Crossborder Kurdish Solidarity: An Endangered Aspect of Kurdishness

Abstract

Cross-border kinship has been a particular hallmark of Kurdish identity and an important source of solidarity between Kurds of different regions within Kurdistan. However, this article argues that the values of cross-border Kurdish solidarity have been violated in the past, due to the collaboration of elements of the Kurdish movement with the Turkish, Iranian, Iraqi and Syrian states. Misconducted cross-border interaction has led to movement fragmentation, decline or/and termination, and to internecine violence between different sections of the Kurdish movement. This paper, reflecting on the interaction between the Iranian and Iraqi Kurdish movements from the 1960s to the 1990s, argues that the Iranian Kurdish movement has been disadvantaged and has faced multifaceted challenges and difficulties partially owing to this interaction.