Kurdistan and The Kurds A Divided Homeland and a Nation without ...

the book of Major Soane “To Mesopotamia and Kurdistan
in disguise”, and the book “Kurdistan or Death” by Rene
Maurice (translated into Arabic by attorney Georgis Fathullah
with an introduction and analysis by Jawad Mella)
and likewise the book “The Kurdish National movement”
by the well-known French author Chris Cutschera
published in Paris in 1979 and “After Such Knowledge,
What Forgiveness” by the American author Jonathan C.
Randal, the Arabic language edition of which has been
published by Dar El Nahaar in Beirut in 1997.
The clash between circumstances throughout history
together with the unusual political conditions of which
our homeland still suffers have contributed to the slow
development of production forces within the Kurdish
community. Part of these factors and circumstances have
been the ongoing wars on Kurdish land and the systematic
acquisition by the region’s governments of our
Homeland’s bounty. The inefficiency of these
governments in economic management has not made
things any easier. In addition, the transfers of trade routes
to sea helped by the Suez Canal and modern air transport
have further isolated our homeland from the global trade
routes of the Old World.
The urbanisation phenomenon in the world has not
helped in development either. Urban crafts have replaced
agricultural ones. The import of foreign-manufactured
goods has contributed to the further deterioration of local
traditional Kurdish crafts while international trade has
taken another route through the intermediary of Persian,
Turkish and Arab merchants.
Moreover, Kurdish petroleum has attracted many
interests in the region and a petroleum industry has been
created becoming the only heavy industry on Kurdistan
- 29 -