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For other uses, see Kurdistan (disambiguation).

Kurdistan is both the name of a geographic region and a cultural region in the Middle East named after the Kurds, a large Iranian ethnic group living in parts of Turkey, Iraq, Iran, Armenia, and Syria. Most Kurds speak Kurdish. Its borders are hard to define. While Iran and Iraq acknowledge Kurdistan as parts of their territories (Iraqi Kurdistan region in Iraq and Kurdistan Province in Iran), Turkey and Syria do not recognize Kurdistan as a demographic or geographic region. Kurdistan is generally held to include the regions in northern Middle East with large Kurdish populations. The boundaries of the modern ethnographic region of Kurdistan (i.e. the region populated by Kurds) overlaps with the historical ethnic homelands of the Syriacs and the Armenian people. According to one account, Kurdistan includes 27-28 million people in a 190,000 km (74,000 sq. mi) area. Others estimate as many as 40 million Kurds live in Kurdistan, which covers an area as big as France. The Kurdistan Province in Iran and the Kurdish Autonomous Region in Iraq are both included in the usual definition of Kurdistan. Kurdish people are found in regions far from their ancestral homeland. The largest Kurdish enclave outside Kurdistan is the Kurdish region in north Khorasan, in north-eastern Iran. Other scattered smaller communities are found in Azarbaijan(Kalbajar and Lachin, to the west of Nagorno Karabakh), the Alburz mountain range in northern Iran, Guilan province in northern Iran and Sistan and Baluchistan province in southeastern Iran. (See ).

Kurds were first promised an independent nation-state in the 1920 Treaty of Sèvres. The Treaty of Sèvres divided the former Ottoman Empire between the United Kingdom, Turkey, and others. Independence was granted to Armenia as well. The national government in Ankara, however, rejected the terms of the treaty and resisted the Greek army's advance into the area assigned to them in Western Anatolia. Following the Greco-Turkish War (1919-1922) and the disastrous defeat of the Greek forces, a peace agreement was signed with the Soviet Union. These events forced the former wartime Allies to return to the negotiating table, and the terms of Sèvres were revised in Turkey's favor by the Treaty of Lausanne in 1923. Since that time Kurdish nationalists have continued to seek independence in an area approximating that identified at Sèvres. However, the idea of an independent nation-state came to a halt when the surrounding countries joined to reject the independence of Kurdistan.

History

Main article: History of the Kurds

Kurds claim descent from various ancient groups; among them the Guti, Mannai, Hurrian and Medes. The Medes came under Persian rule during the reign of Cyrus the Great and Darius. Centuries later, Kurdish-inhabited areas in the Middle East witnessed the clash of the two competing super powers of those times, namely the Sassanid Empire and the Roman Empire. At their peak, the Romans ruled large Kurdish-inhabited areas, particularly the western and northern Kurdish areas in the Middle East.

In the 7th century A.D., Arabs conquered most of the Middle East, and Kurds became subjects of Arab Umayyad and Abbasid caliphates. In the second half of the 10th century, Kurdistan was shared amongst four big Kurdish principalities. In the North the Shaddadid (951-1174) (in parts of Armenia and Arran), in the East the Hasanwayhids (959-1015) and the Annazid (990-1116) (in Hulwan, Kermanshah and Khanaqin) and in the West the Marwanid (990-1096) of Diyarbakir.

Kurds in the medieval period were living in several semi-independent states called "emirates". A comprehensive history of these states and their relationship with their neighbors is given in the famous textbook of "Sharafnama" written by Prince Sharaf al-Din Bitlisi in 1597 . For a list of these entities see . The famous Kurdish Emirates included Baban, Soran, and Garmiyan in present-day Iraq; Bakran and Bokhtan (Botan) in Turkey, and Mukriyan and Ardalan in Iran. In 17th century, Ahmad Khani (Ehmedê Xanî) wrote "Mem û Zîn", the Kurdish national epic, and he was seen by some as an early advocate of Kurdish nationalism .

