-Mustafa Barzani Scholar- of Global Kurdish Studies!

We forward you our greetings and regards.

Kurds everywhere received with pleasure and interest, the news about convening a conference about the subject of the identity of the Kurdish nation. This conference that comes as a fruit of the efforts of American University’s Center for Global Peace in conjunction with Mustafa Barzani Scholar- of Global Kurdish Studies. But the Kurds in Syria were disappointed when they noticed that the conference program was restricted to dealing with the Kurdish issue in three parts of Kurdistan (Iraq, Iran and Turkey). Even though the part of kurdistan located in Syria, where a population of more than two millions of our Kurdish people live, is positioned in the middle of the ancient Kurdistan according to the studies by researchers. Wherein the Russian orientalist Lazariev says that the alignment/axis Zakho, Jeziret Ibn Omaro (Cizre), Al-Qamishli and Amoda in Syria is to be considered the centre of Kurdistan. And from this Axis (centre) the Kurds started, and in this part of kurdistan wich is appended to Syria, lies the capital of the Mittanni Land known as WASHOKANI/Seri kani or the nowadays Ras-al-Ayn in arabic. This is in addition to the numerous political and civilisation centres of the Mittanni- Hurrian Land such as Urkish which is known nowadays as Girê-Mozan and situated between Al-Qamishli and Amoda in Syria, Tall-Laylan in the south east of Al-Qamishli and south of Tirbe-Sipî. And so the land of our Kurdish people was appended to the current Syrian state due to the implementation of the Sykes-Picot agreement of 1916.

Thus the Kurds faced large difficulties characterised by the renunciation of their national identity and the denial of giving them any national or human rights. Where France ignored such rights in order to please the Arab majority on one side and to obtain concessions from Mustafa Kemal Turkey on the other side. Turkey that rejected the sameness between Kurds and Turks and refused to recognise the Kurdish nationality and saw that giving any rights to the Kurds in Syria would create big inconveniences for Turkey.And during the national reign after the independence of Syria the year 1946, the Kurds lived an urban life like any other citizen of Syria. However, the ascend of stern national course during the sixties in the last century and the continuation of its dominance on top of the authority means until now, has reflected itself on the Kurds in form of carrying out policies characterised by discrimination and the execution of many projects targeting the assimilation/dissolution of Kurds in the crucible furnace of Arab nationality as well as the ignoring of their historical existence and their legal national rights. Thus tens of thousands of Kurdish families were striped from their Syrian citizenship in the year 1962. Their total number at present has mounted to more than 200 000 (two hundred thousands). They are dispossessed of the citizenship rights in fields of work, education, civil service and travelling. In the year 1973 the project known as the Arabic belt was implemented with the purpose of changing the demography of the Kurdish regions. In compliance with this tens of communal settlements were erected in the Kurdish area by the governorate Muhafazah of Jezira Al Hasakah (nowadays) along side the Turkish border. And hence the national government has seized the fertile agricultural land from its Kurdish owners and gave it to the Arab settlers coming from the Governorates of Aleppo and Ar-Raqqah. Additionally this project also targets the isolation of Kurds in Syria from their Kurdish brothers in the rest of Kurdistan on the Turkish side, as well as forcing them into migration and homelessness under the pressure of poverty and the lack of job opportunities. Thus far the discrimination is proceeds continuously, where Kurds are deprived of work and employment in civil service due to the opposition of the security agencies. Even the registration of new born undergoes the surveillance of security agencies. Not mentioning the arabization policy that covered the changing of the Kurdish names of towns, villages, mountains and archaeological sites. In short the Kurds are besieged in their own country and deprived of the simplest human rights. Facing this bitter situation the Kurdish movement was created since 1957.

At the moment there are many political parties and all of them call out for democracy and have adopted the peaceful political struggle to achieve the goals of our Kurdish people in: (1)democracy, (2) equality between the Kurds and the Arabs as well as other minorities, in rights and responsibilities, (3) the liberation of democratic rights, (4) multiplicity of political parties, (5) fight down of corruption and bribery, (6) the improvement of living standard of grassroots, and (7) the independence and decency of judicial system.

Our Kurdish people in Syria that have been struggling for more than four decades considers American University’s Center for Global Peace and the Mustafa Barzani Scholar- of Global Kurdish Studies, to be designated by the United States Of America to take care of Kurds and their matter, find just peaceful solutions for them away from terror and hostile wars, especially when our new century has the key attribute of spreading democracy and human rights as well as the intervention anyplace where a government/regime suppresses its own citizens or people inside its own territory due to racial, religion or other reasons. But what happened, is that the case of our Kurdish people in Syria was not included in working program of the conference, namely, it was disregarded. And this policy of ignoring/disregarding is not a quality of Scientific Centres, though such policy has been applied by some Kurdish parties that toady to some governments to keep their relations with these.To rectify this situation we find it necessary to take the initiative of assigning a session for Kurdish question concerning the part of Kurdistan appended to Syria and hence forward an invitation to some Kurdish specialists and delegates in order to participate in the conference. Doing so this Conference- The Kurds: Search for Indetity (Washington, D.C) will get an increasing respect and appreciation by our people, who will see these centres - as a scientific and a civilisation bastion.In this way the justice and fairness will be established, and the Conference will come into serving all the Kurds in all parts of Kurdistan and not only certain parts at the sacrifice of Kurdish people in Syria.

Finally we hope that the Barzani Centre115 Mustafa Barzani Scholar- of Global Kurdish Studies5 will be put into serving the Kurdish nation that has suffered very long of wars of extermination, suppression, eviction and attempts of assimilation an termination of existence. We also hope that peace and flourishing will prevail in the whole world and the Kurds would find for their children safety, prosperity and human care.

Please do accept our cordial greetings.

The central committee of the Kurdish  Yekiti Party in Syria

12 April 2000

Dergeh