Kurds make up between 7% and 10% of syrias population. Ed 404 433 author robson, barbara title fact sheet series. Approximately thirty million kurds live in the middle eastprimarily in iran, iraq, syria, and turkeyand the kurds comprise nearly onefifth of turkeys population of seventynine million. Many of these areas are ethnically mixed, and reliable data are hard to obtain. Turkeys largest kurdish population lives in istanbul 2 million.
Kurds in iraq, turkey, syria, and iran, by jim zanotti and bolko j. The kurds are one part of this centuriesold diversity, yet in some ways they stand out from other muslim ethnic groups in. Turkey, syria, the kurds, and trumps abandonment of. There are roughly 2025 million kurds across the middle east, almost half of whom live in southeastern turkey, northern iraq, northern syria and northwestern iran, a region that some kurds refer to as kurdistan. The cia factbook estimates a kurdish population of 12 million in turkey, six million in iran, about five to six million in iraq, and less than two million in syria, which adds up to close to 28 million kurds in kurdistan. How turkeys conflict with the pkk shapes the syrian ciil ar and iraqi kurdistan executive summary about this report with syria and iraq in flames, turkeys escalating conflict with the. Turkeys political stances and military operations in syria have fed u. Block diagram shows kurdish inhabited areas in iraq, turkey, and iran. They make up the fourthlargest ethnic group in the middle east, but. In february, erdogan again raised the kurdish flag in honor of barzanis visit to turkey, while scolding the iraqi kurds in april to lower it in kirkuk, controlled by the iraqi kurds since 2014. For turkey, rojava is a multilayered and multidimensional issue lowe, 2016. In addition to highlighting kurdish culture and personal stories about kurds and kurdistan, we have recently begun giving grants to kurdish cultural initiatives. May 23, 2016 in 2005, kurds in northern iraq chose who would represent them in their legislature as well as in the iraqi legislature.
The kurds in a volatile middle east beginsadat center. It covers the two main views of kurdish nationalism, then goes from the ottomans up to the modern times of turkey, iraq, syria and iran. Many kurds live in an area of northern iraq called kurdistan not a separate country. Genesis, evolution and prospects mesut yegen turkey domestic policy abstract this paper examines the resolution process in turkey since its inception until today. The kurds of syria have historically lived in the northern part of the country along the borders with turkey and iraq. In iraq, an estimated 50,000 to 100,000 kurds were killed in the late 1980s during saddam husseins alanfal campaign. In june 2015, a kurdish backed political party, the peoples democratic party hdp, threatened the islamist grip on turkey and redrew the political map of the turkish society.
Turkey, syria, the kurds, and trumps abandonment of foreign policy the presidents ignorance of the world has never been so blatantor produced such bipartisan opposition. Eastern states, mainly turkey, iran, iraq and syria. And they are subject, therefore, to discrimination and outright oppression. The kurds are an ethnic group of perhaps 35 million in syria, iraq, iran and turkey, where about 15 million live. But, as the existence of a kurdish project for territorial autonomy has no place within the turkish political imaginary, a real dialogue between the kurdish community. Governance, diversity, and conflicts by harriet allsopp and wladimir van wilgenburg ib tauris, 2019. It has been said that the kurds are a nation without borders at the crossroads of turkey, syria, iraq and iran, though that is only partly true. Document resume ed 404 433 ud 031 555 author robson, barbara title iraqi kurds. Oct 09, 2019 the longplanned turkish military operation in northeast syria has been launched. Kurds live in a mountainous area of eastern turkey, northern iraq, northwestern iran, and small parts of northern syria and armenia. An estimated 175 journalists and media workers are in pretrial detention or serving sentences for terrorism offenses at time of writing. Jun, 2018 some 74 years ago, meskhetian turks were deported from their homeland in soviet georgia. Turkeys imperative is to suppress the kurds and project power into the region.
Map showing kurdish inhabited areas in syria, iraq, turkey and iran. Kurdistan is not a country, but the map of the kurdish region includes the geographical region in the middle east wherein the kurdish people have historically established a prominent population and unified cultural identity. Nowhere is their future more threatened than in turkey where kurds are one quarter of the population. Turkey has come to see some benefit in a stable and more autonomous kurdistan. Conflict between turkey and armed kurdish groups global. Kurds backed by the united kingdom declared independence in 1927 and established socalled republic of ararat. Annual report pdf the european court of human rights. Nowadays the kurds, in turkey, are still known under the name easterner dogulu. The kurds issue in turkey represents the most serious and unresolved ethnic problem in contemporary turkey and today kurds still represent the largest group of stateless people in the world.
