From Daily Planet Staff Reports

Following his address, a Kurdish activist fielded questions from the audience for 45 minutes on Oct. 5 address in UNC Asheville’s Owen Conference Center.

Kani Xulam, who addressed “What Happens When Your Oppressors Are Next-Door Neighbor; a Story of the Kurds and Kurdistan,” is founder and director of  the American Kurdish Information Network.

A female audience member began the Q&A by noting, “The bottom line is, yes, here we all are. Yes, we can all vote ... There’s so many ugly things going on in the world ... Then we’ve got the Kurds ... What can we do?”

She added that “South Africa was banned from the Olympics until apartheid was ended ... Turkey wants to join the EU (European Union) and participates in the International Olympics,” so maybe sanctions could be threatened.

Xulam answered by quoting Voltaire, “‘The worst kind of hanging is to be hanged obscurely.’ That’s the situation with the Kurds.”

He also alleged that “82 percent of Turkey’s weapons have ‘Made in the USA’ on them ... Turkey is run by thugs — and you know who is part of it.”

Noting that there are 20 million Kurds in Turkey now, Xulam said, “I don’t know if the Kurds will make it to safety, or be eliminated ... The problem is racism and resources ... Turks grow up with a sense of superiority to Kurds, and a sense of entitlement.”

He added, “We’re outnumbered, outfoxed, outguessed and outmaneuvered.”

Another audience member asked Xulam to “tell about the culture of the Kurds.”

“Kurds are indiginous people of the Middle East, with very different languages” from those around them. “They share Islamic culture. Kurdish comes from India, in terms of its origins.”

Xulam then said, “The model I’d prefer to follow is (that of) Czechoslovakia ... They had a referendum — and the Slovaks agreed to a divorce/secession. The Czechs said, ‘Fine,’ and nobody died.” However, Xulam noted, unlike their Czech brethren, “The Middle East has a culture of violence.”

A man in the audience said he was “disappointed” with Xulam’s talk, which he said “concentrated totally on the negative.”

To Xulam, the man said, “By calling Turkey racist, you won’t get anywhere. You have to be diplomatic. You have to negotiate.”

In response, Xulam said, “There are no good-will gestures by Turkish officials .... I couldn’t be a Turkish official,” noting that they are the lowest of low human beings.

“Mahatma Gandhi was lucky — England (his foe) was a country with a rule of law. Then after World War II, England was weak” and India was allowed its independence.

In contrast, Turkey “is full of bigots, racists and people intolerant of the people of Kurdistan. There is blatant racism in Turkey. Why aren’t the 20 million Kurds allowed to have our own radio station?”

Another man said, “One of the problems Kurds have is they’re located in three unstable countries and two of them are very unstable. If they give minorities like the Kurds rights, then other minorities will want rights, too,” a process that the governments likely would view as risky and threatening. (The three countries to which he was referring are Turkey, Iraq and Syria.)

“I think most of the people here are sympathetic to you,” the man told Xulam.

A different man asserted, “I’m moved by your presentation.” Taking a shot at an audience member’s criticisms, the man said, “Having the expectation of a balanced presentation from an activist is an oxymoron.”

Further, the man said, “I don’t see a way out (for the Kurds) other than to show the shortcomings of Turkey, Iraq and Syria.”

Xulam thanked the man for his comments and asserted, “I’m blessed in this country. I can plead my people’s case.

“Stop supporting Turkey. Stop giving them a blank check. Turkey is not a democracy, despite its claims to the contrary.”

Xulam added, “The world’s a spaceship. We’re all in this.”

With a chuckle, he repeated a cliché from the Middle East, “‘You may not be interested in war, but war is interested in you.’”

On a more serious note, Xulam noted, “My sister was imprisoned and violated — and my borther tortured” by the Turks.
A man said, “It seems the EU might have much more influence over Turkey than the U.S. because Turkey wants to get into the EU.”

Xulam agreed somewhat, noting that “the EU is doing some, but not near enough.”

To a man who accused Xulam of not touting the positives and progress in Turkey, Xulam said, “You could say there’s progress. There is Kurdish TV, but you could say it’s a mockery of the Kurds. Each day it starts (programming) with the Turkish national anthem and the programs all are in Turkish with Kurdish subtitles.”