Kurds should complain apropos of the arbitral divvy of Kurdistan to ICJ at Hague
Omar Sindi, Washington – March 11, 2014 – Kurds political Parties, Civil Society Organizations, and Academicians, Should take their case against both British and French governments into International Court of Justice (ICJ) in Hague Netherland, about the arbitral division of Kurdistan at the end of World War I; on the basis the division of their land showed a deliberate disregard the Kurds as nation of state; this kind of jumble decision of division was unjust, immoral, unethical and inhuman; only it was realpolitik.
As consequences of pour planning, betrayal implementation of misguided policy in the Middle East; installing sub- colonial states to serve their imperial interest by the victors of World War I, mainly by both British and French governments at its helm, the region has endured many calamities, there are overwhelming empirical evidences that the Kurdish people suffered the most; so the Arbiters not focusing regional comprehensive plan, through strengthen the forces of openness, rules.
However, one must not be optimistic about complexity involved; since the establishment of International Court of Justice, began work in 1948 at Hague Netherlands. “Its main functions are to settle legal disputes submitted to it by states and to provide advisory opinion on legal questions submitted to it” (Wikipedia). However, if one to review the late US President Woodrow Wilson the “Fourteen Points” in 1918, World Peace Plan, (the Kurdish question is clearly included that would qualify that the ICJ to review the case). “Wilson states he wishes for “Equality among the people of the World” Free trade, open agreement, democracy and self-determination. The 12th point states that the Turkish portion of the present Ottoman Empire should be assured a secure sovereignty, but the other nationalities which are under Turkish rule should be assured an undoubted security of life and an absolutely unmolested opportunity of autonomous development” (Wikipedia).
In 1919; the Kurdish people vehemently resented and resisted to joining the newly installed Monarch government by British in Baghdad; at that time, the Brits used the “Royal Air Forces” to subdue the Kurdish resistant; it was reported that the lethal weapons dropped on the many villages.
In 1920; the Treaty of Sevres, signed by the defeated Ottoman Empire, included an article Kurdish independence; therefore 1923, the “Treaty of Lausanne” should not over ride the “ Treaty of Sevres” because the Ottoman government had accepted the imposed terms by the allies and the new government in Ankara no longer represents old regime three years earlier at Istanbul.
Kurds dispersed mainly by force, from Indo Kush Mountain Afghanistan and Kazakhstan in the east to Istanbul‘s slums and into European cites, fatalities of deportation, the Kurds throughout centuries have not cherished existential doubts about their homeland. Tyrannical rule the Ba’athist regime in Iraq, various Turkish governments, Ba’athist governments in Syria, and different Iranian regimes, all have tried to force them out of their ancestral land hoping once they are gone from their Villages, the Kurds will forget being Kurds; these misassumptions prove, over years as far away as Australia, and the other diasporas, many youths have joined various Kurdish resistant movements not speaking a word of their Mother’s tongue.
However since its foundation almost in the middle of 20 century, the ICJ has dealt with many complexes and contentious issues:
In 1952 then the Prime Minister of Iran Mohammad Musaddegh complained, against British interferences in the Iran‘s internal affairs especially on the oil issues, “ International Court at the Hague voted in favor of Iran, holding that the British had no Jurisdiction in the oil dispute case”.
• A complaint by the United States in 1980 that Iran was detaining American diplomats in Tehran in violation of international law.
• A dispute between Tunisia and Libya over the delimitation of the continental shelf between them.
• A dispute over the course of the maritime boundary dividing the U.S. and Canada in the Gulf of Maine area.
• A complaint by the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia against the member states of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization regarding their actions in the Kosovo War. This was denied on 15 December 2004 due to lack of jurisdiction, because the FRY was not a party to the ICJ statute at the time it made the application.
• A complaint by the Republic of Macedonia (former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia) that Greece is, by vetoing their accession to NATO, in violation of the Interim Accord of 13 September 1995 between the two countries, was decided in favor of Macedonia on 5 December 2011.The International Court has been criticized with respect to its rulings, its procedure, its authority”. (Wikipedia)
However, the Kurdish people’s case should qualify for its merit for ICJ, because over 40 million of Kurds right have been denied, they are lacking of international support; this issue should be highly considered, by the International Court, if not, the ICJ will be criticized with respect to its procedure, and its ruling.
It is incumbent upon that the Kurdish politicians to argue their case before international Court of Justice at Hague.
That despairing evaluation expressed the mood of many Kurds, after over century tyrannical rule punishment, and the years of turmoil. Incredulity, how Kurds continued to keep up their motivating force for so long necessitate a “system of springs” of surprise. Despite ill advised policy of the Western powers in Middle East, especially since the World War I to date, still they are un-willing to demark the imposed boundaries. Alas, if one to review the interview by former US ambassador Robert Ford to Syria with MC-Monitor on March 5, 2014; it bears that assumption- “ The US does not want unsettle Turkey”. The Western governments should stop treating Kurds as pariah and disdain; myopically mind-set, they should stop being more Turks then Turks themselves. The ongoing calamity of war in Syria today; it bears that the prejudice decision failure policy over a century ago on the arbitral divvy.
It is incumbent upon that the Kurds to prove to their neighbors, that they are also regional forces too, that they need to be considered amicably approach.“Man’s greatest glory is in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.” Oliver Goldsmith. –
Omar Sindi – Washington, United States, a senior writer and columnist for Ekurd.net