In the 16th century A.D., the Kurdish inhabited areas were split between Safavid Iran and the Ottoman Empire after long wars. Before World War I, most Kurds lived within the boundaries of the Ottoman Empire in the province of Kurdistan. After the collapse of the Ottoman Empire, the Allies created several countries within its former boundaries. Originally, Kurdistan along with Armenia was to be one of them, according to the never-ratified Treaty of Sèvres. However, the reconquest of these areas by Kemal Atatürk and other pressing issues caused the Allies to accept the renegotiated Treaty of Lausanne, giving this territory to Turkey and leaving the Kurds without a self-ruled region. Other Kurdish areas were assigned to the new British and French mandated states of Iraq and Syria under both treaties. These boundaries were drawn with more concern for the division of oil resources and influence between different colonial powers and for rewarding pro-Allied Arab leaders than with ethnic distribution.

Since WWI, Kurds have been divided between several states, in all of which they are minorities. Many Kurds have campaigned for independence or autonomy, often through force of arms. However, there has been no support by any of the regional governments or by outside powers for changes in regional boundaries. A sizable Kurdish diaspora exists in Western Europe that participates in agitation for Kurdish issues, but most of the governments in the Middle East have historically banned open Kurdish activism.

In Turkey, Iran, and Iraq, Kurdish guerrilla groups, known in the Kurdish culture as 'Peshmerga', have fought for a Kurdish state. In Northern Iraq, Peshmerga fought against the Iraqi government before and during the 2003 Invasion of Iraq and now police the Kurdish Autonomous Region there. Another militant group, the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), has fought an armed campaign in Turkey, Iraq, Syria and Iran for over thirty years. In Turkey, more than 30,000 Turkish and Kurdish people have died as a result of the war between the state and the PKK, with alleged atrocities being committed by both sides. There are also some casualties in Iran, Syria, and Iraq.

Northern Kurdistan

Northern Kurdistan is a geocultural region located in present-day southeastern Turkey. After the Treaty of Sèvres, Kemal Atatürk often referred to "Turko-Kurdish cooperation" during the years of "national struggle", known as Millî Mücadele. This was in accord with acts of the Ankara government such as sending a team of instructors to train the Kurdish rebels, who were then fighting against British troops in modern day Iraq under the banner of the Kingdom of Kurdistan. It has been argued that Atatürk promised Kurdish people in North Kurdistan that he would respect the conditions of the Treaty of Sèvres, implying self-determination for the Kurdish people in exchange for their crucial help in defeating the Allies (The Turkish Grand National Assembly in Ankara, which was formed in 1920, had rejected the Treaty of Sèvres within the first weeks of its meetings, hence the doubt).

As soon as victory over the allies was secured, Kurdish people started uprisings in eastern Turkey, suppression of which resulted in the Turkish government reacting by outlawing the publishing of Kurdish newspapers and speaking of Kurdish on government property, and the starting a "geographical nation policy". In 1927, Kurds declared independence in the Republic of Ararat. The republic lasted until 1931.

Since then, the constitution of the Republic of Turkey calls everybody who lives within the borders of Turkey a "Turk," declares the official language of Turkey (and of Turkish Government) "Turkish," and that education will be made in "Turkish." Kurds were officially referred to as "Mountain Turks".

Until the 1960s and 1970s speaking Kurdish was forbidden in all areas of public and private life in Turkey. Since the 1980s militant Kurdish organizations, such as the PKK, have campaigned for an independent Marxist state through force of arms, while other Kurdish activists that were campaigning constitutionally for the same ends were suppressed, as the government sought to put down all forms of separatism.

