Kurds

Ethnic group comprising several million people, primarily in Iraq and Turkey. For over a century, many Kurds have been campaigning for the right to their own state, which they would call Kurdistan. However, despite promises of the creation of such a state made in the early 20th century, all the region's governments are opposed to it.

The Kurds have been and continue to be brutally persecuted by both Iraq and Turkey. Turkey bans the use of the Kurdish language, and refuses to recognize them as an ethnic group. Iraq has launched poison gas attacks against Kurdish towns or villages.

Kurdish guerillas have fought for many years against the Turkish government for independence and the right to use their language, with little success. In 199?, the Turkish government had a major victory when it abducted [Abdullah Ocalan]?, the leader of the [Kurdistan Workers Party]? (PKK), one of the groups fighting for Kurdish rights and independence. Turkey then placed him on trial for treason and sentenced him to death.

Some imporvements in Kurdish rights have however been made under pressure from the European Union. The European Union has made membership for Turkey conditional on, among other things, better treatment of its Kurdish minority.