I have spent the last two days receiving such an influx of information that I don't even know where to begin and feel like I will probably get it all mixed up anyway. I'll begin with chronologically anyway but a warning that it maybe not end that way.
So we had an orientation, introduced ourselves. The stories people have are amazing, the different things that have brought them to this point where they are part of CPT.
We also spent our first day learning about the history of Kurdistan and the current political climate. It is very complicaed, (when is politics simple?) but I have a better understanding of it now I think.
5 countries (amoung others)were establised by the French and British in the Middle East, Kurdistan was split among these countries. The Kurdish people where then persecuted minorities within these countries. Over time different independence movements have been started by Kurds in each country but there is not always much solidarity between Kurdish people of different countries. Many Kurdish poitical groups are aligned with countries that opress their own Kurdish people. For example the two major Kurdish parties of Iraq are called the PUK (Patriotic Union of Kurdistan) and KDP (Kurdish Democratic Party). At one point the KDP had Suddam Hussein's support against the PUK and the PUK were backed by Iran against the KDP.
I don't want to get into too much history here because it is a web of confusing and I am likely to get something wrong but basically the KRG is led by PUK and KDP and the current Iraqi government is PUK.
There are arguments between the central Iraqi government and KRG over oil and PUK supports PKK but the KDP doesn't. Each political party has their own malitia, it seems this area is full of powerful figures with military might. Some say that the PUK and KDP are not better than Suddam Hussein and their are fears of the fights that might happen after ISIS is defeated, especially over oil rich Kakuk.
In the KRG a new party called the Change Movements is gaining more support, especially in Sulemani. People feel let down by the two other Kurdish parties.
I just want to mention the PKK (the Kurdish malitia in Turkey) as well. So most people say that the Turkish government supports DEASH (ISIS), they have definitely benefited economically from the war. However the USA and other western governments have ignored this. America wanted Turkey's support in fighting ISIS and they said yes as long as they get support fighting the PKK. The Turkish government's fight against the PKK has always been brutal and resulted in the death of many Kurdish civilians. However America agreed to do this, but at the same time they are supporting the Syrian arm of the PKK, known as the YPG. The politics of this area are so complicated and so tied up in a history of western intervention in the middle east that I sometimes feel the best thing I can do as an Australian is just leave. But one of our Kurdish team mates said at the end of the discussion how great it has been having CPT here. 'They gave been such a support for activists in Kurdistan, they being support from the people of the world, to share ideas and listening so that Kurdistan can develop it's own civil society'.
So we had an orientation, introduced ourselves. The stories people have are amazing, the different things that have brought them to this point where they are part of CPT.
We also spent our first day learning about the history of Kurdistan and the current political climate. It is very complicaed, (when is politics simple?) but I have a better understanding of it now I think.
5 countries (amoung others)were establised by the French and British in the Middle East, Kurdistan was split among these countries. The Kurdish people where then persecuted minorities within these countries. Over time different independence movements have been started by Kurds in each country but there is not always much solidarity between Kurdish people of different countries. Many Kurdish poitical groups are aligned with countries that opress their own Kurdish people. For example the two major Kurdish parties of Iraq are called the PUK (Patriotic Union of Kurdistan) and KDP (Kurdish Democratic Party). At one point the KDP had Suddam Hussein's support against the PUK and the PUK were backed by Iran against the KDP.
I don't want to get into too much history here because it is a web of confusing and I am likely to get something wrong but basically the KRG is led by PUK and KDP and the current Iraqi government is PUK.
There are arguments between the central Iraqi government and KRG over oil and PUK supports PKK but the KDP doesn't. Each political party has their own malitia, it seems this area is full of powerful figures with military might. Some say that the PUK and KDP are not better than Suddam Hussein and their are fears of the fights that might happen after ISIS is defeated, especially over oil rich Kakuk.
In the KRG a new party called the Change Movements is gaining more support, especially in Sulemani. People feel let down by the two other Kurdish parties.
I just want to mention the PKK (the Kurdish malitia in Turkey) as well. So most people say that the Turkish government supports DEASH (ISIS), they have definitely benefited economically from the war. However the USA and other western governments have ignored this. America wanted Turkey's support in fighting ISIS and they said yes as long as they get support fighting the PKK. The Turkish government's fight against the PKK has always been brutal and resulted in the death of many Kurdish civilians. However America agreed to do this, but at the same time they are supporting the Syrian arm of the PKK, known as the YPG. The politics of this area are so complicated and so tied up in a history of western intervention in the middle east that I sometimes feel the best thing I can do as an Australian is just leave. But one of our Kurdish team mates said at the end of the discussion how great it has been having CPT here. 'They gave been such a support for activists in Kurdistan, they being support from the people of the world, to share ideas and listening so that Kurdistan can develop it's own civil society'.