Education Homework
Chapter 30
The Kurds
Essential Question
Why are the Kurds considered a stateless nation?
Stateless nation: an ethnic group without a formal country
As you go through this power point on the Kurds, keep in mind the following question:
Why is there no independent country called Kurdistan, even though these people are the largest ethnic group on the planet without a country of their own?
According to the CIA Factbook,
1) each of the yellow dots represent how many millions of Kurds? _______
2) the majority of Kurds live in what country?
________________
3) 4 million Kurds live in what country?
__________
4) There are about how many Kurds living on Earth? __________
A
B
You can see the Kurdish regions in Iran, Iraq, Turkey and Syria.
Area of Syria controlled by Syrian Kurds
Ethnic groups are based on language. The Kurds speak Kurdish.
Two Kurdish regions are considered semi-independent or autonomous by two countries:
Iran, where the province of Kurdistan lies; and
northern Iraq, site of the autonomous region known as Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) or Iraqi Kurdistan.
But, why don’t the Kurds, the largest ethnic group without a country of its own, why don’t they have a free and independent country?
The Sunni-Shia split occurred after the death of Mohammed in the 7th Century.
The question became: who will take over for Mohammad as the leader of Islam?
Two groups emerged:
Some felt that there should be an election/selection of the most qualified “candidate.” Those people came to be known as SUNNIS.
Some felt the next leader should be related to Mohammad. Those people were eventually known as SHIA.
Approximately, 85% of Kurds are Sunni Muslims
At this point, we will review a certain amount of Kurdish history.
The source for much of the timeline is CNN. (Kurdish people: Fast Facts – April 2020)
What does the author mean by the subtitle? Stay tuned.
The red dots indicate, generally, the area where the Kurds lived.
So, you can see that the Kurds never really had an independent country of their own.
By 1914, the Ottomans had lost control of North Africa, and Eastern Europe
The Ottoman Empire was centered in Anatolia, which is, more or less, the area of modern day Turkey.
For many centuries the Kurds were controlled by the Ottoman Empire. Periodically, the Kurds would rise up against the Ottomans.
The old Kurdish proverb is quoted so often that it would be hackneyed if it were not so true. An ethnic minority of about 35 million people spread across the Middle East, the Kurds have “no friends but the mountains”, they say.
The Kurds, the fourth-largest ethnic group in the region, have been campaigning for their own state since the late 1800s. In the dismemberment of the Ottoman empire that followed the first world war, they saw their chance. The boundaries of a possible Kurdistan were considered in the negotiations after the 1918 armistice, but after Turkey fought back, the French and British tore up those plans and divided Kurdish-inhabited lands between Turkey, Iraq and Syria.
A short-lived Kurdish kingdom inside modern-day Iraq was crushed by 1924 with the assistance of the British.
November 3, 1918 - With the discovery of oil in the Kurdish province of Mosul, British forces occupy the region. Mosul is in the north of Iraq. (CNN)
August 10, 1920 - The Treaty of Sèvres outlines the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire, with Turkey renouncing rights over certain areas in Asia and North Africa. It calls for the recognition of new independent states, including an autonomous Kurdistan. It is never ratified.
French
Representative
British
Representative
However, the reality of an independent Kurdistan never eventuated.
It turns out that a secret agreement had already been drawn up in 1916, whereby Britain and France would divide up former Ottoman territory between them.
1923 - The Allies and the former Ottoman Empire sign and ratify the Treaty of Lausanne, which recognized Turkey as an independent nation.
In the final treaty marking the conclusion of World War I, the Allies drop demands for an autonomous Turkish Kurdistan.
The Kurdish region is eventually divided among several countries.
1923 - Sheikh Mahmud Barzinji stages a Kurdish uprising against British rule,
in search of Kurdish independence.
* One of many Kurdish rebellions for independence over the years
1943 – 1945: There was another major Kurdish rebellion in search of independence
There is deep-seated hostility between the Turkish state and the country's Kurds, who constitute 15% to 20% of the population.
Kurds received harsh treatment at the hands of the Turkish authorities for generations. In response to uprisings in the 1920s and 1930s, many Kurds were resettled, Kurdish names and costumes were banned, the use of the Kurdish language was restricted, and even the existence of a Kurdish ethnic identity was not recognized. (BBC)
Turkish authorities referred to them as “Mountain Turks,” not as “Kurds”.
In their view, there were no Kurds.
In 1978, Abdullah Ocalan established the PKK, a political group which called for an independent state within Turkey. Six years later, the group began an armed struggle. Since then, more than 40,000 people have been killed and hundreds of thousands displaced.
