Kurds - A People Without A State

Kurds - A People Without a State

Introduction

Of all the ethnic groups in the world, the Kurds are one of the

largest that has no state to call their own. According to historian

William Westermann, "The Kurds can present a better claim to race

purity...than any people which now inhabits Europe." (Bonner, p. 63,

1992) Over the past hundred years, the desire for an independent

Kurdish state has created conflicts mainly with the Turkish and Iraqi

populations in the areas where most of the Kurds live. This conflict

has important geographical implications as well. The history of the

Kurdish nation, the causes for these conflicts, and an analysis of the

situation will be discussed in this paper.

History of the Kurds

The Kurds are a Sunni Muslim people living primarily in Turkey,

Iraq, and Iran. The 25 million Kurds have a distinct culture that is

not at all like their Turkish, Persian, and Arabic neighbors

(Hitchens, p. 36, 1992). It is this cultural difference between the

groups that automatically creates the potential for conflict. Of the

25 million Kurds, approximately 10 million live in Turkey, four

million in Iraq, five million in Iran, and a million in Syria, with

the rest scattered throughout the rest of the world (Bonner, p. 46,

1992). The Kurds also have had a long history of conflict with these

other ethnic groups in the Middle East, which we will now look at.

The history of Kurds in the area actually began d...

Kurds - A People Without A State

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