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Discusses the history of the Kurdish people and their fight to secure recognition of Kurdistan as a national state, from the signing of the Treaty of Lausanne in 1923 to the present day. Some focus on activities of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) in Turkey and Iraq.

Considers the question of whether the Kurds will come into their own as a cohesive ethnic group in the mold of many others in recent years in Europe. Forces working against ethnic unity for the Kurds include geography, cultural & political fragmentation, & linguistic differences. Further, Kurds represent a small minority in all of the countries in which they reside; their situation in Iraq, Iran, & Turkey is briefly reviewed. The movement toward independence of the Kurds in Iraq is shown to have encouraged all Kurdish people to seek permanence to their affairs. However, achievement of this end is bound up with the fate of the authoritarian regimes in Iran & Iraq, which provides the essential uncertainty to their situation. It is concluded that changes will come for the Kurds, but slowly, as political circumstances in their countries of residence slowly become amenable to democratic movements. D. M. Smith

La diversité des pays d'origine (Turquie , Irak Iran ,
Syrie) rend difficile l'appréhension de la communauté immigrée kurde comme un ensemble , le terme même de "communauté" étant discutable. Statistiques difficiles à établir, absence d'interlocuteur institutionnel à la fois pour le pays d'accueil et les populations migrantes , cette situation est le reflet en Europe de la situation du peuple kurde au Moyen-Orient. Ce flou des liens d'appartenance dans les pays d'accueil rend plus difficile la construction identitaire.

This article details the history of the Kurds in the Middle East, exploring the division of these people into distinct Turkish, Iraqi, & Iranian regions & the rise & progress of movements for an independent Kurdistan. The policies of the European powers in the Middle East provide the background for the repeated failure of attempts to establish a Kurdish state. Nationalist movements, initially driven by exiles, did not find a strong response in the Kurdish population, though the early 20th century was marked with violent & unsuccessful rebellions of the Kurds against the rigid centralism & cultural suppression of ethnic minorities in the new Middle East states. The second Gulf War & UN intervention raised the Kurdish question to an international level & created a Kurdish protective zone. While the Middle East states seek to hinder development of an independent Kurdish state & cannot resolve the Kurdish question because of the ethnocratic & forceful nature of the nation-building process, the Kurds cannot realize national autonomy or independence due to lack of their own nation-building process. L. Kehl

Prospects for Kurdish and Palestinian independence have been dimmed by geopolitics, regional imbroglios, the rise of illiberalism, and domestic politics. Yet, inevitable changes that are likely to emerge from the mayhem in the Middle East, a region embroiled in often violent change, hold out greater promise for nationhood for the Kurds than for the Palestinians. Nonetheless, both Kurds and Palestinians, by seeking to exploit regional rivalries and hitching themselves to the interests of external powers in a bid to further their goals, run the risk of ending up falling between two chairs.

Bericht über die Situation irakischer kurdischer Flüchtlinge in den Lagern im Iran, basierend auf Interviews in den Lagern Simnan, Karaj und Jahrum sowie auf Gesprächen mit Flüchtlingen in der BRD. (DÜI-Sdt)

Teil VIII unserer Serie zum "Islamischen Staat": "Blogforum 'Kalifat des Terrors: Interdisziplinäre Perspektiven auf den Islamischen Staat". Die Kurden feiern in diesen Tagen den Sieg über den Islamischen Staat in Kobane. Die Hauptstadt des Distrikts Ain al-Arab im Gouvernement Aleppo in Syrien liegt nahe der syrisch-türkischen Grenze. Seit Anfang 2014 ist Ain al-Arab Zentrum eines der drei selbstverwalteten Kantone Rojavas. Diese Kantone stehen unter der Kontrolle der kurdischen "Partei der Demokratischen Union" (PYD) und ihrer Verbündeten. Die PYD ist eine Schwesterpartei der PKK, sie erkennt Abdullah Öcalan als ideologischen Führer an.