There is much discussion in Turkey as to whether Ocalan is a terrorist or if he is a freedom fighter. The US State Department has considered the PKK to be a terrorist group ever since 1997.
SINCE 2002
Late 1970s – Under Saddam Hussein’s leadership, the Iraqi government uproots Kurds from areas with Kurdish majorities, and settles (Blue Arrow) southern-Iraqi Arabs into those regions. Into the 1980s, Kurds are forcibly removed from the Iranian border (Red arrow) as Kurds are suspected of aiding Iranian forces during the Iran-Iraq War.
1980 - 1989
During the Iran – Iraq war, Kurdish rebels rose up for independence for Iraqi Kurds, figuring that “while the cat is away, the mice can play.”
On the Left Side of your Notes
Create a Poster advocating for why/why not you think the Kurds should have their own state. Must use color for full points.
February-August 1988 - In order to quell Kurdish resistance, the Iraqi military used large quantities of chemical weapons on Kurdish civilians. Iraqi forces destroyed more than 4,000 villages in Kurdistan. It is believed that some 100,000 Kurds were killed.
March 16, 1988 - Iraq used poison gas against the Kurdish people in Halabja in Northern Iraq. Thousands of people were believed to have died in the attack.
Would this be considered genocide?
1984: The PKK launches a violent separatist campaign in Turkey starting with killing soldiers.
The conflict eventually spreads to Iran, Iraq and Syria.
1987 - Turkey imposes state of emergency in the southeastern region of the country in response to PKK attacks.
1990-1991 - The Gulf War begins when Iraq, led by Saddam Hussein, invaded Kuwait seeking its oil reserves. There was a mass exodus of Kurds out of Iraq as more than a million fled into Turkey and Iran.
February 28, 1991 – Saddam Hussein and the US agreed to a cease-fire, keeping Saddam in power. Pres. Bush Sr. said he wouldn’t mind if Iraqis would rise up and oust Saddam themselves.
March 1991 - A Kurdish uprising began, and in two weeks, the Kurdish militia gained control of Iraqi Kurdistan. After allied support to the Kurds is denied, Iraq crushes the uprising. Two million Kurds flee, but are forced to hide out in the mountains as Turkey closes its border.
April 1991 - A safe haven was established in Iraqi Kurdistan by the United States, the United Kingdom and France. Iraqi forces were barred from operating within the region, and Kurds began autonomous rule. Note: Autonomous rule is not independence.
The Iraqi air force was forbidden from flying over and bombing Kurds in the safe haven in northern Iraq. (There was also a safe zone for Shi’a in southern Iraq)
2003: Twelve years after the end of the Gulf War which left Saddam in power, a US led coalition ousts Saddam Hussein from power in Iraq.
US and UK forces occupy Iraq.
The US insists on a new government which would spread power between:
Arabic Sunnis (which would have the Prime Minister)
Arabic Shi’a (which would have the “Speaker of the House”)
and the Kurdish Sunnis (which would have the Presidency)
Iraqi Kurdistan is an autonomous federal region
(but it is not independent)
Note: Saddam was a Sunni Arab.
Again, it might be helpful to get a good sense for how the Kurds, who were fighting ISIS, came from a variety of different countries.
The acronym for this military organization
was the YPG - SDF
Note the following. The turquoise areas are Kurdish areas in Syria and Iraq.
The YPG and the US air force gets a lot of credit for driving ISIS out the areas north of Mosul and Kirkuk in Iraqi Kurdistan.
The YPG and the US air force also ousted ISIS out of northeastern Syria.
By 2018, ISIS had been driven out of all but the Deir al-Zour and Albu Kamal areas in eastern Syria. (the red area)
On December 19, 2018, President Donald Trump declared that ISIS was defeated and signaled his intention to withdraw all 2,000 U.S. troops supporting the SDF - YPG in Syria.
But the SDF- YPG continued its offensive and in February 2019 launched the final siege on ISIS forces in Baghouz, the last holdout.
Baghouz fell on March 23, 2019, formally ending the territorial claims of ISIS.
V
Baghdadi was the leader of ISIS.
He was killed by a US air strike.
Canvas Review Question:
United Nations Council Letter Assignment
The Kurds have hired you to represent them in the next United Nation Council Meeting. They want you to create a letter on why they should have their own State (Country). Three Paragraphs. Use your notes to help you answer the questions below. *Your assignment must be in letter format for full points.
Be sure to highlight the following:
1.) The Kurdish grievances
2.) Why are the Kurds considered a stateless nation
3.) Why they Kurds want their own state
4.) What progress have the Kurds made so far towards achieving their goal
5.) What past conflicts have impacted the health and education of the Kurds
6.) Why the Kurds should have their own state.