What is Kurdistan ? and who are the Kurds ?

The Kurds are estimated to number around 30–32 million, living in a roughly defined region that covers about 190,000 km².
This region is generally called : ''Kurdistan'' , which means ''Homeland of the Kurds''.

Kurds are neither Arabs nor Turkish, they are one of the indigenous people of the Mesopotamian. In fact, they form a distinctive community, united through race, culture and language.

The Kurdish languages share many traits with Persian, which is the primary spoken language in Iran.
Although, the Kurds are not Shia like most of the Iranians, as the majority of kurds are Sunni Muslims .

Here is the map that shows the parts of the Middle East with Kurdish populations:

As you can see, the region inhabited by the Kurds is actually divided between four states :
Turkey, Iran, Iraq, And Syria .

The number of Kurds in Turkey ranges from 14 million to 18 million. While the number is about 8 million in Iran , 5.5 million in Iraq , and 1.7 million in syria .
There are roughly 30 million Kurds living in the Middle East, therefore , The Kurds are one of the world’s largest peoples without a state, making up sizable minorities in each of the 4 countries already mentioned .
But what is the situation of the Kurds in each of these countries ?

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In Turkey , the athorities categorized Kurds as "Mountain Turks" until 1991,in an attempt to deny their existence. Moreover the words "Kurds", "Kurdistan", or "Kurdish" were officially banned by the Turkish government. Massacres, such as the Dersim massacre and the Zilan massacre,  have periodically occurred against the Kurds since the establishment of the Republic of Turkey in 1923.

In Iran, Kurds are profoundly repressed and have few opportunities for political or cultural expression. Kurdish regions remain among the country’s least developed. Moreover, The Iranin regime tortures and executes Kurdish activists and focuses on eradicating the PJAK members.

However,the Kurds enjoy currently the greatest autonomy in ''Iraqi Kurdistan''
located in Northern Iraq, and in ''Rojava'' in Syria.

Finally, the history of the Kurds has always been marked by marginalization and persecution. Given the fighting in the region it’s very difficult to say what the future holds for the Kurdish people.
Yet some people see that Kurds may be on the verge of achieving their century-old quest for independence, as the Middle East is undergoing the convulsions of Syria’s civil war, Iraq’s destabilization, and conflict with the Islamic State ''Daesh''.

So do you think an independent state of Kurdistan will ever exist?

We will appreciate it if you leave your thoughts in the comments below.

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