Kurdish Genocide
Hunter Epperson
Mr. Penner
Research Paper
November 4th, 2013
Kurdish Genocide
The Kurds are located in the Middle East within several countries: Turkey, Syria, Iraq and surrounding lands. The raid on the Kurdish people first started in the 7th century with the conquering of their land by the Arabs (Rutgers, 2013). From the 7th century until the late 13th century, their lands were occupied by several different groups. From the 13th century until World War 1, the Ottoman Empire was in control of their lands. As you can see, up to this point in time, the Kurdish people as a whole have been controlled for over a thousand years. After World War 1 and the collapse of the Ottoman Empire, the Treaty of Sevres was proposed to divide the land and the Kurdish people would finally regain a place to call their home (Rutgers, 2013). However, that treaty folded and the Kurds were not given land. The history of their people can be defined as being oppressed and separated as a whole. In the late 20th century, we’ll see how the violence aspect impacted the Kurds and only further pushed the movement against the Kurds into genocide. The United Nations defines genocide as follows: A) killing members of the group; B) causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group; C) deliberately inflicting on the groups conditions of life calculated to being; D) imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group; E) forcibly transferring children of the group to another group (UNODA, 2013). The forcing of land being taken away from the Kurds goes along with two of the conditions listed by the UN under what constitutes genocide. It goes with condition B and C because not having a place to call home and being unstable in that area causes serious mental harm to the members of the group; also, it inflicts on the conditions of life because they’re living in a place where they don’t make the rules and in a place that isn’t their own. It affects every aspect of how they live
Mr. Penner
Research Paper
November 4th, 2013
Kurdish Genocide
The Kurds are located in the Middle East within several countries: Turkey, Syria, Iraq and surrounding lands. The raid on the Kurdish people first started in the 7th century with the conquering of their land by the Arabs (Rutgers, 2013). From the 7th century until the late 13th century, their lands were occupied by several different groups. From the 13th century until World War 1, the Ottoman Empire was in control of their lands. As you can see, up to this point in time, the Kurdish people as a whole have been controlled for over a thousand years. After World War 1 and the collapse of the Ottoman Empire, the Treaty of Sevres was proposed to divide the land and the Kurdish people would finally regain a place to call their home (Rutgers, 2013). However, that treaty folded and the Kurds were not given land. The history of their people can be defined as being oppressed and separated as a whole. In the late 20th century, we’ll see how the violence aspect impacted the Kurds and only further pushed the movement against the Kurds into genocide. The United Nations defines genocide as follows: A) killing members of the group; B) causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group; C) deliberately inflicting on the groups conditions of life calculated to being; D) imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group; E) forcibly transferring children of the group to another group (UNODA, 2013). The forcing of land being taken away from the Kurds goes along with two of the conditions listed by the UN under what constitutes genocide. It goes with condition B and C because not having a place to call home and being unstable in that area causes serious mental harm to the members of the group; also, it inflicts on the conditions of life because they’re living in a place where they don’t make the rules and in a place that isn’t their own. It affects every aspect of how they live
Cited: Page Kurdistan Regional Governemnt. Kurdish Regional Government, (2011). Kurdish genocide. Retrieved from website: http://uk.krg.org/genocide/ Rutgers University. (2013). Al-anfal and the genocide of iraqi kurds, 1988. Retrieved from http://www.ncas.rutgers.edu/center-study-genocide-conflict-resolution-and-human-rights/al-anfal-and-genocide-iraqi-kurds-1988 United Nation. United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs, (2013). Chemical weapons. Retrieved from website: http://www.un.org/disarmament/WMD/Chemical/