It is common to browse content that promotes Kurdish self-determination and discover an adage signifying solitude: No Friends but the Mountains.

This Kurdish proverb asserts the many years the Kurds have undergone challenges and obstacles to assert their cultural and political rights of self-determination, expression, and preserving their identity by way of treason, invasion, suppression, and most importantly, abandonment.  

One key factor to analyze this term is the terrain of Kurdistan. Almost all of the traditional parts that are inhabited by a Kurdish majority – with the exception of Northern Syria (Rojava) and some parts of Northern Iraq (Başur) – are either fully mountainous or have a lot of hills.

The Kurds have historically been mountain dwellers, and have often been the center of ancient and modern inquiries to study kingdoms, wars, and societies. Kurds have traditionally and culturally adopted a nomadic lifestyle, at least in the past. This helped them to find refuge from invasion, conquest, sieges, and transition of authority into brutal regimes.

But the deep connection between this enthusiastic and almost metaphorical defender of the Kurds goes beyond just being a safe cover for the weak. It has also been used as a successful military tactic.

Asymmetrical warfare is the conflict between two or more forces with radical differences in numbers and equipment. In such a scenario, a belligerent (faction) can be heavily equipped, well trained, and supported by a large manpower while the other faction is not.

This almost perfect description of what has been the usual definition of many conflicts (Vietnam, Cuba, and French Resistance) fits perfectly for the historically oppressed and unrepresented Kurds who make up almost 50 million in the world’s population.

In ancient times, there has not been a well-established, national front that united Kurds in fighting for an independent and sovereign ethnic land. But tribes, kingdoms, and rebellions always used the mountains as a base for their operations.

By: B.E