The talk, sponsored by the Dickey Center's War and Peace Studies Program, included a screening of McKiernan's award-winning 2002 PBS documentary "Good Kurds, Bad Kurds."
This documentary derives its title from the apparent distinction made by some American policy-makers when dealing with the Kurdish people in the Middle East and is a central theme of the film. While the Kurds who were persecuted and massacred by Saddam Hussein in Iraq have been labeled "Good Kurds," those who fought against and were persecuted by American ally Turkey are termed "Bad Kurds."
The film highlights the plight of the Kurds in Turkey, and the oppression under which the Turkish government held them, which has largely been ignored by the American media. It traces the role of the Kurdistan Workers Party, or PKK, and its founder, Abdullah Ocalan, in fighting for cultural and political rights for Kurds in Turkey.
The Kurdish people are the largest ethnic population in the world without their own homeland. The area known as Kurdistan is not an independent state and stretches across the borders of five sovereign nations.
While the plight of Iraqi Kurds has been used in part to justify the American-led invasion of Iraq and overthrow of Saddam Hussein, many American policy-makers have refrained from condemning Turkey, which McKiernan and human rights organizations allege has committed widespread atrocities against Kurds and attempted to suppress their culture.
With recent changes in Iraq's government following the American-led invasion, new prospects exist for a Kurdish state. In his book "The Kurds: A People in Search of their Homeland," which was released today, McKiernan draws a parallel between Kurdish and American Indian attempts to resist assimilation and declare sovereignty.
"In my opinion, the Kurds will separate [from Iraq]," he said.
The formation of an independent Kurdish state could provoke further instability in an already troubled region.
According to government professor Allan Stam, who introduced McKiernan, the Turkish ambassador to Israel spoke to him concerning the prospects for Kurdish independence.
"Turkey today, or in the future, cannot or will not tolerate an independent Kurdistan," Stam said the ambassador told him.
McKiernan's talk also highlighted the existence of and potential for further conflict in the region. Violence has resumed in the last several months, with PKK rebels based in Northern Iraq entering Turkish territory and fighting.
"Turkey will surely intervene if this civil war expands anymore," McKiernan said.
The conflict is of particular concern to the United States because the Kurds in Iraq have acted as an American ally, even though the PKK has been branded as a terrorist organization.
McKiernan stated that the major hope for peace and understanding depends upon finding middle ground between the Turkish government and the PKK so that civilians do not have to pledge their support to one side or another to avoid retribution.
