Vancouver Model United Nations the 12Th Annual Conference • February 1–3, 2013
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Vancouver Model United Nations The 12th Annual Conference • February 1–3, 2013 Background Guide United Nations Security Council Vancouver Model United Nations The 12th Annual Conference • February 1–3, 2013 Zach Hauser & Stuart Warren Secretaries-General Dear Delegates. • My name is Liam St. Louis, and I am the director for the Security Council Eric Liu at VMUN this year. I am a Grade 12 student at Gleneagle Secondary, and I Chief of Staff have striven to be as involved in the MUN community as I possibly can. As your director, I am looking forward to watching you work to solve some of Catherine Chou Director-General the most pressing problems of the day. The two topics we have selected, Kurdistan and conflicts in South Asia, are • both important topics of concern to the entire international community. The Aliya-Nur Babul latter takes advantage of the fact that both Pakistan and India are currently USG Committees represented on the UNSC, providing a unique opportunity to discuss South Asian issues with the presence of those who the conflicts concern most. Be- Adam Chandani cause a lack of dialogue is one of the largest reasons these issues are still un- USG Conference solved, the opportunity for direct conversation will be a boon to our efforts Parker Nann to find a resolution. The first topic, Kurdistan, has to our knowledge never USG Delegate Affairs 1 been done in the Vancouver MUN circuit, and is very uncommon to see across the continent. It is our hope that you will be able to solve this import- Eden Lee ant but hitherto-little known problem. USG Delegate Affairs 2 If you ever have any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact me at Brian Kwok any time. I look forward to reading your position papers and watching you USG Finance find a resolution to these pressing problems, and I wish you good luck in your research. Andy Lee USG Marketing Regards, Catherine Wang Liam St. Louis USG Marketing Director, United Nations Security Council Kevin Chien USG Simulations Jennifer Yoon USG Sponsorship Position Paper Policy What is a Position Paper? A position paper is a brief overview of a country’s stance on the topics being discussed by a particu- lar committee. Though there is no specific format the position paper must follow, it should include a description of the positions your country holds on the issues on the agenda, relevant actions that your country has taken, and potential solutions that your country would support. At Vancouver Model United Nations, delegates should write a position paper for each of the com- mittee’s topics. Each position paper should not exceed one page, and should all be combined into a single document per delegate. For the United Nations Security Council, position papers are mandatory. Formatting Position papers should: — Include the name of the delegate, his/her country, and the committee — Be in a standard font (e.g. Times New Roman) with a 12-point font size and 1-inch docu- ment margins — Not include illustrations, diagrams, decorations, national symbols, watermarks, or page borders — Include citations and a bibliography, in any format, giving due credit to the sources used in research (not included in the 1-page limit) Due Dates and Submission Procedure All position papers must be submitted by midnight on Friday, January 18, 2013, two weeks prior to the conference. Once your position paper is complete, please save the file asyour last name, your first name and send it as an attachment in an email, to your committee’s email address, with the subject heading as your last name, your first name — Position Paper. Please do not add any other attachments to the email or write anything else in the body. Both your position papers should be combined into a single PDF or Word document file; position papers submitted in another format will not be accepted. Each position paper will be manually reviewed and considered for the Best Position Paper award. The email address for this committee is [email protected]. Topic A: The Situation in Kurdistan Overview Located in the Middle East, modern Kurdistan is the homeland of the Kurds, a 30-38 million strong people and the largest ethnic nation in the world without a state1. Since 1984, the Kurdistan Work- er`s Party (PKK) has fought and led insurgencies against the Turkish state, claiming to fight for an independent Kurdistan. Kurdish populations in Turkey, Iran, Syria, and Iraq have been singled out for persecution, but there is increasing global awareness of the Kurds as a people striving for independence. The tense relations between Iraq and its Kurdish population, and the ongoing insurgency, are both causes of instability in the Middle East. While focus on the Middle East has largely been centered around the Israeli-Palestinian relations, a solution to the situation in Kurdistan is necessary to bring about long-lasting stability to the region. Only with this problem resolved can the Kurdish people begin to emerge from destitution and eliminate violent ethnic rivalry which has persisted in the region for many years. 