AFTER the First World War, the Ottoman Empire was weakened to the point of potential collapse. It was only a matter of time before the 1920s. Kurdish people were living under the Empire. The Kurds were promised to have their own independent country after the collapse of the Ottoman Empire, under a deal called the Sevres agreement between the Kurds and the Big Four (the United Kingdom, Italy, France, and United States).

However it did not take too long for that agreement to be cancelled, and the Kurdish people were betrayed. The Sevres agreement was replaced with the Lausanne Treaty. All the promises around Kurdish independence were replaced too.

The fight for Kurdish independence has never faded away. There were several attempts after the 1920s by the Kurds to get what they were promised. In January 1946, the great Kurdish legend Peshawa Qazi Muhammad managed to fight and successfully establish the first ever unified Kurdistan in Mahabad (Mahabad is now taken by the Irani regime). The Republic of Mahabad was not around for long - it only lasted a couple of weeks until the leader was executed most viciously by the Iranian regime.

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The reason I said Qazi Muhammad unified Kurdistan is that Kurdistan after the Lausanne treaty has been split into four parts. The parts were given and divided between Iraq, Iran, Turkey, and Syria. The Kurds have never stopped demanding their lands back. The fights continue until this day. Iraqi Kurdistan has now become somewhat autonomous. However the Kurds in Syria are still fighting the Syrian regime. During their fights against ISIS in Syria, they managed to kick ISIS out of many areas in Syria and form a Kurdish government.

Turkey attacked the Kurds in Syria, just a few weeks after they destroyed ISIS. I am sure you will all remember when Donald Trump ordered the American troops to leave Syria. Turkey took advantage of the evacuation of the American troops, and attacked the Kurds in Kobani, killing many Kurds including civilians, children, women, and men. Turkey also keeps naming those heroes who dedicated their lives to fight against ISIS, with thousands of their members who died in the battle against terrorism and extremism.

The Kurds have felt betrayed once again, it felt like history repeating itself. Many thought that it was a western strategy to have the Kurds beside them and fight shoulder to shoulder against ISIS, but once the fight is over, the coalition would be over too. The Kurds are still struggling to promote their culture, language, and even arts in Turkey. Perhaps that is why it would be a big mistake for the European Union to let a country like Turkey join them. As it seems, democracy is under threat right now in Turkey, diversity and equality is a dead cat walking.

The Kurds in Iran are not living in luxury. They are living not much better than those Kurds living in Turkey. Executing Kurds in the Kurdish cities in Iran almost became a daily routine. The Iranian prisons are also full of Kurds because of their political beliefs or for criticising of the Iranian regime, sometimes just because of their identity. The torture Kurdish prisoners are facing in the Iranian prisons is a disgrace, inhumane, and it is indeed degrading.

Kurds in Iraq have their autonomy. They do have their own so-called government, although in essence they do everything but govern the government. Two major political parties have been running the “government” for almost 30 years. Party of the Union of Kurdistan, Party of Democratic Kurdistan. The Party of the Union of Kurdistan is under the influence of the Iranian regime, and the Party of Democratic Kurdistan is under the influence of the Turkish government. Both parties, regardless of their names, are more like a group of people in a tribe, or an emperor.

Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) are under the control of some cousins, uncles, and brother-in-laws. For example, Prime Minister Masrour Barzani is Nechirvan Barzani’s cousin and he is the president of the Kurdistan government. Perhaps in that part of the world conflict of interest is as important as it is here, but it gives you a sense of how the different Kurdish people live from area to area. They all are suffering, at the hands of the Turkish regime, the Iranian or Syrian regime, or the Kurdish “leaders” themselves.

In Scotland, Kurdish people and the Kurdish community have been contributing to culture, art, and music. In almost all the sectors of Scottish society including politics and the economy, Kurdish people manage to take initiative despite all the struggles here as a person of colour. It gets me thinking to say it is true that “struggle makes you stronger as a person”. In the Scottish Parliament, all political parties have paid tribute to the contribution that the Kurdish people have made in Scotland.

I want to conclude by saying that currently the Kurds do not have a unified state under their names. Between the Kurds themselves there are political differences, but when it comes to Kurdistan they all have one aim. They all seeking to establish a country under one name and they have the heart for it. They are fighting for it. And there is an old saying “when there is a will, there is a way.”