ABSTRACT

This study examines Britain’s Middle Eastern policy discussions in relation to the future of Kurdistan. It argues that perceptions of the Kurdish question were significantly influenced by the conflicting strategies of the India Office and of the Foreign Office. The primary aim of this study is to examine Mark Sykes’s specific role in determining the future of Kurdistan by neglecting its cause in the post-Ottoman settlement, which has not been considered in the previous literature. Sykes’s views of the Kurds strongly influenced the British policy decision not to recognize the validity of the Kurdish question, and to leave the Kurds off the new map of the Middle East. In addition, this article identifies the role of Orientalist ideology, critiquing Sykes’s perception of the Kurdish question by applying a post-colonial approach primarily based on Edward Said’s theory. It concludes that Sykes’s understanding of Kurdistan was translated into the British policy-making process, both during the war and in the postwar period, which consequently contributed to the post-Ottoman complexity of the Kurdish question to this day.

摘要

本研究考察了英国关于库尔德斯坦未来的中东政策讨论。它认为，对库尔德问题的看法受到印度办公室和外交部相互冲突的战略的重大影响。本研究的主要目的是检验马克赛克斯在决定库尔德斯坦未来方面的具体作用，方法是忽略库尔德斯坦在后奥斯曼定居点中的原因，这在以前的文献中没有被考虑过。赛克斯对库尔德人的看法强烈影响了英国的政策决定，即不承认库尔德问题的有效性，并将库尔德人排除在中东新版图之外。此外，本文确定了东方主义意识形态的作用，通过应用主要基于爱德华赛义德理论的后殖民方法，批判赛克斯对库尔德问题的看法。它的结论是，赛克斯对库尔德斯坦的理解在战争期间和战后时期都被转化为英国的政策制定过程，从而导致库尔德问题在后奥斯曼时代的复杂性一直持续到今天。