Kurds

The Kurds are a large ethnic groups situated in the Middle East, divided among a number of countries: Turkey, Iraq, Syria, Iran and Armenia. For decades they were united under the Ottoman Empire but, after the First World War and the subsequent breakup of the subsequent breakup of their former state, they have been unable to regroup the now divided population. Since then, Kurds have been living divided in the previously stated nations. The spoken language is Kurdish, which is part of the Iranian family of Indo-European languages. As a result of studies on both languages, it is hypothesised that Kurds are descended from the ancient Iranian Medes people. Politically, Kurds live autonomously in the various states into which they are divided. In Turkey, there are strong tensions with the government in Ankara and for years the PKK has been in operation, consider by the local authorities as a terrorist group. In Iraq instead the Kurds are self-organised as an autonomous region following the new constitution signed in 2005. In Syria instead, since 2012 the Kurdish people have autonomously managed the territories conquered during the civil war.