Topic: The Question of Kurdistan
Country: Kuwait
Delegate Name: James Kelly
School: Mattawan High School
Topic page: background guide and all position papers All Kuwait position papers GLIMUN 2014 committees
Following the first World War the middle east, mainly the Ottoman Empire was separated into many smaller nations. The Treaty of Sèvres (1920) divided the Ottoman Empire and Turkey. Among these smaller nations was Kurdistan. Kurdistan’s boundaries were agreed upon by the global community, but nationalist Kurds refused the boundaries because it failed to include a region called Van. The Kurds sovereignty was then omitted by the Treaty of Lausanne (1924) only four years later. The conclusion of the treaty led to Kurds living in Turkey, Syria, Iran, Iraq, and Afghanistan. Well over 30 million Kurds now live in unstable environments with weak governments and political and social instability. To add onto this issue, the Kurdish people have extremely limited rights which leave them very vulnerable to crimes.
The Kurdistan people have been protesting since 1924 when their chance for international recognition was denied. Now 70 years later, the Kurds are still in the middle of the turmoil, looking to become citizens of a country that isn’t recognized by any country. If Kurdistan were to become a sovereign nation then they would take territory from mainly Iraq and Turkey. Both Iraq and Turkey are willing to negotiate Kurdistan independence. The State of Kuwait supports Kurdistan's drive to create their own nation. While most issues in the middle east stem from religion, Kurdistan does not have a concrete religion, which is a major reason why Kuwait supports the Kurds. Because the Kurds do not have a major religion, violence over religion will be greatly reduced.
Because Kuwait is not a part of Kurdistan’s requested territory, Kuwait believes that the countries losing territory should negotiate peacefully over border possibilities. Kuwait supports the Kurds in their lengthy journey for independence. Our solution to the Kurdistan issue is to give the Kurds their sacred land, such as, Van. The safest location for Kurdistan would most likely be between Turkey and Iraq because both countries recognized Kurds as an international ethnicity. Kurdistan has managed to stay out of the religious turmoil in the middle east by avoiding the commitment to one religion. To avoid future conflict the Kurd’s religious outlook should be monitored by the United Nations and make sure that there is a separation between the church and the state. This would force freedom of religion in the Kurdish state, but this is only to avoid further conflict.
