Kurdistan generally comprised the following four regions: southeastern Turkey (Northern Kurdistan), northernIraq (Southern Kurdistan), northwestern Iran (Eastern Kurdistan), and northernSyria (Western Kurdistan).[3][10] Some definitions also include parts of southernTranscaucasia.[11] CertainKurdish nationalist organizations seek to create an independentnation state consisting of some or all of these areas with a Kurdish majority, while others campaign for greater autonomy within the existing national boundaries.[12] The delineation of the region remains disputed and varied, with some maps greatly exaggerating its boundaries.
In Iraq, following theAylūl Revolt, the government entered into anagreement with the rebellious Kurds, granting Kurds local self-rule. Soon after, however, the agreementcollapsed. Later, during theIraqi no-fly zones conflict, which followed theGulf War, the Iraqi military withdrew from parts of northern Iraq, allowing the Kurds to fill the vacuum and regain lost control in those areas. After theinvasion of Iraq, and since the creation of the new Iraqifederal state, the new constitution issued in 2005 recognisesKurdistan Region as afederal region;[14] even though the constitution does not include the term “autonomy”, it emphasisesdecentralisation anddevolution, allowing regions andgovernorates to administer local affairs. In practice, however, only Kurdistan Region has exercised this authority granted by the constitution. In September 2017, Iraqi Kurds held a one-sidedindependence referendum, which eventuallyfailed and was abandoned. The subsequent effort by the Iraqi government to punish Kurdistan Region has resulted in the latter losing authorities it had previously possessed,[15] and the future of Kurdish autonomy in Iraq has been called into question.[16] Iraqi Kurdish officials have also complained of efforts by the Iraqi government to return to the pre-2003centralized government and dismantle Kurdistan Region altogether.[17]
Kurdistan means "Land of the Kurds"[19] and was first attested in 11th-centurySeljuk chronicles.[13] The exact origins of the nameKurd are unclear. The suffix-stan (Persian: ـستان,translit.stân) isPersian for land.
Albeit admitting a thorough delineation is difficult, theEncyclopaedia of Islam delineated Kurdistan as following:[3]
In Turkey, the Kurds inhabit the whole of the eastern region of the country. According toTrotter (1878), the limit of their extent to the north was the lineDivriği—Erzurum—Kars... The Kurds also occupy the western slopes of Ararat, the districts ofKağızman andTuzluca. On the west they extend in a wide belt beyond the course of the Euphrates, and, in theregion of Sivas, in the districts ofKangal and Divriği. Equally, the whole region includes areas to the east and south-east of these limits...Turkish Kurdistan numbers at least 17 of them almost totally: in the north-east, the provinces ofErzincan,Erzurum andKars; in the centre, going from west to east and from north to south, the provinces ofMalatya,Tunceli,Elazığ,Bingöl,Muş, Karaköse (Ağrı), thenAdıyaman,Diyarbakır,Siirt,Bitlis andVan; Finally, the southern provinces ofŞanlıurfa,Mardin and Çölamerik (Hakkâri)...
In Iraq, the Kurds occupy the north and northeast of the country in the liwaʾs or provinces ofDuhok... Left outside their administration areSinjar andShekhan, peopled by theYazidis; the liwaʾs ofKirkuk,Arbil andSulaymaniyah (entirely Kurdish) and, in the... nahiyas ofKhanaqin andMandali, where they are neighbours of the Kurds of Iran to the west of the Zagros.
In Syria, they constitute three distinct belts, in the north of the country and to the south of the highway which forms a frontier and where they are in direct contact with their compatriots in Turkey... [I]n theKurd Dagh;..., to the east of theEuphrates where the river enters Syria nearJarablus; and finally, a belt of 250 km. in length by 30 km. in depth in theJazira.
