Who are the Kurds? Most of us have heard about them but .
country? As we see from the following example, even .
Europeans who are much closer to the Kurds still do not have .
a complete understanding of the Kurds or the middle east in .
general: .
In the West, the left and liberal minded .
people in general, especially in the Scandinavian .
and Anglo-Saxon countries, have usually supported .
or at least expressed some sympathy with the .
struggles against both European colonialism and .
U.S. policies in Vietnam. But as soon as the .
problem shifted to Biafra, Southern Sudan, .
Kurdistan or Eritrea - in short, whenever the .
national question was raised within a third .
world country - this section of the public opinion .
has tended to remain silent and confuesed.1 .
This lack of knowledge about the Kurds and Middle East in .
general is a major wall between resolution of the many .
problems that exist in the Middle East. I would like to .
give you a better understanding of what it is to be Kurdish .
by describing to you the past and present condition of .
Kurdistan, the state or territory that the Kurdish people .
populate. A brief understanding of the history of the .
Kurdish people is all that is needed to successfully .
accretion just why we should be more involved and educated .
about the current political activities surrounding Kurdistan .
and the countries that infringe upon it. .
The Kurdish people have the unfortunate distinction of .
being the only community of over 15 million in population .
that has not achieved some form of national statehood.2 .
This is the problem that needs addressing, people without a .
country. There Kurds territory, would be country, consists .
of the mountainous regions of central and northern Zargos, .
the eastern one-third of the Taurus and Pontus, and the .
northern half of the Amanus ranges (see F1).4 The Kurdish .
are an ancient people who about 4,000 thousand years ago .
started to trickle into Kurdistan in limited numbers to .