Forced relocation in Turkey

Security forces in Turkey forcibly displaced Kurdish rural communities during the 1980s and 1990s in order to combat the Kurdish Workers’ Party (PKK) insurgency. By the mid-1990s, more than 3,000 villages had been virtually wiped from the map, and, according to official figures, 378,335 Kurdish villagers had been displaced and left homeless.,

The case of Leyla Zana

Further information: Leyla Zana

In 1991, Leyla Zana became the first Kurdish woman elected to the Turkish parliament. At her inauguration as an MP, she reportedly identified herself as a Kurd. Amnesty International reported "She took the oath of loyalty in Turkish, as required by law, then added in Kurdish, 'I shall struggle so that the Kurdish and Turkish peoples may live together in a democratic framework.' Parliament erupted with shouts of 'Separatist', 'Terrorist', and 'Arrest her'. She was sentenced to 10 years in prison for speaking Kurdish in the Turkish parliament in 1994.

Arrest of Ocalan

Further information: Abdullah Ocalan

In 1999, a joint operation by the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), the Turkish National Intelligence Agency (MIT), and the Israeli Institute for Intelligence and Special Tasks Agency (Mossad) located and arrested the leader of the Kurdish paramilitary group PKK, Abdullah Ocalan, in Kenya.

Southern Kurdistan

Main article: Iraqi Kurdistan

Southern Kurdistan is a geocultural region located in present-day Northern Iraq. The southern boundary of the present-day Kurdistan Regional Government – known as the 'Green Line' – passes roughly through the middle of the area in which most Iraqi Kurds live, leaving a number of Kurds outside the autonomous zone. On the other hand, this transitional region (which includes the cities of Mosul and Kirkuk) is ethnically quite diverse, as it includes the bulk of Iraqi Turkmen and Syriacs as well as large numbers of Sunni and Shia Arabs.

The Kurdish Autonomous Region was designated for three northern provinces in 1970.

Anfal Genocidal Campaign

Further information: Anfal

Anfal, or "the Spoils (of War)", is the name of the eighth sura of the Koran, and was used by the Iraqi Army as the name for a military operation executed from March 29 1987 to April 23 1989. The operation was carried out by Ali Hassan al-Majid, also known as "Chemical Ali," under the former Iraqi regime of Saddam Hussein. More than 50,000 Kurds were killed and 2,000 villages destroyed during the operation. In addition, Iraqi Army engineers destroyed the large Kurdish town of Qala Dizeh. Kurdish sources report the number of dead to be greater than 182,000 .

Iranian (Eastern) Kurdistan

Main article: Iranian Kurdistan

This area in northwestern Iran along the borders of Iraq and Turkey spans (Greater parts of) the provinces West Azarbaijan, Kurdistan, Kermanshah, Ilam,and Lorestan.

In the constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran, all language minorities including Kurdish speakers have the right to teach the language in schools and have publications, although these rights are often not respected by the government. Several newspapers have been closed by the Iranian authorities because of alleged "promotion of Kurdish separatism."

Western Kurdistan

Western Kurdistan or Syrian Kurdistan (Kurdish: Kurdistana Binxetê) is a geocultural region located in present-day north-eastern Syria.

It covers part of the province of Al Hasakah. The main cities in this region are Al-Qamishli (or "Qamişlû" in Kurdish) and Al Hasakah (or "Hesaka" in Kurdish). Kurds make up around 9% to 10% of the population in Syria. (see Demographics_of_Syria and ).

According to Human Rights Watch, there are 142,465 Kurds (by the government's count), and well over 200,000 Kurds (according to Kurdish sources), who have been arbitrarily denied the right to Syrian nationality in violation of international law. They are not permitted to own land, housing or businesses. They cannot be employed at government agencies and state-owned enterprises, and cannot practice as doctors or engineers. They may not legally marry Syrian citizens. Kurds with "foreigner" status, as they are called, do not have the right to vote in elections or referenda, or run for public office. They are not issued passports or other travel documents, and thus may not legally leave or return to Syria.

According to some sources Syria is recently planning to grant citizenship to those 300,000 Kurds living in the country deprived citizenship.

Suppression of ethnic identity of Kurds in Syria include: various bans on the use of the Kurdish language; refusal to register children with Kurdish names; replacement of Kurdish place names with new names in Arabic; prohibition of businesses that do not have Arabic names; not permitting Kurdish private schools; and the prohibition of books and other materials written in Kurdish. ,, .

References

External links

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