Organisational Relations of Kurdish Political Parties and their Evolution

© 2019 Scott James PattonSince the separation of the Middle East after World War One, the Kurds have found themselves to be minorities spread over four states. Within each of these states – Turkey, Iraq, Iran, and Syria – the Kurds have organically organised themselves into political groups and organisations. To differentiate themselves, the organisations’ have generally followed one of two ideologies: Socialists, who are Marxist in orientation, and nationalists, who are more conservative. Both ideologies have, in time, gained traction in each state and although the specific rhetoric of the individual groups is regionally focused, they still all loosely follow the two main ideological figurehead groups: the socialist PKK from Turkey or the more traditional KDP from Iraq. The Kurd’s ideological divisions have left a legacy of violence and mistrust. When this mistrust is combined with the pressure from their parent states to conform to the government’s sanctioned status quos, the Kurds have had their rights diminished then fought over the issue. Recently, the rise of the Kurdish autonomous areas in Iraq and Syria have challenged this ideological stalemate. The ability to express their ethnicity has given the groups the room to operate in a more democratic fashion that idealises discussion over violence. The opinions Kurds have of their own groups are also important in determining how indentured the biases are throughout their society. By utilising ethnographic research, it becomes clear that the ideological contention between the groups has become part of the ‘norm’ for Kurds and even though they have come a long way towards reconciliation, there is still much to do