Minorities in the Middle East: Kurdish Communities 1918–1974

Near & Middle East Titles:
Minorities in the Middle East: Kurdish Communities 1918–1974

ISBN: (13) 978-1-84097-160-6
Extent: 4 volumes, 2,000 pages

Editor: B. Destani
Author:N/A
ISBN: (10) 1-84097-160-6
Published: 2006
Paper: printed on acid free paper
Binding: library bindings with gilt finish
See sample pages: not available

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Resumé

These volumes of original despatches, correspondence and reports record aspects of the Kurdish situation starting from the period following the First World War.

Although the Kurdish peoples are numerous, their aspirations for unity and independence have been repressed by the dominant regimes in the region, effectively minoritising the Kurds within a group of established states. Since the end of the First World War the former Ottoman Kurdistan has been administered by five sovereign states: Turkey, Iran, Iraq, Syria, and the former Soviet Union. In 1918 Kurdish hopes for an independent Kurdistan provided for by the Treaty of Sèvres (1920) were quashed by the constitution of modern Turkey, founded by Mustafa Kemal (Ataturk), and by the division of Kurdistan between Turkey, Syria and Iraq by the French and British, formalised in the Treaty of Lausanne in 1923.

Historical Overview

Documentary Importance

Arrangement of volumes

Volume 1: 1918–1930
Volume 2: 1931–1940
Volume 3: 1941–1967
Volume 4: 1968–1974

Contents Outline

Among hundreds of documents, the following topics are included

Volume 1: 1918–1930

the aspirations of the Kurds before the Paris Peace Conference of 1919
the grievances, petitions and agitations of the Kurds when the Iraqi Government fails to deliver the pledges given by the League of Nations in 1926
the riots and Kurdish uprisings in Hakkari and Sulaimani
the Kurdish policy of the Iraqi Government and the Kurdish demands for a Kurdish state under a British Mandate

Volume 2: 1931–1940

reports the divergence of views between the British and Iraqi Governments on the Kurdish petitions
reports on the Local Languages Law, schools and education
describes the personalities and factions of the Kurdish tribes, the arrest of Taufiq Wahbi Beg and the treatment of Kurds in Iraq
reports on the Kurdish resentment of Arab rule and the beginning of Kurdish nationalism

Volume 3: 1941–1967

reports on the military and political position in Iranian Kurdistan in 1941
comments on the Turkish attitude to the Kurdish question
reports the situation along the Iran–Iraq border during World War II, including Russian, German and Turkish involvement in the region, and raids by the Kurds on the Iranian–Turkish frontier
describes the post-War Kurdish situation in Syria, Russia, Iraq and Azerbaijani Kurdistan
records the beginnings of Kurdish broadcasting in Iran, Iraq, Azerbaijan and Russia
reports the birth of the Kurdish Democratic Party in 1961 led by Mulla Mustafa Barzani
documents the deterioration of relations between the Kurds and the Iraqi Government in 1965, leading to the deployment of Iraqi troops
describes the Kurdish counter offensive and the supply of aid to the Kurds from Iran

Volume 4: 1968–1974

reports the position of Kurds in Syria
describes the British attitude to the Kurdish rebellion in a document entitled ‘Kurdistan: Iraq and Iran’
reports the 1970 Agreement between the Kurds and the Iraqi Government
records the resumption of hostilities in 1973 between the Ba’ath Party and the Kurds
reveals the plans in 1974 for Kurdish Autonomy
records activities of the Iraqi Front Delegation, Kurdish dissidents in London and Kurdish Red Crescent Society
includes British Government reviews of the Kurdish situation written in 1979, 1983 and 1992

Key documents

Maps

Editor's Introduction