The Kurds

Question 1

Who are the Kurds?

Answer 1

They are the worlds largest stateless population found in Eastern Turkey, Armenia, Northern Iraq and Western Iran

Question 2

How many Kurds are there?

Answer 2

There are 30 million worldwide, who link to Kurdistan through ethnicity and language

Question 3

Key features of the Kurdish population

Answer 3

• Typically less educated in Turkey
• Regarded as second class citizens and discriminated against
• Minority group with fewer rights than the majority

Question 4

What did the UN say about the Kurds?

Answer 4

Kurds in Iran suffered “disproportionate inadequacy of services such as water and electricity”

Question 5

What happened to the Kurdish state?

Answer 5

It was planned post-ww1 but the idea collapsed when Turkish nationalists won British support in preserving their own former empire, as a result of knowledge of oil reserves being there

Question 6

What are the percentages of Kurds in Turkey, Iraq, Syria, Iran and Armenia?

Answer 6

20% Turkey

15-20% Iraq

10% Syria

8% Iran

1.3% Armenia

Question 7

What is the Kurdish diaspora like?

Answer 7

Large; 35,000 in UK and over 400,000 in Germany

Question 8

What is the argument against a Kurdish state from the 4 main countries?

Answer 8

• A new Kurdistan will disrupt their own national security and power balance
• They have no intentions of giving up their land to rivals, especially if there are oil reserves there

Question 9

Which country doesn’t support Kurdistan (outside region) and why?

Answer 9

USA

• Doesn’t want to destabilise Kurds in Northern Iraq
• They believe that the Kurds live along a major geo-political fault line

Question 10

According to the USA, Kurdistan marks a border between:

Answer 10

• Weak but rich states of the Gulf
• Countries that the US deem enemies (Iran) and Allies (Turkey)
• A tinderbox (ignited) of anti-US feeling in Iran and Iraq

Question 11

What has Turkey’s rejection of autonomous Kurdistan led to?

Answer 11

A struggle of recognition for the Kurds and the formation of the PKK (Kurdistan Worker’s Party). This has lead to violence as the PKK launched an armed fight with the Turkish Government

Question 12

What are some examples of PKK violence?

Answer 12

1980s - Guerilla tactics such as kidnapping tourists, suicide bombings and attacks on Turkish diplomat offices in Europe

2005 - 6 killed 15 injured in train bomb attack in Bingol Province
- Bombing at Kusadasi Holiday resort killed 5 including a British and Irish citizen

2010 - Attacks on Turkish security forces, killing 10 Turk soldiers

Question 13

What was Turkey’s response to the PKK violence?

Answer 13

• Banned political parties from seeking rights for the Kurds
• Prohibited teaching and broadcasting of Kurdish
• 1992-1998 destroyed 3000 Kurd villages and productive land to deprive PKK of financial support

Question 14

What is the PKK’s financial situation like; where does it come from?

Answer 14

They’re well funded and the diaspora is generous.
London’s 25,000 Kurds have collected over £500,000 annually, German Kurds 5x that amount.

Some money comes from drugs; PKK have own labs and control routes for transportation (80% of UK heroin comes from Turkey, says INTERPOL)

Question 15

How many members does the PKK have?

Answer 15

Declined since 2000; 3000 to 5000 fighters

Question 16

What are the PKK’s aims now?

Answer 16

To gain political autonomy within Turkey, rather than full independence. They’ve also recently received support from the EU, who want Turkey to join the EU and be peaceful and stable.

Question 17

Who are the Kurdistan Freedom Falcons and what is their aim?

Answer 17

A violent branch of the PKK, that has been responsible for bombings in Turkey’s tourist hotspots, injuring Brits (eg. 2006). Their aim is to undermine the tourist industry which is a major source of Turkish income.

Question 18

How many Kurds are in Iran?

Answer 18

6 million, facing discrimination and repression including arrests and hangings by their government

Question 19

What is Iran and the Kurds relationship like now and in the past?

Answer 19

• Kurds fought alongside Iraqis during the Iraq-Iran war in 1980s
• The Iranian government massacred people suspected of helping militants during the conflict in the 80s (as many as 30,000 people)
• 2005 Iranian government used 100,000 troops and helicopter gunships along the Iran-Iraq border to dampen pro-Kurdish demonstrations

Question 20

Define De Facto

Answer 20

Exercising power or to serve a function without being legally recognised

Question 21

Who was the president of Iraq during the most vicious anit-Kurd action?

Answer 21

Saddam Hussein, who died in 2006

Question 22

What occurred as a result of Saddam Hussein’s leadership?

Answer 22

• 1988, Kurdish villages were bombed with chemical weapons (eg. poisonous gas) and over 180,000 Kurds were executed
• After the Gulf war, Saddam tried to ‘cleanse’ the Kirkuk province by deporting 250,000 Kurds

Question 23

What happened after the 1991 Gulf war?

Answer 23

Kurds enjoyed autonomy, forming a de facto state protected by US and British forces. Kurdish nationalists persuaded Kurdish rebels to rebel against Saddam but they were crushed and 1.5 million Kurds fled to Iran and Turkey.

Question 24

What happened to Saddam Hussein in 2003?

Answer 24

His government collapsed and the Kurd’s celebrated the end of the genocide and ethnic cleansing against them

Question 25

Define repatriation

Answer 25

Sending someone back to their country of birth, citizenship or origin

Question 26

How many people had died by 2011?

Answer 26

30,000 people had died in a battle for Kurdish rights.

Question 27

What did Turkey do in 2007?

Answer 27

Positioned 100,000 troops along the Iraq border in an attempt to combat PKK fighters within northern Iraq.

Question 28

What has Turkey’s application for membership of the EU lead to?

Answer 28

• Pressure on the Turkish government to reform its attitude towards the Kurds
• Government now recognises the right of people in Turkey to use other languages and dialects (eg. publishing and broadcasting in Kurdish)
• Repatriation of hundreds of thousands of Kurds, evicted in the 1990s