Of All The Ethnic Groups In The World, The Kurds Are One Of The Essays

Of all the ethnic groups in the world, the Kurds are one of the largest that has no state to call their own. According to historian William Westermann, "The Kurds can present a better claim to race purity...than any people which now inhabits Europe." (Bonner, p. 63, 1992) Over the past hundred years, the desire for an independent Kurdish state has created conflicts mainly with the Turkish and Iraqi populations in the areas where most of the Kurds live. This conflict has important geographical implications as well. The history of the Kurdish nation, the causes for these conflicts, and an analysis of the situation will be discussed in this paper. History of the Kurds The Kurds are a Sunni Muslim people living primarily in Turkey, Iraq, and Iran. The 25 million Kurds have a distinct culture that is not at all like their Turkish, Persian, and Arabic neighbors (Hitchens, p. 36, 1992). It is this cultural difference between the groups that automatically creates the potential for conflict. Of the 25 million Kurds, approximately 10 million live in Turkey, four million in Iraq, five million in Iran, and a million in Syria, with the rest scattered throughout the rest of the world (Bonner, p. 46, 1992). The Kurds also have had a long history of conflict with these other ethnic groups in the Middle East, which we will now look at. The history of Kurds in the area actually began during ancient times. However, the desire for a Kurdish homeland did not begin until the early 1900s, around the time of World War I. In his Fourteen Points, President Woodrow Wilson promised the Kurds a sovereign state (Hitchens, p. 54, 1992). The formation of a Kurdish state was supposed to have been accomplished through the Treaty of Sevres in 1920 which said that the Kurds could have an independent state if they wanted one (Bonner, p. 46, 1992). With the formation of Turkey in 1923, Kemal Ataturk, the new Turkish President, threw out the treaty and denied the Kurds their own state. This was the beginning of the Turkish-Kurdish conflict. At about this same time, the Kurds attempted to establish a semi-independent state, and actually succeeded in forming the Kingdom of Kurdistan, which lasted from 1922-1924; later, in 1946, some of the Kurds established the Mahabad Republic, which lasted for only one year (Prince, p. 17, 1993). In 1924, Turkey even passed a law banning the use of the Kurdish language in public places. Another group of people to consider is the Kurds living in Iraq. Major conflict between the Kurds and Iraqis did not really begin until 1961, when a war broke out that lasted until 1970. Around this time, Saddam Hussein came to power in Iraq. In 1975, Hussein adopted a policy of eradicating the Kurds from his country. Over the next fifteen years, the Iraqi army bombed Kurdish villages, and poisoned the Kurds with cyanide and mustard gas (Hitchens, p. 46, 1992). It is estimated that during the 1980s, Iraqis destroyed some 5000 Kurdish villages (Prince, p. 22, 1993). From this point, we move into the recent history and current state of these conflicts between the Kurds and the Turks, and the Kurds against the Iraqis. Causes for Conflict The reasons for these conflicts have great relevance to geography. The areas of geography relating to these specific conflicts are a historical claim to territory on the part of the Kurds, cultural geography, economic geography, and political geography. These four areas of geography can best explain the reasons for these Kurdish conflicts. First, the Kurds have a valid historical claim to territory. They have lived in the area for over 2000 years. For this reason, they desire the establishment of a Kurdish homeland. Iraqis and Turks, while living in the area for a long period of time, cannot make a historical claim to that same area. The conflict arises, however, because the area happens to lie within the borders of Iraq and Turkey. Even though the Kurds claim is valid, the Turks and Iraqis have chosen to ignore it and have tried to wipe out the Kurds. Second, and probably most important, is that this conflict involves cultural geography. The Kurds are ethnically and culturally different from both the Turks and the Iraqis. They speak a different language, and while all three groups are Muslim, they all practice different forms. The Kurds have used this cultural difference as a reason to establish a homeland. However, the Turks and Iraqis look at the contrast in ethnicity in a much different sense. The government of Turkey viewed any religious or ethnic

