The Kurds: A Contemporary Overview

The position of the nineteen million Kurds is an extremely complex one. Their territory is divided between five sovereign states, none of which have a Kurdish majority. They speak widely divergent dialects, and are divided by religious affiliations and social factors. It has taken the tragic and horrifying events in Iraq this year to bring the Kurds to the center of the world stage, but their particular importance has been the source of growing concern and interest during the last two to three decades. This book provides one of the first assessments of the Kurds, and examines social and political issues, legal questions, religion, language, and their modern history in Turkey, Iraq, Iran, Syria, and the former Soviet Union. It will be an invaluable source of information for students and specialists in Middle East studies, and for anyone concerned with wider questions of nationalism and cultural identity.