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ellenrr

(3,864 posts)
Tue Sep 6, 2016, 01:51 AM Sep 2016

Peace in the Middle East - Federalism not territorial disintegration?

"Clearly many peoples in the Middle East have serious cultural, economic, and political grievances that need to be addressed and cannot be ignored simply by summoning the principle of national and territorial integrity. But given the risks involved in the wholesale breakup of current states and a massive redrawing of existing borders, what is therefore to be done to address the grievances of minorities?

The answer lies in less-centralised governments, greater economic and administrative autonomy for regions where minorities reside, a more equitable sharing of national resources and greater cultural freedoms. For example, practices such as Turkey's references to Kurds as "mountain Turks," - which fortunately it has now stopped doing - should be completely out of the question.

Another solution is regionalism and the encouragement of cross-border economic and cultural exchanges among those peoples who live within the borders of different states. For example, why shouldn't there be economic exchanges among Turkish, Iraqi, Syrian and Iranian Kurdistan, or joint projects sponsored by their governments?"

https://www.alaraby.co.uk/english//Comment/2016/9/5/Peace-in-the-Middle-East-Federalism-not-territorial-disintegration?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=sf

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