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A country in the mind

(Country in the mind - Kurdistan)
It is here in Northern Iraq and Eastern Turkey that I have found the living breathing example of assigning meaning to objects on a massive scale. People in academia might be excited I actually paid attention in class. Here in the mountains of this region called Kurdistan, a guy from the University of Chicago named George Herbert Mead might be right at home. Mead preached Symbolic Interactionism - in a nutshell, "meaning."

Why did Turkey invade Iraq a couple weeks ago? "Kurdish rebels in the mountains," is the story and we are all sticking with it. What's really going on here? Northern Iraq is possibly as strong now as it has been in living memory. It is not a secret in this part of the world.

Last visit to Iraq, I picked up a flashy poster with a map of the region. Going back into Turkey, my bag was searched at the border. Lucky for me it was searched by a young Turkish soldier who had lived in America. "You can be put in prison here for having that map," he said in a perfect East Coast accent, and frowned. Then he took the map and stomped on it in the mud. His pistol wearing sergeant snuffed out a cigarette and looked over the soldier's shoulder. "Move the hell on you fool," the soldier said to me and quickly turned to the next person in line. Not a good time to chat about the Yankee's.

The ubiquitous map found in this part of Iraq, is of a country in mind only - the nation of Kurdistan. The problem with the map in the Turks mind is, the map includes one quarter of Turkey in the in-mind-only nation of Kurdistan. The map also carves out great chunks of Iran, Iraq, and Syria.

As I have frequently mentioned, the Kurds also have their own flag. Don't get caught in Turkey with that either. You won't see the Iraqi flag in the north unless there is some governmental function up here where other members of Iraq are participating. Then it seems to fade away again.

The Iraqi army does not venture up here. That would be like Wisconsin for example having its own national flag, national army, and parallel national government. Imagine if you would, from an American stand point, your own state being invaded and the central government powerless to intervene.

The Turks moved their army back into their own country after a couple weeks. The diplomats exchange formalities on the incursion. The 24-hour news stations have a good tag-line with bumper music. Nothing really changed here on the street. The map, the flag, the Kurdish army stay right in place. The mind is a powerful thing.

Bob Keith
Erbil, Iraq

View more pictures from Bob's travels.