The Times of Israel, April 14, 2025 , Veysi Dag’s Blog
On October 1, 2024, the Turkish state launched its so-called “terror-free” process—its latest political maneuver to address the Kurdish question. This time, it reintroduced the voice of imprisoned PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan after five years in solitary confinement. In a letter dated February 27, 2025, Öcalan reaffirmed his commitment to resolving the Kurdish conflict through peaceful and democratic means, calling for a shift from armed struggle to political dialogue. Yet, despite its rhetoric of dialogue, the initiative remains deeply one-sided. Ankara demands unilateral concessions from the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), insisting on its disarmament and dissolution under the pretext of a mythical “thousand-year brotherhood.” The Turkish regime also seeks to impose this demand on the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in Rojava, which has strongly rejected any association with Öcalan’s letter. Meanwhile, the Turkish state continues to deny Kurds their cultural and political identities, suppress their rights, and ignore historical grievances—reducing the Kurdish struggle to a mere security threat.
Rather than fostering genuine reconciliation, Turkey’s ‘terror-free’ process marginalizes and humiliates the Kurdish population, placing the entire burden of “peace” on them while offering no constitutional reforms, structural change, or cultural recognition. Simultaneously, the Turkish military intensifies its operations against Kurdish forces in Iraq and Syria, all while neglecting the legitimate demands of millions of Kurds within its borders and across the region. So, what is the real objective of the Turkish state? The so-called peace process appears less a path to resolution and more a strategy to neutralize Kurdish aspirations and suppress Kurdish political actors—especially amid deepening Kurdish-Israeli ties. By portraying Kurdish cooperation with Israel as a betrayal of the ‘thousand-year brotherhood,’ Ankara seeks not only to discredit Kurdish movements but also to preempt a potential alliance between two historically marginalized peoples in the Middle East. In this light, Turkey’s “peace” narrative functions not as a step toward reconciliation but as a mechanism of containment—an effort to extinguish Kurdish autonomy under the banner of a “Kurdish-Turkish brotherhood” that has never existed on equal terms.
What is the Myth of Thousand-Year Kurdish-Turkish Brotherhood
Turkey’s invocation of a so-called “thousand-year Kurdish-Turkish brotherhood” is not a gesture of reconciliation—it is a political fiction. This narrative, far from reflecting any historical reality, aims to conceal a long-standing pattern of dominance and exclusion. It is a calculated tactic, deployed to mask the Turkish state’s broader agendas of imperial projection and internal colonialism, particularly in Kurdish regions across the Middle East.
There is no credible historical evidence to support the claim of a thousand-year brotherhood rooted in equality and mutual respect. What the historical record reveals instead is a hierarchical relationship that began with the arrival of the Seljuk Turks in Anatolia and Mesopotamia in 1071. From the outset, Kurdish communities were placed in subordinate roles, while Turkish elites consolidated power through military strength and administrative control. Far from being integrated as brothers—or even as partners—in a shared political destiny, many Kurds—especially marginalized groups such as Alevi and Yezidi Kurds—were systematically excluded from power, targeted for persecution, and subjected to repeated waves of displacement. Ottoman-era chroniclers, including the famed traveler Evliya Çelebi, described certain Kurdish populations in dehumanizing terms, portraying them as subhuman and unworthy of inclusion in the imperial order. These narratives laid the ideological groundwork for pogroms, forced migrations, and systemic violence.
A turning point came with the crushing of the Principality of Botan under Bedirxan Beg in the mid-19th century. The destruction of this final vestige of Kurdish autonomy was not merely a military operation—it was a political message: Kurdish self-rule would no longer be tolerated, and any aspirations for independence would be met with overwhelming force. From that moment forward, Kurdish existence was defined by subjugation and denial. Following World War I, Kurdish hopes for statehood—encouraged by Allied promises—were swiftly abandoned. The Treaty of Lausanne in 1923 solidified the borders of the Turkish Republic while rendering the Kurds a stateless nation within it. In the decades that followed, Kurdish identity was criminalized, their language banned, their culture suppressed, and their communities subjected to military campaigns and forced assimilation—what many human rights observers have described as cultural and physical genocide. Today, Turkey’s nostalgic rhetoric about “brotherhood” is less an appeal to shared history and more a tool to suppress Kurdish demands for autonomy, justice, and dignity. It serves to sanitize a legacy of domination and legitimize ongoing policies of repression and colonization—both within Turkey and through its military campaigns beyond its borders.