Many of the maps delineating Kurdistan are greatly exaggerated, also incorporating non-Kurdish regions, which has made the subject very controversial.[25][26][27][28]
The Kingdom ofCorduene, which emerged from the decliningSeleucid Empire, was located to the south and south-east ofLake Van between Persia and Mesopotamia and ruled northern Mesopotamia and southeasternAnatolia from 189 BC to AD 384 as vassals of the vyingParthian andRoman empires. Corduene became avassal state of theRoman Republic in 66 BC and remained allied with the Romans until AD 384. After 66 BC, it passed another 5 times betweenRome and Persia. Corduene was situated to the east ofTigranocerta, that is, to the east and south of present-dayDiyarbakır in south-eastern Turkey.
Some historians have correlated a connection between Corduene with the modern names of Kurds and Kurdistan;[23][31][32]T. A. Sinclair and other scholars have dismissed this identification as false,[33][34][35][36] while a common association is asserted in theColumbia Encyclopedia.[37]
Some of the ancient districts of Kurdistan and their corresponding modern names:[38]
One of the earliest records of the phraseland of the Kurds is found in anAssyrian Christian document oflate antiquity, describing the stories of Assyrian saints of theMiddle East, such asAbdisho. When theSasanianMarzban asked Mar Abdisho about his place of origin, he replied that according to his parents, they were originally fromHazza, a village inAssyria. However, they were later driven out of Hazza bypagans, and settled inTamanon, which according to Abdisho was in theland of the Kurds. Tamanon lies just north of the modern Iraq-Turkey border, while Hazza is 12 km southwest of modernErbil. In another passage in the same document, the region of theKhabur River is also identified asland of the Kurds.[39] According toAl-Muqaddasi andYaqut al-Hamawi, Tamanon was located on the south-western or southern slopes ofMount Judi and south ofCizre.[40] Other geographical references to the Kurds inSyriac sources appear inZuqnin chronicle, writings ofMichael the Syrian andBar Hebraeus. They mention the mountains of Qardu, city of Qardu and country of Qardawaye.[41]
Map ofJibal (mountains of northeastern Mesopotamia), highlighting "Summer and winter resorts of the Kurds", the Kurdish lands. Redrawn fromIbn Hawqal, 977 CE.The map fromMahmud al-Kashgari'sDīwān Lughāt al-Turk (1072–74), included Kurdistan.[42]
Kurdistan in theMiddle Ages was a collection of semi-independent and independent states calledemirates. It was nominally under indirect political or religious influence ofKhalifs orShahs. A comprehensive history of these states and their relationship with their neighbors is given in the text ofSharafnama, written by PrinceSharaf al-Din Bitlisi in 1597.[44][45] The emirates includedBaban,Soran,Badinan andGarmiyan in the south; Bakran, Bohtan (or Botan) andBadlis in the north, andMukriyan andArdalan in the east.
The earliest medieval attestation of thetoponymKurdistan is found in a 12th-centuryArmenian historical text byMatteos Urhayeci. He described a battle nearAmid andSiverek in 1062 as to have taken place inKurdistan.[46][47] The second record occurs in the prayer from thecolophon of an Armenian manuscript of theGospels, written in 1200.[48][49]
British Government 1921 proposal from theColonial Secretary,Winston Churchill, for an autonomous region of Kurdistan.1803 map from theCedid Atlas, the first Muslim atlas, showing Kurdistan in blue
In the 16th century, after prolonged wars, Kurdish-inhabited areas were split between theSafavid andOttoman empires. A major division of Kurdistan occurred in the aftermath of theBattle of Chaldiran in 1514, and was formalized in the 1639Treaty of Zuhab.[54] In a geography textbook of late Ottoman military school byAhmet Cevad Kurdistan span over the citiesErzurum,Van,Urfa,Sulaymanyah,Kirkuk,Mosul andDiyarbakir among others and was one out of six regions of Ottoman Asia.[55]
Modern history
After the collapse of the Ottoman Empire, theAllies contrived to split Kurdistan (as detailed in the ultimately unratifiedTreaty of Sèvres) among several countries, including Kurdistan,Armenia and others. However, the reconquest of these areas by the forces ofKemal Atatürk (and other pressing issues) caused the Allies to accept the renegotiatedTreaty of Lausanne (1923) and the borders of the modern Republic of Turkey, leaving the Kurds without a self-ruled region.[56] Other Kurdish areas were assigned to the new British and Frenchmandated states ofIraq andSyria.
