Kurdistan and Kurds?

Question

who knows what kurdistan is and have some of you heard about kurds?

i am a kurd

we kurds and the israelis are the only normal people in the middle east. thats what i think and its true because the other people there you know which i mean are calling us israel nr 2.

Answer 1

This of course is an issues surrounded in controversy. I am an American historian living in Turkey right now, and I have encountered a lot of talk about this issue. The Kurds are sometimes called an ethnic minority that is split apart by the borders of Iraq, Iran, Syria, Turkey, and some other surrounding nations. The term ethnic minority is not quite accurate because the Kurds are sometimes considered a 'tribe' that is culturally and linguisticaly different than the surrounding peoples.
In Turkey, it is almost impossible to tell who is a Kurd and who is a Turk (the Turks themselves are made of so many people from so many countries, not all of them have darker skin, I know some quite naturally blond Turks) but the military is always on the lookout for them. There is security everywhere in this country, and one reason is because of the 'terrorist' group called the PKK, the Kurdish Worker's Party, which is responsible for all the bombings and fighting in Turkey. But not a lot of Kurds actually support the PKK. Laws have changed lately in Turkey, and the Kurds, who were once barred from speaking and teaching their languages in school, and now allowed too. The Kurds just want to be able to live as full citizens, and they do now in Turkey. The PKK is what is giving the Kurds a bad reputation because it is illegal in Turkey threated the territorial integrety of the state. Wanting an independed state is against some of Ataturk's principles, and they are taken very seriously 83 years later.
Right now there is no actual country called "Kurdistan" but this term refers to the areas of the countries mentioned above. Origionally, after WWI the Kurdish people were to be given an independent state, but this was scrapped by the allied leaders. Kurdistan would have been a large state: There are approximatly 5 million kurds in Iran, over 4 million in Iraq, maybe a million or so in Syria, and somewhere between 10-14 million in Turkey. This it seems is a large group, more than the population of countries like Australia, Hungary, Sweden, Greece, and the Czech Republic (infact, only 50 countries in the world have over 20 million people). They are given some autonomy in Iraq, and even the president of Iraq is a Kurd.
i'm not sure what your agenda is in asking this question, but most Kurds (in Turkey atleast) are not seeking independence, and are not treated badly. They are not 'suffering' or being 'repressed' as you may hear from other responders. Make sure you learn people's agendas and where they are from before you believe any answers. I am a historian, I am not biased, I am just reporting to you what my research and resources have told me. And believe me, I have done a lot of work on this issue, and talked to many people on both sides, and have done the historical and news research on this topic. Any follow-up questions are very welcome. I hope this helps.

Answer 2

The Kurds are a tribe that live in Northern Iraq. They are a mix of Arab and Pesian blood.

There is also a considerable population of Kurds in Turkey, who have trouble getting full rights as a Turkish citizen. Don't know what's between the Kurds and the Turks.

But the Kurds did want independence from Iraq, a seperate land known as Kurdistan. They didn't seem to like Saddam. They even tried to assasinate Saddam Hussien once. That made Saddam furious enough to unleash a brutal campaign.

At the same time, the Iran-Iraq war was raging. Many Kurds died from Bio weapons used by Saddam. Now, he has been found guilty of war crimes and genocide.

The current state of affairs in Iraq is indeed very complex.

Answer 3

Kurdistan is the territory north of Iraq wanting to be independent as a separate country due to differences in culture. Kurds are the people that inhabit Kurdistan.

Answer 4

Kurds live in 4 countries, Northern Iraq and the bordering territories of Syria, Iran, and Turkey.
Ever since the fall of the Ottoman empire the Kurds have aspired to their own territory and nation state, something the states on whose territory they live never accepted.
The Turks and the Iraqis have tried to assimilate them by force, and in the case of Iraq, even tried to eradicate them.
At the moment they are the only group (apart from the US oil companies and Haliburton) to have profited from the US invasion by getting at least limited autonomy in the area around Mossul in Northern Iraq..

Answer 5

the kurd problemdoes not concern trkia and iraq alone.the kurds are scattered in the area. there are kurds in syria lebanon and iran as well creating independant kurdstan means achaose in the area. as a first step the international communit should recognize the right of the kurd self rule in iraq and then turkia and should encourage other government to respect the rights of the kurds to stablsh their schools and manttain close relation with the other kurd.

Answer 6

Oh, man...you just threw a rock at a hornet's nest. Can't wait to see the ire this stirs up in at least one nationality...

Answer 7

Just like Turdistan and Turds - but slightly less smelly...

Answer 8

Sure, read about you guys for years.it doesn't look to peachy for you in the next few years though. GOOD LUCK!!