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Are Kurds a pariah minority?
Social Research, Spring, 2003 by Michael Rubin
The Syrian government has imposed other restrictions as well to reinforce the Kurds' pariah status. Kurdish may not even be taught in private schools (Nazdar, 1993: 200). While the European Union long criticized Turkey for restricting the Kurdish language--a law now repealed--it remains strangely silent on the Kurds' second-class status in Syria. Accordingly, Syrian Kurds can expect little improvement in their status. The Syrian government continues to severely limit civil society and prohibit not only an independent press, but also access to outside journalists. External pressure would be the only factor that might force the Syrian government to mitigate or eliminate anti-Kurdish discrimination but, unfortunately, it appears that European countries like France place greater emphasis on trade than on human rights.
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Conclusions
The twentieth century was not kind to the Kurds. The Turks and Iranians each have their own independent nation, while the Arabs have 21 countries. The Kurds seem destined to be minorities in others' lands. But does this make them a pariah minority? Not necessarily. Independence is not the only antidote to oppression, nor is it a viable solution given geopolitical realities.
Simple remedies for the Kurds do not exist because the problems are as diverse as the Kurds and the countries in which they live. Arab ethnic chauvinism is a major factor in the Kurds' pariah status in Iraq and Syria. The ideology of the ruling Ba'th party in both countries mandates second-class status for non-Arabs. The deference of the United Nations and European Union to the unelected governments in Baghdad and Damascus only reinforces those countries' undemocratic actions. The success of Iraq's Kurdish minority in areas freed from Saddam Hussein's autocracy show the Kurdish potential when unleashed from government oppression.
In the Islamic Republic of Iran, religion and not ethnicity is the major factor in the Kurds' pariah status. There may be slight variations of attitude among the elite of the Islamic Republic, but every member of the Iranian government must pay allegiance to a system in which Sunni Muslims are automatically inferior. Unfortunately, there will likely be no change in the Iranian Kurds' pariah status until the Islamic Republic falls.
The best hope for the Kurds is in Turkey. The Kurds share a large portion of blame for their historical treatment in Turkey. However, Ocalan's capture and arrest have removed the major impediment to renewed engagement and reform. The fact that Kurds and Turks share the same religion, and that Kurds have been successful in a variety of diverse fields inside Turkey, indicate that politics and security, rather than ethnicity and religion, are the major obstacles in resolving the Kurdish problem in Turkey. This raises questions of whether, in at least some countries in the region, the Kurds can simply be seen as an adversarial or enemy group rather than a pariah minority. In both Iraq and Turkey, Kurds took up arms against sovereign states, although in the case of Iraq insurrection was largely a matter of self-defense. However, since in Turkey the problem is political rather than ethnic or religious, if the Kurds forswear violence, the Turkish government and military may increasingly show a willingness to engage, although the process will likely be lengthy because of decades of mutual distrust. Nevertheless, in at least one country, the Kurds do have reason for optimism.
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