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West Asia is in a phase of fundamental upheaval. Decades-old rulers are falling, traditional powers find themselves under huge pressure. And the world is discovering new players in the region. In the course of these changes, the Kurdish people have developed into a key actor whose influence extends far beyond the borders of their own settlement area.

Both regionally and internationally, there is therefore growing interest in establishing direct relations with the Kurds in order to better understand their motivations and goals.

The 5000-year-old history of Kurds in West Asia

Around 5,000 years ago, the Sumerians referred to their neighbours in the Zagros and Taurus mountains to the north of them as “Kurti” – “the people from the mountains.” The Assyrians spoke of the “Nairi”, the people who lived near the rivers Euphrates and Tigris.

The word ‘Kurdistan’ – ‘the land of the Kurds’ – was first mentioned in the 9th century. The Kurds themselves trace their cultural roots back to the Neolithic revolution around 15,000 years ago. They consider themselves a people that has made significant contributions to the West Asian “cradle of civilization.”

As one of the oldest peoples in West Asia, the 50 million Kurds play a central role in the region culturally, politically, economically and militarily. With a population of 25 million in Turkey, 13 million in Iran, 7 million in Iraq and 3 million in Syria, Kurdistan is geostrategically located in the heart of West Asia.

There is also a diaspora of around 5 million Kurds, particularly in European countries such as Germany, France and the UK, but also in Russia, Armenia, Egypt, Lebanon, Israel or Jordan. Rich water resources in the form of the Euphrates and Tigris rivers, large areas of fertile land and enormous mineral resources also give the predominantly Kurdish populated areas great economic importance.

The 100-year-old policy of denial and genocide against the Kurds has failed today

The forceful division of the region’s multi-ethnic and multi-religious societies along nation state borders by European colonialist powers after World War I led to a state of permanent conflict. Today, the autocratic and oligarchic nation states established 100 years ago in West Asia have become an obstacle for globalised neoliberalism.

The Sykes-Picot-Treaty (1916) and the Treaty of Lausanne (1923) have thus become obsolete. This has put especially Turkey, Iraq, Syria and Iran under........

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