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Christians of Iraq
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Ghetto-blaster: Cantons for Assyrians and Yazidis along with the Turkomans February 2, 2006
KurdishMedia.com - By Dr Showan Khurshid
It seems that Jalal Talabani's project of autonomy for Turkomans, is causing some unease. It should not. In fact we should welcome it wholeheartedly. However, this is not to say it would be easy from a practical point of view, when we consider that there is no single area in which the Turkomans constitute a clear majority.The solution to be tried may be to divide cities like Kerkuk into different cantons for different sections of the society. At the very least, there is no reason why we should not try this or any of all the different suitable solutions. In fact, I would suggest that a similar scheme should be arranged for Yazidis, Assyrians and perhaps Shabaks, as well as any other group wanting to enjoy similar arrangements. Yazidis and Assyrians are even more deserving than Turkomans to have their autonomous enclaves, considering that non-Muslims face Islamic insensitivities and hostility, which has characterised even Kurdish Muslims' attitude.
Assyrians and Yazidis should be allowed to have their authorities. These can assert their heritage, culture and their right to be respected by the Muslims majority, and this cannot be achieved without their own enclaves and institutions.
My support for this autonomy stems from the disposition of the evolutionary political theory, (see 'Knowledge Processing, Creativity and Politics'), which encourages and expects to see great decentralisation of the power from the centre to the regions and peripheries. So whenever a community is capable and prepared to run their affairs they should be encouraged to do so.
I cannot say what motivated Mr. Jalal Talabani, which is another very interesting issue. We can offer nothing more than speculations for the time being. Did he make the announcement just to please the Turks and Turkomans? Or was it a good move to embarrass the Turks with their less generous spirit, manifested in their denial of the rights of their Kurds? Was it done on the spur of the moment, because he happened to have an interview with Turkish media, or was the move debated with the President of Kurdistan, cabinet and parliament? If his concern was democracy, why should not he have suggested the same measures for Yazidis and Assyrians? In any case it is a good move.
Concerns over autonomy may arise from two different drives. On the one hand, some people may be concerned with the formation of ghettos. Currently, ghettos are being formed all over Iraq; consider those of the Sunnis and Shiites, where individuals can lose their lives if caught on the 'wrong' side. Kerkuk has always been characterised by ghettos.
Although, in the past Kurdish and Turkomani ghettos were suppressed and subdued under the domination of Arab settlers. However, ghettos are really a worldwide phenomena. The reason for the formation of ghettos is the existence of differing ideological values.
This leads to failure to accord equal moral values on the basis of ethnicity, race, and religion or lack of religion. The most effective counter measure against ghettos is allowing cantons or autonomous areas, run by respected community leaders who are prepared to uphold human rights and cooperate with regional government based on mutual respect. On the other hand, some people might oppose the formation of cantons because of nationalism. Kurds, like other people, can have nationalists and even ultra-nationalists.
As far as I can see, nationalism is good neither for Kurds nor for anyone else. Kurds, like others, should aspire to maintain human rights for themselves and others. Allowing nationalists to dominate our thinking and our politics only leads to militant rulers using and abusing us. Indeed, such a way of thinking is one of the reasons ghettos are formed.
Cantons can give individuals greater choice, and they give incentive to local administrations to attract capital and creative individuals, in the hope that receiving more revenues. Unlike ghettos, cantons can become very healthy institutions.