Kurdistan Quotes

“1. Bangladesh.... In 1971 ... Kissinger overrode all advice in order to support the Pakistani generals in both their civilian massacre policy in East Bengal and their armed attack on India from West Pakistan.... This led to a moral and political catastrophe the effects of which are still sorely felt. Kissinger’s undisclosed reason for the ‘tilt’ was the supposed but never materialised ‘brokerage’ offered by the dictator Yahya Khan in the course of secret diplomacy between Nixon and China.... Of the new state of Bangladesh, Kissinger remarked coldly that it was ‘a basket case’ before turning his unsolicited expertise elsewhere.

2. Chile.... Kissinger had direct personal knowledge of the CIA’s plan to kidnap and murder General René Schneider, the head of the Chilean Armed Forces ... who refused to countenance military intervention in politics. In his hatred for the Allende Government, Kissinger even outdid Richard Helms ... who warned him that a coup in such a stable democracy would be hard to procure. The murder of Schneider nonetheless went ahead, at Kissinger’s urging and with American financing, just between Allende’s election and his confirmation.... This was one of the relatively few times that Mr Kissinger (his success in getting people to call him ‘Doctor’ is greater than that of most PhDs) involved himself in the assassination of a single named individual rather than the slaughter of anonymous thousands. His jocular remark on this occasion—‘I don’t see why we have to let a country go Marxist just because its people are irresponsible’—suggests he may have been having the best of times....

3. Cyprus.... Kissinger approved of the preparations by Greek Cypriot fascists for the murder of President Makarios, and sanctioned the coup which tried to extend the rule of the Athens junta (a favoured client of his) to the island. When despite great waste of life this coup failed in its objective, which was also Kissinger’s, of enforced partition, Kissinger promiscuously switched sides to support an even bloodier intervention by Turkey. Thomas Boyatt ... went to Kissinger in advance of the anti-Makarios putsch and warned him that it could lead to a civil war. ‘Spare me the civics lecture,’ replied Kissinger, who as you can readily see had an aphorism for all occasions.

4. Kurdistan. Having endorsed the covert policy of supporting a Kurdish revolt in northern Iraq between 1974 and 1975, with ‘deniable’ assistance also provided by Israel and the Shah of Iran, Kissinger made it plain to his subordinates that the Kurds were not to be allowed to win, but were to be employed for their nuisance value alone. They were not to be told that this was the case, but soon found out when the Shah and Saddam Hussein composed their differences, and American aid to Kurdistan was cut off. Hardened CIA hands went to Kissinger ... for an aid programme for the many thousands of Kurdish refugees who were thus abruptly created.... The apercu of the day was: ‘foreign policy should not he confused with missionary work.’ Saddam Hussein heartily concurred.

5. East Timor. The day after Kissinger left Djakarta in 1975, the Armed Forces of Indonesia employed American weapons to invade and subjugate the independent former Portuguese colony of East Timor. Isaacson gives a figure of 100,000 deaths resulting from the occupation, or one-seventh of the population, and there are good judges who put this estimate on the low side. Kissinger was furious when news of his own collusion was leaked, because as well as breaking international law the Indonesians were also violating an agreement with the United States.... Monroe Leigh ... pointed out this awkward latter fact. Kissinger snapped: ‘The Israelis when they go into Lebanon—when was the last time we protested that?’ A good question, even if it did not and does not lie especially well in his mouth.

It goes on and on and on until one cannot eat enough to vomit enough.”
― Christopher Hitchens

“Let’s stand against the killing of innocent civilians. It is time to make the future better than today. Together we can bring peace and unity to our communities.”
― Widad Akreyi

“Ji bona her kesek yarek heye ê min welat yar e
Belê çibkim di destê dijminê xwînxwar û xeddar e.”
― Cegerxwîn

“If the Bahreini royal family can have an embassy, a state, and a seat at the UN, why should the twenty-five million Kurds not have a claim to autonomy? The alleviation of their suffering and the assertion of their self-government is one of the few unarguable benefits of regime change in Iraq. It is not a position from which any moral retreat would be allowable.”
― Christopher Hitchens, A Matter of Principle: Humanitarian Arguments for War in Iraq

“It is time to recognize the past and ongoing genocides to prevent new ones. Together we can build a better world!”
― Widad Akreyi

“هەرگیز مێژوو بۆ ئێمەی کورد نەبۆتە وانەیەک بۆ سوود وەرگرتن لە ڕابردوو”
― Davan Yahya Khalil

“Only careful political manoeuvring will be able to manage the situation.”
― Davan Yahya Khalil

