Kurdistan

Also available in paperback, 9781845202699 GBP19.99 (June, 2008)

Under the Ottoman Empire, Kurdistan was the name given to the province in which the Kurds, a nomadic non-Arab ethnic group, formed the largest population. This work features the history of Kurdistan, its people, history and culture. It considers the plight of the oppressed Kurdish minority in the modern nations of Iraq, Iran and Turkey.This book provides a concise analysis of the making of Kurdistan, its peoples, historical developments and cultural politics. Under the Ottoman Empire Kurdistan was the name given to the autonomous province in which the Kurdish princes ruled over a cosmopolitan population. But re-mapping, wars and the growth of modern nation-states have turned Kurdistan into an imagined homeland. The Kurdish question is one that continually reappears on the international stage because of the strategic location of Kurdistan. In describing the ways in which Kurdistan and its history have been represented and politicized, the author traces the vital role of the nationalist States of Turkey, Iran and Iraq in the crafting of political actors in the region.