On the Kurdish regional presence
Regional, Politics, 7/7/1999

In the context of its report broadcast on Tuesday in its program "Politics between the question and the answer," the BBC highlighted the history of the Kurds. It said that the number of Kurds in Syria is estimated at one million out of the country's total population of 15 million.

The BBC added in its report that there are almost 25 million Kurds living in the region in the areas near the borders of Iran, Iraq and Turkey, while other Kurds live in parts of Syria. The radio added that the Kurdish language has much in common with the Persian language of Iran and most of the Kurds are Sunni Muslims.

The radio report estimated the number of Kurds in Turkey alone at 15 million, most of them living in poor areas of the southeastern province of Antalya.

The radio report said Turkey does not recognize the Kurds as a minority or permit them to use their language in learning as it does for other minorities, including Jews, Armenians and Assyrians. The report added that the Kurds constitute one quarter of the population of Iraq.


The BBC said the Kurds in Turkey, Iraq, Iran and Syria defend themselves in being remarkable and distinguished people in regard to their ethnic group, culture and language, adding that the region's countries with Kurdish minorities -- including Iraq, Iran, Turkey and Syria -- do not welcome the emergence of a Kurdish entity outside their territories, because such an entity would feed the ambition to maintain independence in the circles of the Kurdish minorities in those countries.

The BBC said the Western allies had promised the Kurds at the end of the first world war in 1918 with the collapse of the Ottoman Empire to establish a state of their own, yet such attempts were eliminated since that time and Kurdish attempts to establish a Kurdish independent state were squelched.

Previous Stories:
  Kurdish suicide attacks because of Ocalan's death sentence   (7/6/1999)
  New Turkish incursion into northern Iraq   (7/6/1999)
  Strict security procedures around US embassies   (6/30/1999)
  Saddam Hussein warns of plans to divide Iraq   (6/29/1999)

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