“تەنها مانۆڤرێكی سیاسی هوشیار ئەتوانێت ئەم دۆخە هێوركاتەوە”
― Davan Yahya Khalil

“زۆر جار بەتەنیا بە دیار ئاوێنەوە دادەنیشم وە سەیری خۆم ئەكەم، ئەلێم باشە مرۆڤ جۆن وا زوو ناشرین ئەبێ.
كە چی دایكی بەرەحمەتیم هەمیشە ئەی ووت كوڕم خەم مەخۆ چەند بەتەمەن تر ئەكەوی جوانتر ئەبی”
― Davan Yahya Khalil

“Future generations must always learn about what took place in sinjar so it never happens again.”
― Davan Yahya Khalil

“Our children's won't learn Kurdish Language fluently if we don't tech them.”
― Davan Yahya Khalil

“ئەگەر نيشتیمان پەروەری بە ماستاوچیەتی بێت، ئەوە ۹٠٪ کورد بە کۆنە بەعسیەکانیشەوە بە نیشتیمان پەروەر
ئەژمێردران”
― Davan Yahya Khalil

“Sooner or later our dream will become a true, (Independence)”
― Davan Yahya Khalil

“The history of Kurdistan doesn’t just tell us why it hasn’t become independent so far. It also helps to make the case for Kurdistan’s independence. It is a desire founded, not just on some passing modern whim in that direction, or on spurious claims to natural and obvious borders, but on a sustained historical focus and desire by its people, on pre-existing promises, on the need for protection from the kind of atrocities that have historically been perpetrated against the Kurds, and on the rather artificial way in which Kurdistan has been denied its existence in the past.”
― Davan Yahya Khalil

“The memory of Mullah Mustafa Barzani has become a crucial part of the idea of what it means to be Kurdish today.”
― Davan Yahya Khalil

“Kurdistan has a long and turbulent history. Today, it faces a future branching in directions that could lead it towards success or disaster, freedom or renewed oppression.”
― Davan Yahya Khalil, Kurdistan: The Road to Independence

“هيچ نەتەوەیك لە ئازارەکانی میللەتی کورد تێناگە تەنها خودی كورد نەبێت”
― Davan Yahya Khalil

“لە هیچ سوچێکی گۆی زەویدا میللەتێك نیە هێندەی کورد بێ ماف بێت، وە هیچ میللەتێك نیە هێندەی كورد بێ كەس بێت”
― Davan Yahya Khalil

“هەموومان لە حەقیقەت هەلدێین، ڕۆژێک دێت حەقیقەت یەخەمان دەگرێت و دادگایمان دەکات٫ ئەو کاتە پەنجەی پەشیمانی دەگەزین و هیچ دادمان نادات”
― Davan Yahya Khalil

“كاتێك كە من منداڵ بووم دوایین شت كە بە خەیالی كەسێك دابێت هەلگرتنی وردەكاریەكانی رۆژی لە دایك بونم بوو”
― Davan Yahya Khalil

“People deserve to know about that. They need to understand, not so that they can pity the region, but simply because it helps to explain so much of the way Kurdistan has tried to improve itself afterwards. They need to understand to stop it from ever happening again. They need to understand, because it is unacceptable that a genocide that was essentially ignored by many countries around the world at the time should be continued to be ignored by history”
― Davan Yahya Khalil, Kurdistan: Genocide and Rebirth

“Kurdistan won’t be free until women are”
― Ava Homa, Daughters of Smoke and Fire

“پێویستمان بە بومەلەرزەیەکی سیاسیە نەوەک بومەلەرزەیەكی جیۆلۆجیك”
― Davan Yahya Khalil

“Çarenivîs çi dibe bila bibe gelê me dikare bijî û ger tirsa nemanê jî bike, ew wekî berê dixwaze serxwebûna xwe misoger bike.”
― D. Efrasiyaw Hevramî, Di Arşîvên Rûs de Mustefa Barzanî

“A soft barbed tongue cannot clean the bloody crooked claw hands.

After a conversation with Dr.Muhsin Bilal who tried to wash the bloody hands of his party (Baʿath) in general and Bashar al-Assad
in particular.”
― Jahanshah Safari

“we know that Only careful political maneuvering will be able to manage the situation of Kurdistan
so we must act now to solve this.”
― Bakhtyar Aziz, KURD AND KURDISTAN

“Cold sweat, like the river streams from Mount Sabalan, builds up on his wrinkled forehead. His palms heat up faster than an Ahvaz summer’s day. His ears, his fingertips oscillate like the Thousand Daf festival in Kurdistan’s Sanandaj, the sound of a thousand Iranian tambourines.”
― Soroosh Shahrivar, Tajrish

“Kurds in Syria must first unite internally and then present their demands collectively to Damascus”
― Masoud Barzani, Barzani and the Kurdish Liberation Movement: Fourth Edition, 1975-1990 - The Gulan Revolution, Part One

“Federalism should be an alternative to suppression and persecution, ensuring rights for all components of society”
― Masoud Barzani

“Three million votes for Kurdistan independence created history and cannot be erased”
― Masoud Barzanini