Kurds: Unity in Culture, Struggle for Independence - Research Paper

Introduction

Kurds, also known as Kurdish, refers to the ethnic group occupying the northern part of Iraq and its neighborhood (McDowall, 1996). Kurdistan thus represents the group occupying the region, sharing a universal language. Kurdistan enjoys a history of productive cultural activities. The unity of the Kurds arising from their cultural activities fosters the region's struggle for independence from the mainland Iraqi government. Several pieces of literature indicate that the culture influenced the region's struggle for independence. The community used several approaches to agitate against colonialism. Among the methods, referendums took the bulk of the push. Two polls were to compel the mainland Iraqi government to confirm the region's independence (Brenneman, 2016). Brenneman credits the conflicts between the Kurds and their neighbors in the region's arising from different cultural values and beliefs as the main factors that fuelled the Kurds to seek for their sovereignty. This work explores Kurdish culture in the effort to establish if it influenced the region's road to independence.

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Background

McDowall's (1996) work indicates that until the First World War, the community, the community practiced nomadism, moving from region to region with their cattle in such of greener pastures. After the war, the Kurd adopted farming to supplement nomadism as an economic activity. Later on, the community entirely took farming due to its conveniences. Due to crop farming, the people would settle at a point and establish their territory (Brenneman, 2016).

Allison (1996) describes culture as the social aspect that represents people's values, believes, and ways of life. Therefore, culture groups people with identical social features. Although the Iraqi Kurdistan lives in Northern Iraq, they display a completely different social live attributes that identify them and portrays them as a unique group in that three provinces of Iraq. The community integrates its ethnical norms with the norms of the Muslim religion (Kurdistan government, 2019; Allison, 1996). The Kurd's culture underpins the group's social rules and practices, hence giving them a sense of belonging and togetherness.

As a military man, my last two deployments were over the 2015-2018 timeframe, living at the Mosul Dam in Kurdish controlled Iraq, just outside of Dohuk. After working with the Peshmerga in 2015, I became vested and very interested in Kurdish culture, politics, and their desire for independence. In 2017, I returned to Kurdistan, this time working closely with the Iraqi military than the Peshmerga. The Peshmerga was twice more reliable than the Iraqis and was ready to confront them down the road. The unstable local politics in the region forced me out of Baghdad.

Over this period, the Iraqi government handed the Kurds their referendum quest. The motivation in Dohuk was high, making everyone see the success that the poll would bring forth. Unfortunately, nothing happened. After a short period, after the Peshmerga aides had cleared Mosul, the Iraqi military moved up, took Kirkuk, and pushed the Kurds out of their way again. Culturally, I enjoyed the interactions the Kurds display. They are always accommodative with most of the admirable cultural traits. Since I was on a military mission that needs a stable psychological state, the Northern Kurdistan people depicted the best of the social behaviors that were crucial for my mental stability.

Iraqi Kurdish Culture

The Kurds belong to a heterogeneous ethnic group with diverse cultural practices obtained from Iraqi Kurdistan, Iran, Turkey, and Syria (Kreyenbroek & Allison, 1996). Kreyenbroek and Allison add that due to this diversity, Kurds have productive and accommodative norms and cultural practices. Although they belong to the old ethnic groupings, most of them have assimilated the current and modern cultural beliefs of Iraq, Turkey, and Iran origins (Lawrence, 2009). They keep struggling to keep their cultural values and practices alive despite the fact most of them receive assimilation from the neighbors. Lawrence (2009) credits the region's inclination to their cultural traditions for fostering its efforts towards self-determination.

Kurdistan government (2019) notes that the accommodating nature of the group's culture makes the surrounding communities invade the region. The incoming groups weaken the region's way of life and subsequently undermining the unity among the Kurds. The rapid influx of immigrants caused the Kurds to feel threatened. This feeling makes them desire to secure their independence, which will preserve their area and culture. As a result, the tussle between Iraqi Kurdistan and the Iraq government has escalated in the past few years (Marcus, 2009). The Iraqi Kurdistan engaged legal approaches and referendums, but the Iraqi government denied its demands despite managing the poll to its final phases.

In the political aspects, the Iraqi Kurdistan ethnic group has experienced cultural repression for a long time due to forced assimilations by the native political giants. One of the countries where this phenomenon is high in Iraq. The Iraqis instill some activities that aim at instilling fear among the Kurds. Kurdistan government says that "Kurds were forbidden to speak Kurdish in public; they had to change their names to local ethnic names if they wanted a job or to enroll their children in school" (2019, par. 2). The act of denying the group freedom of using its native language in public made its members develop hate to the Iraqi government, viewing it as a dictatorial government that only acted in consideration of any group at the expense of the Kurds.

