Iraqi Kurdistan: history and features

2024 Author: Henry Conors | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-12 02:44

In the modern world, not every nation, even very numerous, has its own state. There are many countries where several peoples live at once. This causes a certain tension in society, and the country's leadership has to carefully listen to all groups of the population. One good example of this is Iraqi Kurdistan. This is an unrecognized republic that has its own anthem (from Iraq), languages (Kurmanji and Sorani), prime minister and president. The currency used in Kurdistan is the Iraqi dinar. The people live on the territory of about 38 thousand square meters. km., total population of 3.5 million people.

Features of Kurdistan

Kurds settled in several countries of the Middle East, including Iraq. According to the constitution recently adopted in this country, Iraqi Kurdistan has a status of broad autonomy, something similar to the position of a member of a confederation. But in fact it turns out that the territories are semi-independent ofIraqi government. However, the Catalans in Spain thought the same, but the main word was always with Madrid. And the country's authorities simply took and dissolved the Parliament of Catalonia, when the latter tried to express their opinion and secede from Spain.

Resettlement of ethnic Kurds

But the East is a delicate matter, there are completely different rules and customs. The territories of ethnic Iraqi Kurdistan (a referendum at the end of 2005 made adjustments, completely legalizing the lands for the Kurds) include the following areas:

• Erbil.
• Soleimani.
• Dahuk.
• Kirkuk.
• Khanekin (specifically Diyala Governorate);
• Makhmur.
• Sinjar.

These are all areas where a lot of ethnic Kurds live. But besides them, many other peoples are settled in these territories. It is customary to call only three governorates directly the Kurdistan region - Suleimani, Erbil and Dahuk.

The rest of the lands inhabited by Kurds cannot yet boast of at least partial autonomy.

The referendum in Iraqi Kurdistan was planned to be held back in 2007. If everything worked out, then the ethnic group living in the rest of Iraq would have gained independence, albeit partial. But the situation is escalating constantly - a large number of Turkomans and Arabs live on these lands, who do not accept the laws of the Kurds and are mostly opposed to them.

Climate features in Kurdistan

On the territory of Iraqi Kurdistan, a largethe number of lakes and rivers, the relief is predominantly mountainous, the highest point is Mount Chik Dar, its peak is 3,611 meters above sea level. There are a lot of forests in the provinces - mostly in Dahuk and Erbil.

The total area of forest plantations is 770 hectares. The authorities are landscaping the land, the territories are planted with forests. In total, three climatic zones can be distinguished on the territory of Kurdistan in Iraq:

1. Subtropics prevail in flat areas. Hot and dry summers with temperatures of 40 degrees, while winters are mild and rainy.
2. Several mountainous areas where winters are predominantly cold with snow, but the temperature drops below zero very rarely. In summer, it is very hot in the highlands.
3. Highlands. Here the winters are very cold, the temperature is always below zero, the snow goes closer to June-July.

History of South Kurdistan before entering Iraq

There are suggestions that the modern ethnic group of Kurds was formed on the territory of Iraqi Kurdistan. The Median tribes originally lived here. So, near Sulaimaniya, the very first written source written in the Kurdish language was found - this parchment dates back to the 7th century. It has a small poem written on it lamenting the Arab attack and the destruction of Kurdish shrines.

In 1514, the Battle of Chaldiran took place, after which Kurdistan joined the possessions of the Ottoman Empire. In general, the population of the IraqiKurdistan has lived for many centuries on the same territory. In the Middle Ages, several emirates existed on these lands at once, having almost complete independence:

1. Sinjar is the center in the city of Lalesh.
2. Soran is the capital in Rawanduz.
3. Bakhdinan is the capital in Amadia.
4. Baban is the capital in Sulaymaniyah.

In the first half of the 19th century, these emirates were completely liquidated by Turkish troops.

History of Kurdistan in the 19th century

The first half of the 19th century was marked by the fact that in almost all territories of Iraqi Kurdistan there were uprisings against the rule of the Ottoman emperors. But these uprisings were quickly crushed, and the Turks, in fact, re-conquered all the lands.

Most of the tribes that lived in hard-to-reach places were not under the control of the Ottoman Empire. Some were able to maintain complete independence, others only partial. The entire 19th century was marked by the struggle for independence of certain tribes of Kurdistan.

Kurdistan at the beginning of the 20th century

At the beginning of the 20th century, during the First World War, British troops entered Kirkuk, and Russian troops entered Sulaymaniyah. It happened in 1917, but soon the revolution in Russia ruined the entire front. And only the British remained in Iraq, who were actively opposed by the Kurds.

The resistance was commanded by Barzanji Mahmud, who declared himself the King of Kurdistan. The British planned to create a federation of Kurdish tribes in Mosul. But after the Kingdom of Iraq was formed, Mosul was included in the territoriesIraq.

One of the reasons why this happened is that a large oil field was discovered near Kirkuk in 1922. And the Anglo-Saxons were very fond of "black gold" and were ready to do anything to possess it - to overthrow the legitimate government, to exterminate peoples by genocide, to unleash long and bloody wars.

