Editing Kurds (section)

==Kurdish communities==
{{Further|Kurdistan|Kurdish refugees}}

=== Turkey ===
{{Main|Kurds in Turkey|Kurds of Central Anatolia|Turkish Kurdistan|Human rights in Turkey|Kurdistan Workers Party|Human rights of Kurdish people in Turkey}}
[[File:Kurdsofconstantinople_color.jpg|thumb|Two Kurds From [[Constantinople]] 1899]]
According to the official data of the [[1935 Turkish census|1935 census]], the number of people whose mother tongue was [[Kurdish language|Kurdish]] was 1,480,246 people, or 9.16%, and according to the official data of the [[1965 Turkish census|1965 census]], it was 2,219,502, or 6.9%. The difference between the 1965 and 1935 censuses was that in the 1935 census, [[Zaza language|Zazaki]] was considered a sub-branch of Kurdish, while in the 1965 census it was considered a separate language and was counted separately.<ref name="1965censusdata1">{{Cite journal|author=Doğan Çolak|date=2012|trans-title=Languages and Ethnic Groups in Turkey|title=Türkiye’de Diller ve Etnik Gruplar|url=https://dergipark.org.tr/tr/download/article-file/54798|website=Dergipark|publisher=Dil Araştırmaları|access-date=6 April 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240829133245/https://dergipark.org.tr/tr/download/article-file/54798|archive-date=29 August 2024|language=tr}}</ref><ref name="1965censusdata2">{{Cite web|author=Bahtiyar Mermertaş|date=2015|trans-title=Nation Building, Censuses and Ethnic Geography in Turkey from the Ottoman Empire to the Republic|title=Osmanlı’dan Cumhuriyet’e Türkiye’de Ulus İnşası, Nüfus Sayımları ve Etnik Coğrafya|url=https://dergipark.org.tr/tr/download/article-file/757837|website=Dergipark|publisher=[[Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University]] Sosyal Bilimler Dergisi|access-date=6 April 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250406194847/https://dergipark.org.tr/tr/download/article-file/757837|archive-date=6 April 2025|language=tr}}</ref> According to the [[CIA Factbook|''CIA World Factbook'']], Kurds formed approximately 18% of the population in Turkey (approximately 14&nbsp;million) in 2008. One Western source estimates that up to 25% of the Turkish population is Kurdish (approximately 18–19&nbsp;million people).<ref name="Mackey"/> Kurdish sources claim there are as many as 20 or 25&nbsp;million Kurds in Turkey.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ekurd.net/mismas/articles/misc2008/3/turkeykurdistan1755.htm|title=Thousands of Kurds celebrate New Kurdish Year Newroz in southeastern Turkey|website=[[Ekurd.net]]|date=21 March 2008|access-date=2 December 2011}}</ref>
In 1980, ''[[Ethnologue]]'' estimated the number of [[Kurdish languages|Kurdish]]-speakers in Turkey at around five million,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ethnologue.com/show_country.asp?name=TRA|title=Ethnologue census of languages in Asian portion of Turkey|work=Ethnologue.com|access-date=2 December 2011|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111018235156/http://www.ethnologue.com/show_country.asp?name=TRA|archive-date=18 October 2011}}</ref> when the country's population stood at 44&nbsp;million.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://countrystudies.us/turkey/24.htm|title=Turkey – Population|publisher=Countrystudies.us|date=31 December 1994|access-date=2 December 2011}}</ref> [[Rudaw]], in its report prepared based on Türkiye's census data in February 2024, stated that the total population of Kurdish-majority regions in Türkiye is around 17 million.<ref name="rudawkurt">{{cite web|url=https://www.rudaw.net/english/middleeast/turkey/08022024|title=Population of Turkey’s Kurdish southeast over 17 million|access-date=4 April 2025|publisher=[[Rudaw]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241207142211/https://www.rudaw.net/english/middleeast/turkey/08022024|archive-date=7 December 2024|date=8 February 2024}}</ref> Kurds form the largest minority group in Turkey, and they have posed the most serious and persistent challenge to the official image of a homogeneous society.  To [[Denial of Kurds by Turkey|deny the existence of Kurds]], the Turkish Government used several terms. "Mountain Turks" was a term was initially used by {{Interlanguage link|Abdullah Alpdoğan|lt=Abdullah Alpdoğan|tr||WD=}}. In 1961, in a foreword to the book ''Doğu İlleri ve Varto Tarihi'' of [[Mehmet Şerif Fırat]], the Turkish president [[Cemal Gürsel]] declared it of utmost importance to prove the Turkishness of the Kurds.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal|last1=Scalbert-Yücel|first1=Clémence|last2=Ray|first2=Marie Le|date=2006-12-31|title=Knowledge, ideology and power. Deconstructing Kurdish Studies|url=http://journals.openedition.org/ejts/777|journal=European Journal of Turkish Studies. Social Sciences on Contemporary Turkey|language=en|issue=5|doi=10.4000/ejts.777|issn=1773-0546|doi-access=free|hdl=10036/37913|hdl-access=free}}</ref> Eastern Turk was another [[euphemism]] for Kurds from 1980 onwards.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://countrystudies.us/turkey/26.htm|title=Linguistic and Ethnic Groups in Turkey|publisher=Countrystudies.us|access-date=2 December 2011}}</ref> Nowadays the Kurds, in Turkey, are still known under the name ''Easterner'' (Doğulu).

Several large-scale Kurdish revolts in 1925, 1930 and 1938 were suppressed by the Turkish government and more than one million Kurds were forcibly relocated between 1925 and 1938. The use of Kurdish language, dress, [[folklore]], and names were banned and the Kurdish-inhabited areas remained under [[martial law]] until 1946.<ref>H. Hannum, ''Autonomy, Sovereignty, and Self-determination'', 534 pp., [[University of Pennsylvania Press]], 1996, {{ISBN|0-8122-1572-9}}, {{ISBN|978-0-8122-1572-4}}
(see page 186).</ref> The [[Ararat revolt]], which reached its apex in 1930, was only suppressed after a massive military campaign including destruction of many villages and their populations.<ref name="Reşat Kasaba 2008">Reşat Kasaba, ''The Cambridge History of Turkey'', 600 pp., Cambridge University Press, 2008, {{ISBN|0-521-62096-1}}, {{ISBN|978-0-521-62096-3}}
(see page 340)</ref> By the 1970s, Kurdish leftist organizations such as the Kurdistan Socialist Party-Turkey (KSP-T) emerged in Turkey which were against violence and supported civil activities and participation in elections. In 1977, Mehdi Zana a supporter of KSP-T won the mayoralty of [[Diyarbakir]] in the local elections. At about the same time, generational fissures gave birth to two new organizations: the National Liberation of Kurdistan and the [[Kurdistan Workers' Party]] (PKK).<ref>Reşat Kasaba, ''The Cambridge History of Turkey'', 600 pp., Cambridge University Press, 2008, {{ISBN|0-521-62096-1}}, {{ISBN|978-0-521-62096-3}}
(see page 348)</ref>
[[File:Kurdish Boys Diyarbakir.jpg|thumb|left|Kurdish boys in [[Diyarbakir]]]]
<!--CAN SOMEONE RESTORE? WHERE DOES IT BELONG? [https://web.archive.org/web/20050510082350/http://www.amnestyusa.org/action/special/zana.html Amnesty International]</ref>-->
<!--|{{pufc|1=Kurdish Boys Diyarbakir.jpg|log=2009 March 24}}]]-->

