1st Edition

The Kurds A Contemporary Overview

Edited By Philip G. Kreyenbroek, Stefan Sperl Copyright 1992
    272 Pages
    by Routledge

    262 Pages
    by Routledge

    The position of the 19 million Kurds is an extremely complex one. Their territory is divided between 5 sovereign states, none of which have a Kurdish majority. They speak widely divergent dialects, and are also 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 centre of the world stage, but their particular problems, and their considerable geo-political importance, have been the source of growing concern and interest during the last two to three decades.

    There is a remarkable dearth of reliable and up-to-date information about the Kurds, which this book remedies. Its contributors cover social and political issues, legal questions, religion, language, and the modern history of Kurds in Turkey, Iraq, Iran, Syria and the Soviet Union.

    The Kurds will be an invaluable source of reference for students and specialists in Middle East studies, and those concerned with wider questions of nationalism and cultural identity. It also offers extremely useful background information for those with a professional concern for the numerous Kurdish immigrants and asylum seekers in Western Europe and North America.

    Introduction Sami Zubaida 1. The Kurdish Question: A Historical Review David McDowall 2. Kurdish Society, Ethnicity, Nationalism and Refugee Problems Martin van Bruinessen 3. On the Kurdish Language Philip G. Kreyenbroek 4. Humanitarian Legal Order and the Kurdish Question Jane Connors 5. Political Aspects of the Kurdish Problem in Contemporary Turkey Hamit Borzaslan 6. The Situation of Kurds in Iraq and Turkey Munir Morad 7. The Kurdish Movement in Iraq 1975-1988 A. Sherzad 8. The Kurds in Syria and Lebanon I.C. Vanly 9. The Development of Nationalism in Iranian Kurdistan F. Koohi-Kamali 10. The Kurds in the Soviet Union I.C. Vanly

    Biography

    Philip G. Kreyenbroek, Stefan Sperl

    `"The Kurds trust only their mountains." Caution or paranoia? This collection of essays provides what may prove to be the definitive answer. Anyone touched by the plight of the Kurdish refugees from Saddam Hussein's Iraq, or outraged by the terror campaigns of the PKK, should read this book.' - LSE Magazine