Topic: The Question of Kurdistan
Country: France
Delegate Name: Patrick Jarvis
School: Forest Hills Central High School
Topic page: background guide and all position papers All France position papers GLIMUN 2014 committees
The modern kurdish nationalism that is behind the present agitation for independence originated with the first world war, and the dissolution of The Ottoman Empire. Kurdistan was due to receive a portion of the former Ottoman lands, but was denied that, partially due to the efforts of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the first Prime Minister and President of Turkey, who made every attempt to recover as much land as possible for Turkey, including much of Kurdistan. The Kurds were initially supported by Woodrow Wilson, as part of his campaign for national sovereignty in Austria and the Ottoman Empire, starting a long and eventful relationship with the United States. A series of uprisings in Turkey in the twenties and thirties cemented The Kurdish place in the region, and the harsh putting down of these revolts set a definitive precedent. Over the next decades, Kurds in Iraq, Iran, and Turkey created organizations dedicated to Kurdish independence, including the Kurdish Democratic Party (KDP) in Iraq. In 1978, The Kurdish Workers Party (PKK) was formed in Turkey, and is now labeled a terrorist organization. In Turkey, the Kurdish language was banned until 1991 and since, has been heavily regulated. In Iraq, a Kurdish revolt during the Iran-Iraq war was met with the brutal anfal campaign in which many Kurds were killed. In Iran, a rebellion, supported nominally by the US, during the Islamic revolution was crushed. In the nineties, The two major Iraqi Kurdish groups, the KDP and the PUK (Patriotic Union of Kurdistan) fought a war that resulted in a unified Iraqi Kurdistan in 1998. Turkey invaded Iraqi Kurdistan and attacked the PKK. During the Iraq War, the Kurds supported the US led coalition, and PKK bases were attacked by Turkey and Iran. Massoud Barzani was reelected President of Iraqi Kurdistan in 2009, but before that had made several independent visits to western countries as the head of Iraqi Kurdistan. During the Syrian Civil War, Iraqi Kurdistan allowed refugees into the region. In the present crisis, The Iraqi Kurds are fighting ISIS in Northern Iraq and Syria, and Turkey allowed Iraqi Kurdish troops to cross to Syria through turkey to fight ISIS.
The 1975 Algiers Agreement ended the Iraq-Iran war and allowed Iraq to slaughter its Kurdish population without the support of Iran or the CIA to support it. The UNSC Resolution 688 condemned the mistreatment and denial of human rights of the Iraqi people, including the Kurds, by the government in Baghdad, at the behest of France, Turkey, and Iran. It paved the way for the establishment of no-fly zones over Iraq. The 1998 Washington Agreement ended the four- year civil war between the Iraqi Kurds and resulted in a unified Iraqi Kurdistan. Peace talks between Turkey and Kurdistan resulted in the 2013 removal of PKK insurgents from Turkish Kurdistan into Iraqi Kurdistan, seen now as an end to long standing hostilities, and paves the way for extended human rights for Turkish Kurds. In Iraq, the Transitional Administrative Law, the transitional constitution approved in 2005, recognized Kurdistan as a state in the Federation.
France would support the creation of a Pan-Kurdish council to ensure the fair and just treatment of the Kurdish people. France would support an increase in autonomy of Kurdish populations in the region according to the model demonstrated in Iraq, in which security is handled locally, and many major decisions are made by the regional government. France would not support outright full independence and the immediate creation of a Kurdish state, as situations in the region continue to necessitate greater unity across the region. A long term independence process would not be out of the question.
The Republic of France expects support from nations such as the United States, The United Kingdom, Italy, and Canada, and expects resistance from nations such as Iraq, Turkey, Syria, and Iran.
