The Hague International Model United Nations 2020 | 26th January 2020 – 31st January 2020 Forum: Advisory Panel Issue: Stabilising the Kurdish Region to Prevent Further Conflicts Introduction Starting with the French Revolution in 1789, the notion of nationalism drastically rose and set the course of territorial formation that will take place in the upcoming centuries. While many states were empires prior to the revolution, accommodating people diverse ethnicities, nationalism changed the perception of a national formation and divided populations based on one’s ethnicity instead of other identification parameters. With such a drastic change, numerous nations were formed, including 54 states in Africa, Israel in Middle East, and many others in South Eastern Asia. With an ethnic root correlating to a nationality, numerous minority movements commenced and many resulted with successful state secessions or formations. However, one that failed and became a geo-political significance is the Kurdish state, which theoretically never gained full independence. Kurdish people, being the largest ethnic group without a fully independent state, have been spanning a vast territory encapsulating regions in Turkey, Syria, Iraq, and Armenia. The territorial span can be viewed in the image to the right. The Kurdish presence in the region stretches to a distant past as people of Kurdish ethnicity were considered to be the indigenous people of the Mesopotamian plains- region located between Tigris and Euphrates. Furthermore, Vilayet-i Kurdistan (Kurdish State within the Ottoman Empire) was quite similar to an autonomous state during the Ottoman Empire’s jurisdiction over the region. However, then with the establishment of modern states, specifically Turkey, Syria, Iraq, and Iran, Kurdish independence became a struggle with global involvement. Over the 20th century, there have been independently coordinated Kurdish independence/ autonomy struggles respectively in Turkey, Iraq, and Syria, while not having almost any conflict in Armenia. The conflict in Turkey involved multiple rebellions in multiple cities while the conflict has been having a sharp severity peak since the 1980s with the rise of Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK). On the Iraqi side, Kurds have been equipped with many more national right compared to the Kurds in neighbouring states. Furthermore, Iraqi Kurds have been well represented through the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP). Research Report | Page 1 of 15 The Hague International Model United Nations 2020 | 26th January 2020 – 31st January 2020 Though there have been numerous clashes in Iraq as well, a Kurdistan Regional Government was established in 1992 as an autonomous state; yet, its independence referendum in 2017 was not acknowledged by almost any state. Finally, Kurds in Syria have been struggling to exercise their national rights over the past century. With the arousal of the Syrian Civil War, Kurdish militias have been actively defending regions of Kurdish majority. Without much international consensus on the issue, Kurdish people have been struggling to gain independence and recognition. CONCERNING THE MOST RECENT EVENTS, AN UPDATE REPORT WRITTEN BY THE THIMUN FOUNDATION WILL BE PUT ON OUR WEBSITE SHORTLY. Definition of Key Terms State Actor State actors are nation states with international recognition. State actors are also known as de jure entities, meaning that they are based on rightful entitlements. While the term is quite comprehendible, many sub-disputes in this research report denotes state- non-state disputes. Non State Actor Non-State actors that lack an international recognition. Many of the non-state actors are de facto entities, which either lack legal entitlements to officially have a nation state or acting in somehow autonomous manner while lacking official recognition. Such examples include the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). Autonomy The term autonomy denotes right to self-rule. Within the context of this issue, autonomous states mainly are de facto states with set of recognized rights to self-rule and have an internal jurisdiction. An example is the Iraqi Kurdistan (KRG), which tough is autonomous, lacks international recognition and representation. Internal Colonization Internal colonization has been present for centuries and has been mostly used by the Ottoman Empire for populating the Balkan regions with Turkmens for unifying the population. Such a process mainly aims to prevent any rebellion or secession attempt and cultural assimilation for maintaining unity within the state. This method was mainly used by Iraq to prevent a Kurdish secession or autonomy in Northern Iraq. Ba’athisim Page 2 of 15 | Research Report The Hague International Model United Nations 2020 | 26th January 2020 – 31st January 2020 