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The majority of Kurds are Sunni Muslims, but a large population of Iran's Kurds are Shiite. For over a century, many Kurds have been campaigning for the right to their own state, which they would call KurdistanFor the Iranian province of Kurdistan, please see Kurdistan (province). Kurdistan is an area in the Middle East, inhabited mainly by the Kurds, covering parts of Turkey, Iraq, Iran, Georgia and Syria. Its borders are hard to define, as none of the states -- by some accounts the Kurds are the world's largest ethnic group without their own state. However, despite promises of the creation of such a state made in the early 20th century19th century 20th century 21st century more centuries) Decades: 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s As a means of recording the passage of time, the 20th century was that century which lasted from 1901- 2000 in the sense of the Gre, all the region's governments are opposed to it.
The Kurds constitute the only sizable minority in Turkey. The exact number of Kurdish people living in Southwest AsiaSouthwest Asia or West Asia is the southwestern part of Asia. Geographers that were annoyed with the ambiguity of the term "Middle East" tried to popularize the word "Southwest Asia", but with limited success. The term "West Asia" has however become the p is unknown due to both absence of a recent study on this issue and the fact that some of Kurdish people have mixed with other local ethnic groups. The estimated numbers for the percentage of Kurdish people living in Turkey vary from 3% (Encyclopedia Americana [1]) to 20% (CIA Factbook [2]). They live mainly in KurdistanFor the Iranian province of Kurdistan, please see Kurdistan (province). Kurdistan is an area in the Middle East, inhabited mainly by the Kurds, covering parts of Turkey, Iraq, Iran, Georgia and Syria. Its borders are hard to define, as none of the states. There are also Kurdish enclaves in central Turkey concentrated to the west of Lake Tuz . Millions of Kurds have moved to the large cities of Western and Southern Turkey in recent decades - notably IstanbulMunicipality's Logo Istanbul ( Turkish spelling: İstanbul) is the largest city in Turkey. Until 1930 this city was commonly known by its original Greek name Constantinople by westerners; some writings named it Stambul especially in the 19th century., IzmirIzmir ( Turkish spelling Izmir contraction of its former name Smyrna in Greek), the second-largest port (after Istanbul) and the third most populous city of Turkey is located on the Aegean Sea near the Gulf of Izmir. It is the capital of the Izmir Provinc, BursaBursa (formerly known as Brusa or Prusa is a city in northwestern Turkey. With a population of approximately 620,000, it is Turkey's fourth-largest city and the capital of Bursa Province. The ancient Greek city of Prusa in the 1st century BC was founded b, AdanaAdana is the fourth largest city in Turkey and the capital of the Adana Province. It has a population of 1 130 710 (2000). NATO's Incirlik Airbase is located 12 km east of Adana. Adana is the marketing and distribution center for an agricultural region in and MersinMersin is the capital city of Icel Province, in Turkey. It is located in the South Anatolia Region, to the southeast of the country, south of the Taurus Mountains, by the Mediterranean coast. History Since Mersin has always been a port city through histor. Many Kurds have also emigrated to Western European countries such as Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden, Belgium and the United Kingdom.
Kurdish guerillas launched attacks on Turkish targets in 1984, and since then they have fought against the Turkish government for independence and the right to be educated in Kurdish schools, with little success. In 1999, the Turkish government had a major victory when it abducted Abdullah Öcalan, the leader of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), one of the groups fighting for Kurdish rights and independence. Turkey then placed him on trial for treason and sentenced him to life imprisonment. After that the Kurdish rebel movement in Turkey declared that it would end its military attacks to create a Kurdish homeland but continue its activities on political platform.
The Kurdish guerillas have been and continue to be persecuted by both Iraq and Turkey. In Turkey, publication (both printed and audio-visual media) and teaching (although very restricted) in Kurdish language is allowed, and recent reforms promised limited broadcasting in Kurdish language. However, it refuses to recognize them as an ethnic group but Kurds may take their place in any part of Turkish life including the National Assembly as long as they pretend to be 'mountain turks' a term which is very offensive to Kurds.
The status of Kurds is now surrounded in mystery. Under the former Iraqi Ba'athist regime, which ruled Iraq from 1968 until 2003, they were initially granted limited autonomy and given some high-level political representation in Baghdad. However, for various reasons including the siding of some Kurds with Iranian forces during the Iran-Iraq War in the 1980s, the regime became opposed to the Kurds and an effective civil war broke out. Iraq was widely condemned, but not seriously punished, by the international community for using chemical weapons against the Kurds, which caused the death of thousands of Kurds. Kurdish regions during the 1990s had de-facto independence, with fully functioning civil administrations, and were protected by the US-enforced Iraqi no-fly zone which stopped Iraqi air attacks. During the period of self-governance there were armed clashes between the two main political groups in the area, each claiming the title of Kurdistan's government, which undermined the effectiveness of the Kurds in their fighting with the Iraqis. Following the unseating of the former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein in 2003, little is known as to how 'Kurdistan' will be dealt with in the future. The American-sponsored idea of a Federal Republic, with a relatively high level of autonomy for the Kurds, currently appears to be the most popular.
Some improvements in Kurdish rights in Turkey have however been made under pressure from the European Union. The European Union has made membership for Turkey conditional on, among other things, better treatment of its Kurdish minority. In August 2002, Turkey accepted the EU's conditions, and amended certain of its restrictions on the Kurds.