Turkey’s War on Kurdish Autonomy in Post-ISIS Syria
Since the outbreak of the Syrian civil war and the subsequent rise—and defeat—of ISIS, Kurdish forces in northern Syria have emerged not only as key actors in the fight against terrorism but also as architects of a bold, inclusive political experiment. At immense human and material cost, they helped reshape the regional geopolitical landscape and gave new hope to a stateless people long denied the right to self-determination. However, these hard-won gains have now become the primary target of the Turkish state. Under the pretext of national security, Ankara has waged a sustained armed campaign to dismantle Kurdish autonomy in Syria. Far from remaining neutral, the Turkish government has been accused of supporting extremist factions—including al-Qaeda-affiliated jihadists—and turning a blind eye to ISIS terrorists, all in an effort to counter Kurdish-led forces. These Turkish-led alliances have deepened instability and triggered new waves of violence against civilians. In 2018, Turkey launched Operation Olive Branch, invading the predominantly Kurdish region of Afrin. In 2019, it expanded its invasion into Sere Kaniye (Ras al-Ayn). These operations resulted in widespread displacement, documented cases of ethnic cleansing, and a deliberate attempt to engineer demographic change in Kurdish-majority areas.
Despite the aggressive Turkish campaigns—driven by deeply rooted anti-Kurdish sentiment—Kurdish communities have continued to preserve elements of their autonomy. Through perseverance, grassroots governance, and unwavering resistance, they have held onto the institutions they built after ISIS’s collapse. However, one should not confuse resilience with stability. As Turkey intensifies its military operations and doubles down on rhetoric that equates Kurdish identity with terrorism, the fragile achievements of these communities remain under constant threat. The threat comes not only from bombs and invasions but also from the persistent denial of Kurdish political identity and the right to self-governance. Turkey’s actions reveal a glaring contradiction: while claiming to combat terrorism, it systematically targets the very forces that played a decisive role in defeating ISIS. This is not a strategy for peace—it is a strategy of regional power projection, one that places Kurdish aspirations squarely in the crosshairs of Ankara’s neo-imperial ambitions.
A Shifting Middle East: From Sykes-Picot to a New Regional Order
Not only were the atrocities committed by Hamas on October 7, 2024, a horrific assault on Israeli civilians, but they also marked a significant shift in the geopolitical landscape of the Middle East. Hamas, designated as a terrorist organization by the United States, the European Union, and others, maintains deep ideological and diplomatic ties with the Turkish regime. Turkey’s long-standing support for Islamist factions has destabilized regional politics, reinforced sectarian divisions, and undermined pluralistic visions for the Middle East. The October 7 attacks have galvanized Israel and its allies to push for a new regional paradigm—one rooted in security, coexistence, and indigenous agency. For Israel, still shaped by the collective trauma of the Holocaust, the attacks reopened historical wounds. Yet from that trauma has emerged renewed resolve: the determination not only to defend its citizens but also to help reshape the region into a more stable and inclusive future. At the heart of this transformation lies the spirit of the Abraham Accords—an emerging diplomatic framework promoting mutual recognition, cooperation, and peaceful coexistence.
As the region grapples with the aftermath, it is increasingly clear that this moment signals the unraveling of the century-old Sykes-Picot order—the colonial framework imposed by Britain and France after World War I, which arbitrarily divided the Middle East and suppressed the rights and identities of its indigenous peoples. The future could either be defined by renewed repression or by a pluralistic, inclusive order shaped by the people who have lived under the shadow of Sykes-Picot for generations. Within this context, a historic opportunity has emerged for the Kurds, Jews, and other indigenous communities of the Middle East to reclaim their voices and reassert their place in the region’s future. These communities—long marginalized by colonial borders and authoritarian regimes—share a legacy of resilience, cultural preservation, and a steadfast desire for self-determination.
A Shared Legacy of Jewish-Kurdish Solidarity in the Shadow of Exile and Resilience
The deep historical and cultural ties between Jews and Kurds are grounded not only in centuries of coexistence but also in shared experiences of persecution, displacement, and survival. Over the centuries, both peoples have endured cycles of oppression—pogroms, forced migrations, cultural erasure—and yet they have preserved rich traditions that continue to bind them. Today, this shared memory is not merely a historical reflection; it serves as the foundation for a growing alliance that envisions a future rooted in mutual respect, self-determination, and regional peace.
The Jewish-Kurdish relationship dates back to the 7th to 5th centuries BCE, when Jews, exiled from the Kingdom of Israel by the Assyrians and later the Babylonians, settled in what is now the Kurdish region. Many remained even after their release by Cyrus the Great, whose mother was reportedly of Kurdish origin. This bond deepened in the 1st century BCE, when the royal house of Adiabene, a Kurdish dynasty based in Erbil, converted to Judaism. This transformation, approved by rabbinic authorities, inspired a wave of Judaic cultural adoption among the surrounding Kurdish population. During the Ottoman period, Jews in Kurdistan faced systemic discrimination under the millet system but often found protection under local Kurdish chieftains. Unlike other parts of the Middle East, the Kurdish region became a relative haven where Jewish communities preserved their unique dialects (such as Lashon haTargum, a form of Neo-Aramaic tied to the Talmud), maintained agricultural lifestyles, and expressed their heritage through music, food, and religious practices. The collapse of the Ottoman Empire brought renewed suffering. In the early 20th century, Young Turk policies led to the deportation of Jews from Kurdish regions in Turkey to Syria, with some making the treacherous journey to Jerusalem on foot. In the 1940s, under Iraq’s pro-Nazi regime, the Jewish community endured the Farhud pogrom, a brutal wave of anti-Jewish violence. Despite immense pressure to participate in the atrocities, many Kurdish Muslims resisted, risking their lives to protect their Jewish neighbors and help them escape through the mountains of Kurdistan.