At theSan Francisco Peace Conference of 1945, the Kurdish delegation proposed consideration of territory claimed by the Kurds, which encompassed an area extending from the Mediterranean shores nearAdana to the shores of thePersian Gulf nearBushehr, and included theLur inhabited areas of southernZagros.[57][58]
An academic source published by theUniversity of Cambridge has described maps of greater Kurdistan created in the 1940s and forward as: "These maps have become some of the most influential propaganda tools for the Kurdish nationalist discourse. They depict a territorially exaggerated version of the territory of Kurdistan, extending into areas with no majority Kurdish populations. Despite their production with political aims related to specific claims on the demographic and ethnographic structure of the region, and their questionable methodologies, they have become 'Kurdistan in the minds of Kurds' and the boundaries they indicate have been readily accepted."[26]
A 2010 US report, written before the instability in Syria and Iraq that exists as of 2014, attested that "Kurdistan may exist by 2030".[61] The weakening of the Iraqi state following the2014 Northern Iraq offensive by theIslamic State of Iraq and the Levant has also presented an opportunity for independence for Iraqi Kurdistan,[62] augmented by Turkey's move towards acceptance of such a state although it opposes moves toward Kurdish autonomy in Turkey and Syria.[63]
The incorporation into Turkey of the Kurdish-inhabited regions of eastern Anatolia was opposed by many Kurds, and has resulted in a long-running separatist conflict in which tens of thousands of lives have been lost. The region saw several major Kurdish rebellions, including theKoçgiri rebellion of 1920 against theGrand National Assembly, then successive insurrections under the Turkish state, including the 1924Sheikh Said rebellion, theRepublic of Ararat in 1927, and the 1937Dersim rebellion. All were forcefully put down by the authorities. The region was declared a closed military area from which foreigners were banned between 1925 and 1965.[64][65][66]
In an attempt todeny their existence, the Turkish government categorized Kurds as "Mountain Turks" until 1991.[67][68][69] The words "Kurds", "Kurdistan", or "Kurdish" were officially banned by the Turkish government.[70] Following themilitary coup of 1980, the Kurdish language was officially prohibited in public and private life.[71] Many people who spoke, published, or sang in Kurdish were arrested and imprisoned.[72] Throughout the 1990s and early 2000s, political parties that represented Kurdish interests were banned.[70]
Turkey has historically feared that a Kurdish state in Northern Iraq would encourage and support Kurdish separatists in the adjacent Turkish provinces, and have therefore historically strongly opposed Kurdish independence in Iraq. However, following the chaos in Iraq afterthe US invasion, Turkey has increasingly worked with the autonomousKurdistan Regional Government.[81] The word 'Kurdistan', whether written or spoken, can still lead to detention and prosecution in Turkey.[82][83][84] Kurdistan has been characterized as an "international colony" by the scholarIsmail Besikci.[85]
The successful2014 Northern Iraq offensive by theIslamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS), and the resultant weakening of the ability of the Iraqi state to project power at the time, also presented a "golden opportunity" for the Kurds to increase their independence and possibly declare an independent Kurdish state.[62] TheIslamic State in Iraq and the Levant, who took more than 80 Turkish persons captive in Mosul during their offensive, is an enemy of Turkey, making Kurdistan useful for Turkey as a buffer state. On 28 June 2014Hüseyin Çelik, a spokesman for the rulingJustice and Development Party (AKP), made comments to theFinancial Times indicating Turkey's readiness to accept an independent Kurdistan in northern Iraq.