Free Essays on Operation Hostile

Operation: Hostile I had just been accepted in the Special Forces. He had been in ROTC training in Bell More, Virginia, when he heard the screeching voice of our sergeant, â€Å"were being called to Panama.† The next morning at 5:00 I heard the clacking of the wooden stick hitting the trashcan the serge used every morning to wake the troops up. He screamed â€Å"Pack your bags where leaving†, we all knew where we were going. At 6:30 that morning we got on the plane and headed for the Perlas Islands. We had been briefed on the current situation going on there; guerilla terrorists had taken over a college full of Americans on which included the Presidents daughter. I was Platoon Leader so it was my job to keep everyone focused on the situation. My unit was unit seven we went in first, while scouting the area we where seen and three of my men were caught along with me. We were taken to the leader of the terrorist organization. He wanted to know our name, rank, and reason we were there. None of us would do as they said. Then they tried to force our name and rank out of us by shock therapy. That is where they hook a battery up to two long cords that hold to wet shirts on them and shock you with them. Finally one of my men gave and told them who was in charge and his name and rank. They took me in the back alone and interrogated me and then tried to force information out of me by putting bamboo shoot threw my finger nails. Every time they did it I would gauck at them and tel l them nothing, until finally passed out. I finally tried to escape when I awoke in the jailhouse room they kept me in. When I made a run for it I took the other two men with me. When we were crawling around the fence line a terrorist found us and tried killing me by choking me. I couldn’t breath and started to grope for air. The terrorist kept on choking me until I felt the grasp of darkness coming on until Sergeant Morris saved me. Once I... Free Essays on Operation Hostile Free Essays on Operation Hostile Operation: Hostile I had just been accepted in the Special Forces. He had been in ROTC training in Bell More, Virginia, when he heard the screeching voice of our sergeant, â€Å"were being called to Panama.† The next morning at 5:00 I heard the clacking of the wooden stick hitting the trashcan the serge used every morning to wake the troops up. He screamed â€Å"Pack your bags where leaving†, we all knew where we were going. At 6:30 that morning we got on the plane and headed for the Perlas Islands. We had been briefed on the current situation going on there; guerilla terrorists had taken over a college full of Americans on which included the Presidents daughter. I was Platoon Leader so it was my job to keep everyone focused on the situation. My unit was unit seven we went in first, while scouting the area we where seen and three of my men were caught along with me. We were taken to the leader of the terrorist organization. He wanted to know our name, rank, and reason we were there. None of us would do as they said. Then they tried to force our name and rank out of us by shock therapy. That is where they hook a battery up to two long cords that hold to wet shirts on them and shock you with them. Finally one of my men gave and told them who was in charge and his name and rank. They took me in the back alone and interrogated me and then tried to force information out of me by putting bamboo shoot threw my finger nails. Every time they did it I would gauck at them and tel l them nothing, until finally passed out. I finally tried to escape when I awoke in the jailhouse room they kept me in. When I made a run for it I took the other two men with me. When we were crawling around the fence line a terrorist found us and tried killing me by choking me. I couldn’t breath and started to grope for air. The terrorist kept on choking me until I felt the grasp of darkness coming on until Sergeant Morris saved me. Once I...

Life is Short Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Life is Short - Essay Example These emotions shape his character, which helps him deal with the real world that is made up of different dynamics that he is yet to discover. Part of a man's life is to find out what the different compositions of life are. Furthermore, as he tries to discover the world, he learns from it. Man initially learns fear. He fears of being alone. He fears the world as it engulfs him into a myriad of rationally opportunistic human beings like him. These people are exactly just like him who wants to find their place in the world. However, once man learns how to deal with the different circumstances that are naturally existent on earth, he no longer fears. He finds comfort and excitement upon realizing his ability to interact. With his ability to maintain a harmonious relationship with other human beings, he discovers the different ways of how to make his life exciting. Man learns to have fun. It is at this point when he forgets the reality that sooner or later his happiness will have to end. The attention that he gets from the world and the unlimited pleasure that it gives him feels like a drug that makes him yearn for more wealth and power. As such, he does not realize how his life had gone by so fast. More often than not, it is too late when he finally realizes once more that his life will soon come to an end.