The words "Kurds", "[[Kurdistan]]", or "Kurdish" were officially banned by the Turkish government.<ref name=bahar>{{cite book|last1=Baser|first1=Bahar|title=Diasporas and Homeland Conflicts: A Comparative Perspective|date=2015|publisher=Ashgate Publishing|isbn=978-1-4724-2562-1|page=63|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8MTVBgAAQBAJ}}</ref> Following the [[1980 Turkish coup d'état|military coup of 1980]], the Kurdish language was officially prohibited in public and private life.<ref name=NYTK>Toumani, Meline. [https://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/17/magazine/17turkey-t.html Minority Rules], ''[[The New York Times]]'', 17 February 2008</ref> Many people who spoke, published, or sang in Kurdish were arrested and imprisoned.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Aslan|first1=Senem|title=Nation Building in Turkey and Morocco|date=2014|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-1107054608|page=134|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wTAWBQAAQBAJ}}</ref> The Kurds are still not allowed to get a primary education in their mother tongue and they do not have a right to self-determination, even though Turkey has signed the [[International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights|ICCPR]]. There is ongoing discrimination against and "otherization" of Kurds in society.<ref>{{cite news|title=Kurdophobia|url=http://www.rightsagenda.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=762:kurdophobia&catid=79:aliasdiscrimination&Itemid=118|access-date=28 April 2016|work=rightsagenda.org|agency=Human Right Agenda Assosication}}</ref>

The Kurdistan Workers' Party or PKK (Kurdish: ''Partiya Karkerên Kurdistanê'') is Kurdish militant organization which has waged an armed struggle against the Turkish state for cultural and political rights and self-determination for the Kurds. [[Turkey]]'s military allies the US, the EU, and [[NATO]] label the PKK as a terrorist organization while the [[United Nations|UN]],<ref name="UN">{{cite web|url=https://www.un.org/sc/suborg/sites/www.un.org.sc.suborg/files/1267.htm|title=The List established and maintained by the 1267/1989 Committee|date=14 October 2015|work=United Nations Security Council Committee 1267|publisher=United Nations|access-date=10 November 2015|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160102090856/https://www.un.org/sc/suborg/sites/www.un.org.sc.suborg/files/1267.htm|archive-date=2 January 2016}}</ref> [[Switzerland]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://tagblatt.ch/index.php?artikelxml=jsp&artikel_id=1245738&ressort=tagblattheute/schlagzeilen|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070929131855/http://tagblatt.ch/index.php?artikelxml=jsp&artikel_id=1245738&ressort=tagblattheute%2Fschlagzeilen|title=tagblatt.ch&nbsp;–&nbsp;Schlagzeilen|author=St.Galler Tagblatt AG|archive-date=29 September 2007|access-date=25 June 2015|url-status=dead}}</ref> and [[Russia]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.turkishny.com/headline-news/2/34389-rus-aydn-pkk-teror-orgutu-ckmaza-girdi|title=Rus Aydın: PKK Terör Örgütü Çıkmaza Girdi|access-date=17 July 2015}}</ref> have refused to add the PKK to their terrorist list.<ref>[[List of designated terrorist organizations]]</ref> Some of them have even supported the PKK.<ref>{{cite web|author1=Union européenne|title=EUR-Lex – L:2008:188:TOC – EN – EUR-Lex|url=https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/FR/ALL/?uri=OJ:L:2008:188:TOC|website=eur-lex.europa.eu|language=en}}</ref>

Between 1984 and 1999, the PKK and the Turkish military engaged in open war, and much of the countryside in the southeast was depopulated, as Kurdish civilians moved from villages to bigger cities such as [[Diyarbakır]], [[Van, Turkey|Van]], and [[Şırnak]], as well as to the cities of western Turkey and even to western Europe. The causes of the depopulation included mainly the Turkish state's military operations, state's political actions, Turkish [[Deep state in Turkey|deep state]] actions, the poverty of the southeast and PKK atrocities against Kurdish clans which were against them.<ref>{{Cite journal|author=Radu, Michael.|year=2001|title=The Rise and Fall of the PKK|journal=Orbis|volume=45|issue=1|pages=47–64|doi=10.1016/S0030-4387(00)00057-0}}</ref> Turkish state actions have included torture, rape,<ref>{{Cite news|last=Duzgun|first=Meral|date=2013-06-10|title=Turkey: a history of sexual violence|language=en-GB|work=The Guardian|url=https://www.theguardian.com/global-development-professionals-network/2013/jun/10/turkey-history-sexual-violence|access-date=2023-02-25|issn=0261-3077}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|last=Cumming-Bruce|first=Nick|date=2017-03-10|title=U.N. Accuses Turkey of Killing Hundreds of Kurds|language=en-US|work=[[The New York Times]]|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/10/world/europe/un-turkey-kurds-human-rights-abuses.html|url-status=live|archive-url=https://archive.today/20221118205214/https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/10/world/europe/un-turkey-kurds-human-rights-abuses.html|archive-date=2022-11-18|issn=0362-4331}}</ref> forced inscription, forced evacuation, destruction of villages, illegal arrests and executions of Kurdish civilians.<ref>{{cite journal|date=March 2005|title=Still critical: Prospects in 2005 for Internally Displaced Kurds in Turkey|url=https://www.hrw.org/reports/2005/turkey0305/turkey0305.pdf|journal=Human Rights Watch|volume=17|issue=2(D)|pages=5–7|quote=The local gendarmerie (soldiers who police rural areas) required villages to show their loyalty by forming platoons of "provisional village guards," armed, paid, and supervised by the local gendarmerie post. Villagers were faced with a frightening dilemma. They could become village guards and risk being attacked by the PKK or refuse and be forcibly evacuated from their communities. Evacuations were unlawful and violent. Security forces would surround a village using helicopters, armored vehicles, troops, and village guards, and burn stored produce, agricultural equipment, crops, orchards, forests, and livestock. They set fire to houses, often giving the inhabitants no opportunity to retrieve their possessions. During the course of such operations, security forces frequently abused and humiliated villagers, stole their property and cash, and ill-treated or tortured them before herding them onto the roads and away from their former homes. The operations were marked by scores of "disappearances" and extrajudicial executions. By the mid-1990s, more than 3,000 villages had been virtually wiped from the map, and, according to official figures, 378,335 Kurdish villagers had been displaced and left homeless.}}
</ref><ref name="bianet1959">{{cite news|title=EUROPEAN COURT OF HUMAN RIGHTS: Turkey Ranks First in Violations in between 1959–2011|work=[[Bianet]]|url=http://bianet.org/english/human-rights/138337-turkey-ranks-first-in-violations-in-between-1959-2011|access-date=29 December 2015}}</ref>

Since the 1970s, the [[European Court of Human Rights]] has condemned Turkey for the thousands of human rights abuses.<ref name="bianet1959"/><ref>{{cite report|title=Annual report|year=2014|issue=The European Court of Human Rights|url=http://echr.coe.int/Documents/Annual_Report_2014_ENG.pdf|access-date=29 December 2015}}</ref> The judgments are related to executions of Kurdish civilians,<ref name="hum1">{{cite report|url=http://hudoc.echr.coe.int/app/conversion/pdf/?library=ECHR&id=001-128036&filename=001-128036.pdf|title=The European Court of Human Rights: Case of Benzer and others v. Turkey|date=24 March 2014|issue=Mass execution of Kurdish villagers|page=57|access-date=29 December 2015}}</ref> torturing,<ref>{{cite report|title=The prohibition of torture|year=2003|issue=Torturing|pages=11, 13|url=http://www.echr.coe.int/LibraryDocs/HR%20handbooks/handbook06_en.pdf|access-date=29 December 2015}}</ref> forced displacements<ref>{{cite book|title=Human Rights Watch|date=2002|publisher=Human Rights Watch|page=7}}</ref> systematic destruction of villages,<ref>{{cite book|last1=Abdulla|first1=Jamal Jalal|title=The Kurds: A Nation on the Way to Statehood|publisher=AuthorHouse|isbn=9781467879729|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=usQ2i-P7oPIC&pg=PA36|access-date=29 December 2015|page=36|date=7 February 2012}}</ref> arbitrary arrests<ref>{{cite web|title=Police arrest and assistance of a lawyer|year=2015|url=https://www.echr.coe.int/documents/fs_police_arrest_eng.pdf|page=1}}</ref> murdered and disappeared Kurdish journalists.<ref>{{cite news|title=Justice Comes from European Court for a Kurdish Journalist|url=http://www.khrp.org/khrp-news/news-archive/2000-news/189-justice-comes-from-european-court-for-a-murdered-kurdish-journalist.html|access-date=29 December 2015|work=Kurdish Human Rights Project}}</ref>

