jjares reviewed The Kurds: The History of the Middle Eastern Ethnic Group and Their Quest for Kurdistan on + 3289 more book reviews
Before reading this book, I was not aware that the Kurds are not a people united by religion, language or even ethnicity. They seek a homeland that would affect Turkey, Syria, Iran, and Iraq, as they border each of these countries. There really doesn't seem to be a solution to this tragedy. It is an incredibly complex problem.
It is shocking to learn that Kurds have no citizenship rights in Turkey (no right to identification documents, the right to go to school, etc.)There are between 25 - 35 million Kurds living in the Middle East. Some are nomadic and others are settled peoples. Another surprising thing is that they are of diverse religions; mostly Sunni Muslims, Zoroastrian, Christian, Jewish, and Shi'a Muslims. They believe they are descended from Iranic tribes; their origins have been traced back some 10,000 years. The very famous Saladin (a great regional leader and fighter against the Christian Crusades) was a Kurd.
The jumping around in the focus of the text was unsettling. I thought the discussion was not as clear as it could have been.
It is shocking to learn that Kurds have no citizenship rights in Turkey (no right to identification documents, the right to go to school, etc.)There are between 25 - 35 million Kurds living in the Middle East. Some are nomadic and others are settled peoples. Another surprising thing is that they are of diverse religions; mostly Sunni Muslims, Zoroastrian, Christian, Jewish, and Shi'a Muslims. They believe they are descended from Iranic tribes; their origins have been traced back some 10,000 years. The very famous Saladin (a great regional leader and fighter against the Christian Crusades) was a Kurd.
The jumping around in the focus of the text was unsettling. I thought the discussion was not as clear as it could have been.