Supporters of the prokurdish peoples democratic party at a rally in diyarbakir, turkey, on sept. Daesh areas of influence february 2017 update, the global coalition against daesh, 28 march 2017. Turkeys domestic trajectory and financial distress. But it stopped short of rebuking turkey, and acknowledged its security concerns about the kurds, whom turkey considers terrorists and a threat to its territorial sovereignty. Issues, parties and prospects article pdf available in security dialogue 284. According to various estimates, they compose between 15% and 20% of the population of turkey. See this pdf for the map below, the reading, and discussion questions.
The kurds, a group of approximately 18 million people, are the fourth largest ethnic group in the middle east. Referred to in ottoman documents as the liva district of the kurds, the district of kilis is situated near the border of modern day turkey and syria. Pdf kurds are traditionally regarded as iranians and of iranian origin, and therefore as indoeuropeans, mainly, because they speak iranian. The kurds are the largest ethnic minority in turkey. Turkey is home to the largest population of kurds in the worldabout 12 million. The kurds are an ethnic group that live in turkey, syria, iraq, and iran. The kurds have lived in a mountainous, roughly 74,000squaremile region known as kurdistan for the past two millennia.
Kurdistan which is not a recognized country but divided amount the countries listed above is an area of 230,000 square miles, an. Although turks and kurds resemble one another physically and both peoples are predominantly muslim, the kurds speak an indoeuropean language related to persian, and cling. The krg is now turkeys secondbiggest export market after germany and an increasing source of oil for turkeys economy. This section holds copies of original general maps more than 70 years. The kurds quest for independence council on foreign. Kurdish forces, which control the area, reported heavy airstrikes and widespread panic. The kurds are a large and distinct ethnic minority in the middle east, numbering some 2530 million people. In that sense, turkeys policies towards the kurds on syria are wholly inseparable from domestic turkish kurdish policies, as are the two kurdish populations since the establishment of the. U5 available also through the library of congress web site as a raster image. Kurds are the second largest ethnic group in iraq and turkey and the third largest group after the azeris in iran.
We were herded onto freight trains on the night of nov. Rojavas sustainability and the pkks regional strategy. Theyve been trying to return to the region ever since. If the middle east map were to be redrawn to give the kurds their own boundaries, kurdistan would be as large as france, stretching over 200,000 square miles. Kurds in turkey refers to people born in or residing in turkey who are of kurdish origin. History of the kurds the kurdistan memory programme. Kurds live throughout turkey, but are primarily concentrated in turkish kurdistan, in the southeast of turkey. Turkeys attack on syrian kurds could overturn the entire.
The kurds, a modern history is a very good overview of the kurdish community in the middle east. A predominant muslim people, the kurds speak a northwestern iranian language and are concentrated today mostly in the eastern turkey, northern iraq and syria, western and northeastern iran, with smaller enclaves lying within the presentday borders of armenia, azerbaijan and turkmenistan, and a large diaspora in western europe. Turkey maps perrycastaneda map collection ut library. The kurds fleeing afrin and those who have stayed behind up to 200,000 people are thought to remain in the city say they fear that turkey aims. After an assessment of three distinct phases of the process, it seeks to explain what stimulated the turkish state and the pkk to launch the. Oct 18, 2019 the kurds joined the fight against isis and became an essential partner in the u. The kurds were key allies of america in defeating the islamic state group and they say.
While in the twentieth century, they were generally portrayed as a troublesome and victimized minority, by the turn of the twentyfirst they had assumed the role of a national movement with a political. Turkey remained the world leader in jailing journalists. Recent emigration has resulted in a kurdish diaspora of about 1. Turkeys attack on syrian kurds could overturn the entire region this article is more than 2 years old the new front is not just a local conflict. Rojavas sustainability and the pkks regional strategy the. Turkey, syria, the kurds, and trumps abandonment of foreign. Kurds form the predominant ethnic group the kurdish institute of paris estimates that there are 20 million kurds living in turkey, the majority of them in kurdistan. The kurds in turkey federation of american scientists. They are the largest ethnic group in the world without a country of their own. Half of the kurds reside in turkey, where they comprise over 20 percent of the turkish population.
More specifically, these maps frequently marginalized the kurds by questioning. They are unevenly distributed between turkey, iran, iraq, syria, armenia and azerbaijan. In 197576, about 2,000 kurdish refugees from iraq were. They have historically inhabited the mountainous areas to the south of lake van and lake urmia, a geographical area collectively referred to as kurdistan. The immediate roots of the current conflict date to 2011, when multiple forces in syria rebelled against the autocratic rule of syrian president bashar al. Is ankara trying to change demographics in turkeys. The kurdish areas of syria are fragmented into three principal parts, which form territorial outgrowths of. Sep 21, 2017 why is turkey so disjointed over the iraqi kurds. Institution center for applied linguistics, washington, dc. Most kurds speak northern kurdish kurmanji or sorani, which both belong to the. Turkeykurdish regional government relations after the u. Shortly after the turkish foreign minister made the statements about the syrian kurds in manbij, a deal was struck between russia, the syrian army and the sdf to. The area indicated as kurdistan in the map roughly coincides. Apr 18, 2016 turkey has a long history of discrimination and injustice committed against the kurdish people.
