After 106 years of Sykes-Picot, Kurds in face of historic opportunity

 In 1555, the Safavid and Ottoman states concluded a bilateral agreement known as (Amasya), the first official treaty, according to which Kurdistan was formally divided, according to an official document that stipulated the delimitation of the borders between the two states, especially in the regions of Shahruzur and Kars Bayezid, which are Kurdish cities.

 This agreement was followed by treaties and agreements, including the Treaty of Shirin Palace (Zhao) for the regulation of borders in 1639, between Shah Abbas and Sultan Murad IV, and the Treaty of Amasia was confirmed with regard to the division of borders.  This matter further deepened the Kurdish issue, then other treaties were concluded, such as the first Erzurum 1823, the second Erzurum 1847, the Ankara Treaty 1921 between France and Turkey, and the Lausanne Treaty 1923.

 On this day, May 16, 1916, the Sykes-Picot Agreement was signed between France and Britain.  This agreement was a major blow to the oldest people living on its historical land, which number between 50 and 55 million people.

 Sykes-Picot Agreement

 The secret agreement was signed between France and Britain, with the approval of the Russian Empire and Italy, to divide the Fertile Crescent (Mespotamia) and Mesopotamia (Tigris and Euphrates) between France and Britain.

 This agreement divided Kurdistan between Turkey, Syria and Iraq, after secret discussions on the new map of the Middle East.  The Sykes-Picot Agreement is the first international agreement in which three major countries participated, which did not take into account the demands of the Kurds to establish a state or self-rule for them.

 This agreement took place in the Fertile Crescent, which includes the entire geography of Kurdistan, the land rich in its resources, above and underground, and the most fertile in the world in terms of agriculture, trade, natural resources, water, history, civilization and geography.

 Because of the richness of this region, the great powers bet on it, and Britain and France held long talks to share it, until the present Middle East was born, and lost between its claws the rights of ancient peoples who historically own this land.

On the sixth centenary of the signing of the Sykes-Picot Agreement, the peoples of the region have become aware that these artificial borders created by the dominant powers in the Middle East without any consideration of national, religious and cultural characteristics, have generated endless conflicts in the borders of the modern Middle East, which were formed by Sykes-Picot.

 The Ottoman Empire played a devastating functional role in our societies

 Regarding what this agreement caused, and the devastation it brought with it in light of turning the Middle East into a pool of blood, a member of the Presidential Council of the Syrian Democratic Council Sihanouk Dibo points out, "Today we are facing a state of loss in all societal areas;  Its historical centers, with the fragile economic structure of the richest region in the world, constitute a single economic and political space and fragile political systems of rusty ideas that express narrow and lifeless ideologies.”

 He continued, "The cultural situation is deteriorating, if not in a state of clinical death. In fact, the Ottoman Empire played a destructive functional role in our societies, the backwardness that came as an opportunity for the global hegemony system to pounce and build ponds and swamps that brought us into the usual static situations. It is important to take the first step.  And redefining a new, modern democratic formation of the entire region.

 After many years of disappointments and tragedies at the head of the Kurdish people, today they want to revive their hopes and aspirations for freedom and equality with a pioneering democratic project for all cultures and religions in the Middle East, so that it embraces all of them and ends the stormy wars in them and finds solutions to them after this agreement established borders and walls in the oldest civilized and democratic region, its peoples were dispersed among 22 countries after they were united.

 National identity must be reconfigured instead of the nation-state

 As for whether the Sykes-Picot Agreement achieved its goals after 106 years, Dibo says, "The Sykes-Picot Agreement has fragmented our region and imposed identities that, in turn, are in crisis to the bone, and cannot in any way be tampered with and impossible to reform. And if what happened before more than  one hundred years because of the transformation in the structure of the global hegemony system, which at that time entered the industrial stage in the form of the central nation-state, we need a responsible approach that leads to the reconfiguration of the national identity in a multi-national state instead of the central nation-state.

