Kurdish - Turkish Conflict in Middle Eastern Region

United Nations Security Council

 

I.- Introduction

The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) is one of the six main entities of the UN. Its task is to maintain and provide international security and peace with actions such as sanctions, peacekeeping missions (with the use of the United Nations Military Forces - blue helmets) and the approval and authorization of military actions based on resolutions. This organ’s first meeting was held in 1946 and currently has the United Nations headquarters in New York City as its main office. Just like the United Nations itself, the UNSC was born from the ashes of the failed organization composed by Woodrow Wilson, The League of Nations. This failed attempt was put in place after WWI, with the purpose of securing peace and making sure a world war wouldn't happen again. Subsequently, the organization was dismantled and after WWII, a new one was born - The United Nations. The UN and the UNSC have been active since 1945 and have since been major components in international affairs and international response to certain crises like the Korean War, The Cyprus Crisis, The Gulf War and many others. The Security Council consists of 15 members, 5 permanent (USA, UK, China, France, Russian Federation) and 10 rotating, that change every two years (elected by the General Assembly). The five main delegations have the power to veto any resolution that any UNSC member presents.

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The Kurdish-Turkish conflict is an armed conflict between Turkey and various Kurdish groups that seek independence to form a state called “Kurdistan” or a larger political autonomy within the parameters of the Nations that the Kurds are in. Since the conflict’s beginning in 1978, multiple components of the ethnic group have manifested their desires with arms, launching attacks all over Turkey, mostly in southeastern Turkey due to its proximity with the Iraqi border (where a big concentration of Kurds live). The Iraqi Kurdish region in the north has served as a platform to launch attacks into Turkish territory, prompting Turkey to repeatedly attack Iraqi territory where Kurds are established. This ongoing effort has had a 450 billion USD cost to the Republic of Turkey. In 2012, a mutual effort to bring peace to the region was a goal for both Turkish government and the PKK (Kurdish workers party, a major organization in the Kurdish armed conflict and the one that provides most of the action on the issue). A ceasefire was agreed upon after a year of negotiation but in 2015, riots and violence by both parties sparked the conflict again and both sides re-started full-scale military aggression, prompting the conflict to resume and develop, with no view of peace any time soon.

 

II.- History and Description of the Issue

To understand this topic thoroughly, it is essential to look at it from a bigger perspective.  This issue remains from the fall of the Ottoman Empire, in 1923 this empire was split into various countries by France and the United Kingdom in the Sykes-Picot agreement giving this land to the actual countries of Turkey, Iraq, Syria, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Armenia, Georgia, Yemen, Jordan, and Azerbaijan. Part of the problem is that the region is far more ethnically diverse than what they thought it was.

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This means that through all the 20  century the Kurds were marginalized and displaced. In the late 30s, their language and culture were banned and violent acts such as torture and destruction of villages started to take place in Turkey, Syria, and Iraq. In the 80s and 90s in the Iraq and Iran conflict, the Iraqis felt that the Kurds were helping Iran and a massacre of 2 years led to thousands of Kurdish deaths.

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The Kurds are raised to become independent and it has become part of their identity to fight for a free state in which they can develop themselves and have cultural, social, political and economic stability, so it is more as a “political dream” to become free and have their liberty. But the vast majority of the middle east countries are against the idea of the Kurdish having their own country. “Iraq and Turkey are very much against the establishment of  Kurdish state even outside of their borders because they feel that if there is a Kurdish political entity anywhere in the Middle East this will threaten the so-called unity of this two countries.” - states professor Deniz Ekici, professor of Kurdish studies UC Berkeley.

 

III.- International Response

International entities such as NATO, The European Union, and the United Nations have complied studies and monitored the situation from a neutral standpoint. Although there was a minor desire to intervene in the peace talks between Turkey and the Kurdish groups in 2012, the UN agreed to stand back and let both parties manage such an important task. The UN has condemned actions by both parties that violate human rights and break the Geneva accords like torture, employing children in the war effort, mass executions, etc. Since the beginning of the conflict, the United Nations has not directly intervened in the conflict due to a big discrepancy between the UN members on the exact nature of the issue. Some of the nations, including the U.S.A and other allied powers, give logistical and military aid to the Kurds and their efforts while others express their unconditional assistance to Turkey and Iraq.

 

IV. Committee Mission

The mission of this committee is to take action on the Kurdish- Turkish conflict. This zone is fragile, full of oil and weapons, thus representing a serious danger if the conflict maintains its current course. The United Nations Security Council states the importance of the maintenance of Middle Eastern peace, the respect of the Turkish sovereignty and the human rights/security of the Kurdish autonomous ethnicity in the region.

 

Questions for further consideration.

• Should the Kurds have their own state?

• What nations are directly involved in the problem?

• Should Arab nations deny the Kurds the possibility to have land?

• What resolution could benefit both parties to end the conflict?

• How does the conflict affect the Middle East region and what are the global consequences?

• What Countries are key allies for both Turkey and the Kurdish groups?

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Annotated links for further research

• https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-29702440

• https://www.cfr.org/interactives/global-conflict-tracker#!/conflict/conflict-between-turkey-and-armed-kurdish-groups

• https://fas.org/asmp/profiles/turkey_background_kurds.htm

• https://www.britannica.com/place/Turkey

• https://www.infoplease.com/atlas/middle-east

Works Cited 

1. “Who Are the Kurds?” BBC News, BBC, 31 Oct. 2017,    www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-29702440.

2. AJ . “Why Don't Syria, Iran, Iraq And Turkey Want A Kurdistan? | AJ .” YouTube, YouTube, 14 Jan. 2018, www.youtube.com/watch?v=rFQ dNTP 4&t=303s.

3.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kurdish%E2%80%93Turkish_conflict_(1978%E2%80%93 present)

4. “The Kurds in Turkey.” Preparing for the 21st Century, FAS, fas.org/asmp/profiles/turkey_background_kurds.htm.

5. “The Kurds in Turkey.” Preparing for the 21st Century, FAS, fas.org/asmp/profiles/turkey_background_kurds.htm.