Ethnicity and the Kurdish Questions in the Middle East

Abstract

The Kurdish question could be considered as an ethnic question in Middle East politics, which remains unsolved. As the largest stateless ethnic groups, most of its population exists in the four Middle East countries: Iraq, Iran, Syria, and Turkey. In contemporary times, the polarisation along ethnic lines has become central to the Kurdish question in Middle East politics. Presently, most existing expertise on Kurdish politics gave the numbers aspect of the Kurdish national struggle in the Middle East. The historical exclusion and assimilation of Kurd ethnic identity by dominant ethnic identity and challenges faced by the Kurds, such as statelessness, marginalisation, and conflict, always look like the Ethnic matter of the Kurdish question in the Middle East. This research paper delves into the complex interplay between ethnicity and the Kurdish question in the Middle East. The paper begins by tracing the historical origins of the Kurdish people. It examines the evolution of the Kurdish question, analysing the socio-political and cultural factors that have shaped their struggle for self-determination.