The ethnic group known as the Kurds are distinct within the Middle
East where they can be recognized distinctly as unique from other
majorities and minorities (Purdy, 2020; Kurds, 2019). The Kurds as a
group possess their own history tied to a religion and territory, the
officially unrecognized Kurdistan, that spans back for thousands of
years (Lasky, 2019).
However, this long and rich history is largely ignored by the
countries that have claim over the land that Kurdistan wishes to be
in, which are Turkey, Syria, Iraq, and Iran. The demands are also
ignored frequently by the governments that control their territory
and population, leading to massacres and atrocities of similar
magnitude to war crimes such as the Anfal Campaigns (Kelly, 2007;
Baser & Toivanen, 2017; Fischer-Tahir, 2012). For reference, a war
crime can be considered as activities done during warfare that is not
even permissible by the standards of such a time of conflict (Rothe,
2019). A primary and accurate apotheosis of a war crime is an
unprovoked attack on unarmed civilians. The Anfal Campaign alone
caused mass destruction to numerous people, ending the livelihoods
of countless families that echoes to this day (Quandt, 1996;
Mlodoch, 2012; Kelly, 2007). The genocides that occurred against
the Kurdish people are so large, that they are frequently lined up
along the Armenian Genocide and Rwandan Genocide, both capable
of showcasing cruel murder of innocent minorities and populations
(Koinova, 2017; Gould, 2016; Powell, 2022). The recognition of the
Anfal campaigns that line up in atrociousness alongside other
genocides has yet to be formally recognized for by Iraq, and in this
lies the primary reason for creating a state of Kurdistan. It is
asserted by this post that a people that are not respected or even
observed as deserving of basic civil rights will be abused and
discriminated against with deadly results countless times. For the
protection of the Kurdish people and the avoidance of further loss
of life through governments that do not have the best interest of
these populations in basic courtesy, a separate state in which the
Kurdish people can live without fear of death should be created.
References
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Fischer-Tahir, A. (2012). Gendered Memories and Masculinities:
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