Assyrians and Kurds in Sweden – A Strained Relation

Assyrians and Kurds in Sweden – A Strained RelationWiener Jahrbuch für Kurdische StudienSyriaca.org: The Syriac Reference PortalThe National Endowment for the HumanitiesThe International Balzan Prize FoundationDavid A. Michelsoncbsc_adminRecord added to Zotero bycbsc_adminSyriaca.org: The Syriac Reference Portalhttp://syriaca.org/cbss/CEARTS54/tei

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2025-05-20-05:00

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CREATED: This bibl record was autogenerated from a Zotero record.SvanteLundgrenAssyrians and Kurds in Sweden – A Strained Relationhttp://syriaca.org/cbss/CEARTS54https://www.zotero.org/groups/a_comprehensive_bibliography_on_syriac_studies/items/CEARTS54https://www.zotero.org/groups/4861694/items/CEARTS54Wiener Jahrbuch für Kurdische Studien112023-2024163-173The Assyrian and the Kurdish communities in Sweden are two groups which could be expected to cooperate as they share similar concerns. At a personal level there is a lot of contact, cooperation, and friendship between them. In the last decade, however the relationships at the community level have been strained. In the 2010s, the Assyrian Federation of Sweden chose to voice severe criticism of Kurdish regimes and parties, including the KRG and the regime in Rojava. The criticism intensified with the advance of the “Islamic State” in 2014, a time when Kurdish stakeholders endeavoured to create a thoroughly positive image of Kurds and the Kurdish fight against the jihadists. In sharp contrast to that image, the Assyrian Federation of Sweden accused Kurdish actors not only of inflicting damage to Assyrians through their divide and rule policy, but also of the Kurdification of Assyrian history, as well as oppressing and killing independent Assyrian leaders. Sometimes the criticism even led to essentialist statemen ts about the “nature of Kurds”. I will argue that the critical voices from the Assyrian side should also be read from a perspective within the Assyrian community. More precisely, the criticism vis a vis Kurdish actors represents an instrument in the competition for support from within the community. This interpretation is based on the fact that today, both in the Middle East and in the diaspora, Assyrians are divided into pro Kurdish parties and groups on the one hand, and stakeholders more critical of Kurdish regimes on the other hand. Lundgren, Svante. “Assyrians and Kurds in Sweden – A Strained Relation.” Wiener Jahrbuch Für Kurdische Studien 11 (2024 2023): 163–73. Svante Lundgren, Assyrians and Kurds in Sweden – A Strained Relation, Wiener Jahrbuch Für Kurdische Studien 11 (2024 2023): 163–73.