The Kurdistan government website writes that "The music of Sivan Perwar, a Kurdish pop music performer, was banned in Turkey and Iraq in the 1980s, so he left the region to live and work in Sweden" (2019, par. 6). The Kurds only respond by engineering their cultural practices and norms to adapt to the current situation. The act of restricting them from publicly using the Kurdish language makes them develop a feeling of depression and makes them live as inferior to other communities in the region (Shea, 2015). Due to the stringent measures that Iraqi authorities impose on Kurds, the community developed approaches that would help them survive in the existing environment. The member would occasionally hide products that identify them like their attires and their natural writing materials.

Kurdish Songs and Poetry

Kurds have rich oral traditions essential for their survival in a foreign land. Some of these norms entice the native communities due to their applicability. One of the prominent poetic aspects is a group of recitation called 'lawj' that aids the group in sharing their beliefs with other tribes (Marcus, 2009). 'Lawj' is also crucial in encouraging the Kurds when in battles because they boost the morale of the warriors, and help in describing various adventures and love related phenomena ("Kurdistan government," 2019). The Kurdish songs and poem industry has vastly beneficial ideologies which have managed to shape their culture (Marcus, 2009). They are educative and aim at providing solutions to issues in contemporary society. Their songs frequently praise the community heroes and heroines hence making the Kurdish community feel proud of their fallen icons by appreciating their contributions to society and the community's wellbeing.

In the 17th century, Kurdish elites, including Emir of Bitlis, and Sharaf Khan, developed the primary literature of the community basing on some parameters that were considered universal for all the Kurds in all the Asian countries (Valentine, Ross & Peshmerga, 2018). These elites enhanced vast development by publishing a Persian based Sharafnama that holds the universal Kurds' cultural beliefs and norms that classify all the Kurds in Iraq, Iran, Syria, and Turkey under a single umbrella with standard features (Kurdistan government, 2019). This unifying cultural aspect served the Kurds community for about a millennium before Ahmed Khani, another Iraqi Kurdish icon, established a better version of the publication on the advanced national epic in 1695 (Lawrence, 2009).

Khani introduced better versions of Kurdish poems and other artistic, cultural practices that instilled ethical, moral values into the community and hence making the Kurds understand other communities better and improved their social interaction with them (Kreyenbroek & Allison, 1996). Most of the aspects highlighted by Ahmed Khani encouraged the community to appreciate others and share what they had with them hence making their culture highly accommodative to the non-local communities.

The Iraqi Kurdish appreciates other artistic, cultural features through the use of Dengbej in the society to praise and grace various occasions. Kurdistan government (2019) describes Dengbei as Kurds community-based musicians who perform on multiple events traditional Kurdish folk songs like the Dengbeng. Dengbeng is a combination of two distinct socio-cultural terms that comes from "Deng" and "Bej." Deng is a Kurd term meaning voice, and Bej is to sing. Therefore the overall them Dengbej refers to vocal singing.

The main types of songs composed by this group of Iraq Kurdish are called Strans, which are of high importance in remorseful situations and time of mourning (Shea, 2015). They offer strength, emotional, and psychological assistance to the victims, make the community embrace their culture, and foster their unity even in contempt situations (Valentine et al., 2018). Based on the nature of their cultural landscape and other social attributes, Iraqi Kurdish develops strong bonding and interaction relationships with the foreigners who set foot in their land (Marcus, 2009). They are willing to accommodate the majority of the visitor, regardless of their origin or religious affiliations.

The traditional Kurdish music culture comprises various musical instruments that make artistic products attractive. Some of the devices in musical practice by Iraqi Kurds are the flutes, tu-tu, and the ordinary drums (Kurdistan government, 2019). The tools are essential in musical compositions because they add flavor to the songs, and also reinforce the message and the theme displayed in the songs. Music is one of the oldest art of social practices that have brought the Kurds together and grouped them in a collective cultural group.

According to McDowall (1996), the Kurds task a particular group with composing and practicing traditional songs and dances to entertain the entire community and pass critical messages and information to the intended members of the Kurdistan community. Therefore, with this strategic cultural approach, the Kurdish population plays an essential role in displaying a productive cultural affiliation to the local and international communities that admire and appreciates the culture.

Kurdish Art and Craft

The culture of arts and craft is yet another aspect of the Iraqi Kurdish culture. One of the primary artistic ability is the weaving of carpets and cloth covers. Kurds design the products with absolute creative thinking skills that lead to the knitting of highly appealing and enticing carpets (Ali, 2019). Most of their carpets and rugs, both for commercial and domestic purposes, have a floral appeal that puts their product in a high-quality medallion pattern. The patterns, coupling with the high number of the carpets the community tradesmen would produce in a short duration, also indicate the skills applied in manufacturing the products (Valentine et al., 2018). The sale of the craft to their neighbors led to substantial income generation for the community. Valentine e...