[[File:Zana.jpg|thumb|[[Leyla Zana]]]]
[[Leyla Zana]], the first Kurdish female MP from Diyarbakir, caused an uproar in [[Grand National Assembly of Turkey|Turkish Parliament]] after adding the following sentence in [[Kurdish language|Kurdish]] to her parliamentary oath during the swearing-in ceremony in 1994: "I take this oath for the brotherhood of the Turkish and Kurdish peoples."<ref>Michael M. Gunter, ''The Kurds and the future of Turkey'', 194 pp., Palgrave Macmillan, 1997. (p.66)</ref>

In March 1994, the [[Turkish Parliament]] voted to lift the immunity of Zana and five other Kurdish [[Democracy Party (Turkey)|DEP]] members: Hatip Dicle, Ahmet Turk, Sirri Sakik, Orhan Dogan and Selim Sadak. Zana, Dicle, Sadak and Dogan were sentenced to 15 years in jail by the Supreme Court in October 1995. Zana was awarded the [[Sakharov Prize]] for human rights by the [[European Parliament]] in 1995. She was released in 2004 amid warnings from European institutions that the continued imprisonment of the four Kurdish MPs would affect Turkey's bid to join the [[EU]].<ref>Michael M. Gunter, ''The Kurds and the future of Turkey'', 194 pp., Palgrave Macmillan, 1997. (pp. 15, 66)</ref><ref>Bulent Gokay, ''The Kurdish Question in Turkey: Historical Roots, Domestic Concerns and International Law'', in ''Minorities, Peoples and Self-Determination'', Ed. by [[Nazila Ghanea]] and Alexandra Xanthaki, 352 pp., Martinus Nijhoff/Brill Publishers, 2005. (p. 332)</ref> The 2009 local elections resulted in 5.7% for Kurdish political party [[Democratic Society Party|DTP]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://secim.haberler.com/2009/partisonuc.asp?id=10|title=Election results 2009|work=Secim.haberler.com|access-date=2 March 2014}}</ref>

Officially protected death squads are accused of the disappearance of 3,200 Kurds and Assyrians in 1993 and 1994 in the so-called "mystery killings". Kurdish politicians, human-rights activists, journalists, teachers and other members of intelligentsia were among the victims. Virtually none of the perpetrators were investigated nor punished. Turkish government also encouraged Islamic extremist group [[Kurdish Hezbollah]] to assassinate suspected PKK members and often ordinary Kurds.<ref>J. C. Randal, ''After Such Knowledge, What Forgiveness?'', 356 pp., Westview Press, 1999, {{ISBN|0-8133-3580-9}}, p.258</ref> Azimet Köylüoğlu, the state minister of human rights, revealed the extent of security forces' excesses in the autumn of 1994: "While acts of terrorism in other regions are done by the PKK; in Tunceli it is [[state terrorism]]. In Tunceli, it is the state that is evacuating and burning villages. In the southeast there are two million people left homeless."<ref>J. C. Randal, ''After Such Knowledge, What Forgiveness?'', 356 pp., Westview Press, 1999, {{ISBN|0-8133-3580-9}}, p.259</ref>

===Iran===
{{Main|Kurds in Iran|Kurds of Khorasan|Iranian Kurdistan|History of the Kurds}}

The [[Iranian Kurdistan|Kurdish region]] of [[Iran]] has been a part of the country since ancient times. Nearly all [[Kurdistan]] was part of [[Safavid Iran]] until its Western part was lost during [[Ottoman–Persian Wars|wars]] against the [[Ottoman Empire]].<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|last=McLachlan|first=Keith|title=Boundaries i. With the Ottoman Empire|encyclopedia=[[Encyclopædia Iranica]]|publisher=Columbia University|location=New York|url=http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/boundaries-i|date=15 December 1989|access-date=16 August 2013}}</ref> Following the [[dissolution of the Ottoman Empire]], at the [[Treaty of Versailles|Paris Peace Conference]] of 1919 Tehran had demanded all lost territories including [[Turkish Kurdistan]], [[Mosul]], and even [[Diyarbakır]], but demands were quickly rejected by Western powers.<ref name="schofield">{{cite encyclopedia|last=Schofield|first=Richard N.|title=Boundaries v. With Turkey|encyclopedia=[[Encyclopædia Iranica]]|publisher=Columbia University|location=New York|url=http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/boundaries-v|date=15 December 1989|access-date=17 August 2013}}</ref> This area has been divided by modern [[Turkey]], [[Syria]] and [[Iraq]].<ref name="kreyenbroekKWL">{{cite encyclopedia|last=Kreyenbroek|first=Philip G.|title=Kurdish Written Literature|encyclopedia=[[Encyclopædia Iranica]]|publisher=Columbia University|location=New York|url=http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/kurdish-written-literature|date=20 July 2005|access-date=17 August 2013}}</ref> Today, the Kurds inhabit mostly northwestern territories known as [[Iranian Kurdistan]] but also the northeastern region of [[Khorasan Province|Khorasan]], and constitute approximately 7–10%<ref name="kreyenbroek1719">{{cite book|last1=Kreyenbroek|first1=Philip G.|last2=Sperl|first2=Stefan|title=The Kurds: A Contemporary Overview|publisher=[[Routledge]]|location=London; New York|pages=[https://archive.org/details/kurds00pkre/page/17 17–19]|year=1992|isbn=978-0-415-07265-6|oclc=24247652|url=https://archive.org/details/kurds00pkre/page/17}}</ref> of Iran's overall population (6.5–7.9&nbsp;million), compared to 10.6% (2&nbsp;million) in 1956 and 8% (800,000) in 1850.<ref>{{cite book|last=Abrahamian|first=Ervand|author-link=Ervand Abrahamian|title=[[Iran Between Two Revolutions]]|year=1982|publisher=[[Princeton University Press]]|location=Princeton, New Jersey|page=12|isbn=978-0-691-05342-4|oclc=7975938}}</ref>

Unlike in other Kurdish-populated countries, there are strong ethnolinguistic and cultural ties between Kurds, [[Persian people|Persians]] and others as [[Iranian peoples]].<ref name="kreyenbroek1719"/>{{Failed verification|date=March 2025|reason=The cited source does not support the given claim}} Some modern Iranian dynasties like the [[Safavids]] and [[Zands]] are considered to be partly of Kurdish origin. [[Kurdish literature]] in all of its forms ([[Kurmanji language|Kurmanji]], [[Sorani language|Sorani]], and [[Gorani language (Zaza-Gorani)|Gorani]]) has developed within historical Iranian boundaries under strong influence of the [[Persian language]].<ref name="kreyenbroekKWL"/>

