978-0-520-25729-0.
  2. ↑ Preti Taneja, Minority Rights Group International (2007). Assimilation, exodus, eradication: Iraq's minority communities since 2003. Minority Rights Group International. p. 19.
  3. ↑ "Overcrowding and Kurdification threaten Christians in northern Iraq" (AsiaNews, October 2007)
  4. 1 2 "UNHCR’s ELIGIBILITY GUIDELINES FOR ASSESSING THE INTERNATIONAL PROTECTION NEEDS OF IRAQI ASYLUM-SEEKERS" (PDF). p. 11.
  5. 1 2 Rebecca Collard / Makhmour. "Kurds and Sunni Arabs Fall Out in the Wake of ISIS Fight". TIME.com. Retrieved 23 April 2016.
  6. 1 2 https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/articles/middle-east/14007-assyrians-need-protection-from-islamisation-and-kurdification
  7. ↑ https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/articles/middle-east/14007-assyrians-need-protection-from-islamisation-and-kurdification, Haaretz newspaper on 24 December 2010
  8. 1 2 "Assyrians of Iraq and the Nineveh Plain Conspiracy". Retrieved 23 April 2016.
  9. ↑ Ghanim, David. Iraq's Dysfunctional Democracy. p. 34.
  10. ↑ http://web.archive.org/web/20150116010104/http://www.minorityrights.org/5742/iraq/yezidis.html. Archived from the original on January 16, 2015. Retrieved October 25, 2015. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  11. ↑ Betts, Robert Brenton (2013). The Sunni-Shi'a Divide: Islam's Internal Divisions and Their Global Consequences.
  12. ↑ "The Yezidis of Armenia Face Identity Crisis over Kurdish Ethnici". Rudaw. Retrieved 23 April 2016.
  13. ↑ "UNHCR’s ELIGIBILITY GUIDELINES FOR ASSESSING THE INTERNATIONAL PROTECTION NEEDS OF IRAQI ASYLUM-SEEKERS" (PDF). p. 11.
  14. ↑ ""Daher sollten wir diese Einrichtungen durch gezieltes Werben in unserer Umgebung und innerhalb unseres Volkes dabei unterstützen, dass das ACE sowie das Seyfo Center finanziell mehr unterstützt werden." - Bethnahrin". Bethnahrin. Retrieved 23 April 2016.
  15. ↑ "Cable: 06BAGHDAD4365_a". Retrieved 23 April 2016.
  16. ↑ "Kurdish Gunmen Open Fire on Demonstrators in North Iraq". Retrieved 23 April 2016.
  17. ↑ "Cable: 06BAGHDAD3283_a". Retrieved 23 April 2016.
  18. ↑ Ismail, Mirza (2008-12-01). "The Kurdish Threat to The Yezidis of North Iraq". Assyrian International News Agency. Archived from the original on 2008-12-23. Retrieved 26 March 2015.
  19. ↑ "Hizballah Cavalcade: Quwat Sahl Nīnawā: Iraq’s Shia Shabak Get Their Own Militia". JIHADOLOGY: A clearinghouse for jihādī primary source material, original analysis, and translation service. Retrieved 23 April 2016.
  20. ↑ "Iraq's Shabaks Are Being Oppressed By Kurds". Retrieved 23 April 2016.
  21. ↑ "Iraqi Turkmen take up arms in Kirkuk - Al-Monitor: the Pulse of the Middle East". Al-Monitor. Retrieved 23 April 2016.
  22. ↑ "The Hero Yazidis Hope Will Save Them". The Daily Beast. Retrieved 23 April 2016.
  23. ↑ Matt Cetti-Roberts. "Inside the Christian Militias Defending the Nineveh Plains — War Is Boring". Medium. Retrieved 23 April 2016.
  24. ↑ "The Nineveh Plain Protection Units". Retrieved 23 April 2016.
  25. 1 2 "Assyrian, Yezidi and Shabak Villages Are Now Under Kurdish Control in North Iraq". Retrieved 23 April 2016.
  26. ↑ "Kurds Build Cemetery, Park in Heart of Assyrian Area in Turkey". Retrieved 23 April 2016.
  27. ↑ "Iraqi Kurdistan Must Ensure Minority Rights - Al-Monitor: the Pulse of the Middle East". Al-Monitor. Retrieved 23 April 2016.
  28. ↑ "http://rudaw.net/english/opinion/21012016?ctl00_phMainContainer_phMain_ControlComments1_gvCommentsChangePage=3_20". rudaw.net. Retrieved 5 May 2016. External link in |title= (help)
  29. ↑ "Syria Kurds 'razing villages seized from IS' -Amnesty- BBC News". BBC News. Retrieved 21 January 2016.
  30. ↑ "The PYDs ethnic cleansing". DailySabah. Retrieved 21 January 2016.
  31. ↑ "The official Amnesty International report" (PDF). Retrieved 21 January 2016.
  32. ↑ "Document". Retrieved 23 April 2016.
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