The political geography of kurdistan carl dahlman1 abstract. Kurdistan s target audience is prominent business community visiting kurdistan. It is traversed by the sirwan river, the tigris and its tributaries, and the. The may 2008 visit to erbil by a delegation from russias chamber of commerce headed by the wellknown russian politician, orientalist and social activist, yevgeny primakov, who is well regarded in iraqi kurdistan, contributed greatly to strengthening. Mean high temperatures range from 18 degrees in march to 2732 degrees in may. The future of the iraqi kurds david pollock press exposure, these and other journalists maintain, has in a few instances resulted in positive change. However, the iraqi kurds political autonomy, and territorial and economic demands, have caused friction with prime minister nuri almaliki and other arab. Due to the absence of a proper population census, the exact population of iraqi kurdistan as well as the rest of iraq is unknown, but the kurdish government has recently started to publish better population figures.
Examining the experiment in western kurdistan contested through three broad theories. The kdp seeks to incorporate sinjar into the kurdistan regional government krg, expand. The iraniraq war starting in 1980 provided an opportunity for the kurds to reunite their forces against saddam husseins regime and form the kurdistan front in 1987, which was met with extensive violence by iraqi security. The kurdistan region encompasses most of iraqi kurdistan but excludes. W o r k i n g p a p e r n u m b e r 2, j u n e 2 0 0 9. Kurdistan puk, which led to the division of the iraqi kurdistan region into two territories of influence. Daniel sabr november 15, 2017 library, modern history of kurdistan 0 985. Kurdish history is deeply intertwined with the geography and the politics of the modern kurdish regions. Turkey is likely to welcome an independent kurdistan under such a scenario, and iran may tolerate kurdish independence if it does not. The pictures by the american photographer sebastian meyer, who documented iraqi kurdistan between 2008 and 2016, capture the regions contrasts, which often exist side by side. Nationalism and language in kurdistan, 19181985 amir.
Kurdistan geology starts from paleozoic 542 million years ago 6. Gunterhistorical dictionary of the kurds historical dictionaries of people and cultures. It borders syria to the west rojava, iran to the east rojhalat, and turkey bakur lying to the north where fertile plains meet the zagros mountains. The subject of this thesis is right to selfdetermination of kurds and its relation with right to selfdefence. Dec 29, 2014 demographics of the kurdish people in the iraq posted on december 29, 2014 by mohammadkurdistan due to the absence of a proper population census, the exact population of iraqi kurdistan as well as the rest of iraq is unknown, but the kurdish government has recently started to publish better population figures. Growing kurdish autonomy in syria could shake up the regionand washington is on its heels. All structured data from the file and property namespaces is available under the creative commons cc0 license. The kurdish autonomous region of iraq, or iraqi kurdistan, is a geopolitical region in northern iraq.
The history of kurds is often compared with the history of the polish nation under rules of germany, russia and austria in 19th century. Kdp are threatening the kurdistan workers party pkk and its affiliates in sinjar, west of mosul city. Iraqi kurdistan has two border gates with iran, the haji omaran border gate and the bashmeg border gate near the city of sulaymaniyah. Kurdistan to escape repression elsewhere in iraq, where they receive not only protection from the krg, but also economic benefits, much to the consternation of the kurdish population which does. Iraqi kurdistan, caught between worlds the new yorker. Sep 18, 2017 the iraqi kurdistan region will be holding a referendum on independence on september 25, 2017. Economic development assessment executive summary the kurdistan region kr has the potential to achieve accelerated economic development and growth. Turkey, iraq, iran, syria, and parts of the former soviet armenia. Daniel sabr november 15, 2017 library, modern history of kurdistan 0 595.
In the city of qeladize, in kurdistan, a man named salah rashid told me of his 18yearold brotherinlaw, hemin, whod joined isis in 2014. Now, however, the large number of foreign expeditions working in agreement with the archaeological authorities of the kurdistan region in all three governorates, hand in hand with the. Unraveling the oil geopolitics intertwined in the kurdish independence referendum newly unveiled statue in kirkuk pays tribute to the peshmerga, iraqi kurdistans main fighting forces in kirkuk. They even promoted local tourism by inviting prominent journalists to spend time in the kurdish region to pen. The sunlight was even more harsh, so i had to take care of capturing the complete dynamic range. Kurdistan is the mountainous area where the borders of iraq, iran, and turkey meet.
Of particular interest is an analysis of the situation of the kurds in each of the four major countries in which their homeland is foundturkey, iran, iraq, and syriaand where they comprise roughly 820 percent of each countrys total population. Ancient cities and landscapes in the kurdistan region of. At 941 years of age, this map is the oldest surviving map that displays kurdistans name, ardh alakrad or land of the kurds. On september 25, a referendum will be held on the future. And their openness to input from many quadrants is encouraging. Iraq, turkey, iraqi kurdistan, kurdish regional government, economic security, international economic relations 87. Agriculture can once again become a vital part of the kurdistan economy, a region that was once called the bread basket of iraq.