According to Philip Kreyenbroek and Stefan Sperl, "The [[government of Iran]] has never employed the same level of brutality against its own Kurds like [[Turkey]] or [[Iraq]], but it has always been implacably opposed to any suggestion of Kurdish separatism."<ref name="kreyenbroek1719"/> During and shortly after the [[First World War]] the government of Iran was ineffective and had very little control over events in the country and several Kurdish [[Kurdish tribes|tribal]] chiefs gained local political power, even established large confederations.<ref name="kreyenbroek138141">{{cite book |last1=Kreyenbroek |first1=Philip G. |url=https://archive.org/details/kurds00pkre/page/138 |title=The Kurds: A Contemporary Overview |last2=Sperl |first2=Stefan |publisher=[[Routledge]] |year=1992 |isbn=978-0-415-07265-6 |location=London; New York |pages=[https://archive.org/details/kurds00pkre/page/138 138–141] |oclc=24247652}}</ref> At the same time waves of [[nationalism]] from the disintegrating Ottoman Empire partly influenced some Kurdish chiefs in border regions to pose as Kurdish nationalist leaders.<ref name="kreyenbroek138141"/> Prior to this, identity in both countries largely relied upon religion, i.e., [[Shia Islam]] in the particular case of Iran.<ref name="banuaziziweiner">{{cite book |last1=Banuazizi |first1=Ali |url=https://archive.org/details/statereligioneth0000unse/page/186 |title=The State, Religion, and Ethnic Politics: Afghanistan, Iran, and Pakistan |last2=Weiner |first2=Myron |author-link2=Myron Weiner |publisher=[[Syracuse University Press]] |year=1986 |isbn=978-0-8156-2385-4 |location=Syracuse, N.Y. |pages=[https://archive.org/details/statereligioneth0000unse/page/186 186–187] |oclc=13762196}}</ref><ref name="ashraf">{{cite encyclopedia|last=Ashraf|first=Ahmad|title=Iranian Identity iv. 19th–20th Centuries|encyclopedia=[[Encyclopædia Iranica]]|publisher=[[Columbia University]]|location=New York|url=http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/iranian-identity-iv-19th-20th-centuries|date=15 December 2006|access-date=17 August 2013}}</ref> In 19th-century [[Qajar dynasty|Iran]], [[Shia–Sunni relations|Shia–Sunni animosity]] and the describing of [[Sunni]] Kurds as an Ottoman [[fifth column]] was quite frequent.<ref>{{cite book|last=Abrahamian|first=Ervand|author-link=Ervand Abrahamian|title=Iran Between Two Revolutions|year=1982|publisher=[[Princeton University Press]]|location=Princeton, New Jersey|page=32|isbn=978-0-691-05342-4|oclc=7975938}}</ref>

During the late 1910s and early 1920s, [[Simko Shikak revolt|tribal revolt]] led by Kurdish chieftain [[Simko Shikak]] struck northwestern Iran. Although elements of [[Kurdish nationalism]] were present in this movement, historians agree these were hardly articulate enough to justify a claim that recognition of Kurdish identity was a major issue in Simko's movement, and he had to rely heavily on conventional tribal motives.<ref name="kreyenbroek138141"/> Government forces and non-Kurds were not the only ones to suffer in the attacks, the [[Kurdish population]] was also robbed and assaulted.<ref name="kreyenbroek138141"/><ref name="entessar">{{cite book|last=Entessar|first=Nader|author-link=Nader Entessar|title=Kurdish Politics in the Middle East|publisher=[[Lexington Books]]|location=Lanham|page=17|year=2010|isbn=978-0-7391-4039-0|oclc=430736528}}</ref> Rebels do not appear to have felt any sense of unity or solidarity with fellow Kurds.<ref name="kreyenbroek138141"/> Kurdish insurgency and seasonal migrations in the late 1920s, along with long-running tensions between Tehran and Ankara, resulted in border clashes and even military penetrations in both Iranian and Turkish territory.<ref name="schofield"/> Two regional powers have used Kurdish tribes as tool for own political benefits: Turkey has provided military help and refuge for anti-Iranian Turcophone [[Simko Shikak revolt|Shikak rebels]] in 1918–1922,<ref>{{cite book|last1=Allen|first1=William Edward David|last2=Muratoff|first2=Paul|title=Caucasian battlefields: A History of the Wars on the Turco-Caucasian border, 1828–1921|publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]]|location=Cambridge|page=296|year=1953|oclc=1102813}}</ref> while Iran did the same during [[Ararat rebellion]] against Turkey in 1930. [[Reza Shah]]'s military victory over Kurdish and [[Turkic peoples|Turkic]] tribal leaders initiated a repressive era toward non-[[Iranian peoples|Iranian]] minorities.<ref name="entessar"/> Government's forced detribalization and [[sedentarization]] in 1920s and 1930s resulted with many other tribal revolts in Iranian regions of [[Azerbaijan (Iran)|Azerbaijan]], [[Luristan]] and [[Iranian Kurdistan|Kurdistan]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Bayat|first=Kaveh|editor-last=Cronin|editor-first=Stephanie|chapter=Chapter 12: Riza Shah and the Tribes|title=The Making of Modern Iran: State and Society Under Riza Shah 1921–1941|series=BIPS Persian Studies Series|publisher=[[Routledge Taylor & Francis Group]]|location=London; New York|pages=224–230|year=2003|isbn=978-0-203-42314-1|oclc=54059369}}</ref> In particular case of the Kurds, this repressive policies partly contributed to developing [[Kurdish nationalism|nationalism]] among some tribes.<ref name="kreyenbroek138141"/>
[[File:Kurdish people celebrating Nowruz 2018, Tangi Sar village (13970105000310636575781098296062 60685).jpg|thumb|Iranian Kurds celebrating [[Newroz as celebrated by Kurds|Newroz]], 20 March 2018]]

As a response to growing [[Pan-Turkism]] and [[Pan-Arabism]] in region which were seen as potential threats to the territorial integrity of Iran, [[Pan-Iranist]] ideology has been developed in the early 1920s.<ref name="ashraf"/> Some of such groups and journals openly advocated Iranian support to the Kurdish rebellion against [[Turkey]].<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|last=Parvin|first=Nassereddin|title=Iran-e Kabir|encyclopedia=[[Encyclopædia Iranica]]|publisher=Columbia University|location=New York|url=http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/iran-e-kabir|date=15 December 2006|access-date=17 August 2013}}</ref> Secular [[Pahlavi dynasty]] has endorsed Iranian ethnic [[Iranian nationalism|nationalism]]<ref name="ashraf"/> which saw the Kurds as integral part of the Iranian nation.<ref name="banuaziziweiner"/> [[Mohammad Reza Pahlavi]] has personally praised the Kurds as "pure Iranians" or "one of the most noble [[Iranian peoples]]". Another significant ideology during this period was [[Marxism]] which arose among Kurds under influence of [[USSR]]. It culminated in the [[Iran crisis of 1946]] which included a separatist attempt of [[KDP-I]] and [[communist]] groups<ref>Zabih, Sepehr (15 December 1992). [http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/communism-ii Communism ii.]. in ''[[Encyclopædia Iranica]]''. New York: Columbia University</ref> to establish the [[USSR|Soviet]] [[puppet government]]<ref>{{cite book|last=Romano|first=David|title=The Kurdish Nationalist Movement: Opportunity, Mobilization and Identity|series=Cambridge Middle East studies, 22.|publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]]|location=Cambridge, UK; New York|year=2006|page=227|isbn=978-0-521-85041-4|oclc=61425259}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Chelkowski|first1=Peter J.|last2=Pranger|first2=Robert J.|title=Ideology and Power in the Middle East: Studies in Honor of George Lenczowski|publisher=[[Duke University Press]]|location=Durham|year=1988|page=[https://archive.org/details/ideologypowerinm0000unse/page/399 399]|isbn=978-0-8223-0781-5|oclc=16923212|url=https://archive.org/details/ideologypowerinm0000unse/page/399}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Abrahamian|first=Ervand|author-link=Ervand Abrahamian|title=Iran Between Two Revolutions|publisher=[[Princeton University Press]]|location=Princeton, N.J.|year=1982|pages=217–218|isbn=978-0-691-05342-4|oclc=7975938}}</ref> called [[Republic of Mahabad]]. It arose along with [[Azerbaijan People's Government]], another Soviet puppet state.<ref name="kreyenbroek1719"/><ref>{{cite book|last1=Chubin|first1=Shahram|author-link1=Shahram Chubin|last2=Zabih|first2=Sepehr|title=The Foreign Relations of Iran: A Developing State in a Zone of Great-Power Conflict|year=1974|publisher=[[University of California Press]]|pages=[https://archive.org/details/foreignrelations0000chub/page/39 39–41, 178]|location=Berkeley|isbn=978-0-520-02683-4|oclc=1219525|url=https://archive.org/details/foreignrelations0000chub/page/39}}</ref> The state itself encompassed a very small territory, including [[Mahabad]] and the adjacent cities, unable to incorporate the southern Iranian Kurdistan which fell inside the Anglo-American zone, and unable to attract the tribes outside Mahabad itself to the nationalist cause.<ref name="kreyenbroek1719"/> As a result, when the Soviets withdrew from Iran in December 1946, government forces were able to enter Mahabad unopposed.<ref name="kreyenbroek1719"/>