Turkey tried to lay claim to Mosul, claiming that the occupation of the territory by the British was illegal, but the League of Nations put an end to it in December 1925, taking into account the demarcation line.

Iraqi Monarchy

After the transfer of Mosul into submission to Iraq, the Kurds were declared national rights. In particular, only local residents could become officials in Kurdistan, and their language was equated to the state language - it had to be taught in educational institutions, and it should be the main one in office work, in the courts.

But, in fact, these rights were not realized - the officials were exclusively Arabs (at least 90% of the total), the Kurdish language was taught at most in primary school, there was no development of industry. No elections in Iraqi Kurdistan could fix the situation.

1930-1940 uprisings

There was clear discrimination against the Kurds - they were reluctantly hired, in military schools and universities. Sulaimaniya was considered the capital of Kurdistan.it was from here that the self-proclaimed king Mahmud Barzanji ruled. But, as soon as his last uprising was crushed, the Barzan tribe of Kurds takes on a major role.

In particular, power is in the hands of Ahmed and Mustafa Barzani. They lead a series of uprisings against the central authorities. In 1931-1932, the rebels obey Sheikh Ahmed, in 1934-1936. - Khalil Khoshavi. And Mustafa Barzani led them from 1943 to 1945.

With the outbreak of World War II, in 1939, the Khiva organization appeared in Iraqi Kurdistan, which means "hope" in Kurdish. But in 1944, a split occurred in it - the Ryzgari Kurd party left it. In 1946, she merged with the revolutionary Shorsh party and formed a new Democratic Party, led by Mustafa Barzani.

The period from 1950 to 1975

In 1958, the monarchy was overthrown in Iraq, which made it possible for a short time to equalize the Kurds with the Arabs. There was hope that improvements would occur in all spheres of life - both political and economic (in particular, agrarian). But the hopes were not justified, in 1961 there was another uprising of the Kurds, called "September".

It lasted almost 15 years and ended only in 1975. The reason for the uprising was also the fact that the government, headed at that time by Kasem, chose the side of the Arabs, and, to put it mildly, did not care about the Kurds.

The slogan of the insurgent people was the same: "Freedom and autonomy for Kurdistan!". And in the first year, Mustafa Barzani took control of almost all the mountainous territories, whose population is almost one and a half million people.

In 1970, Saddam Hussein and Mustafa Barzani sign an agreement according to which the Kurds have the full right to autonomy. Initially, it was said that a law on autonomy would be developed within 4 years. But at the beginning of 1974, official Baghdad unilaterally passes a law that does not suit the Kurds.

Autonomy was granted, but only Kirkuk (which has huge oil reserves) remained behind Iraq, while the Kurds were almost forcibly expelled from there. These territories were settled by Arabs.

Kurdistan under Saddam Hussein

After the defeat of the Kurds in 1975, mass emigration to Iran began. There was no question of any recognition of the independence of Iraqi Kurdistan, as well as elections and referendums. You could fight with a weapon in your hands - that's exactly what happened in 1976. A new uprising began under the leadership of Jalal Talabani. But his strength of resistance was simply negligible. Therefore, although "autonomy" was proclaimed in the three provinces, it was completely subordinate to Baghdad.

In 1980, the Iran-Iraq war began, and the territory of Kurdistan became a battlefield. In 1983, the Iranians invaded Kurdistan, taking control of Penjvin and an area around it of 400 square meters in a few months. km. In 1987, the Iranians reached Soleimani, butwere stopped near him. And in 1988, Iraq completely expels opponents from the territories of Kurdistan.

At the final stage, there was a purge - more than 180 thousand Kurds were taken out in army vehicles and destroyed. 700 thousand people were deported to camps. Of the 5,000 Kurdistan settlements, more than 4,500 were completely destroyed, most of them. Saddam treated the population harshly - villages were bulldozed, and people, if they could, fled to Iran or Turkey.

Present

During the 1990s, what happened before is happening - territories that historically belonged to the Kurds were carefully cleared. The indigenous population was expelled, sometimes exterminated. All lands were inhabited by Arabs, went under the complete control of Baghdad. But in 2003, the US invasion of Iraq began. The Iraqi Kurds took the side of the American troops. Years of Iraqi oppression of this people played a role.

It was on the territory of Kurdistan that the transfer of the American military was carried out. At the end of March, the contingent numbered 1,000 fighters. But the Turks held back the high activity of the Kurds - they threatened to use force in the event of an invasion of Mosul and Kirkuk.

After the fall of Baghdad, autonomy came to the Kurds. Several thousand companies are developing on the territory of Kurdistan and the emphasis is on tourism - there is something to see in the ancient lands. For foreign investors, investing in Iraqi Kurdistan is just manna from heaven, as they are exempted from paying any taxes for as much as 10 years.or taxes. Oil production is also actively developing - we can say that this is the basis of the economy of any country in the Middle East.