In turkey, kurdish language curriculums are still banned in most schools. A stable and prosperous iraqi kurdistan region could also serve as a counterweight to the emergence of an autonomous kurdish. The kurdish areas of syria are fragmented into three principal parts, which form territorial outgrowths of the larger kurdish territory in the neighbouring countries. For many years the syrian kurds, unlike their brethren in turkey, iraq and to a lesser extent in iran, had been rarely featured in the media. Kurds form the largest minority group in turkey, and they have posed the most serious and persistent challenge to the official image of a homogeneous society. There are also small populations of kurds in armenia, georgia, azerbaijan, turkmenistan, and. Attacks in turkey and clashes with kurdish groups significantly increased in 2016.
Kurds form almost 20% of the population of turkey and iraq. The kurds in a volatile middle east ofra bengio executive summary this study examines the role of the kurds in a rapidly changing middle east. In june 2015, a kurdishbacked political party, the peoples democratic party hdp, threatened the islamist grip on turkey and redrew the political map of the turkish society. The area that they have inhabitedreferred to on maps for centuries as kurdistanspans modern day iran, iraq, syria, and turkey. Between 25 and 35 million kurds inhabit a mountainous region straddling the borders of turkey, iraq, syria, iran and armenia. Central intelligence agency, unless otherwise indicated. The kurdish project was cocreated by farhad fred khosravi, a kurdishamerican entrepreneur, and media cause, a nonprofit digital agency, as a culturaleducation initiative to raise awareness in western culture of kurdish people. Today, kurds are the largest ethnic group in the world without a state of their own. Turkey has long feared kurdish aspirations for a separate state.
Opinion how turkey misreads the kurds the new york times. This classification was changed to the new euphemism of eastern turk in 1980. The kurdish fight for a land of their own goes back centuries. The region has seen heavy migration and multiple government e.
Spanning portions of where the nationstates of iraq, iran, turkey, and syria. The kurds, an ethnic group numbering around 30 million people, is widely recognized to be the. In between these two objectives is a perforated band of kurdish groups that cannot achieve statehood. Occupying a region of 500,000 square miles in iran, iraq, syria, turkey and the ussr, the kurds are one of the most persecuted minorities of our time. Turkey considers the ypg as terrorists affiliated with the outlawed kurdistan workers party, or pkk, which has waged a 35yearlong battle against. The kurds quest for independence council on foreign relations. Keep track of the latest developments on the center for preventive actions global conflict tracker. Throughout their history they have remained under the thumb of various conquerors and nations. Turkey suppressed kurdist revolts in 1925, 1930, and 19371938, while iran did the same in the 1920s to simko shikak at lake urmia and jaafar sultan of hewraman region who controlled the region between marivan and north of halabja. Ed 404 433 author robson, barbara title fact sheet series no. Their centuryold quest for independence is marked by. Includes location map, graphs showing agriculture and rainfall, col. Mar 18, 2018 the kurds fleeing afrin and those who have stayed behind up to 200,000 people are thought to remain in the city say they fear that turkey aims to change the demography of the town, and by. President erdogan of turkey says his aim is to create a socalled safe zone, cleared of kurdish fighters.
Cartographically constructing kurdistan within geopolitical and. Turkeys military launched a crossborder operation against kurdishled forces in syria in early october, after us troops who had been allied to the kurds withdrew. As the kurds captured isisheld territory, suffering enormous casualties, they incorporated the area into their selfrule. The turkish government has always denied to recognize the right for. In the ottoman successor states within which the kurds now reside turkey, iraq, syria and iran under the pahlavi shahs, each government tries to forge a strong sense of national identity to secure its power, and therefore the kurdish identity is respectively viewed as an obstacle to turkish, arab, and persian national unity. Turkeys syria offensive explained in four maps bbc news. Turkey s military launched a crossborder operation against kurdish led forces in syria in early october, after us troops who had been allied to the kurds withdrew. World war i political map of the middle east was about to explode after the rise of. Oct 14, 2019 turkey s military launched a crossborder operation against kurdishled forces in syria in early october, after us troops who had been allied to the kurds withdrew. Yet the groups ongoing efforts to expand and merge its cantons reflect a firm commitment to gathering syrias kurds into an economically viable statelet that extends tantalizingly close to the mediterranean sea a prospect that could also advance the goals of its parent organization in turkey, the kurdistan workers party pkk. Since the early 20th century, the region has been divided between turkey, iran, syria, and iraq, all of which have repressed, often brutally, their kurdish minority. In the 16th century, the ottoman empire grants hereditary control of the district to the kurdish canpolad dynasty. Turkey tensions, particularly regarding kurdishled militias supported by the united states against the islamic state is, also known as isisisil over turkeys strong objections.
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