When the Jews of Kurdistan migrated en masse to Israel in the 1950s, it was not just a relocation—it was a return. After 2,700 years of exile, they reconnected with their ancestral homeland, bringing with them the cultural memory of coexistence with the Kurdish community. To this day, their traditional food, music, and dance not only preserve that memory but actively strengthen ties with Kurds across the region and the diaspora, forming a bridge between two peoples long denied nationhood. This historical legacy is not merely a matter of the past—it holds present-day relevance. As Israel pursues regional state-to-state and top-down diplomacy through the Abraham Accords, and as the Kurdish-led region of Rojava builds a people-to-people and bottom-up model of pluralistic governance, Kurds and Jews are uniquely positioned to co-create a new vision for the Middle East—one that moves beyond sectarian divisions and authoritarian rule toward a shared future grounded in autonomy, coexistence, and peace. However, this emerging alliance faces determined opposition. The Iranian and Turkish regimes, threatened by any vision of pluralism or indigenous empowerment, have actively worked to disrupt Kurdish-Israeli cooperation. Turkey, in particular, continues to build a counter-alliance with mostly undemocratic and authoritarian regimes in the Middle East, promoting a vision of the region rooted in sectarian hegemony, ethno-nationalist repression, and Islamist authoritarianism—aiming at eliminating Kurdish and Jewish presence from the emerging regional landscape.
How Turkey Undermines Kurdish-Israeli Relations
The Turkish regime has taken deliberate steps to undermine the emerging alliance between Kurds and Israelis—an alliance rooted in shared histories of statelessness, persecution, and exile, as well as resilience, secular vision, and democratic aspirations. Rather than acknowledging the legitimacy of Kurdish or Israeli national identities, Ankara actively works to delegitimize both through propaganda, coercion, and disinformation.
A key strategy involves demonizing Israel while simultaneously vilifying any Kurdish actor seen cooperating with it. By framing such collaboration as treacherous or criminal, Turkish authorities aim to portray Kurdish political movements as “agents of Zionism”—a stigmatizing label designed to isolate Kurdish actors both domestically and internationally. To advance this agenda, the regime in Ankara mobilizes its network of pro-government NGOs—including the Humanitarian Relief Foundation (IHH)—particularly in Kurdish-populated areas of Turkey. Ostensibly, the IHH has long been accused of harboring extremist sympathies and has faced allegations of supporting jihadist groups such as ISIS and al-Qaeda. Within Kurdish regions, the IHH serves as a vehicle for state-sponsored propaganda, spreading anti-Israel rhetoric and framing Jewish identity as hostile to Kurdish interests. This manipulation aims to erode grassroots Kurdish support for deeper ties with Israel by presenting such an alliance as unnatural or dangerous. At the same time, this campaign serves a secondary purpose: sending a message to Israel. By cultivating anti-Israel sentiment among Kurds—or at least projecting the illusion of it—the Turkish regime attempts to convince Israeli policymakers that the Kurds are unreliable, untrustworthy, or inherently hostile. In doing so, Ankara hopes to prevent any diplomatic, cultural, or strategic partnership between the two peoples from taking root. Ironically, while the Turkish government presents itself as pursuing “peace” with the Kurds, it simultaneously accuses them of being Zionist pawns. This contradictory stance is not a peace initiative but a disinformation strategy—one that seeks to isolate the Kurds from potential allies and entrench their subordination within a rigid, nationalist framework.
In short, the Turkish regime exploits antisemitic narratives, empowers extremist-linked organizations, and weaponizes false accusations to prevent the emergence of a Kurdish-Israeli alliance. Its objective is not coexistence but control—preserving an outdated regional order through manipulation and fear. If peace and partnership are the path they choose, Kurdish and Israeli leaders must remain steadfast in rejecting these tactics and reaffirm their shared commitment to a future based on mutual respect, historical truth, and democratic values. Moreover, they must recognize the historical urgency of this moment. The foundation for trust already exists—in shared pain, cultural exchange, and acts of solidarity across centuries. Now is the time to move beyond rhetoric, words, and positive sentiments and to solidify that partnership with courage, conviction, and practical actions. Together, Kurds and Jews can help shape a new Middle East—one founded not on fear and domination, but on peace, freedom, dignity, and genuine collaboration.
The author Veysi Dag is a research fellow at the Department of International Relations of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.is a research fellow at the Department of International Relations of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.