[[File:Qazi_Muhammad.jpg|thumb|upright=0.8|[[Qazi Muhammad]], the president of the [[Republic of Kurdistan]]]]

Several [[Nationalism|nationalist]] and [[Marxist]] insurgencies continued for decades ([[1967 Kurdish revolt in Iran|1967]], [[1979 Kurdish rebellion in Iran|1979]], [[KDPI insurgency (1989–1996)|1989–96]]) led by [[KDP-I]] and [[Komala Party of Iranian Kurdistan|Komalah]], but those two organization have never advocated a separate Kurdish state or greater Kurdistan as did the [[Kurdistan Workers' Party|PKK]] in [[Turkey]].<ref name="kreyenbroek138141"/><ref name="romano240"/><ref>{{cite book|last=Abrahamian|first=Ervand|author-link=Ervand Abrahamian|title=Iran Between Two Revolutions|year=1982|publisher=[[Princeton University Press]]|location=Princeton, New Jersey|page=453|isbn=978-0-691-05342-4|oclc=7975938}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Yodfat|first=Aryeh|title=The Soviet Union and Revolutionary Iran|publisher=[[St. Martin's Press]]|location=New York|year=1984|isbn=978-0-312-74910-1|oclc=9282694|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/sovietunionarabi0000yodf}}</ref> Still, many of dissident leaders, among others [[Qazi Muhammad]] and [[Abdul Rahman Ghassemlou]], were executed or assassinated.<ref name="kreyenbroek1719"/> During [[Iran–Iraq War]], Tehran has provided support for Iraqi-based Kurdish groups like [[Kurdish Democratic Party|KDP]] or [[Patriotic Union of Kurdistan|PUK]], along with asylum for 1.4 million Iraqi refugees, mostly [[Kurdish refugees|Kurds]]. Kurdish Marxist groups have been marginalized in Iran since the [[dissolution of the Soviet Union]]. In 2004 new [[Iran–PJAK conflict|insurrection]] started by [[PJAK]], separatist organization affiliated with the Turkey-based [[Kurdistan Workers' Party|PKK]]<ref name="katzman">{{cite book|last=Katzman|first=Kenneth|title=Iraq: Post-Saddam Governance and Security|publisher=[[Nova Science Publishers]]|location=New York|year=2009|page=32|isbn=978-1-61470-116-3|oclc=756496931}}</ref> and designated as [[List of designated terrorist groups|terrorist]] by Iran, Turkey and the United States.<ref name="katzman"/> Some analysts claim PJAK do not pose any serious threat to the [[government of Iran]].<ref>{{cite book|last1=Habeeb|first1=William Mark|last2=Frankel|first2=Rafael D.|last3=Al-Oraibi|first3=Mina|title=The Middle East in Turmoil: Conflict, Revolution, and Change|publisher=[[Greenwood Publishing Group]]|location=Santa Barbara|year=2012|page=46|isbn=978-0-313-33914-1|oclc=753913763}}</ref> Cease-fire has been established in September 2011 following the Iranian offensive on PJAK bases, but several clashes between PJAK and IRGC took place after it.<ref name="elling">{{cite book|last=Elling|first=Rasmus Christian|title=Minorities in Iran: Nationalism and Ethnicity after Khomeini|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan|location=New York|year=2013|page=312|isbn=978-0-230-11584-2|oclc=714725127}}</ref> Since the [[Iranian Revolution]] of 1979, accusations of "discrimination" by Western organizations and of "foreign involvement" by Iranian side have become very frequent.<ref name="elling"/>

Kurds have been well integrated in [[Politics of Iran|Iranian political life]] under various governments.<ref name="kreyenbroek138141"/> Kurdish liberal political [[Karim Sanjabi]] served as minister of education under [[Mohammad Mossadegh]] in 1952. During the reign of [[Mohammad Reza Pahlavi]] some members of parliament and high army officers were Kurds, and there was even a Kurdish cabinet minister.<ref name="kreyenbroek138141"/> During the [[Pahlavi dynasty|reign of the Pahlavis]] Kurds received many favours from the authorities, for instance to keep their land after the [[White Revolution|land reforms]] of 1962.<ref name="kreyenbroek138141"/> In the early 2000s, presence of thirty Kurdish deputies in the 290-strong [[Parliament of Iran|parliament]] has also helped to undermine claims of discrimination.<ref name="howard">{{cite book|last=Howard|first=Roger|title=Iran in Crisis?: The Future of the Revolutionary Regime and the US Response|publisher=[[Zed Books]]|location=London; New York|year=2004|pages=185–186|isbn=978-1-84277-474-8|oclc=54966573}}</ref> Some of the more influential Kurdish politicians during recent years include former [[Vice President of Iran|first vice president]] [[Mohammad Reza Rahimi]] and [[Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf]], [[Mayor of Tehran]] and second-placed [[2013 Iranian presidential election|presidential candidate]] in 2013. The [[Kurdish language]] is today used more than at any other time since the [[Iranian Revolution|Revolution]], including in several newspapers and among schoolchildren.<ref name="howard"/> Many Iranian Kurds show no interest in [[Kurdish nationalism]],<ref name="kreyenbroek1719"/> particularly Kurds of the [[Shia]] faith who sometimes even vigorously reject idea of autonomy, preferring direct rule from [[Tehran]].<ref name="kreyenbroek1719"/><ref name="romano240">{{cite book|last=Romano|first=David|title=The Kurdish Nationalist Movement: Opportunity, Mobilization and Identity|series=Cambridge Middle East studies, 22.|publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]]|location=Cambridge, UK; New York|year=2006|page=240|isbn=978-0-521-85041-4|oclc=61425259}}</ref> The issue of Kurdish nationalism and Iranian national identity is generally only questioned in the peripheral Kurdish dominated regions where the [[Sunni]] faith is prevalent.<ref>{{cite book|last=Abrahamian|first=Ervand|author-link=Ervand Abrahamian|title=A History of Modern Iran|publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]]|location=Cambridge, U.K.; New York|year=2008|page=195|isbn=978-0-521-52891-7|oclc=171111098}}</ref>

