Which Rebellion Next?
The speed and scope of rebellions across North Africa and the Middle East has been dizzying. Absolutely no-one seems to have predicted this current and dramatic tidal-wave of unrest and even regime change. Tunisia , Egypt , Bahrain , Libya , Yemen and now Syria … Commentators have been guessing where the axe will next fall. The Turkish newspaper Hürriyet Daily News has predicted that the Kurds of Turkey are ripe for revolt. “The Arab Spring may lead to a Kurdish Summer”, they have suggested. There are estimates between 14-20 million Kurds in Turkey – approximately 15-20% of the country’s population. There are also some 1 million Kurds in Syria , and 2 milion in Iran . The hostility of the Kurds to the Turkish Government is long standing. Revolts go back at least to 1925, and include a major rebellion by the separatist PKK (Kurdistan Workers Party) which started in 1978, and overflowed into Kurdish northern Iraq . Over 40,000 Kurds are reported to have been killed in these