The Kurdish question in perspective

Abstract

Although a large majority in the mountainous Middle East, where Turkey, Iran, Iraq, and Syria meet, the Kurds have been gerrymandered into being mere minorities within the existing states that they inhabit. Many Kurds' desire for statehood, or at least cultural autonomy within the states that they now inhabit, has led to an almost continuous series of Kurdish revolts since the creation of the modern Middle East following World War I, and this constitutes the Kurdish problem or question. There are approximately 25-28 million Kurds, making them the largest nation in the world without its own independent state. Since the end of the Gulf War in 1991 and the creation of a de facto state of Kurdistan in northern Iraq, the Kurdish problem has become increasingly important in Middle Eastern and even international politics. The war to remove Saddam Hussein from power in 2003 furthered this process. Turkey's application for admission into the European Union (EU) also has served to make the Kurdish issue more significant. As the Arab-Israeli dispute slowly winds down, the Kurdish issue will replace it as the leading factor of instability in the geostrategically important Middle East. Furthermore, because the Kurds sit on a great deal of the Middle East's oil and, possibly more important, its water resources, the Kurdish issue will become even more important in the coming years.