===Iraq===
{{Further|Kurds in Iraq|Iraqi Kurdistan|Al-Anfal genocide|Halabja poison gas attack|Iraqi Kurdistan independence referendum, 2017}}
[[File:Jalal Talabani Rumsfeld Rice Khalilzad.jpg|thumb|left|The president of Iraq, [[Jalal Talabani]], meeting with U.S. officials in [[Baghdad]], Iraq, on 26 April 2006]]

Kurds constitute approximately 17% of Iraq's population.{{citation needed|date=November 2024}} They are the majority in at least three provinces in northern Iraq. Kurds also have a presence in [[Kirkuk]], [[Mosul]], [[Khanaqin]], and [[Baghdad]]. Around 300,000 Kurds live in the Iraqi capital [[Baghdad]], 50,000 in the city of [[Mosul]] and around 100,000 elsewhere in southern Iraq.{{citation needed|date=November 2024}}

Kurds led by [[Mustafa Barzani]] were engaged in heavy fighting against successive Iraqi regimes from 1960 to 1975. In March 1970, Iraq announced a peace plan providing for Kurdish autonomy. The plan was to be implemented in four years.<ref>G.S. Harris, ''Ethnic Conflict and the Kurds'' in the Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, pp. 118–120, 1977</ref> However, at the same time, the Iraqi regime started an Arabization program in the oil-rich regions of [[Kirkuk]] and [[Khanaqin]].<ref>[http://hrw.org/reports/1993/iraqanfal/ANFALINT.htm Introduction]. Genocide in Iraq: The Anfal Campaign Against the Kurds (Human Rights Watch Report, 1993).</ref> The peace agreement did not last long, and in 1974, the Iraqi government began a new offensive against the Kurds. Moreover, in March 1975, Iraq and Iran signed the [[Algiers Agreement (1975)|Algiers Accord]], according to which Iran cut supplies to Iraqi Kurds. Iraq started another wave of Arabization by moving Arabs to the oil fields in Kurdistan, particularly those around Kirkuk.<ref>G.S. Harris, ''Ethnic Conflict and the Kurds'' in the Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, p.121, 1977</ref> Between 1975 and 1978, 200,000 Kurds were deported to other parts of Iraq.<ref>M. Farouk-Sluglett, P. Sluglett, J. Stork, ''Not Quite Armageddon: Impact of the War on Iraq'', MERIP Reports, July–September 1984, p.24</ref>

[[File:263827 A pair of girls giggle with one another during a Kurdish New Year celebration in the Qarah Anir region of Kirkuk, Iraq, March 21 in 2010.jpg|thumb|Kurdish girls in traditional Kurdish costume, [[Newroz]] picnic in [[Kirkuk]]]]
During the [[Iran–Iraq War]] in the 1980s, the regime implemented anti-Kurdish policies and a ''de facto'' civil war broke out. Iraq was widely condemned by the international community, but was never seriously punished for oppressive measures such as the mass murder of hundreds of thousands of civilians, the wholesale destruction of thousands of villages and the deportation of thousands of Kurds to southern and central Iraq.

The genocidal campaign, conducted between 1986 and 1989 and culminating in 1988, carried out by the Iraqi government against the Kurdish population was called ''Anfal'' ("Spoils of War"). The Anfal campaign led to destruction of over two thousand villages and killing of 182,000 Kurdish civilians.<ref>{{cite web|publisher=International Center for Transitional Justice|title=The Prosecution Witness and Documentary Evidence Phases of the Anfal Trial|url=http://www.ictj.org/images/content/7/2/725.pdf|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080725060202/http://www.ictj.org/images/content/7/2/725.pdf|archive-date=25 July 2008}} According to the Chief Prosecutor, Iraqi forces repeatedly used chemical weapons, killed up to 182,000 civilians, forcibly displaced hundreds of thousands more, and almost completely destroyed local infrastructure.</ref> The campaign included the use of ground offensives, aerial bombing, systematic destruction of settlements, mass deportation, firing squads, and chemical attacks, including the most infamous attack on the Kurdish town of [[Halabja poison gas attack|Halabja in 1988]] that killed 5000 civilians instantly.

[[File:Kurdish flags at the pro-Kurdistan referendum and pro-Kurdistan independence rally at Franso Hariri Stadium, Erbil, Kurdistan Region of Iraq 11.jpg|thumb|left|Pro-independence rally in [[Erbil]] in September 2017]]
After the collapse of the Kurdish uprising in March 1991, Iraqi troops recaptured most of the Kurdish areas and 1.5&nbsp;million Kurds abandoned their homes and fled to the Turkish and Iranian borders. It is estimated that close to 20,000 Kurds succumbed to death due to exhaustion, lack of food, exposure to cold and disease. On 5 April 1991, [[UN Security Council]] passed resolution [[United Nations Security Council Resolution 688|688]] which condemned the repression of Iraqi Kurdish civilians and demanded that Iraq end its repressive measures and allow immediate access to international humanitarian organizations.<ref>[http://daccess-ods.un.org/access.nsf/Get?Open&DS=S/RES/688%20(1991)&Lang=E&Area=RESOLUTION Security Council Resolution 688], 5 April 1991.</ref> This was the first international document (since the [[League of Nations]] arbitration of Mosul in 1926) to mention Kurds by name. In mid-April, the Coalition established "safe havens" inside Iraqi borders and prohibited Iraqi planes from flying north of 36th parallel.<ref name="McDowall 2004"/>{{rp|373, 375}} In October 1991, Kurdish guerrillas captured [[Erbil]] and [[Sulaimaniyah]] after a series of clashes with Iraqi troops. In late October, Iraqi government retaliated by imposing a food and fuel embargo on the Kurds and stopping to pay civil servants in the Kurdish region. The embargo, however, backfired and Kurds held parliamentary elections in May 1992 and established [[Kurdistan Regional Government]] (KRG).<ref>Johnathan C. Randal, ''After such knowledge, what forgiveness?: my encounters with Kurdistan'', Westview Press, 368 pp., 1998. (see pp. 107–108)</ref>

The Kurdish population welcomed the American troops in 2003 by holding celebrations and dancing in the streets.<ref>[http://www.newyorker.com/online/content/articles/031222on_onlineonly04] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140407075937/http://www.newyorker.com/online/content/articles/031222on_onlineonly04|date=7 April 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.foxnews.com/story/kurds-rejoice-but-fighting-continues-in-north|title=Kurds Rejoice, But Fighting Continues in North|publisher=Fox News|date=9 April 2003|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130528040910/http://www.foxnews.com/story/0%2C2933%2C83642%2C00.html|archive-date=28 May 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/meast/04/10/sprj.irq.war.main/index.html|title=Coalition makes key advances in northern Iraq – April 10, 2003|publisher=CNN|date=10 April 2003|access-date=2 December 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|author=Daniel McElroy|url=http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/index.cfm?id=421832003|title=Grateful Iraqis Surrender to Kurds|work=The Scotsman|access-date=2 December 2011|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071213033423/http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/index.cfm?id=421832003|archive-date=13 December 2007}}</ref> The authority of the [[Kurdistan Regional Government|KRG]] and legality of its laws and regulations were recognized in the articles 113 and 137 of the new [[Iraqi Constitution]] ratified in 2005.<ref>[https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/10/12/AR2005101201450.html Full Text of Iraqi Constitution], [[The Washington Post]], October 2005.</ref> By the beginning of 2006, the two Kurdish administrations of Erbil and Sulaimaniya were unified.{{explain|date=November 2024}}{{citation needed|date=November 2024}} On 14 August 2007, Yazidis were targeted in a [[2007 Yazidi communities bombings|series of bombings]] that became the deadliest suicide attack since the [[Iraq War]] began, killing 796 civilians, wounding 1,562.<ref>{{cite web|publisher=United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees|title=USCIRF Annual Report 2009 – Countries of Particular Concern: Iraq|url=http://www.refworld.org/docid/4a4f2735c.html|website=Refworld|language=en}}</ref>