 The main goal is to make the situation unstable and liberate identities

  He believes, "Any bet on the contrary means that we are facing the fragmentation of the fragmentation, and this is an adventure from which no one will be spared. When the war of extermination was directed against the Kurds in agreements drawn up a century ago; the main objective of this was to make the situation unstable and anxious."  And it is ready to intervene and deprive all identities, including the newly created ones, and the great catastrophe is when some local and regional forces and regimes have drifted along with this concept, playing the role of the comprador, betting that they are being covered from all evil.”

 He pointed out that "the national democratic forces have a real opportunity, which should not be missed for a real solution to the democratic issue in our region, and cut off any real opportunity to reproduce any centralized tyranny system on a nationalist, religious or gender basis. It is important to say that one of the most important approaches to the democratic issue is a solution  fair to the Kurdish cause, and we will surely be closer than ever to a secure and stable Near East."

 Lausanne 1923

 The Treaty of Lausanne was signed on July 24, 1923, and included the cancellation of the promises made by Britain and France to establish the state of Kurdistan, despite the decision taken in the Treaty of Sèvres, but the great powers, especially Britain, dropped the decision in the Treaty of Lausanne.

 Before the signing of the agreement, the Lausanne Conference was held in Switzerland in 1922, and lasted 8 months to negotiate a new treaty with Turkey, which had previously refused to recognize Treaty of Sevres.  Any Kurdish delegation in the conference, and prevented the discussion of the Kurdish issue in northern Kurdistan, for fear of Turkey falling into the arms of the Soviet Union, thus strengthening Turkey’s position in the region and on the international scene, and changing the balance of power in favor of Turkey, which was unique in ruling in Turkey, and the declaration of the republican system in 1923  .

When the Lausanne Agreement was signed, the Kurdish issue was not raised. The conflicting powers, especially Britain and France, ignored the fate of the Kurdish people and destroyed their hopes of establishing a Kurdish state.  The page of Sèvres was turned on July 24, 1923, and the Kurds were not mentioned in the terms of the new treaty that was signed (the Treaty of Lausanne).

 All these agreements led to congestion in the Kurdish street after they tied the Kurdish issue and hanged it in hotels in Switzerland, and the Kurds became practically distributed, suffering between four countries instead of two, as a series of uprisings and sparks began in northern Kurdistan for the right to self-determination, which the Turkish occupation army put down with massacres  which claimed the lives of tens of thousands of Kurdish people.

 The Kurds can play a leading role in restoring the true identity of the region

 The Sykes-Picot Agreement inflicted great damage on the Kurdish people, and the neglect of the forces that signed the agreement, marginalizing 50 million Kurds and dividing their regions among four countries, Sihanouk Dibo says, "This is an important assessment, when saying that the Kurds are the most losers among the peoples of the region; an authentic people and a historical and political fact that constitutes  with the peoples of the region, an integrated identity for the region, but at the same time and from the logic of relativism and from the concept of even a completely broken clock is believed twice a day, the Kurds who were not involved in the holocaust of the central nation-state can play a pioneering role in restoring the true identity of the region and cutting in a form imposed on the peoples. This is not a call to antagonize the other, but rather an insistence on the role of complementarity. In the example of ending the modern Nazi phenomenon - ISIS - the democratic forces fought the Kurds, Arabs and Assyrians in Syria together with the international coalition led by America, and in some areas coordinated importantly with Russia.  Without this integration, it cannot be said that ISIS can end. Until this moment, it exists and poses an imminent danger. ISIS is the legitimate son of central tyranny regimes, regardless of their nationalist tinctures.

 A just solution must be found to the Kurdish issue, considering it a Syrian national issue

  He stressed, "We Syrians must be among our priorities to find a just solution to the Kurdish issue, considering it a Syrian national issue, and not to skip it or postpone it under any pretext. Syria accommodates all Syrians. We need intellectual and cognitive calibration according to the foundations of democratic modernity."

 The Kurds are in a better position today

 As for the situation of the Kurdish people today, Sihanouk Debo affirms, “Given the merits of the qualitative and natural developments, the Kurds are in a better position than those days in which the Sykes-Picot Agreements of 1916 and Cairo 1921 (which was then under the British Mandate) and the Lausanne disaster 1923 were signed.  Agreements did not do justice to our region to the extent that it returned its people, led by the Kurds.

