The Kurds A Nation Without a State
The Kurds - A Nation Without a StateIntroduction
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 during ancient times.
However, the desire for a Kurdish homeland did not begin until the early
1900’s, around the time of World War I. In his Fourteen Points,
President Woodrow Wilson promised the Kurds a sovereign state (Hitchens,
p. 54, 1992). The formation of a Kurdish state was supposed to have
been accomplished through the Treaty of Sevres in 1920 which said that
the Kurds could have an independent state if they wanted one (Bonner, p.
46, 1992). With the formation of Turkey in 1923, Kemal Ataturk, the new
Turkish President, threw out the treaty and denied the Kurds their own
state. This was the beginning of the Turkish-Kurdish conflict.
At about this same time, the Kurds attempted to establish a
semi-independent state, and actually succeeded in forming the Kingdom of
Kurdistan, which lasted from 1922-1924; later, in 1946, some of the
Kurds established the Mahabad Republic, which lasted for only one year
(Prince, p. 17, 1993). In 1924, Turkey even passed a law banning the
use of the Kurdish language in public places.
Another group of people to consider is the Kurds living in Iraq. Major
conflict...
To view the complete essay, you be registered.