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Book Review A nation denied

This volume reveals the many complexities of the struggle of the Kurds, whose aspirations have been systematically ignored by the international community, writes STEVE SWEENEY

The Cambridge History of the Kurds
Edited: Hamit Bozarslan, Cengiz Gunes, Veli Yadirgi
Cambridge University Press  £94.99

NUMBERING some 40 million people the Kurds are among the largest stateless ethnic groups in the world, yet also one of the world’s most misunderstood. Despite a rich history of culture and resistance, little is known of the Kurdish people outside of the diaspora.

There are striking similarities with the Palestinian struggle – both nations have had their land stolen by imperialist powers and face a genocide at the hands of powerful states – but the Kurdish cause has yet to penetrate the movement in a similar way.

The Cambridge History of the Kurds is an attempt to redress the balance, and a worthy one at that.

Spanning the 15th to 21st centuries and tackling a wide range of themes including language, art, culture and literature, along with political, social and religious movements in Kurdistan, this ambitious volume is perhaps the best written in the English language since David McDowell’s seminal Kurds: A History (2017).

Split into seven chapters, readers shouldn’t be put off by their titles, including the final section on Transversal Dynamics, which in my humble opinion contains the most important issue of unravelling the debate between the two main Kurdish camps – the secessionists and the autonomists.

The former are perhaps embodied by the conservative Barzani clan, which has roots in the failed Soviet-backed Mahabad Republic of 1946-1947 – known as “Red Kurdistan” – and are now fully integrated into the autonomous system in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq.

It was this experiment, however, that was the first attempt to give the Kurds a territorial state and offered a glimpse of how society could be organised differently.

Contrary to much mainstream thinking, influenced by Turkish accusations of separatism, those seeking autonomy and rights for Kurds to practice their own language, culture and beliefs within the countries in which they reside are the followers of jailed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) leader Abdullah Ocalan.

Ocalan’s interpretation of the US political philosopher, trade union organiser Murray Bookchin’s theories of communalism have been developed by his advocates as Democratic Confederalism.

The Kurdish enclave in northern Syria – known alternatively as Rojava or the Autonomous Administration of North East Syria (AANES) – applies this theory, with social projects and systems of governance running along autonomous lines and efforts at “direct democracy” at all levels of society.

These debates are not new as Joost Jongerden and Hamdi Akkaya explain in A People Beyond the State chapter. This is essential reading for those that want to familiarise themselves with the historical background to contemporary Kurdish thinking.

Inevitably in a volume of this size the quality is variable and certain sections will appeal to readers more than others depending on their particular area of interest.

The book generally reads well, in a language accessible to the lay reader, although verbose at times with academese.

More attention could have been given to the role of women in Kurdish society, which is left to the final two chapters. Of the two Isabel Kaser’s chapter, A Struggle Within a Struggle, is perhaps the standout in the entire book. Kaser explores the trajectory of the women’s movement within the PKK and the internal struggles for autonomous space and the contradictions that arise in the debates.

It would also have been beneficial in my view to have covered in greater detail the historical rupture between the Turkish left movements of the 1960s and their attitude to the Kurdish struggle at a critical juncture in the country’s history.

Ibrahim Kaypakkaya’s work on the National Question (1972), in which he defines the class nature of Turkey as a semi-colonial country and how the Kurds constitute a separate nation, has stood the test of time and still remains the reference point for Marxists today.

But these quibbles aside – besides the prohibitive price – this comprehensive compilation is invaluable for the general and specialist reader and should be first on the list for all those interested in Kurdish politics, history and culture.

Such broader understanding is vital in building the solidarity that is so necessary for the liberation of the Kurdish people and their simple dream to be free from tyranny and attempts at ethnic cleansing.

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