Iraqi kurdistans unlikely ally geopolitical futures. To be more precise, the kurds are kind of mixture between the khurrites hurrians who lived in northernmesopotamia almost 5000 years ago and the. From within iraq, the kurdistan region can be reached by land from multiple roads. Put on a world map by a turk in arabic in bagdad in 1072 a. The may 2008 visit to erbil by a delegation from russias chamber of commerce headed by the wellknown russian politician, orientalist and social activist, yevgeny primakov, who is well regarded in iraqi kurdistan, contributed greatly to strengthening russias relations with iraq and iraqi kurdistan. With the dissolution of the ottoman empire after world war i, many kurds hoped for the establishment of an independent state in kurdistan. Kurdistan region in northern iraq, in and around the cities of duhok 109,979 registered refugees, erbil 84,881 registered refugees and suleimaniyah 25,4 unhcr,2014b. Right to selfdetermination of kurds and its relation with. The sunrise and sunset take a relatively short amount of time, so i had to hurry to capture the golden sunlight. The rise of greater kurdistan the national interest. Kurdistan regional government is a kurdistan regioniraq where all the people enjoy the benefits of freedom, health, welfare, and economic security and opportunity. Quality of life of syrian refugees living in camps in the.
This is the first comprehensive study in any language of the historical, literary and sociolinguistic foundations of kurdish nationalism and the conflict with the iraqi state since its emergence under the british mandate. Unraveling the oil geopolitics intertwined in the kurdish. The kurdistan region of iraq and the transformation of the middle east gareth stansfield international affairs89. A tailormade model for kurdistan region meris proposed model for the kurdistan region of iraq consists of the creation of two separate but identical bodies councils for both ethnic and religious minorities. Around 60% of syrian refugees are hosted within communities across kurdistan and the remaining 40% live in refugee camps unhcr,2014a. The kurdistan region has 11 public universities and several licensed private universities. Trappedbetweenmapreality geography and perceptions of kurdistan. This study was initiated several years ago 14 by screening genomic dnasamples ofthe patients with allelespecific oligonucleotide probes for the.
Turkish kurdistan, 1920 as proposed by the treaty of sevres kurdistan, 1945 conference of san francisco kurdistan, 1945 conference of san francisco kurdistan, 1945 conference of san francisco division of kurdistan after the civil war, 2003. Jun 05, 2015 geology of kurdistan from cambrian to jurassic and an introduction to lithology 3. We would like to show you a description here but the site wont allow us. Yet to the extent that the kurdish regional constitution reflects the aspirations of the kurdish people, as opposed to a wholly hortatory document like the soviet constitution, which was beautifully written, then the kurds have made a start of it. Kurdistan, broadly defined geographic region traditionally inhabited mainly by kurds. The region is hoping to reach economic selfsufficiency in the next five years. It details the premium hotels, restaurants, health clubs, luxury brands, and shopping centers of the region. China maintains cordial diplomatic and commercial relations with the kurds, but opposes a unilateral kurdish. Kurdish oil and regional politics iii acknowledgements i would like to express my thanks to those with whom i have worked on kurdish and iraqi oil and gas issues, who provided comments for this paper, or whose reporting and analysis has helped make sense of a fastmoving and complex picture. This is the reason why syria gave a protection to abdullah ocalan, who was a communist leader of the kurdistan workers party enemy number 1 for turkish government.
Kaya a thesis submitted to the department of international relations of the london school of economics for the degree of doctor of philosophy, london, june 2012. A council for ethnic minorities, to represent turkmen, arabs, assyrians, chaldeans, armenians. First kurdistan formation it was in cambrian ordovician 542 million years ago 7. Kurdistan, kurdish nationalism and international society by zeynep n. Sep 22, 2017 as long as it doesnt give in to mounting pressure to cancel, the autonomous kurdistan regional government in northern iraq is expected to hold an independence referendum on sept. The iraqi kurdistan region will be holding a referendum on independence on september 25, 2017. University of south australia despite the claim that kurds intend to remain part of iraq, it is highly unlikely that they will remain within the countrys borders. Kurdistans name put on a world map by a turk in arabic in bagdad in 1072 a political cartography approach by dr. Kurds are ethnic minority within countries of iran, turkey, syria and iraqthen in, this thesis i discussed the right to selfdetermination of ethnic minorities in international law. The average altitude is 6,000 feet 1,950 meters and much of the land is inaccessible difficult to reach. Unraveling the oil geopolitics intertwined in the kurdish independence referendum newly unveiled statue in kirkuk pays tribute to the peshmerga, iraqi kurdistan s main fighting forces in kirkuk. Basic principles description of stratigraphy, tectonics and boundary conditions of the some rock units in iraq and kurdistan during cretaceous and tertiary. He inserted a map to provide a spatial perspective on the content of his book. The climate of the kurdistan region is semiarid continental.
