The Kurdish people: Who are they? What are they seeking?

Subscribe to France 24 now: http://f24.my/YouTubeEN
FRANCE 24 live news stream: all the latest news 24/7
http://f24.my/YTliveEN

Who are the Kurdish people and why do they seek independence?

In the 12th century, Seljuq Sultan Ahmad Sanjar was the first to create an official Kurdish province.
Today 30 to 40 million Kurds live in those same territories, but borders are disputed.

Kurdistan stretches across parts of Turkey, Iran, Iraq and Syria. The Kurds are of Indo-European descent andlive within those nations' populations.

Maps of Kurdistan resurfaced in 1919 after the fall of the Ottoman Empire.

The 1920 treaty of Sevres attempted to secure Kurdish autonomy but that failed... three years later, world leaders signed the treaty of Lausanne which excluded Kurds.

Living as a minority, Kurds have faced repression in Turkey where Abdullah Ötchalan created the PKK - or Kurdish Workers' Party - in 1978.

The group's armed fight for an independent State has cost thousands of lives. Turkish intelligence arrested Öcalan abroad in 1999.
The PKK has since shifted its strategy, scrapping calls for independence... instead pushing for autonomy.

In Turkey, Kurds make up 20 per cent of the population, and a watchful eye is kept on the Kurdish contingency in northern Syria, who show similarities to the PKK.

In Iraq the Kurds have already been governing their autonomous zone since the Gulf War in the 1990s... Iraqi Kurdistan- lead by Massoud Barzani - is one of the country's most stable entities.

Western Powers now consider the Kurds a key player in the fight against Islamic State group Jihadists.


Visit our website: http://www.france24.com
Like us on Facebook:   / france24.english  
Follow us on Twitter:   / france24_en