ewedd

1. Kurdish minority
Ethnic group or a
nation?

2. General info
 Indo-European
(Iranian)
 ~23 million
 Divided among 3+
countries; most in
Turkey
 About 400 sq km

3. People
 Tribal, family is the core
 Predominantly rural
 Sunni, but significant Yazidi, Alevi and Sufi
groups
 Language: Kurdish
(with dialects)

4. History
 Sumerian inscriptions
 Arab, Mongol, Turkish,
Turkomen influences
 Sevres (1920): autonomous
Kurdistan
 Lausanne (1923): division of
Kurdistan between the
neighbouring countries
 Kurdish nationalism

5. Today they live in
 Laicised Turkey
 Shia Iran
 Arab/Sunni Iraq
 Sunni Northern Syria
 Ex-Soviet Transcaucasia

6. Politically
 Newly recognized in Iraq (but were opressed)
 Kurdistan recognized in Iran (but should
assimilate)
 Turks of Kurdish origin in Turkey / Moutain
Turks (Eastern
Anatolia)
 Province of Djazira
in Syria