Kurds - a nationality of thirty million without a state

Modern researchers of the nation-forming processes and the very phenomenon of national identity assert that the most important factor in the formation of any nation is the formation of its own state through which it can express its fundamental interests and life priorities. That is why the movements of the Basques, Catalans and some other minorities in Western Europe have been so long lived. However, the most numerous people, who are obviously ready to formalize themselves as a nation, but still do not have their own state, are the Kurds. This nationality has more representatives than many European nations. According to various estimates, the Kurds are from thirty to forty million people living in different countries of our planet.

Who are the Kurds?

This nationality is a combination of a whole series of tribal groups of Turkic origin. Their homeland and the most dense area of modern settlement is the territory in the very east of Asia Minor. Modern Kurdistan (so called this region) is divided at once between several states: Turkey, Iraq, Iran and Syria. Naturally, the absolute majority of representatives of this people professes Islam of the Sunni type. Although there are also Christians: Catholics and even Orthodox Kurds. This nationality is also widespread in other countries of the Middle East, as well as in Europe and the CIS.

Origin of the Kurds

This people is one of the oldest in the front of Asia. Today, its origin is a very controversial issue. So, there are opinions that the Kurds are heirs of the Scythians. Other scholars deduce their genealogy from the ancient Kurdi tribes inhabiting Persia and Mesopotamia. Genetic studies of haplogroups indicate the kinship of modern Kurds with the peoples of the Caucasus: Azerbaijanis, Georgians and Armenians, as well as Jews.

Kurdish issue in Turkey

Actually, it consists in the inconsistency of such a large number of people with their actual status of a national minority in several eastern states. Thus, the Kurds, whose nationality was long denied by the Turkish government, were subjected to cultural oppression until the 2000s. For years Kurdish language was banned in local media. The situation is aggravated also by the fact that the Kurds in Turkey are mostly at a rather low stage of social development in comparison with the Turks themselves. At the same time, according to some expert estimates, their number reaches 20% of the country's population. The intensive growth of national consciousness occurred here after the collapse of the Ottoman Empire. Throughout the twentieth century, a weak unorganized struggle was waged in Kurdistan. It was able to take shape seriously only under the influence of Marxist ideology already in the late 1970s - the first half of the 1980s. Under the influence of the separatist paramilitary organizations of the Kurds and under the pressure of European states insisting on the democratization of Turkey, the local government was forced to make concessions in the 2000s. The prohibitions on the use of their language and the manifestation of culture are being softened. For some time, regular TV channels have appeared in the Kurdish language, national schools are opening.

Kurdish issue in other countries of the Middle East

Kurds in Iraq, like in Turkey, live in compact groups in certain territories. For a long time they fought for their identity with the local monarchy, and later - with the regime of Saddam Hussein. In the early 1990s, the Kuwait war almost helped to create their own independent state. However, the attempt of the separatists failed. In the 2000s, Iraqi Kurdistan gained wide autonomy within the state. Syrian Kurds live in the northern regions of the country, accounting for 9% of the population. The cultural position of this people here is still worse than in Iraq and Turkey, since the use of Kurdish language, names, private schools, books and other printed publications is still prohibited in Syria. At the same time, there are local paramilitary organizations that gravitate towards the creation of autonomy.