[63] This became increasingly less likely, however, when in July 2017, the Iraqi government declared victory in theBattle of Mosul against ISIS in the group’s last stronghold in the country. Following this, in September 2017, Iraqi Kurds held a one-sidedindependence referendum which eventually triggered amilitary operation wherein the Iraqi government forces attacked the Kurds, defeating them and forcing them to abandon the referendum. A month later, Iraq declared full victory over ISIS and re-established control over all previously occupied territory. Following the Kurds’ failed attempt to achieve independence, the government of Iraq has exacted severe punishment against KRI in a number of punitive measures.[86][87] Some Kurdish officials in Iraq have described this as evidence of the Iraqi government’s aim to return to a centralised political system and abandon the federal system it adopted in 2005.[88] In a leaked letter published byAl-Monitor in September 2023,Masrour Barzani, the prime minister of KRG warned about an imminent collapse of thefederal model in Iraq (i.e. a return tocentralism) and urged the United States to intervene, saying: "I write to you now at another critical juncture in our history, one that I fear we may have difficulty overcoming. …[W]e are bleeding economically and hemorrhaging politically. For the first time in my tenure as prime minister, I hold grave concerns that this dishonorable campaign against us may cause the collapse of … the very model of a Federal Iraq that the United States sponsored in 2003 and purported to stand by since."[89] According to a report published in 2024 by theWashington Institute for Near East Policy, Kurdistan Region's autonomy "hangs in the balance" due to several punitive measures imposed against the former by the government of Iraq in an effort to punish it and ultimately strip it completely of its autonomy.[90]
Various sources have reported thatAl-Nusra issued afatwa calling for Kurdish women and children in Syria to be killed,[91] and the fighting in Syria has led tens of thousands of refugees to flee toIraq's Kurdistan region.[92][93][94] As of 2015, Turkey was actively supporting Al-Nusra,[95] but as of January 2017, Turkey's foreign ministry has said that Al-Nusra is a terrorist group and has acted accordingly.[96]
Historic map from 1721 showing borders of Curdistan provinces inPersia
According to theEncyclopædia Britannica, Kurdistan covers about 190,000 km2 (or 73,000 square miles), and its chief towns areDiyarbakır (Amed),Bitlis (Bedlîs) andVan (Wan) in Turkey,Erbil (Hewlêr) andSulaymaniyah in Iraq, andKermanshah (Kirmanşan),Sanandaj (Sine),Ilam andMahabad (Mehabad) in Iran.[109] According to theEncyclopaedia of Islam, Kurdistan covers around 190,000 km2 (73,000 sq mi) in Turkey, 125,000 km2 (48,000 sq mi) in Iran, 65,000 km2 (25,000 sq mi) in Iraq, and 12,000 km2 (4,600 sq mi) in Syria, with a total area of approximately 392,000 km2 (151,000 sq mi).[3]
InA Dictionary of Scripture Geography (published 1846), John Miles describes Upper and Lower Kurdistan as following:
The States outlined in red are two Kurdish States named Hakkiari and Mosul in this 1902 map. They are referred to as Upper Kurdistan and Lower Kurdistan respectively.
Modern Curdistan is of much greater extent than the ancient Assyria, and is composed of two parts the Upper and Lower. In the former is the province of Ardelan, the ancient Arropachatis, now nominally a part of Irak Ajami, and belonging to the north west division called Al Jobal. It contains five others namely, Betlis, the ancient Carduchia, lying to the south and south west of the lake Van. East and south east of Betlis is the principality of Julamerick, south west of it is the principality of Amadia. the fourth is Jeezera ul Omar, a city on an island in the Tigris, and corresponding to the ancient Bezabde. the fifth and largest is Kara Djiolan, with a capital of the same name. The pashalics of Kirkook and Solimania also comprise part of Upper Curdistan. Lower Curdistan comprises all the level tract to the east of the Tigris, and the minor ranges immediately bounding the plains and reaching thence to the foot of the great range, which may justly be denominated the Alps of western Asia.[111]
The northern, northwestern and northeastern parts of Kurdistan are referred to as upper Kurdistan, and includes the areas from west of Amed to Lake Urmia.
