Michael Rubin on the Issues Facing Kurdistan in the Middle East

In  the March New English Review we published both an interview with Dr. Michael Rubin and reviewed his recently published book, Dancing with the Devil: The Perils of Engagement with Rogue Regimes.  

Michael Rubin, is a former Pentagon expert on Iran and Iraq during the Bush era, and is currently a Resident Scholar at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI) in Washington, DC.  At the conclusion of our previous interview we afforded him the opportunity to address issues facing the Kurds in the Middle East.  He had recently traveled to the Kurdish autonomous area in the Northeastern province of Hasakah in Syria observing the developments of what the Kurds there call Rojava.

In this second interview Rubin addresses with Syria, Turkey, Iraq and Iran.  Rubin’s acute observations round out a piece of the puzzle in the Middle East, the emergence of Kurdistan.

Again this background we bring this interview with Dr. Rubin.

Gordon:  Dr. Rubin thank you for returning to address the issues facing Kurdistan in the Middle East

Rubin:    Thank you for inviting me back.

Gordon:  You have witnessed the development of the Autonomous Kurdish area in Syria’s Northeastern Province.  What are the dynamics that led to its creation?

Rubin:   No secret there. Kurds are largely spread across four countries: Turkey, Iraq, Syria, and Iran. In recent years, Kurds in Syria have largely had it the worst. Certainly, the PKK fought an insurgency in Turkey, but if Kurds accepted the Turkish constitution and denied many aspects of their own identity, then they did not face barriers in Turkey. Indeed, Atatürk’s successor ?smet ?nönü was Kurdish. Iranian Kurds suffer discrimination both on ethnic and sectarian grounds, but they are recognized as Iranian citizens. The Syrian Baath Party, however, actively sought to strip Syrian Kurds of citizenship, effectively leaving Syrian Kurds stateless, unable to own land, attend university, or take government jobs. With the collapse of effective state control, it was a no-brainer to establish an alternate administration. And what a good job the Kurds have done: “Rojava,” as the Kurds call their statelet, has functioning government services and is relatively placid. Indeed, it has become a refuge not only for Syrian Kurds,

but tens of thousands of Syrian Arabs.