[updates below]
So the Syrian regime, which finds itself in a tight spot with its people, is now trying to curry favor with the Kurds. Better late than never, I suppose. Bashar al-Assad’s main gesture, it seems, will be to grant citizenship to Syria’s 200,000 or so Kurds, who are indigenous to the country, not immigrants, but have been stateless since the creation of the modern Syrian state. The condition of Syria’s Kurds is a scandal and outrage—considerably worse than that of the Kurds in Turkey, Iraq, or Iran—but which is relatively little known, even among academic Middle East specialists. I was only made aware of it in the 1990s, via reports by Human Rights Watch. A certain number of Kurdish asylum seekers in Europe in past years were Syrian, though were coached by traffickers (before 2003) to say they were Iraqi or Turkish, as saying they were Syrian would have more likely resulted in refusal and deportation. So if Bashar actually does follow through on his pledge, it will be progress. Like I said, better late than never.
UPDATE: From Al Jazeera. The Kurds aren’t satisfied. Too little.
2nd UPDATE: Kurds say “the ‘gift’ of citizenship is not enough” (April 20).
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