The Kurds

The Kurds are an ethnic group indigenous to Kurdistan, a mountainous region of the Middle East than spans across Turkey, Iran, Iraq, Syria, and Armenia. Although the Kurds do not have a homeland, they hold recognized minority status in most countries they occupy.

Exceptionally, Kurds constitute an ethnic majority in three Northern provinces of Iraq known as Iraqi Kurdistan. During the Iran-Iraq War Saddam Hussein instituted many anti-Kurdish policies, that led to the death of nearly 100,000 Kurds. After the end of Saddam Hussein's regime during the second Iraq War, Iraqi Kurdistan was given recognition as an autonomous region of Iraq.