===Syria===
{{Main|Kurds in Syria|Syrian Kurdistan}}
[[File:Kurdish YPG Fighters (15318975992).jpg|thumb|Kurdish [[People's Protection Units|YPG]] and [[Women's Protection Units|YPJ]] fighters in Syria]]

Kurds account for 9% of [[Syria]]'s population, a total of around 1.6&nbsp;million people.<ref name="HeritageforPeace"/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.gazetteer.de/wg.php?x=1136895927&men=gpro&lng=en&des=gamelan&dat=200&geo=-106&srt=pnan&col=aohdqcfbeimg&geo=0|title=World Gazetteer|publisher=Gazetteer.de|access-date=2 December 2011|archive-date=12 January 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120112075507/http://www.gazetteer.de/wg.php?x=1136895927&men=gpro&lng=en&des=gamelan&dat=200&geo=-106&srt=pnan&col=aohdqcfbeimg&geo=0|url-status=dead}}</ref> This makes them the largest ethnic minority in the country. They are mostly concentrated in the northeast and the north, but there are also significant Kurdish populations in Aleppo and Damascus. Kurds often speak Kurdish in public, unless all those present do not. According to [[Amnesty International]], Kurdish human rights activists are mistreated and persecuted.<ref>[http://www.amnestyusa.org/document.php?lang=e&id=80256DD400782B8480256F63006435DB Syria: End persecution of human rights defenders and human rights activists] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071013142249/http://www.amnestyusa.org/document.php?lang=e&id=80256DD400782B8480256F63006435DB |date=13 October 2007 }}.</ref> No political parties are allowed for any group, Kurdish or otherwise.

Techniques used to suppress the ethnic identity of Kurds in [[Syria]] include various bans on the use of the [[Kurdish language]], refusal to register children with Kurdish names, the replacement of Kurdish place names with new names in [[Arabic]], the prohibition of businesses that do not have Arabic names, the prohibition of Kurdish private schools, and the prohibition of books and other materials written in Kurdish.<ref name="Syria_Silenced_Kurds">{{cite web|url=http://hrw.org/reports/1996/Syria.htm|title=Syria: The Silenced Kurds|publisher=Human Rights Watch|access-date=2 December 2011}}</ref><ref>[http://hrw.org/english/docs/2005/01/13/syria9812.htm Essential Background: Overview of human rights issues in Syria]. Human Rights Watch, 31 December 2004. {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081110081605/http://hrw.org/english/docs/2005/01/13/syria9812.htm |date=10 November 2008 }}</ref> Having been denied the right to Syrian nationality, around 300,000 Kurds have been deprived of any social rights, in violation of international law.<ref>{{cite web|author=Washington, D.C.|url=http://voanews.com/english/archive/2005-09/2005-09-02-voa15.cfm?CFID=46444555&CFTOKEN=26238763|archive-url=http://webarchive.loc.gov/all/20080914200349/http://voanews.com/english/archive/2005-09/2005-09-02-voa15.cfm?CFID=46444555&CFTOKEN=26238763|url-status=dead|archive-date=14 September 2008|title=Syria's Kurds Struggle for Rights|publisher=Voice of America|date=2 September 2005|access-date=2 December 2011}}</ref><ref name="themedialine_12568">{{cite web|author=Vinsinfo|url=http://themedialine.org/news/news_detail.asp?NewsID=12568|title=The Media Line|publisher=The Media Line|access-date=2 December 2011|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110930051627/http://themedialine.org/news/news_detail.asp?NewsID=12568|archive-date=30 September 2011}}</ref> As a consequence, these Kurds are in effect trapped within Syria. In March 2011, in part to avoid further demonstrations and unrest from spreading across Syria, the Syrian government promised to tackle the issue and grant Syrian citizenship to approximately 300,000 Kurds who had been previously denied the right.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2011/04/01/3179357.htm?section=justin|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120730140051/http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2011/04/01/3179357.htm?section=justin|url-status=dead|archive-date=30 July 2012|title=Syria to tackle Kurd citizenship problem – Just In (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)|publisher=Australian Broadcasting Corporation|date=1 April 2011|access-date=2 December 2011}}</ref>

On 12 March 2004, beginning at a stadium in [[Qamishli]] (a largely Kurdish city in northeastern Syria), clashes between Kurds and Syrians broke out and continued over a number of days. At least thirty people were killed and more than 160 injured. The unrest spread to other Kurdish towns along the northern border with Turkey, and then to [[Damascus]] and [[Aleppo]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://hrw.org/english/docs/2004/03/19/syria8132.htm|title=Syria: Address Grievances Underlying Kurdish Unrest|publisher=Human Rights Watch|date=18 March 2004|access-date=2 December 2011}}</ref><ref>{{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20040407211206/http://amude.net/serhildan/index.html Serhildana 12ê Adarê ya Kurdistana Suriyê]}}.</ref>

As a result of [[Syrian civil war]], since July 2012, Kurds were able to take control of large parts of Syrian Kurdistan from Andiwar in extreme northeast to Jindires in extreme northwest Syria. The Syrian Kurds started the [[Rojava Revolution]] in 2013.

Kurdish-inhabited [[Afrin Canton]] has been [[Turkish occupation of northern Syria|occupied]] by Turkish Armed Forces and [[Turkish-backed Free Syrian Army]] since the [[Turkish military operation in Afrin]] in early 2018. Between 150,000 and 200,000 people were displaced due to the Turkish intervention.<ref>"[https://www.jpost.com/Middle-East/Displaced-Kurds-from-Afrin-need-help-activist-says-547096 Displaced Kurds from Afrin need help, activist says]". ''The Jerusalem Post''. 26 March 2018.</ref>

In October 2019, Turkey and the [[Syrian Interim Government]] began an offensive into Kurdish-populated areas in Syria, prompting about 100,000 civilians to flee from the area fearing that Turkey would commit an [[ethnic cleansing]].<ref>{{cite news|title=IS families escape Syria camp as Turkey battles Kurds|url=https://www.afp.com/en/news/15/families-escape-syria-camp-turkey-battles-kurds-doc-1ld6ff3|access-date=14 October 2019|agency=Agence France-Presse|date=13 October 2019|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Syrian Kurds fear 'ethnic cleansing' after US troop pullout announcement|url=https://www.foxnews.com/world/syria-kurdish-turkey-troop-pullout-ethnic-cleansing-fears|access-date=14 October 2019|publisher=Fox News|date=7 October 2019}}</ref>

===Transcaucasus===
{{See also|Kurdish-Armenian relations|Kurds in Azerbaijan}}
[[File:Ilham Aliyev and Mehriban Aliyeva attended opening of Kharibulbul Festival in Shusha 15.jpg|250px|thumb|right|Tunar Rahmanoghly singing Kurdish song "Rinda Min". [[Khari Bulbul Music Festival]]]]

Between the 1930s and 1980s, [[Armenia]] was a part of the [[Soviet Union]], within which Kurds, like other ethnic groups, had the status of a protected minority. Armenian Kurds were permitted their own state-sponsored newspaper, radio broadcasts and cultural events. During the conflict in [[Nagorno-Karabakh]], many non-Yazidi Kurds were forced to leave their homes since both the Azeri and non-Yazidi Kurds were Muslim.