The lowlands of southern Kurdistan are called lower Kurdistan. The main cities in this area are Kirkuk and Arbil.
Climate
Much of the region is typified by acontinental climate – hot in the summer, cold in the winter. Despite this, much of the region is fertile and has historically exportedgrain andlivestock. Precipitation varies between 200 and 400 mm a year in the plains, and between 700 and 3,000 mm a year on the high plateau between mountain chains.[3] The mountainous zone along the borders with Iran and Turkey experiencesdry summers, rainy and sometimes snowy winters, and damp springs, while to the south the climate progressively transitions towardsemi-arid anddesert zones.
Flora and fauna
Kurdistan is one of the most mountainous regions in the world with acold climate receiving annualprecipitation adequate to sustain temperate forests andshrubs. Mountain chains harbor pastures and forested valleys, totaling approximately 16 million hectares (160,000 km2), includingfirs and countryside is mostlyoaks,conifers,platanus,willow,poplar and, to the west of Kurdistan,olive trees.[3]
Iraqi Kurdistan is a region relatively rich in water, especially for countries in theMiddle East region. It is the source for much of the water supply for neighboring countries. It means that political stability and peace in the region are important to the water supply of the region and preventing wars.[117] Many think that for conserving the water "returning to traditional water-conserving cultivation techniques" will be needed, as well as "communal economy"[118]
Rivers
The plateaus and mountains of Kurdistan, which are characterized by heavy rain and snow fall, act as a water reservoir for the Near and Middle East, forming the source of theTigris andEuphrates rivers, as well as other numerous smaller rivers, such as theLittle Khabur,Khabur, Tharthar, Ceyhan,Araxes, Kura, Sefidrud, Karkha, and Hezil. Among rivers of historical importance to Kurds are theMurat (Arasān) and Buhtān rivers in Turkey; the Peshkhābur, theLittle Zab, theGreat Zab, and theDiyala in Iraq; and the Jaghatu (Zarrinarud), the Tātā'u (Siminarud), the Zohāb (Zahāb), and the Gāmāsiyāb in Iran.[119]
These rivers, which flow from heights of three to four thousand meters above sea level, are significant both as water sources and for the production of energy. Iraq and Syria dammed many of these rivers and their tributaries. Turkey has an extensive dam system under construction as part of theGAP (Southeast Anatolia Project); though incomplete, the GAP already supplies a significant proportion of Turkey's electrical energy needs.[119] Due to the extraordinary archaeological richness of the region, almost any dam impacts historic sites.[119] With the outbreak of theSyrian civil war, Turkey was accused of withholding water from the reservoirLake Assad in Syria, while filling theAtatürk dam in Turkey.[120]
Lakes
Kurdistan extends toLake Urmia in Iran on the east. The region includes Lake Van, the largest body of water in Turkey; the only lake in the Middle East with a larger surface is Lake Urmia – though not nearly as deep as Lake Van, which has a much larger volume.Urmia,Van, as well asZarivar Lake west ofMarivan, andLake Dukan near the city ofSulaymaniyah, are frequented by tourists.[121]
Petroleum and mineral resources
Kurdistan Region is estimated to contain around 45 billion barrels (7.2×10^9 m3) of oil, making it the sixth largest reserve in the world. Extraction of these reserves began in 2007.
Al-Hasakah province, also known asJazira region, has geopolitical importance ofoil and is suitable for agricultural lands.
