Lara's Essay: Analyse the Reasons for Separatism Within And/or Across National Boundaries, and Discuss Its Consequences

June 2010: Analyse the reasons for separatism within and/or across national boundaries, and discuss its consequences. [40]

Separatism can be described as the attempts of regional groups to gain more political control from a central government in the area they inhabit. Like all forms of conflict, both the causes of separatism and the severity of the consequences largely vary depending on the circumstances of the nations involved. The reasons for separatism include the presence of minority cultural elements such as ethnicity (an example being the Kurdish people), religion and language (such as the Welsh language) as well other elements linked to regionalism, such as the perception that local resources are exploited by a national government The consequences also vary in degrees of severity, from democratic political solutions(such as Scottish devolution), to civil unrest, insurgency terrorism and even civil war. Whilst separatism is not always destined to end in violence, it may be said that the prevalence of violence is often linked to the developmental security of the nations involved.

One key example of a separatist group is the Kurds. There are an estimated 40 million Kurds worldwide and they are located predominantly in 4 countries in western Asia. 17 million in Turkey, 8 million in Iran, 7 million in Iraq and 2 million in Syria. The history behind the conflict is linked to the collapse of the Ottoman Empire and the dismissal of the 1921 Treaty of Sevres , where the Kurds were promised land for an Independent Kurdistan State, and the subsequent treaty of Lausanne in 1923 where their promised land was divided between Turkey, Syria and Iraq. In consequence the Kurds remain the largest ethnic group without a state of their own and the separatist conflict arises from the subsequent repression and discrimination of the Kurds in all 4 of the main countries they occupy.

A key reason for separatism is identity. In the case of the Kurds, there exists a lack of recognition for their identity. Prejudice formed from deep-seated resentment towards Kurdish independence has lead to widespread oppression of identity. For example, in the Syrian census of 1961 Kurds were stripped of citizenship,and a Turkish law of 1924 outlawed the Kurdish language. These acts of oppression aimed to isolate the Kurdish people from society, inhibiting them socially and also economically, creating an enforced language barrier thus damaging employment opportunities. Consequently, in all four nations Kurds are less educated and earn lower incomes, thus their position as being second class citizens spreads the desire for separatism and independence to free them of discrimination. This discontent for suppression of identity is strengthened following media coverage of human rights abuses such as the 10 year imprisonment of Leyla Zana, the first female member of a Kurdish political party, for speaking Kurdish in a Turkish court.