Recent events in the Middle East have propelled the once marginalized Kurdish community to the centre of regional and, indeed, world affairs. The growing significance of the Kurds in the politics of the Middle East has led to greater interest amongst both academics and policy makers regarding the community's culture, politics and history. This current volume seeks to address this growing interest by presenting a selection of articles from leading experts on the history of the Kurds. These articles scrutinize a variety of subjects which provide important context to today's Kurdish question. It includes contributions which contextualize the evolution of a distinctive Kurdish identity and culture. Furthermore, it includes works which seek to examine the impact of the gradual transformation of state power in the Middle East - more precisely the breakdown of imperial orders and the concurrent emergence of the modern nation-state - on the relationship between the Kurds and the central governments under which they lived during the nineteenth and early twentieth century. In doing so, this volume will be of interest to all those wishing to gain a deeper historical understanding of present day Kurdish affairs. This book was published as a special issue of Iranian Studies.

Recent events in the Middle East have propelled the once marginalized Kurdish community to the centre of regional and, indeed, world affairs. The growing significance of the Kurds in the politics of the Middle East has led to greater interest amongst both academics and policy makers regarding the community's culture, politics and history. This current volume seeks to address this growing interest by presenting a selection of articles from leading experts on the history of the Kurds. These articles scrutinize a variety of subjects which provide important context to today's Kurdish question. It includes contributions which contextualize the evolution of a distinctive Kurdish identity and culture. Furthermore, it includes works which seek to examine the impact of the gradual transformation of state power in the Middle East - more precisely the breakdown of imperial orders and the concurrent emergence of the modern nation-state - on the relationship between the Kurds and the central governments under which they lived during the nineteenth and early twentieth century. In doing so, this volume will be of interest to all those wishing to gain a deeper historical understanding of present day Kurdish affairs. This book was published as a special issue of Iranian Studies.

This edited volume, comprising chapters by leading academics and experts, aims to clarify the complexity of Turkey's Kurdish question. The Kurdish question is a long-standing, protracted issue, which gained regional and international significance largely in the last thirty years. The Kurdish people who represent the largest ethnic minority in the Middle East without a state have demanded autonomy and recognition since the post-World I wave of self-governance in the region, and their nationalist claims have further intensified since the end of the Cold War. The present volume first describes the evolution of Kurdish nationalism, its genesis during the late nineteenth century in the Ottoman Empire, and its legacy into the new Turkish republic. Second, the volume takes up the violent legacy of Kurdish nationalism and analyzes the conflict through the actions of the PKK, the militant pro-Kurdish organization which grew to be the most important actor in the process. Third, the volume deals with the international dimensions of the Kurdish question, as manifested in Turkey's evolving relationships with Syria, Iraq, and Iran, the issue regarding the status of the Kurdish minorities in these countries, and the debate over the Kurdish problem in Western capitals.

This edited volume, comprising chapters by leading academics and experts, aims to clarify the complexity of Turkey's Kurdish question. The Kurdish question is a long-standing, protracted issue, which gained regional and international significance largely in the last thirty years. The Kurdish people who represent the largest ethnic minority in the Middle East without a state have demanded autonomy and recognition since the post-World I wave of self-governance in the region, and their nationalist claims have further intensified since the end of the Cold War. The present volume first describes the evolution of Kurdish nationalism, its genesis during the late nineteenth century in the Ottoman Empire, and its legacy into the new Turkish republic. Second, the volume takes up the violent legacy of Kurdish nationalism and analyzes the conflict through the actions of the PKK, the militant pro-Kurdish organization which grew to be the most important actor in the process. Third, the volume deals with the international dimensions of the Kurdish question, as manifested in Turkey's evolving relationships with Syria, Iraq, and Iran, the issue regarding the status of the Kurdish minorities in these countries, and the debate over the Kurdish problem in Western capitals.