The response by French President Emmanuel Macron to Turkish expansionism in the Eastern Mediterranean, the Middle East and elsewhere, and especially with the ongoing genocide against Kurds in Syria and Turkey, is creating opportunities for students to learn about Kurdistan.
French students will begin learning about the Kurdish issues after an addition by the French Directorate of Education, according to Penta Postagma.
The lessons on Kurdistan will be taught as "A nation without a state" and concerns the book for History and Geography that will be taught to 11th grade students for the 2020-21 academic year.
The text, written under the auspices of the French state, includes the following:
"There is hope that resistance will give independence to Kurdistan."
The content of the course states that the Kurds are "the largest people in the world without a state," with a population of 40 million.
In the French history book, it says the Kurds "have been fighting for independence for a hundred years," while it is particularly emphasized that "the countries that dominate the territory of Kurdistan are opposed to these efforts."
However, after the "overthrow of the Saddam regime and the collapse of Syria, hopes for an independent Kurdistan were restored."
One part of the text states that "the current conflicts in the Middle East will allow the establishment of a Kurdish state."
The role of the "Kurdish forces" in the elimination of ISIS is then pointed out, and talks about the power of the Peshmerga militia, which in Kurdish means: "Those who face death".
The French history book also writes that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, launched the "attack on the Kurds in Syria" on October 9, 2019 with approval from US President Donald Trump.
The ISIS war was recorded as the beginning of the end of solidarity between the US and the Kurds.
The "Turkish occupation of northern Syria" is mentioned in the book, as well as the issue of Afrin.
"In March 2018, the Turkish army occupied the Kurdish inhabited city of Afrin and the surrounding area. This area was handed over to radical jihadist groups," the book says.
"These groups grab and steal whatever they find in front of them. Men of these armed militias seized many Kurdish homes and businesses without facing any legal sanction, and began kidnapping people for ransom, as they committed dozens of mass killings," the book says.
The Kurdish settlers had to leave and 130,000 are now homeless.
"This was the ultimate goal of Erdoğan, who wanted to eliminate the existence of the Kurds on the border with Turkey," the text in the French student book reads.
Students are also asked to answer the following questions during the lesson:
1. Is the Kurdish situation the same in all states?
2. Is independence the only way Kurds fought in the 20th century?
3. What was the role of the Kurds in the war against the Islamic State?
4. Why can we compare Iraqi Kurds with Syrian Kurds?
