Kurds: one stateless people across four countries

ARBIL, Iraq: The Kurds, a non-Arab ethnic group, number between 25 and 35 million people who are spread across four countries but without a state of their own.

Iraqi Kurdistan, an autonomous region in northern Iraq, is to hold a non-binding independence referendum on September 25 that has stirred concern of separatist aspirations in neighbouring states.

The Kurds inhabit mainly mountainous regions that cover almost half a million square kilometres, spanning from southeast Turkey through northern Syria and Iraq to central Iran. They number around 12 to 15 million in Turkey, (about 20 percent of the overall population), six million in Iran (less than 10 percent), 4.7 million in Iraq (15-20 percent), and more than two million in Syria (15 percent).

The Kurds have preserved their culture, dialects and clan-based social structures. Large expatriate communities exist in Armenia, Azerbaijan, Germany and Lebanon.

Although predominantly Sunni Muslims, some are Christians and their political structures are often non-denominational. Kurdish ambitions of a unified nation are seen as a threat to the main host countries.

- In Turkey, the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) has been labelled a terrorist organisation by the European Union and United States. More than 30 years of fighting with Turkish forces has killed more than 40,000 people.

In Syria, the US-backed Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) are one of the most effective forces against the Islamic State (IS) Jihadist group. They control more than 10 percent of the country in the north and northeast, and three quarters of the border region with Turkey. In Iraq, Kurds are an important US ally, and after having resisted the army of dictator Saddam Hussein for decades, now lead the fight against IS. —