A letter to President Barack Obama about the US policy regarding the KDP and PUK

The purpose of writing this letter to President Obama is not to play a role of the Kurdish Ambassador. I have written to him before. However, this time is about the US policy towards the Kurdistan Democratic party (KDP) and Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK). The US government still has blacklisted the KDP and PUK as terrorist organizations. On the one hand, the US has its consulate in Kurdistan, which administered by these two Kurdish parties, and greets the leaders of these parties at the White House; on the other hand, it has enlisted them as terrorist organizations.  This US policy towards these Kurdish political parties is unjust, and it certainly is an insult to the national integrity of the people of Kurdistan.

 

Barack Obama, President

United States of America

The White House

1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW

Washington, DC 20500

June 23, 2013     

Honorable President Obama:

Mr. President, the people of Kurdistan are a part of the world in which you have been trying to alleviate human suffering; however, they have suffered so much at the hand of the dictatorial regimes that were supported by the all-too-powerful superpowers from post WWI on.

During the past nine decades, the Kurds have been living a sort of “enslavement” in Iran, Iraq, Syria and Turkey. From a nation that had created the second largest empire, the Median Empire, in ancient history—a nation that had all the nationhood characteristics, land, culture, distinct language, and history—have become minorities in these countries and have been living in the shadow of Arabs, Persians and Turks. Every time the people of Kurdistan in any part of Kurdistan, challenged these nation states to achieve their God-given rights, the Western powers were there to assist these central governments to prevent the people of Kurdistan from achieving their national rights. Since it became a world’s superpower after the WWII, America, in particular, has been supporting Turkey and Iran (during the Shah’s regime) to suppress the Kurdish identity and rights.

Further, it seems that even after the first decade of the twenty first century, America does not have a clear agenda for the people of Kurdistan. For example, during the US invasion of Iraq in 2003 to topple Saddam Hussein’s despotic regime, the Kurdish forces of Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) headed by Masoud Barzanî, and Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) led by Jalal Talabani, became American foot soldiers and facilitated the removal of Saddam Hussein from power. Furthermore, following Saddam Hussein’s removal, Masoud Barzanî was first amongst the leaders in Iraq to call for national reconciliation in Iraq. When Jalal Talabani became the first Kurdish president of Iraq, and Masoud Barzanî became president of Kurdistan, both Kurdish presidents, Barzanî in Hewlêr (Erbil) and Talabani in Baghdad did their due diligence to assist the US to succeed in Iraq. The two Kurdish leaders were the intervening and reconciliatory voices between the opposing Arab factions in Iraq. While in Baghdad, prior to his illness, Jalal Talabani was able to maintain stability amongst and in between all Arab political/sectarian factions. Not too long after his disappearance from Iraqi politics, the Iraqi political and security situation took a U-turn and back to the level on which security was once again out of control and sectarian fighting has been on the rise. 

However, to show its gratitude for the genuine partnership the people of Kurdistan and their leadership have offered to the US mission in Iraq, the US government has kept the name of these two friendly Kurdish political parties, the KDP and PUK, in Tier III of the US Immigration Law—the Tier that contains names of the organizations that have been black-listed by the US government as terrorist organizations. The organizations that are listed in Tier III, are groups that “engage in” or have subgroups that “engage in” terrorist activities.  But, in the case of the KDP and PUK it has never been true—even after the chemical attacks on Halabja and the Anfal operations by Saddam Hussein’s forces that destroyed most parts of Kurdistan, the people of Kurdistan and their leadership have never engaged in terrorist activities. Further, since the liberation of Iraq, these Kurdish political parties have completely ceased using their armed forces.

Mr. President, looking at the US policy in general and the behavior of your administration in particular with regard to the KDP and PUK, one could ask, where in the world a democratic nation like the US could cooperate and partner with “terrorist” organizations? How in the world a democratic government like the US could rely on and closely work with not one but two “terrorist” organizations to achieve its goals in a far away country like Iraq? Why in the world, US presidents, including you Mr. President, invited these two “terrorist” leaders to the White House and referred to each of them as “Mr. President?” If they are indeed terrorists, how could it be possible for the top US officials including the Vice President, Secretary of State, Secretary of Defense and others to visit Hewlêr and Baghdad, and hold meetings with these two Kurdish leaders? If they are indeed terrorists, how have these Kurdish leaders been greeted by other world leaders and treated like “Statesmen?” Why does the US have its consulate in Kurdistan—the region, which is administered by the KDP and PUK? These are legitimate and ethical questions and we believe the US government should provide a response to each of them.

Further, your own administration acknowledged to some extent the cooperation of the KDP and PUK by offering an exemption under the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) Section 212(d)(3)(B)(i), which is for the granting of visas to some KDP and PUK members (mainly their leadership), this would only imply that America has softened its policy in order to pursue its own interests and not to acknowledge the truth of the legitimacy of the KDP and PUK as political parties and US partners in Iraq. Because, these political parties are still officially kept in this tier that represents terrorist organizations; and this behavior Mr. president, is hypocritical, at best.

The way in which the US government treats these two Kurdish political parties is contradicting every democratic principle and the values for which America stands; and it certainly is an insult to the national integrity of the people of Kurdistan. These Kurdish political parties are loyal US friends and reliable partners in the region, thus they should not be treated in such a disrespectful manner as to be listed as terrorist organizations.  

We believe that the US government should either find a way out of such a wrong-headed policy and remove these Kurdish parties from the list of terrorist organizations or if the US believes it needs to maintain its relations with these Kurdish political parties, then your administration should come out and give a convincing explanation to the American people as to how and why America works with terrorist organizations. You know Mr. President, what the US does vis-à-vis the KDP and PUK, is not good for the American image in the eyes of the people of Kurdistan.

In conclusion, Mr. President, your administration knows that the KDP and PUK are not terrorist organizations, but rather have a national agenda and struggled to achieve national rights for their oppressed people. You know Mr. President that the leaderships of the KDP and PUK have played a very important role in stabilizing Iraq after Iraq was liberated—a role that “terrorist” organizations could not play. Therefore, we ask of you to please remove these political parties from the list of terrorist organizations.

We shall continue to pray for your success.

Sincerely yours,

Kirmanj Gundi

Kirmanj Gundi, Ed.D.

Professor

Tennessee State University