Who Are the Kurds?

Canada Free Press ^ | 10/06/14 | Alan Caruba

[Sean_Anthony]

Kurds are an ethnic group who live in a sizeable area, though not a national one that borders Turkey, Syria, Iraq and Iran. It is referred to as Kurdistan

As this is being written there is a battle going on between the Kurds in a Syrian town on the border with Turkey, Kobani, and the Islamic State (ISIS) militants that have seized a large area of northern Syria and Iraq. ISIS is also moving south toward Baghdad. The only area they have not been able to seize has been Iraq’s Kurdish region which has been virtually autonomous from what is left of the Iraqi government.

While the U.S., Britain and France, along with several Arab states have joined to wage an air battle against the forces of the Islamic State, the success of that effort is limited.

Meanwhile, in Kobani, the Kurds are wondering where is the rest of the world is as they fight to defend themselves. It is an old, oft-asked question as they have a long history of fighting Arabs, Iranians, and Turks who have frequently oppressed them.

[combat_boots]

Kurds have a long history of being/wanting to be their own group of people. It may be that this is the area that spawned the Hashishin—from which we get the term, ‘assassin.’

[GraceG]

[ Kurds have a long history of being/wanting to be their own group of people. It may be that this is the area that spawned the Hashishin—from which we get the term, ‘assassin.’ ]

The Kurds have done a lot of nasty stuff in History, Sladin comes to mind...

However... they seem to one of the more “Modernized” groups in terms of culture, they seem to be far more moderate on how they treat women compared to a lot of the other groups in the area, and now just want to be left alone.

I think we need a Kurdish state to act as a buffer betweeen Suni and shia countries...

[kidd]

The Kurds and the US have a common set of enemies.

But don’t get too cozy with them...most are Muslims and most are communists