In November 2011,Exxon challenged the Iraqi central government's authority with the signing of oil and gas contracts for exploration rights to six parcels of land in Kurdistan, including one contract in the disputed territories, just east of the Kirkuk mega-field.[122] This act caused Baghdad to threaten to revoke Exxon's contract in its southern fields, most notably theWest-Qurna Phase 1 project.[123] Exxon responded by announcing its intention to leave the West-Qurna project.[124]
As of July 2007, the Kurdish government solicited foreign companies to invest in 40 new oil sites, with the hope of increasing regional oil production over the following five years by a factor of five, to about 1 million barrels per day (160,000 m3/d).[125] Gas and associated gas reserves are in excess of 2,800 km3 (100×10^12 cu ft). Notable companies active in Kurdistan includeExxonMobil,Total,Chevron,Talisman Energy,Genel Energy,Hunt Oil,Gulf Keystone Petroleum, andMarathon Oil.[122]
Other mineral resources that exist in significant quantities in the region includecoal,copper,gold,iron,limestone (which is used to producecement),marble, andzinc. The world's largest deposit of rock sulfur is located just southwest ofErbil.[126]
In July 2012, Turkey and the Kurdistan Region signed an agreement by which Turkey would regularly supply the KRG with refined petroleum products in exchange for crude oil.[127]
^abcdefBois, Th; Minorsky, V.; MacKenzie, D. N. (2002)."Kurds, Kurdistān".Encyclopaedia of Islam (2 ed.).BRILL.ISBN9789004161214.Archived from the original on 26 March 2023. Retrieved20 October 2025. "At present, the different provinces of Kurdistān cover around 190,000 km2 in Turkey, 125,000 km2 in Iran, 65,000 km2 in Irāḳ, and 12,000 km2 in Syria. The total area of Kurdistān can then be estimated at approximately 392,000 km2."
^Kaya, Zeynep (2020).Mapping Kurdistan: Territory, Self-Determination and Nationalism. Cambridge University Press. pp. 2, 137, 177, 197.
^Zaken, Mordechai (2007).Jewish Subjects and Their Tribal Chieftains in Kurdistan: A Study in Survival. Leiden, The Netherlands: BRILL. pp. 1–2.ISBN9789004161900.Kurdistan was never a sovereign state, though the area with an ethnic and linguistic majority of Kurdish population is defined as Kurdistan.
^M. T. O'Shea,Trapped between the map and reality: geography and perceptions of Kurdistan, 258 pp., Routledge, 2004. (see p. 77)
^Bengio, Ofra (2014).Kurdish Awakening: Nation Building in a Fragmented Homeland. University of Texas Press. p. 2.Hence the terms:rojhalat (east, Iran),bashur (south, Iraq),bakur (north, Turkey), androjava (west, Syria).
^"Kurdistan".World Encyclopedia (1 ed.).Oxford University Press. 2014.ISBN9780199546091.Archived from the original on 7 April 2022. Retrieved20 October 2025.Extensive mountainous and plateau region in sw Asia, inhabited by the Kurds and including parts of E Turkey, NE Iran, N Iraq, NE Syria, S Armenia and E Azerbaijan.
^The Edinburgh Encyclopædia, conducted by D. Brewster—Page 511, Original from Oxford University—published 1830
^An Account of the State of Roman-Catholick Religion, Sir Richard Steele, Published 1715
^N. Maxoudian, "Early Armenia as an Empire: The Career of Tigranes III, 95–55 BC",Journal of the Royal Central Asian Society, Vol. 39, Issue 2, April 1952, pp. 156–63.
^abA.D. Lee,The Role of Hostages in Roman Diplomacy with Sasanian Persia, Historia: Zeitschrift für Alte Geschichte, Vol. 40, No. 3 (1991), pp. 366–74 (see p. 371)
^O'Shea, Maria T. (25 August 2021).Routledge Library Editions: History of the Middle East. Taylor & Francis. p. 47.
^Tinti, Alessandro (29 November 2021).Oil and National Identity in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq: Conflicts at the Frontier of Petro-Capitalism. Taylor & Francis. p. 71.
^Revue des études arméniennes, vol. 21, 1988–1989, p. 281, by Société des études armeniennes, Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian, Published by Imprimerie nationale, P. Geuthner, 1989.
