Modern researchers of nation-forming processes and the very phenomenon of national identity insist that the most important factor in the formation of any nation is the formation of its own state through which it can express its fundamental interests and life priorities. That is why the movements of the Basques, Catalans and some other minorities in Western Europe have been living for so long. However, the most numerous people, who are obviously ready to formulate themselves as a nation, but still do not have their own state, are Kurds. This nationality has more representatives than many European nations. According to various estimates, from thirty to forty million people living in different countries of our planet are Kurds.
Who are the Kurds?
This nationality is a combination of a number of tribal groups of Turkic origin. Their homeland and the densest area of modern settlement is the territory in the very east of Asia Minor. Modern Kurdistan (the name of this region) is divided immediately between several states: Turkey, Iraq, Iran and Syria. Naturally, the vast majority of representatives of this people profess Sunni Islam. Although there are also Christians: Catholics and even Orthodox Kurds. This nationality is also widespread in other countries of the Middle East, as well as in Europe and the CIS.
The origin of the Kurds
This people is one of the most ancient in the front of Asia. Its origin today is a very controversial issue. So, there are opinions that the Kurds are the heirs of the Scythians. Other scholars derive their genealogy from the Kurtian tribes that inhabited ancient Persia and Mesopotamia. Genetic studies of haplogroups indicate the kinship of modern Kurds with the peoples of the Caucasus: Azerbaijanis, Georgians and Armenians, as well as Jews.
Kurdish issue in Turkey
Actually, it consists in the inconsistency of such a large number of people with their actual status as a national minority in several eastern states. Thus, the Kurds, whose nationality has long been denied by the Turkish government, were subjected to cultural oppression until the 2000s. For many years, Kurdish language has been banned in the local media. The situation is also aggravated by the fact that the majority of Kurds in Turkey are at a rather low stage of social development in comparison with the Turks themselves. At the same time, according to some expert estimates, their number reaches 20% of the country's population. The intensive growth of national consciousness occurred here after the collapse of the Ottoman Empire. Throughout the 20th century, a weak unorganized struggle was waged in Kurdistan. It could take shape seriously only under the influence of Marxist ideology already in the late 1970s - the first half of the 1980s. Under the influence of Kurdish separatist paramilitary organizations and under pressure from European states insisting on the democratization of Turkey, the local government was forced to make concessions in the 2000s. The prohibitions on the use of their language and manifestation of culture are being softened. For some time now regular television channels appeared in the Kurdish language, national schools are opening.
Kurdish issue in other countries of the Middle East
Kurds in Iraq, as in Turkey, live in compact groups in certain territories. For a long time, they fought for their identity with the local monarchy, and later with the regime of Saddam Hussein. In the early 1990s, the Kuwait war almost helped to create their own independent state. However, the separatist attempt failed. In the 2000s, Iraqi Kurdistan received very broad autonomy within the state. Syrian Kurds live in the northern regions of the country, accounting for 9% of the population. The cultural situation of this people here is even worse than in Iraq and Turkey, since the use of the Kurdish language, names, private schools, books and other printed publications is still prohibited in Syria. At the same time, there are local militarized organizations gravitating towards the creation of autonomy.
