It has been a while since I started sharing some thoughts on Medya magazine. Time has shifted forward and many things have changed, but at the same time many aspects of life stays the same, because we are just humans.
Since last year august, I have moved back to Kurdistan. There were many reasons to do so, some were due to emotions and some were of just wanting to be closer to the soil and people that I love so much. I came back with the idea to try and help out, to try and change Kurdistan a little. I don’t think that one man can’t do enough of a impact for a change to occur. We all have a strength within us to cause a change, for better or worse, that’s pretty much up to you.
A lot has happened in and around Kurdistan in the past year, there were a lot of loses for the kurdish people, especially in Shingal, and let’s not forget about Jalawla, Kurdish lands around Kerkuk and Rojava.
There were also a lot of victories booked, since the rise of ISIS in Syria and Iraq. The kurdish Cantons in Rojava was a brilliant move from the Kurds there, it has caused commotions that wouldn’t have stopped Kurds on going forward with it. The take over of Kurdish lands around Kerkuk, where the Iraqi army abandoned it, made it the perfect win for the Peshmerga forces to move in.
There is also the resistance of Kobane, which shows the stubbornness of the Kurds. The resistance of Kobane is yet another tale of how Kurds have survived the pressure of being humiliated and murdered off by their neighbors. It shows the world that the Kurds may decide their future against their neighbors or against themselves, they are not easily scared off on protecting what it is theirs.
Take South Kurdistan as an example. For many years the Kurds have lived in this so called “Iraq” and have lived under their laws as well – as dealing with the Ba’ath party or the current Iraqi federal system. How they have dealt with that in the past or might even deal with in the future, the Kurds have always showed stubbornness to claim the right of the lands of Kurdistan as theirs. No matter which political party they follow, ideology or from which part they might come from, they are just stubborn enough to resist others calling Kurdish lands theirs.
Kurds being stubborn is a definite win for them and a headache for those who would want to see them fall. Many have played the Kurds against each other, from creating rifts between political parties, tribes, or parts of it. There have been enough problems between Kurdish parties from the south and their brethren’s from the North. When it came down to protecting Kurdish lands in South-Kurdistan, there was no hesitation from the PKK to send in their fighter to protect it.
When Kobane was facing the hardest of times, the different ideology of South and North for Rojava did not stop Kurdistan’s Peshmerga forces from the South to enter Kobane and assist the YPG in their fight against ISIS. That’s the stubbornness to resist, that will always be a hindrance to those who would want to see the Kurds fall.
Kurdish political parties might fight and would want to devour each other, but when it comes to a fight to reclaim or protect Kurdish lands, there is in my opinion nothing that can stop them of showing up and fight for the colors of red, yellow and green. The Ashti (peace) which is presented in the white of the flag, well that’s something that Kurds might need some time to find it.
Also published on pishtgir.com