 The Kurds should be on the side of their historical partners

Debo noted, "We, the Kurds, must read history and benefit from the experiences of the peoples of the region and the world. The ideal situation for the Kurds is to be on the side of their historical partners (Arabs, Persians and Turks), and that most of the current regimes do not represent their peoples. The best solutions are participatory and consensual, not singular.  We think that the Kurds, as a strong people, have come a long way in this direction, but we need a critical review from which everyone will come out in good condition, as there will not be an ideal situation."

 The mentality of centralized authoritarian regimes is the same as it was a hundred years ago

 Britain and France were among the most coveted countries in Kurdistan;  Because of its important geographical location in the heart of the Middle East, its proximity to the Gulf region and Arab and Iranian oil sources, and its interest in this region increased after the discovery of oil in it, these two countries did not attach any importance to the Kurdish people, who were groaning and scattered between the walls of four tyrannical countries.  Above all considerations, and thus the issue of the largest and oldest people in the Middle East remained stuck on the massacres of the agreements.

 These countries that signed this agreement are present in Kurdistan today, and about the changes;  If there is a problem in their positions today than they were yesterday, Sihanouk Dibo explains, "Most of the regimes that rule the region need a lot, and they must do a lot in order to free themselves from dependence on the system of global hegemony and its peripheral regimes, so that they can make fateful decisions. It can be said that the mentality of the central tyranny regimes enjoy are the same as they were a hundred years ago, this does not require much effort. But the logic of dialectics and historical accumulation says that democratic forces must settle the issue in their favour, especially in this chaos in which the whole world is experiencing.

 It is wrong to rely on these systems

 Dibo continued, "We must know that the transition to a multipolar hegemony system will have effects that are not easy on the region. In particular, on the countries that signed up to limit the Kurds and direct the war of extermination in all its forms on them. It is wrong to rely on any of these regimes, especially the regime of  Erdogan's Turkey will be on the side of the Kurds, a people and a cause, even for a moment, changing these regimes has become one of the decisive national tasks, and the priority of the existence or non-existence of the peoples of the region.

 Following in the footsteps of Sykes-Picot, Turkey began separating Rojava from Bakur Kurdistan after Sykes-Picot divided it with walls during the past years, where it put a concrete wall between them. Today, it is separating Rojava from Başûr Kurdistan as well, in a clear message to keep peoples away from each other.

 Erdogan's Turkey is one of the centers of instability in the region

 In this regard, Dibo says, "Erdogan's Turkey is one of the most important centers of instability in the entire region and the whole world to a certain degree. It is difficult for this regime itself to be part of the solution after its blatant interference in the affairs of the region and its occupation of areas of Syria and Iraq, and the illegal presence in western Libya  and in other Arab countries, this regime has one issue in mind, the so-called "Melli Charter", meaning ending the will of the Kurdish people, ending their gains in the first place, and destabilizing the entire region. There are hundreds of evidence and proofs.

 Iraq's solutions include confronting the Turkish aggression

 Debo states, "The peoples of the region rejoiced in Iraq's transformation into a pioneering experiment in democracy, which can be benefited from in the entire region, but unfortunately, we find that the blockage in the political process in Iraq is its current address. It is more useful for them to focus on the mechanics of the national and democratic solution for Iraq."  Iraq's solutions include confronting the blatant Turkish aggression, ending its illegal existence, solving the water crisis caused by the Turkish regime's seizure of wealth and capabilities, and Iraqi and Syrian water security.

 They are trying to ignite a real war between the Kurds themselves

 Dibo believes that "the building of a wall between Shingal and the areas of the Autonomous Administration cannot bring any solution. The solution came from the Autonomous Administration areas of north and east Syria, when dozens of his daughters and sons came to defend Shingal, who was then exposed to a real war of extermination by ISIS in the summer  2014. Today, he is trying to ignite a real war between the Kurds themselves. The fraternal war will be a loss for all Kurds. The most loss is those who rely on Turkey's Erdogan regime, which is in its final stages, as long as it insists on pursuing a war of annihilation and the logic of denial for all Kurds.

