The Kurdish Diaspora

[dutchdemocrat]

Do the Kurds have as much of a right to homeland as the State of Israel? I think this is an important question.

The Kurds are on of the most ancient people in the Near East. They live in a region they call Kurdistan, which is as large as France and is located within the borders of Turkey, Iraq, Iran and Syria. There are also Kurds living in the territory of the former Soviet Union, but their number is rather small.

There are approximately 35 million Kurds living in Kurdistan. They have their own language, Kurdish, which is an Iranian language. The Kurds are an Indo-European people and are unrelated to their Arab neighbors. The religious majority of them are Sunni Moslems with 75% and Alevite Moslems with 15%, but unlike in the neighboring Arab countries, Islam is not a part of the Kurdish identity.

In ancient times, the Kurds founded several states in this region, until the Turks, which have their roots in Middle Asia came over Iran to Anatolia and founded first the Selchuk and then the Ottoman States.

From that time on, Kurdistan became the place of clashes between the Ottoman and the adjoining Persian Empires. In order to keep their autonomy, the Kurdish princes sided first with one side, then with the other.

In the 1638 “Treaty of Kasri Shirin”, Kurdistan was officially divided between these two states. It followed armed attacks from both sides on the Kurdish princedoms, in order to destroy them.

From the beginning of the 19th century on, Kurdistan fought for unity and independence, but got defeated every time.

After World War I, the Ottoman Empire fell and new states were founded on its soil. In the ”Treaty of Sevres” of August 10th 1920 it said that the State of Kurdistan was supposed to be officially established in this region. But this agreement has not been directly implemented, so that in the following “Treaty of Lausanne” of July 24th 1923, Kurdistan could be legally carved up again, with the largest part going to Turkey and other parts going to Iran, Iraq and Syria. These artificial borders divided villages, towns and even families and made the Kurds the largest ethnic group without a nation of its own

http://www.hamline.edu/cla/academics/international_studies/diaspora/kurds/paper.html#Intr

[Canadian_moderate]

1. Hey there!

I'm familiar with expatforums.org It's a good site.

You may recall me as John V. Greetings from Toronto, Canada.

[dutchdemocrat]

5. Hey John

I am a vancouverite mix nederlander and love the best of both worlds. Come pay us a visit sometime, the forum is dynamic and lots of interenting people around. You can reach me at [email protected] or check out expathos.com when you get a chance... cheers

ghandi

[prodigal_green]

2. I dated a Kurd in NYC

He was a jerk, but I attribute that to his being an actor, not a Kurd.

But your point is well taken--there are groups, the Kurds being the largest, who are currently stateless and more or less ignored (when they are not being killed).

[madrchsod]

3. yes they do but

they haven`t been given over 90 billion dollars of free money from the taxpayers of the united states. they have no value as a people since they have no money and lobbist`s in washington- they can`t write checks for votes. the most important thing to remember-nobody cares about them

[hel]

7. That's not exactly true.

Kurdish groups -some of them terrorist, some not- have lobbyists in Washington, and are making themselves heard in European countries like Belgium and France.

[theboss]

4. The Kurds have been ostensibly indepdenent for ten years

The one good aspect of the no-fly zones was that it allowed the Kurds to essentially operate under self-rule since the end of the Gulf War.

I think the easisest solution to how to handle Iraq is three indepdendent states - Kurdish, Shi'ite and Sunni. Iraq has always been a fictional conglomaration along the lines of Yugoslavia.

But I don't know if we could get Turkey to go along with such a plan.

[hel]

8. Turkey pretty much was in control in Northern Iraq.

Turkey had military bases in Northern Iraq with the silent approval of both Saddam and U.S. since decades, until the war; The Turkish Army didn't care much about the border there, they just took the fight with Kurds into Iraq whenever they felt like it.

And yes, USA probably cannot get Turkey to go along with such a plan. The only plan Turkey is willing to accept and respect is a unified Iraq where Kurds are not in total control over oil wells in Northern Iraq.

[AgentLadyBug]

6. um, where does the *diaspora* part come in?

I mean - I'm down with all the history, and the Kurds have been screwed over quite a bit... I'm just wondering where the diaspora was?

cdj