^T. A. Sinclair, "Eastern Turkey, an Architectural and Archaeological Survey", 1989, volume 3, page 360.
^Mark MarciakSophene, Gordyene, and Adiabene: Three Regna Minora of Northern Mesopotamia Between East and West, 2017.[1] pp. 220-221
^Victoria Arekelova, Garnik S. AsatryanProlegomena To The Study Of The Kurds, Iran and The Caucasus, 2009[2]Archived 29 March 2019 at theWayback Machine pp. 82
^abI. Gershevitch,The Cambridge history of Iran: The Saljuq and Mongol periods, Vol. 5, 762 pp., Cambridge University Press, 1968. (see p. 237 for "Rawwadids")
^J. Bell,A System of Geography. Popular and Scientific (A Physical, Political, and Statistical Account of the World and Its Various Divisions), pp. 133–4, Vol. IV, Fullarton & Co., Glasgow, 1832.
^J. T. Walker,The Legend ofMar Qardagh: Narrative and Christian Heroism in Late Antique Iraq (368 pages), University of California Press,ISBN0-520-24578-4, 2006, pp. 26, 52, 108.
^T. A. Sinclair, "Eastern Turkey, an Architectural and Archaeological Survey", Vol. 3, Pindar Press,ISBN978-1-904597-76-6, 1989, page 337.
^Mouawad, R. J. (1992). "The Kurds and Their Christian Neighbors: The Case of Orthodox Syriacs".Parole de l'Orient.XVII:127–141.
^Gunes, Cengiz; Bozarslan, Hamit; Yadirgi, Veli, eds. (22 April 2021).The Cambridge History of the Kurds. Cambridge University Press. p. 31.
^Maria T. O'Shea,Trapped between the map and reality: geography and perceptions of Kurdistan, 258 pp., Routledge, 2004. (see p. 68)
^Sardar Aziz (2013). "Re-conceptualizing Kurdistan as a Battlefield.""Un mondo senza stati è un mondo senza guerre". Politisch motivierte Gewalt im regionalen Kontext, ed. by Georg Grote, Hannes Obermair and Günther Rautz (EURAC book 60), Bozen–Bolzano,ISBN978-88-88906-82-9, pp. 45–61.
^C. Dahlman,The Political Geography of Kurdistan, Eurasian Geography and Economics, Vol.43, No.4, p. 274.
^Tejel, Jordi (2008).Syria's Kurds: History, Politics and Society. Routledge. p. 92.ISBN9780415613460.The KDPS continued to promote the teaching of the Kurdish language in Latin characters and to cultivate the nationalist doctrine of the Syrian Kurds, using Kurdish myths (Kawa and "Greater Kurdistan")
^Gareth R. V. Stansfield (2003).Iraqi Kurdistan - Political development and emergent democracy. RoutledgeCurzon. pp. 146–152.CiteSeerX10.1.1.465.8736.ISBN0-415-30278-1.
^M.M. Gunter,The Kurds and the future of Turkey, 184 pp., Palgrave Macmillan, 1997. (see p. 6)
^G. Chaliand,A people without a country: the Kurds and Kurdistan, 259 pp., Interlink Books, 1993. (see p. 250)
^Joost Jongerden,The settlement issue in Turkey and the Kurds: an analysis of spatial policies, modernity and war, 354 pp., BRILL Publishers, 2007. (see p. 37)
^See *David Phillips (World Post column)Archived 19 October 2017 at theWayback Machine "President Masoud Barzani of Iraqi Kurdistan has pledged protection for Syrian Kurds from al-Nusra, a terrorist organization, which issued afatwa calling for the killing of Kurdish women and children"
ITNsource.comArchived 30 June 2017 at theWayback Machine "A fatwa (edict) has been issued permitting the shedding of the blood of the Kurds and they called from the mosque loudspeakers that the shedding of the Kurdish blood is halal"
^Kushner, David (1987). "Pan-Turkism Today: Contemporary Turkey and the "Outside Turks"".Asian and African Studies: Journal of the Israel Oriental Society.21 (2): 202.ISSN0066-8281.