1http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/the-worlds-largest-nation-without-a-state-seeks-a-new-home- in-the-west-692440.html — 4 — Vancouver Model United Nations 2013 United Nations Security Council Timeline 1920 The Treaty of Sevres is signed, dividing up the Ottoman Empire and creating an independent “Kurdistan” out of Turkish territory. Turkish military pushback against occupying forces means the agreement is never ratified. 1923 The Treaty of Lausanne is signed and ratified, splitting up the Kurds between Turkey, Iran, Syria, and Iraq. 1937–1938 The Dersim Rebellion occurs in response to Turkish resettlement efforts, prompt- ing military repression and 20000 deaths. 1962 A special census serves to strip 20% of Syrian Kurds of their citizenship, leaving them and their descendants stateless. 1979 The Iranian Revolution occurs. While initially promising to support Kurdish aspirations for rights and autonomy, it fails to follow through with its word and the government kills 10,000 Kurds in a response to a Kurdish Rebellion. 1984 The PKK, a Kurdish terrorist group based in Turkey, launches its first attacks. The resulting war has caused up to 40000 deaths since 1984. 1988 The Iraqi government conducts the Anfal Campaign against its Kurds, killing 100000 and causing millions more to flee in what has since been recognized as genocide. 1991 The UN passes Resolution 688, which France, the UK, and the US use to justify no-fly zones over Iraq to protect Kurdish and Shia populations in the country until the Iraq War. 1994–1998 Iraqi Kurdish political parties fight a civil war that divided the country in two. The peace agreement ended the fighting but left the country divided under two administrations. 1995 35,000 Turkish troops enter Northern Iraq to attack PKK bases in the region. 1999 The leader of the PKK, Abdullah Ocalan, is expelled from his base in Syria and eventually captured by the Turkish government. 2003 Iraqi Kurds fight with coalition forces against Saddam Hussein in Iraq. 2005 An informal referendum suggests 95% of Iraqi Kurds support independence. Historical Analysis The Formation of Modern Kurdistan The Kurds have existed as a distinct people for over a thousand years. Descended from Caucasus mountain tribes, they formed principalities and kingdoms in the medieval period. While no sig- nificant “Kurdish Empire” has ever existed, large parts of Kurdistan enjoyed unity and reasonable levels of autonomy under the Ottoman Empire, from the 1600s until its collapse during WW1. At the conclusion of WW1, the Allied powers of Britain, France, and Italy agreed to divide up the territory of the Ottoman Empire under the Treaty of Sevres. The Treaty created an independent — 5 — Vancouver Model United Nations 2013 United Nations Security Council Kurdistan, consisting mostly of the Kurdish regions of modern-day Turkey.2 Before the agreement could be ratified, however, Mustafa Kemal led the Turkish National Movement and fought back against the Allied forces then occupying Turkey.3 The success of this mission gave Turkey a stronger position from which to bargain, and it forced the creating of the Treaty of Lausanne. This treaty was signed, creating the borders of today and giving Iraq and Syria as mandates to Britain and France respectively, thus ending the possibility of an independent Kurdistan. The PKK (Kurdistan Worker’s Party) The PKK, a well-known Kurdish paramilitary insurgent group, began as a student group in the 1970’s under the leadership of Abdullah Ocalan in the Turkish city of Ankara. The PKK moved into the Kurdish areas in south-east Turkey and Ocalan began to gather support from the peasants and farmers in the area. The organization faced its first major challenge during the Turkish military coup of 1980, where political parties were banned and the military instigated a severe crackdown on separatist groups. The leadership of the PKK, including Ocalan, fled to Syria, where the government used support for the PKK as leverage against Turkey and in other political disputes.4 Taking advantage of the freedom granted them by the Syrian government, the PKK began to build support, train fighters, and gather arms. In 1984, the PKK began launching attacks on police of- ficers5, the army, and members of the Presidential Guard in the Kurdistan region. At first, the government ignored the attacks, seeing the PKK as a fringe group that posed no significant threat. 2http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/treaty_of_sevres.htm 3http://www.erkutaldeniz.com/the-war-of-independence/ 4http://terrorism.about.com/od/groupsleader1/p/PKK.htm 5http://www.rferl.org/content/article/1060741.html — 6 — Vancouver Model United Nations 2013 United Nations Security Council However, continued attacks –particularly those on tourist resorts, designed to hurt Turkey’s major tourism industry - drew the attention of Turkish security forces.