 And with the 106th anniversary of the signing of the Sykes-Picot Agreement, the Lausanne Agreement is approaching its centenary, so that everyone is waiting for the new map to be drawn with the passage of 100 years of the Lausanne Agreement, which will distribute the regions on the basis of maps of internal resources. Today, many great countries meet again in these  The region to extend its influence, and another came to stand up to the influence and failure of other countries’ plans. Everyone put in mind these resources and the rich region, especially occupied Turkey, which does not like seeing any Kurds in this region.

 It wants to occupy an area 32 km deep along 900 km of Rojava lands, and it has many malicious and dirty goals that it wants to achieve, including emptying the region of its original inhabitants, changing its demography and sustainability, and housing others in place of its residents, and then annexing it to Turkey, similar to the Iskenderun Brigade, and controlling the resources of  The al-Batiniyah region, as well as the border triangle between Rojava, Başûr, and Bakur Kurdistan, is a very strategically important region rich in oil and gas, which several forces want to control.

 Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan brought the issue of Syrian refugees back to the fore in order to return them to the areas he occupied in Syria and built settlements in them with the help of Muslim Brotherhood associations and resettled one million refugees at the expense of hundreds of thousands of displaced residents of those occupied areas.

 Turkey's actions are recognized in international law as a matter of occupation

 In this regard, Sihanouk Debo states, "In the beginning, Turkey's Erdogan's argument must be refuted that what it is doing stems from Article 51 of the legitimate defense at the United Nations. And that the reality of Turkey's actions is recognized in international law as a matter of occupation, and stipulated in Articles 42 to 56 of the 1907 Hague Regulations.  Common Article Two of the four Geneva Conventions of 1949, Articles 27 to 34 and Articles 47 to 78 of the Fourth Geneva Convention, in addition to some provisions of Additional Protocol I and customary international humanitarian law.

 Ankara has received billions of dollars in grants from refugees

 Dibo explained that Turkey is one of the countries that has politicized the Syrian refugee file. It opened its door not out of love, but as a pressure card on the United States of America and the European Union.  Ankara has obtained billions of dollars in financial grants, and the scene is portrayed as financing them from the Turkish treasury.  The problem is that some parties believe this slander, and turn into functional parts in this dangerous context.  Note that the numbers that Ankara is talking about regarding refugees are very exaggerated.”

 Employing refugees and housing them in other areas is a crime

 Dibo noted, "Erdogan's Turkey has contributed to the Syrian fire, employing Syrian refugees and housing them in other areas, and this is a crime and one of the pillars of the internal war that continues for many years. The Autonomous Administration has put forward initiatives in this regard, since April 2017. The United Nations must not turn  And some regional countries have become a partner in the crime of demographic change and the appropriation of the capabilities of the original population of the Syrian people. We must work for the safe, voluntary return of all the displaced.”

 The Kurds will not leave empty-handed this time

 On whether there is a new Sykes-Picot in the region, redrawing maps and sharing influence again, and how to establish the entitlements and gains achieved by the Kurds, Sihanouk Dibo believes, "No party can decide the fate of the first centenary of the Treaty of Lausanne completely or inevitably. But we can decide that  The Kurds will not leave empty-handed this time."

 Debo noted, "The best solutions, as we mentioned above, are that we urgently need to reproduce democratic concepts and systems for national or multi-national states. The best solutions are for the Kurdish, Arab, Iranian, Turkish and other national democratic forces to side with each other. And that the solution equation consists of:  Ending terrorism (whether it is religious, nationalist, or a combination of them), and secondly, achieving a comprehensive radical transition, transformation and democratic change in the entire region.

 Sihanouk Dibo, a member of the Presidential Council of the Syrian Democratic Council, stressed that "the Kurds are governed - like all the peoples of the region - by the unity of the situation and coordination between their parties and their various parties, and the strengthening of the logic of historical partnership between all components of the region as their true and historical partners in the region."

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