^Bassem, Wassim (2016)."Iraq's Turkmens call for independent province".Al-Monitor. Archived fromthe original on 12 September 2021.Iraqi Turkmens, who are citizens of Iraq with Turkish origins, have been calling for their own independent province in the Tal Afar district west of Mosul, located in the center of the Ninevah province...Turkmens are a mix of Sunnis and Shiites and are the third-largest ethnicity in Iraq after Arabs and Kurds, numbering around 3 million out of the total population of about 34.7 million, according to 2013 data from the Iraqi Ministry of Planning.
^Caucasian battlefields: A History of the Wars on the Turco-Caucasian Border, 1828–1921. Cambridge University Press. 17 February 2011. p. 104.ISBN978-1-108-01335-2.
^Anthony Gorman (29 May 2015).Diasporas of the Modern Middle East.ISBN978-0-7486-8611-7.
^Çerkes fıkraları (in Turkish). University of Wisconsin – Madison. 1994. p. 10.
^Ahmet Buran Ph.D., Türkiye'de Diller ve Etnik Gruplar, 2012
^Yeldar Barış Kalkan (2006).Çerkes halkı ve sorunları: Çerkes tarih, kültür, coğrafya ve siyasetine sınıfsal yaklaşım. p. 175.
^Dursun Gümüşoğlu (2008).Anadolu'da bir köy: Eskikonak : antropolojik inceleme.
^abA Dictionary of Scripture Geography, p 57, by John Miles, 486 pages, Published 1846, Original from Harvard University
^Village on the Euphrates: From Foraging to Farming at Abu Hureyra, by A.M.T Moore, G.C. Hillman and A.J. Legge, Published 2000, Oxford University Press
^Keller, Sean (6 February 2018)."Agriculture and Autonomy in the Middle East".Local Futures – Economics of Happiness. International Society for Ecology and Culture.Archived from the original on 24 May 2019. Retrieved24 May 2019.
^abc"The Water".Kurdistanica, The Encyclopedia of Kurdistan. 11 October 2018.Archived from the original on 18 July 2025. Retrieved5 November 2022.
Mitchell, Colin Paul (2010)."Kurdistan". In Bjork, Robert E. (ed.).The Oxford Dictionary of the Middle Ages. Oxford University Press.ISBN978-0199574834.
Beşikçi, İsmail.Selected Writings [about] Kurdistan and Turkish Colonialism. London: Published jointly by Kurdistan Solidarity Committee and Kurdistan Information Centre, 1991. 44 p. Without ISBN
King, Diane E.Kurdistan on the Global Stage: Kinship, Land, and Community in Iraq (Rutgers University Press; 2014) 267 pages; Scholarly study of traditional social networks, such as patron-client relations, as well as technologically mediated communication, in a study of gender, kinship, and social life in Iraqi Kurdistan.
Öcalan, Abdullah.Interviews and Speeches [about the Kurdish cause]. London: Published jointly by Kurdistan Solidarity Committee and Kurdistan Information Centre, 1991. 46 p. Without ISBN
Öcalan, Abdullah.The Political Thought of Abdullah Öcalan Kurdistan, Woman’s Revolution and Democratic Confederalism. Pluto Press, London,ISBN978-0-7453-9976-8
Reed, Fred A.Anatolia Junction: a Journey into Hidden Turkey. Burnaby, B.C.: Talonbooks [sic], 1999. 320 p., ill. with b&w photos.N.B.: Includes a significant coverage of the Turkish sector of historic Kurdistan, the Kurds, and their resistance movement.ISBN0-88922-426-9
![Kurdish-inhabited areas (according to the CIA, 1992)[1][2]](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=http%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aKurdish-inhabited_areas_(orthographic_projection_with_inset).svg)
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