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Kurds in Iraq gradually distance themselves from Arab roots
Suleymanieh, Iraq, Nov 25: Kurds living in the autonomous region of northern Iraq are gradually distancing themselves from their Arab roots, even though for strategic reasons Kurdish officials still stress they remain part of Arabic Iraq.
Suleymanieh, Iraq, Nov 25: Kurds living in the autonomous region of northern Iraq are gradually distancing themselves from their Arab roots, even though for strategic reasons Kurdish officials still stress they remain part of Arabic Iraq.
According to the education ministry in the city of Suleymanieh, the only language in primary and high schools as well as universities is Kurdish with the Arabic imposed on the Kurds by Iraqi President Saddam Hussein only used in religion classes.
Arabic will always remain a main language in kurdistan, said Jamal Aziz, the deputy education minister of Suleymanieh, which is governed by the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK). The Kurdish Democratic Party (KDP), which rules over the other part of the
autonomous zone, confirms this strategy.
However, there is opposition to the policy. ''This is nonsense, already the next generation will speak no Arabic any more,'' said an academic in Erbil. This is a view shared by many Kurds, but most refrain from articulating it due to loyalty to their governments. ''We want to bury the past when the Saddam regime issued death verdicts for just using the Kurdish language and rather want all minorities to have the right to speak and be educated in their own language,'' said the deputy minister.
In the 50,000 square kilometre Kurdish region in northern Iraq, Arabs, Assyrians and Turkmens form less than three per cent of the total 4.5 million population.
''We neither want to separate ourselves from Iraq nor become an independent state,'' PUK foreign policy spokesman, Saadi Pireh, said. ''Our aim is instead to form a federation which is effectively working in north Iraq since 1991 and which we also suggest as a suitable alternative for the post-Saddam era,'' he added.
Although no Kurd, regardless of whether they are a PUK or KDP supporter, really believes in this official version, nobody wants to cause renewed tensions with neighbours Iran, Syria and Turkey, all of which are strongly opposed to an independent Kurdish state.
Even the fact that the autonomy has long ago established its own administration, including army (former Peshmargas), police, and education system, is justified by PUK and KDP officials as part of the federal system.
Bureau Report
However, there is opposition to the policy. ''This is nonsense, already the next generation will speak no Arabic any more,'' said an academic in Erbil. This is a view shared by many Kurds, but most refrain from articulating it due to loyalty to their governments. ''We want to bury the past when the Saddam regime issued death verdicts for just using the Kurdish language and rather want all minorities to have the right to speak and be educated in their own language,'' said the deputy minister.
In the 50,000 square kilometre Kurdish region in northern Iraq, Arabs, Assyrians and Turkmens form less than three per cent of the total 4.5 million population.
''We neither want to separate ourselves from Iraq nor become an independent state,'' PUK foreign policy spokesman, Saadi Pireh, said. ''Our aim is instead to form a federation which is effectively working in north Iraq since 1991 and which we also suggest as a suitable alternative for the post-Saddam era,'' he added.
Although no Kurd, regardless of whether they are a PUK or KDP supporter, really believes in this official version, nobody wants to cause renewed tensions with neighbours Iran, Syria and Turkey, all of which are strongly opposed to an independent Kurdish state.
Even the fact that the autonomy has long ago established its own administration, including army (former Peshmargas), police, and education system, is justified by PUK and KDP officials as part of the federal system.
Bureau Report