It is hoped that kurdistan regional government uses the recommendations from this economic development assessment eda to prioritized and implement these recommendations in a timely manner. Kurds introduction, location, language, folklore, religion. It is a 620mile 1,000 km strip of land that, stretching from the southeast to the northwest, extends from kermanshah iran to the gulf of iskenderun or alexandretta, turkey. Spring is the most beautiful season in kurdistan and the time when kurds celebrate nawroz, the kurdish new year, on the spring or vernal equinox. Aug 26, 2015 the kurdistan peoples congress kgk, formally known as the kurdistan work ers party pkk, is a kurdish s eparatist group active in the border region between iraq and tu rkey. If its three main communities cannot find an effective formula for political cohabitation then the country may face partition whether formal or otherwise with unpredictable consequences for the wider region. The history and general dynamics of these relations is shown with a special emphasis on the analysis of the latter.
Welcome to the kurdistan region of iraq kurdistan region an emerging democracy 22 kurdist an region an emerging democra cy pr ime minister barzani and ger man y s foreign minister steinmeier open german y s gener al consulate we in the krg pride ourselves on our culture of tolerance and peaceful coexistence. The kurds in postsaddam iraq federation of american. Uk government policy on the kurdistan region of iraq. The kurdistan regional government krg has introduced more laws and regulations addressing gender equality than the federal govern ment. Kurdistan maps, map, carte, maps of kurdistan kurdistan map, people map, carte of kurdistan. Kurdish oil and regional politics iii acknowledgements i would like to express my thanks to those with whom i have worked on kurdish and iraqi oil and gas issues, who provided comments for this paper, or whose reporting and analysis has helped make sense of. Kurds have almost never had a country of their own. Russias stance on the kurdish problem new eastern outlook. Some of them use english as the main language of teaching and examination, most notably the university of kurdistan hawler ukh, the american university of iraq sulaimani auis and the american university of kurdistan duhok. A vision for the future 1 introduction after decades of painful struggle, we, the kurdish. Kurdistan does not have boundaries on any map, but it extends over five middle eastern states. The kurdistan peoples congress kgk, formally known as the kurdistan work ers party pkk, is a kurdish s eparatist group active in the border region between iraq and tu rkey.
Explore iraqi kurdistan map, history and news the kurdish. Archaeological projects in the kurdistan region in iraq. The history of the the kurdish people in iraqi kurdistan dates back to ancient times. Kurdistan had been neglected and the region was not the subject of the intensive attention which it deserves. Over the millennia, numerous ethnicities have migrated, settled or natively inhabited the area including turks, persians, arabs, kurds. In spite of the francobritish omission, the paris peace conference of 19191920 has offered a chance to the kurdish nationalists. While beijing fears that kurdish independence could fuel separatist movements within china, the emergence of a kurdish state could turn out to be a net positive for the asian giant.
It has since been a matter of contention between the kurds and the states they inhabit. This article is brought to you for free and open access by the student journals at case western reserve university school of law scholarly commons. China and the independent kurdish state beginsadat center. Although challenged by damage to our society and infrastructure from years of war, genocide, forced displacement, and the destruction of more than 4,000 villages at the hand of the previous iraqi. The future of iraq as a nation state is in question as never before. In iraqi kurdistan, the light is a little bit different then in the netherlands.
The unravelling of the postfirst world war state system. The contiguous kurdish regions of iran, iraq, turkey, and syria sit in the north central area of the middle east. Sinjar is a historic flashpoint for ethnic tensions and at the center of turkish, iranian, and kurdish interests. The israelikurdish relations sergey minasian this article is dedicated to the israelikurdish relations within the framework of political processes in the near and middle east. They cite as a prime example the closing last year of akri aqra prison, an unacknowledged detention center operated by krg security forces, which reporters had. The kurdistan region comprises parts of the three governorates of erbil, slemani and duhok. This page was last edited on 29 september 2018, at 15. Kurdistan was a great pawn to play in order to get their benefits. The kurds in postsaddam iraq congressional research service summary the kurdishinhabited region of northern iraq has been relatively peaceful and prosperous since the fall of saddam hussein. Kurdistan is not the name of a country or state, but rather, a land which in the 20th century was obligatorily divided among five states turkey, iran, iraq, syria and the soviet union.
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