Colonial sovereignty and religious necropolitics: The sacred victimization of infidel Kurds in the Middle East

This article critically explores the intersection of colonial narratives and religious necropolitics in the systematic oppression of the Kurdish nation across the Middle East. From the latter half of the 20th century, governments representing Iranian, Turkish, and Arab nationalisms, alongside non-state actors like ISIS and the Turkish-backed Free Syrian Army, have employed demagogic religious policies to legitimize the persecution and mass killings of the Kurds. These regimes and groups brand the Kurds as infidels, subjecting them to a continuous state of war and dehumanization, while positioning themselves as defenders of Islam to quash Kurdish demands for national rights and autonomy. The article explores how these religious necropolitics policies have fuelled genocidal massacres, such as Khomeini’s fatwas in Iran, Erdoğan’s rhetoric in Turkey, the Anfal genocide in Iraq, Yazidi genocide by ISIS, and the dehumanization of Yarsans by Islamic Shia authorities in Iran. The systematic de-Kurdification of regions like Afrin in Syria further exemplifies the lethal consequences of conflating religious ideology with noo-state sovereignty. Through this analysis, the article underscores the profound impact of religious necropolitics on the Kurdish struggle, revealing how these policies have not only dehumanized the Kurds but also framed their aspirations for freedom as existential threats. The article concludes by highlighting how the interplay of colonial sovereignty and religious necropolitics has perpetuated the sacred victimization of Kurds in the Middle East, framing them as infidels to justify their ongoing oppression and marginalization. Through this lens, the study reveals the deep-seated mechanisms of control and violence that have been used to maintain power over the Kurdish nation, emphasizing the critical need to understand these dynamics within the broader context of Middle Eastern geopolitics.