In 1920, two Kurdish-inhabited areas of Jewanshir (capital [[Kalbajar]]) and eastern Zangazur (capital [[Lachin]]) were combined to form the [[Kurdistan Okrug]] (or "Red Kurdistan"). The period of existence of the Kurdish administrative unit was brief and did not last beyond 1929. Kurds subsequently faced many repressive measures, including deportations, imposed by the [[USSR|Soviet]] government. As a result of the [[Nagorno-Karabakh conflict]], many Kurdish areas have been destroyed and more than 150,000 Kurds have been deported since 1988 by separatist [[Armenia]]n forces.<ref name="meho">[http://www.slis.indiana.edu/faculty/meho/meho-bibliography-2001.pdf Kurds and Kurdistan: A General Background], p.22</ref>

===Diaspora===
{{Main|Kurds in Germany|Kurds in France|Kurds in the Netherlands|Kurds in Belgium|Kurds in Finland|Kurds in Sweden|Kurds in Greece|Kurds in Russia|Kurds in the United Kingdom|Kurds in Canada|Kurds in the United States|Kurds in Australia|Kurdish Jews in Israel|Kurds in Japan}}
[[File:Rojava solidarity demonstration Berlin 2019-10-10 22.jpg|thumb|Protest in Berlin, Germany against [[2019 Turkish offensive into north-eastern Syria|Turkey's military offensive into north-eastern Syria]] on 10 October 2019]]
[[File:Portrait of Hamdi Ulukaya.jpg|thumb|[[Hamdi Ulukaya]], Kurdish-American billionaire, founder and CEO of [[Chobani]]]]
According to a report by the [[Council of Europe]], approximately 1.3&nbsp;million Kurds live in [[Western Europe]]. The earliest immigrants were Kurds from Turkey, who settled in [[Germany]], [[Austria]], the [[Benelux]] countries, the United Kingdom, [[Switzerland]] and [[France]] during the 1960s. Successive periods of political and social turmoil in the region during the 1980s and 1990s brought new waves of Kurdish refugees, mostly from Iran and Iraq under Saddam Hussein, came to Europe.<ref name="coucileu"/>
In recent years, many Kurdish asylum seekers from both Iran and Iraq have settled in the United Kingdom (especially in the town of [[Dewsbury]] and in some northern areas of [[London]]), which has sometimes caused media controversy over their right to remain.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.dewsburyreporter.co.uk/news?articleid=2737475|title=MP: Failed asylum seekers must go back – Dewsbury Reporter|work=Dewsburyreporter.co.uk|access-date=2 December 2011}}</ref>
There have been tensions between Kurds and the established Muslim community in Dewsbury,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.dewsburyreporter.co.uk/news/39I-will-not-be-muzzled39.2955186.jp|title='I will not be muzzled' – Malik|work=Dewsburyreporter.co.uk|access-date=2 December 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100102035344/http://www.dewsburyreporter.co.uk/news/39I-will-not-be-muzzled39.2955186.jp|archive-date=2 January 2010|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://ukpollingreport.co.uk/guide/seat-profiles/dewsbury|title=UK Polling Report Election Guide: Dewsbury|work=Ukpollingreport.co.uk|date=9 June 2012|access-date=2 March 2014|archive-date=10 October 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171010075541/http://ukpollingreport.co.uk/guide/seat-profiles/dewsbury/|url-status=dead}}</ref> which is home to very traditional mosques such as the [[Markazi mosque|Markazi]]. Since the beginning of the turmoil in Syria many of the [[refugees of the Syrian Civil War]] are [[Syrian Kurds]] and as a result many of the current Syrian asylum seekers in Germany are of Kurdish descent.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://ekurd.net/syrian-kurdish-migrants-in-serbia-2015-08-29|title=Hundreds of Syrian Kurdish migrants seek shelter in Serbia|work=Kurd Net – Ekurd.net Daily News|access-date=18 September 2015|date=29 August 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://ekurd.net/kurdish-refugees-fantastic-dreams-2015-08-31|title=For Iraqi, Syrian Kurdish refugees, fantastic dreams and silent deaths|work=Kurd Net – Ekurd.net Daily News|access-date=18 September 2015|date=31 August 2015}}</ref>

There was substantial immigration of ethnic Kurds in Canada and the United States, who are mainly political refugees and immigrants seeking economic opportunity. According to a [[2011 Canadian Census|2011 Statistics Canada]] household survey, there were 11,685 people of Kurdish ethnic background living in Canada,<ref name="StatCan-household">{{cite web|title=2011 National Household Survey: Data tables|url=http://www12.statcan.gc.ca/nhs-enm/2011/dp-pd/dt-td/Rp-eng.cfm?LANG=E&APATH=3&DETAIL=0&DIM=0&FL=A&FREE=0&GC=0&GID=0&GK=0&GRP=0&PID=105396&PRID=0&PTYPE=105277&S=0&SHOWALL=0&SUB=0&Temporal=2013&THEME=95&VID=0&VNAMEE=&VNAMEF|work=StatCan.GC.ca|publisher=Statistics Canada|access-date=19 January 2013}}</ref> and according to the 2011 Census, 10,325 Canadians spoke Kurdish languages.<ref name="StatCan-lang">{{cite web|title=Detailed Mother Tongue, 2011 Census of Canada|work=StatCan.GC.ca|publisher=Statistics Canada|url=http://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2011/dp-pd/tbt-tt/Rp-eng.cfm?LANG=E&APATH=3&DETAIL=0&DIM=0&FL=A&FREE=0&GC=0&GID=0&GK=0&GRP=1&PID=103251&PRID=0&PTYPE=101955&S=0&SHOWALL=0&SUB=0&Temporal=2011&THEME=90&VID=0&VNAMEE=&VNAMEF=|access-date=13 April 2013|date=24 October 2012}}</ref> In the United States, Kurdish immigrants started to settle in large numbers in [[History of the Kurds in Nashville, Tennessee|Nashville]] in 1976,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.wnpt.org/mediaupdate/2008/05/19/npt-visits-our-next-door-neighbors-in-little-kurdistan-usa/|title=NPT Visits Our Next Door Neighbors in Little Kurdistan, USA|publisher=Nashville Public Television|date=19 May 2008|access-date=13 April 2013|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130705180756/http://www.wnpt.org/mediaupdate/2008/05/19/npt-visits-our-next-door-neighbors-in-little-kurdistan-usa/|archive-date=5 July 2013}}</ref> which is now home to the largest Kurdish community in the United States and is nicknamed ''Little Kurdistan''.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.washingtontimes.com/blog/watercooler/2013/feb/23/nashvilles-new-nick-name-little-kurdistan/|title=Nashville's new nickname: 'Little Kurdistan'|newspaper=The Washington Times|date=23 February 2013|access-date=13 April 2013}}</ref> Kurdish population in Nashville is estimated to be around 11,000.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://traveltips.usatoday.com/interesting-things-nashville-tennessee-102054.html|title=Interesting Things About Nashville, Tennessee|newspaper=USA Today|access-date=13 April 2013|archive-date=16 August 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120816031318/http://traveltips.usatoday.com/interesting-things-nashville-tennessee-102054.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> The total number of ethnic Kurds residing in the United States is estimated by the [[US Census Bureau]] to be 20,591.<ref name="USCensus"/> Other sources claim that there are 20,000 ethnic Kurds in the United States.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.institutkurde.org/en/kurdorama/|title=The Kurdish Diaspora|work=institutkurde.org|access-date=18 September 2015}}</ref>