Conflict between Kurds and Turkish Forces

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Conflict between Kurds and Turkish Forces "I would not wish on anyone what I went through that day." This is

what a Kurdish man said in a Turkish courtroom in October 2003. This

was the common testimony among many Kurds that took the stand on a

trail against Turkish forces. Hundreds of thousands of Kurds were

displaced from their homes and then the villages were burned by the

Turkish military. Finally in 2003 the Turkish government is

investigating this brutal fight among the Turks and the Kurds of

southeast Turkey. (Filkins) The Kurds have been oppressed,

discriminated against and forced into assimilation by the Turks for

most of the last century; however there is great progress being made

today.

According to most recent census of Turkey, the Kurds make up about 20%

of the population and the dominate group, the Turks, account for the

remaining 80% of the population. (World) The Kurds are a subordinate

group that lives in the southeast mountainous area of Turkey. Like

the American Indians occupying the Americas, the Kurds have inhabited

Turkey longer than anyone known to history. Historians mostly agree

they have been there since about the start of the Mesopotamian

civilization or during the Bronze age of migration. They did not

receive the name 'Kurds' until after mass conversion to Islam in the

7th century (Who). The Kurds were pretty much left alone, the

Ottomans and the Persians through the many years of conflict and

battle outside of the Kurdish mountains. Since the Kurds lived in

virtually inaccessible land, no outside ruler or conqueror bothered to

establish a rul...

... middle of paper ...

...
Community Coll. Library, Lansing. 24 March 2003

.

Pope, Nicole and Hugh. Turkey Unveiled. Woodstock, New York: The

overlook Press, 1998.

Saches, Susan. “European Envoy Visiting Turkey to Assess Situation of

Kurds.”

The New York Times. September 7, 2004: Available at Lansing Community

Coll. Library, Lansing. 2 March 2005 .

“Who are the Kurds? Centuries of oppression have made them a people

prepared to die for nationhood.” Time Magazine. April 15, 1991.

Available at Lansing Community Coll. Library, Lansing. 2 March 2005.

.

“The World Factbook” Central Inelligence Agency. 2005 Available at

Lansing Community Coll. Library, Lansing. 2 March 2005.

.

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