Ba’athism is a nationalistic ideology aiming to create a unified Arab State. The ideology was in effect in Egypt during the Naser administration and in Iraq during the Saddam administration. The ideology mainly aims to eliminate any possible threats to a unified state, which has been a Kurdish state for the Ba’athist Iraqi administration and Israel between 1960-80 for its bordering Arab states. Background Information The report will be delivering a brief overview of the Kurdish history in this section. The subsequent subsections will mainly respectively analyse the Kurdish conflicts in Turkey, Syria, and Iraq. As mentioned in the introductory section, the Ottoman Empire had a state named Kurdistan. Then with the World War 1 approaching to an end with the Treaty of Sevres, leading to the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire and its territory, some of the Kurdish groups entertained the opportunity and sought independence. Prior to the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire, an Ottoman commander, Nihat Pasha, negotiated the Kurdish independence. However, with the initiation of the rising founder of the Turkish Republic, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, Nihat Pasha was indicted and the promised region’s independence was not approved by the Turkish National Grand Assembly (the Parliament prior to Turkish Republic). In the meanwhile, 1922- 24, the Kingdom of Kurdistan existed in Iraq, which was later dissolved due to war with Ba’athists (ones demanding a unified Arab State in the region). Additionally, the Turkish Republic suppressed multiple Kurdish revolts 1925, 1930, and 1937 as a response to the Republic of Ararat, which was mainly established by Kurdish forces backed up by the British. As mentioned, with a war broking out in Iraq between 1960-70, Kurdish citizens were unsatisfied with limited ruling, alongside limited access to cities such as Kirkuk (Kerkuk), an oil rich territory. Though Iraq was not willing to provide a fully independent state to Kurdish people within Iraqi territory, an Iraqi-Kurdish stateman devised boundaries for an independent Kurdish State, which included a wide-spanning territory in Eastern Turkey. However, the result was unsuccessful on the Kurdish front as many of the rebellions were suppressed violently, eventually setting Martial Law in Kurdish majority cities of Turkey. Kurdish Conflict in Iraq This conflict is mainly described as a sequence of events where Kurdish forces were creating a insurgency with the objective of an independent Kurdish nation. This conflict aroused after the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire and the end of the first World War. Research Report | Page 3 of 15 The Hague International Model United Nations 2020 | 26th January 2020 – 31st January 2020 As mentioned, the conflict initially aroused after the WW1. With Iraq remaining under the British mandate, Mahmud Barzani conducted multiple armed rebellion against the mandate forces. Barzani was mainly representative of the Kurdish population, whose family carried the leading role within the Iraqi Kurdish conflict. On top of not being successful in his rebellion, Barzani was exiled to India, which was under British control at the time. As soon as he managed to return, he was once again appointed as a governor in Northern Iraq, which led him to execute the second series of rebellion. Eventually, he declared himself the king of the Kurdish Kingdom, a state that existed only between 1922-1924. However, the British forces clearly outweigh the Kurdish ones, reinstating the British centralized governance in the region. The second set of impactful revolts (1931) were executed under Ahmed Barzani’s governance. Ahmed Barzani’s success was mainly in unifying the Southern Kurdistan (Iraqi Kurdistan, as visible in the map to the right). Southern Kurdistan was mainly populated with diverse Kurdish tribes that remained distant prior to the first World War, and such a unification was a major show-off of strength towards the internationally recognized government. However, the Barzani forces were defeated by the Iraqi forces, which were backed up by the British. As a result, the Kurdish opposition took a more underground-like stance. In short, though the Kurdish forces were defeated for multiple times, it maintained a steady resilience to the Iraqi military, drastically making Kurdish nationalism a more prominent and popular notion. The final revolt during the Kingdom of Iraq period took place between 1943-45. The revolt resulted in a defeat for the Kurdish forces, eventually exiling Mustafa Barzani. Afterwards, the 1958 Iraq coup d’État took place, demolishing the kingdom and establishing the current day Iraqi state. The new Iraqi president invited Mustafa Barzani back to the country from his exile and promised a Kurdish autonomous