As usual the Kurds are missing out
I managed to build a Kurdish solidarity group on facebook with about 16 000 members. How many did I manage to bring onto steemit ? Well, only three that I know of. How many was I able to find already on steemit besides the ones I invited ? None.
Why have so few joined you may ask. The reason is : I most definitely suck at convincing people, true, but that must not be the only reason. I'm going to share few observations I have made on my people.
If you look into Kurdish history, all that Kurds have ever wanted is to be left in peace and just live a simple life. Kurds are not greedy, constraining or narrow minded. Kurds are tolerant, respectful and hospitable. I'd say as long as Kurds had their lands to grow their crops on, food to feed their children and could live according to their own lifestyle, they had little to no interest in politics, money or building a nation state. Kurds lived in a feudal society made up of hundreds of thousands of tribes up until the 1920's. Even as of today, this observation seems generally valid.
Our calm and trusting nature is ultimately the reason why we were deceived and don't have a state of our own. We had no Kurdish delegation to advocate the Kurdish interest during the treaty of Lausanne. Kurds counted on their long term Turkish allies and neighbors to have their back during the negotiations between the Europeans which marked the partitioning of the Ottoman Empire. "Don't worry, it's just politics, we are the ones living on this land no matter what". Nope, big mistake!
The Kurdish nationalistic self-awareness came once the deal and the Kurdish fate was sealed. The Kurdish awakening occured right after and in reaction to the Turkish nationalistic awakening. The actual Turkish nation state was born in 1923 with no room of a Kurdish state nor a Kurdish identity. In other words, for the Kurds not to claim a nation state of their own, Kurds could not exist. So this was the new Turkish objective, "one people, one flag, one language, one country".
And of course, Kurds felt betrayed and oppressed. This situation lead to rebellions and rebellions lead to massacres of the population. The Kurdish identity was denied, Kurdish history no longer existed and the Kurdish language was banned. In modern terms this would be called ethnocide. Read a bit more on this on wikipedia, Kurdish rebellions in Turkey. Kurds were also betrayed by the United States during the golf war against Saddam. And today, Kurds are once more betrayed, but this time by the international community.
Steemit is an example, but I believe Kurds have a general tendency to miss out on opportunities. We don't have lobbyistes, nor advocates, nor sponsors and so on. Besides, due to our history and experience, we Kurds have learnt to be cautious and suspicious of everything (like what the hell are crypto-currencies ?).
Anyway, I will do what I can to build a Kurdish community on Steemit. Not for steemit itself, but for what the blockchain technology could do for Rojava. Imagine, what would be the best monetary system for an anarchist nation ? Imagine a whole new nation with cryptocurrency as their official currency. And the best place to learn about these things is within the steemit community.
If you want to get mind blown, watch this video :
For more on the Kurds, check out my other posts :
- Who are the Kurds ?
- What is it like to be a kurd ?
- Rojava : a stateless democracy
- Brave female Kurdish fighters
- Kurdish Independence Referendum
- Documentary of the Rojava Revolution : Roza - The Country of two rivers
- Racism and slander against Kurds on steemit
- TURKEY IS KILLING KURDS AS THE INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY REMAINS SLIENT!!
- Turkey doing it's best to destroy any hope of a Kurdish nation
- Afrin : No hope for humanity in sight
- Terrorisme légal : Pas d'espoir pour l'humanité en vue
- For Kobanê. For Cîzre. For Afrîn. For Rojava. For Kurdistan! Poem "Valley of the Shadow"
