Although it must be rare, if someone unfamiliar with the Kurds were to search the Internet for them, two pieces of information would immediately catch the eye: One, that the Kurds are one of the largest peoples without a country, and two, the Kurdish proverb: “No friends but mountains.” Would it be wrong to say that a people without a country will have no friends among nations?
The Jerusalem Post published an opinion article by Atar Porat on December 22, 2024, with the headline: “Israel should not gamble on the Kurds: Our strategy should be based in reality.”
In it, Porat proposes that Israel approach the situation in Syria as a great power game, albeit a limited one between Israel and Turkey, with Syria as the playing field. In his proposal, Turkey and Israel would agree on zones of influence and/or control in Syria in exchange for security for Israel. The assumption is that the Kurds’s sentiments and reactions do not matter in such an arrangement.
I disagree with Porat.
I am one year short of hitting the 50 mark in my life. I was born and raised in Iskenderun, Turkey. It is a city we consider part of Kurdistan, whose original Kurdish residents were forcefully deported to today’s Armenia by Ottoman rulers in the 17th century.
This type of deportation should not be unfamiliar to Jews. Porat is correct that there is a shared sentiment between the two peoples. We have similar histories, even though the Jewish people have made great strides in the past 70 or so years, despite many challenges.
As Kurds, we are still in the infancy of becoming a nation, even though we are rapidly building a national narrative. The autonomy we established in northern Iraq is not fully safe from Turkish or Persian threats. As Porat noted, our fragile autonomy is subject to annihilation by the Turks unless we secure backing from the United States or support from Israel. Porat’s view is that “it is none of Israel’s business.” But isn’t it?
Just as I would advise Kurdish decision-makers – were there such a national Kurdish agency – Porat appeals to Israeli decision-makers, arguing that it would be safer to agree with the Turks on Syria than to “gamble on the Kurds.”
Let us develop Porat’s proposal in a simulation. In this scenario, Israel annexes parts of southern Syria and agrees with the Turks on separate zones of influence. In exchange, Turkey takes control of the rest of Syria – including Kurdish areas, which, based on Porat’s perspective, are dispensable.
What would the Kurds do, though?
ON A SENTIMENTAL level, Kurds would feel deeply betrayed by the Israeli state, especially after the last two months of reading about irrevocable support from Jewish people and statesmen, both in Israel and elsewhere. We Kurds felt embraced by the Jewish people, and those like me have turned to our own people, urging them to embrace Israel in return.
Since my childhood, I have heard from prominent Kurdish intellectuals that the Jewish people would be friends to the Kurds, but this sentiment has never felt as real as it does today. We know Israel supplied drone capabilities to the Turkish army in the 1990s, and we understand why. Every nation must prioritize its survival, and for Israel, survival comes first.
The same applies to the Kurds. Kurds would undoubtedly feel betrayed, but they would also explore alternatives. On one side are the Turks, and on the other would be Russia and Iran – not by choice, as we are acutely aware of how dispensable we are to both.
What does Porat think Russia and Iran would do in such a scenario? And what does he believe Kurdish factions would prioritize in their decision-making?
Israel has to make its own decisions. However, I would caution against trusting the Turks. Turkish diplomacy is notorious for betrayals and for shifting alliances between great powers, leveraging their control over Black Sea passage.
One must also recognize the irredentist policies of Turkey under Recep Tayyip Erdogan, which mark a reversal of the Kemalist regime. If Turkey were to bring the Kurds of Iraq and Syria under its hegemony, along with Damascus, why assume it would stop there?
ISRAEL’S SAFER bet lies in investing in a new map for the Middle East – one that began with the establishment of the State of Israel.
The existential threat to Israel has never been the Shi’ites, who are a minority in the region. It has always been the Sunni, and the Turks aspire to champion their cause. What cause? What could unite the Sunni under Turkish leadership? Israel, of course.
I am familiar with the Zionist movement’s efforts in pre-World War I Istanbul to secure land for the Jewish people. The Young Turks, under Talat Pasha, manipulated the Zionists to gain their support, ensuring their attention was diverted while Turks massacred Armenians, and gave the Zionists nothing in exchange.
It is always a dirty game with the Turks. What did the World Zionist Organization gain from supporting the Young Turks? Porat may not know, but Erdogan certainly does.
Erdogan and the establishment behind him understand the Ottoman playbook well, using it to play sides against each other. But unlike the Kemalists, Erdogan’s regime harbors deep resentment toward Jews and Israel.
Good luck to Israel if it follows Porat’s proposal and chooses “not to gamble on the Kurds.”
However, I know that Kurds are not a gamble for Israel. I believe the map of our region is finally being redrawn after more than 2,500 years. In that distant past, it was not the Persians who helped the Jews in Babylon but the Medes under the Persians – a people mistakenly and unfairly associated with the Fars today.
The Medes were Kurds. Again, it was the Kurds who stood with the Jews when the Second Temple was attacked; in this case, the Kurds of Adiabene.
Today, the roles are reversed. The descendants of the Medes and Adiabene are in need. These are mystical narratives, I am aware, but isn’t this what it is all about?
The writer, born in Iskenderun and based in Vancouver, is a writer on international politics, the Middle East, and Kurdistan since 2005. He is vice president of the Canadian Kurdistani Confederation and hosts the podcasts Rojeva Kurdistan and Nation on the Rise. @mhusedin