Blog Spot The Fatal Gamble of Middle Eastern Minorities

During World War I, the demographics of Christians and Kurds were both each approximately 20% of the whole of the middle east. Albeit the latter increased in numbers due to Kurdification and forced conversion to Islam. In 1915 the Kurds volunteered en masse with the Ottoman in committing a genocide against Armenians and Assyrians. These atrocities by Kurds had been going on for centuries ever since they had migrated to their land. Fast forward to 1934, the Turks committed a genocide against Kurds, resulting in the deaths of up to 2 million. Would this have happened if the Kurds stood shoulder to shoulder with Armenians and Assyrians against the Ottoman empire from day one? Could they have had their own state? Who knows.

Nevertheless in this era of post-Imperial self determination, it seemed possible that each group deserved a state of their own. They could have been masters of their own fate. Both groups made catastrophic decisions made which plagued their national aspirations till this day. Unlike their counterparts, the Arabs, Persians and Turks. Neither Christians nor Kurds had a leader that could unify them. While Arabs and Persians had Kings that were to grant them independence from the colonialists, Turkey, of course, had president Attaturk, notorious for his secular reforms. The Kurds were busy revolting in seperate countries under different leaders, particularly after the Treaty of Severes (which would have granted Kurdish independence) was abrogated by the Treaty of Lausanne. The Kurdish uprisings were led by tribal warlords like Sheikh Said, Sheikh Mahmoud Barzanji and Hama Rashid, in Turkey, Iraq and Iran, respectively, all of which were crushed. More revolts were to follow, but to no avail.The Christians generally didn’t have such ambitions for independence of a ‘Super state’ to free christians from Muslim rule, despite persecution under various Islamic Caliphates for over 1300 years. There was one exception, however, The Lebanon. Lebanese Christians who mostly resided in the mountains, were renowned for their tenacity in fending off Muslim armies from their midst. Before World War I, the French forced the Ottomans to grant Christian Lebanon autonomy, due to attacks from Druze and Muslims. Post World War I, The French decided that it was time that Lebanon became an independent Christian state. The drawback was, it would also incorporate a sizable Muslim population, that led to one of the longest civil wars in middle eastern modern history (1975 – 1990). This, coupled with the change of demographics, which saw the Muslim population increase dramatically due to mass Muslim immigration of Mujahideen fighters who brought their families in order to Islamise Lebanon. A Christian nation short lived.

There was one Christian uprising, it took place in northern Iraq. Tired of persecution and Dhimmitude, the Assyrians had revolted shortly after the independence of Iraq. Instead of joining the revolt, the Kurds decided to rape, pillage and plunder Assyrian towns and villages, in what was to be known as the Simele Massacre, resulting into the deaths of up to 3000 Assyrians. By the 1960s, More Kurdish revolts took place, which included more attacks against Assyrians, as well as attacks on the Iraqi army who were bogged down, in their attempts to quell the rebellion. Unlike previous revolts, this one, led by Mustafa Barzani, the Kurds had the support from, not only the two regional powers, Iran and Israel, but the world’s super power, the United States. They had eventually lost against Baghdad, due to the withdrawal of support from the Shah of Iran, After he signed the 1975 Algiers Accord peace agreement with Baghdad.

While the Kurds fought and lost, the Christians decided that it would be wise to join their fellow Muslim citizens in their Secular Nationalist agenda. Michel Aflaq, a notable middle eastern Christian, was one of the co-founders of the Baathist (Arab socialism) ideology which later succeeded in Syria and Iraq, it seemed to have kept Muslims at bay from attacking Christians. The likes of Gamal Abdul Nasser of Egypt, Shah of Iran, and of course Attaturk of Turkey, had Christians, and other non Muslims in both their cabinets and the army. All of this of course was short lived, secular nationalism failed in Muslim nations, and Pan Islamism reared its ugly head and became the new flavour throughout the middle east and beyond.

While the transition from secular nationalism to Pan Islamism was taking place. The Christians were either slaughtered or fled to the west, the Kurds on the other hand decided to stoop low and resorted to terrorism of the worst possible kind. Most notably the PKK (Kurdish Workers Party) who participated in suicide bombings. It subsequently listed as a terrorist organisation till this very day, this wasn’t the only Kurdish terrorist organisaiton. the first Sunni Islamic terrorist organisation in Iraq, in Ansar al sunnah was set up by Kurds in Halabja, another designated on the terrorist list.

100 years later, the Christian population of the middle east has reduced to only 5%. While the Kurds continue to run a brutal dictatorial autonomy in Iraq and Syria, not enough to convince the world powers that they are ready for their own state.
But what if both groups decided to take a different direction. What if Christians united and decided to determine their own destiny. What if Kurds decided to unify and stop oppression of minority groups? Could things have been different? Imagine if Kurds decided to join Assyrians in their revolt against Baghdad in 1933? or better still imagine in if the Christians united with Israel in 1948 from the surrounding countries against the Muslim armies? What would have happened? Sadly we will never know.