1.
Geographic coordinate system
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A geographic coordinate system is a coordinate system used in geography that enables every location on Earth to be specified by a set of numbers, letters or symbols. The coordinates are chosen such that one of the numbers represents a vertical position. A common choice of coordinates is latitude, longitude and elevation, to specify a location on a two-dimensional map requires a map projection. The invention of a coordinate system is generally credited to Eratosthenes of Cyrene. Ptolemy credited him with the adoption of longitude and latitude. Ptolemys 2nd-century Geography used the prime meridian but measured latitude from the equator instead. Mathematical cartography resumed in Europe following Maximus Planudes recovery of Ptolemys text a little before 1300, in 1884, the United States hosted the International Meridian Conference, attended by representatives from twenty-five nations. Twenty-two of them agreed to adopt the longitude of the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, the Dominican Republic voted against the motion, while France and Brazil abstained. France adopted Greenwich Mean Time in place of local determinations by the Paris Observatory in 1911, the latitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle between the equatorial plane and the straight line that passes through that point and through the center of the Earth. Lines joining points of the same latitude trace circles on the surface of Earth called parallels, as they are parallel to the equator, the north pole is 90° N, the south pole is 90° S. The 0° parallel of latitude is designated the equator, the plane of all geographic coordinate systems. The equator divides the globe into Northern and Southern Hemispheres, the longitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle east or west of a reference meridian to another meridian that passes through that point. All meridians are halves of great ellipses, which converge at the north and south poles, the prime meridian determines the proper Eastern and Western Hemispheres, although maps often divide these hemispheres further west in order to keep the Old World on a single side. The antipodal meridian of Greenwich is both 180°W and 180°E, the combination of these two components specifies the position of any location on the surface of Earth, without consideration of altitude or depth. The grid formed by lines of latitude and longitude is known as a graticule, the origin/zero point of this system is located in the Gulf of Guinea about 625 km south of Tema, Ghana. To completely specify a location of a feature on, in, or above Earth. Earth is not a sphere, but a shape approximating a biaxial ellipsoid. It is nearly spherical, but has an equatorial bulge making the radius at the equator about 0. 3% larger than the radius measured through the poles, the shorter axis approximately coincides with the axis of rotation
2.
Kurds
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The Kurds are culturally and linguistically closely related to the Iranian peoples and, as a result, are often themselves classified as an Iranian people. A recent Kurdish diaspora has also developed in Western countries, primarily in Germany, the Kurdish language refers collectively to the related dialects spoken by the Kurds. It is mainly spoken in parts of Iran, Iraq, Syria. Kurdish holds official status in Iraq as a national language alongside Arabic, is recognized in Iran as a regional language, the Kurdish languages belong to the northwestern sub‑group of the Iranian languages, which in turn belongs to the Indo-Iranian branch of the Indo-European family. According to Mackenzie, there are few features that all Kurdish dialects have in common. And the fact that this reflects the sense of ethnic identity and unity of the Kurds. The number of Kurds living in Southwest Asia is estimated at close to 30 million, Kurds comprise anywhere from 18% to 20% of the population in Turkey, possibly as high as 25%,15 to 20% in Iraq, 10% in Iran, and 9% in Syria. Kurds form regional majorities in all four of these countries, viz. in Turkish Kurdistan, the Kurds are the fourth largest ethnic group in West Asia after the Arabs, Persians, and Turks. The total number of Kurds in 1991 was placed at 22.5 million, with 48% of this number living in Turkey, 18% in Iraq, 24% in Iran, and 4% in Syria. Recent emigration accounts for a population of close to 1.5 million in Western countries and this groups population was estimated at close to 0.4 million in 1990. The land of Karda is mentioned on a Sumerian clay-tablet dated to the 3rd millennium B. C. This land was inhabited by the people of Su who dwelt in the regions of Lake Van. Other Sumerian clay-tables referred the people, who lived in the land of Karda, as the Qarduchi and the Qurti. Many Kurds consider themselves descended from the Medes, an ancient Iranian people, the claimed Median descent is reflected in the words of the Kurdish national anthem, We are the children of the Medes and Kai Khosrow. The Kurdish languages form a subgroup of the Northwestern Iranian languages like Median, some researchers consider the independent Kardouchoi as the ancestors of the Kurds. The term Kurd, however, is first encountered in Arabic sources of the seventh century, the Kurds have ethnically diverse origins. During the Sassanid era, in Kar-Namag i Ardashir i Pabagan, after initially sustaining a heavy defeat, Ardashir I was successful in subjugating the Kurds. In a letter Ardashir I received from his foe, Ardavan V, the usage of the term Kurd during this time period most likely was a social term, designating Northwestern Iranian nomads, rather than a concrete ethnic group
3.
Kurdish languages
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Kurdish is a continuum of Northwestern Iranian languages spoken by the Kurds in Western Asia. Kurdish forms three dialect groups known as Northern Kurdish, Central Kurdish, and Southern Kurdish, a separate group of non-Kurdish Northwestern Iranian languages, the Zaza–Gorani languages, are also spoken by several million Kurds. Recent studies estimate between 8 to 20 million native Kurdish speakers in Turkey, the majority of the Kurds speak Northern Kurdish. The literary output in Kurdish was mostly confined to poetry until the early 20th century, today, there are two principal written Kurdish dialects, namely Northern Kurdish in the northern parts of the geographical region of Kurdistan and Central Kurdish further east and south. Central Kurdish is, along with Arabic, one of the two languages of Iraq and is in political documents simply referred to as Kurdish. The Kurdish languages belong to the Iranian branch of the Indo-European family and they are generally classified as Northwestern Iranian languages, or by some scholars as intermediate between Northwestern and Southwestern Iranian. Martin van Bruinessen notes that Kurdish has a strong south-western Iranian element, whereas Zaza, windfuhr identified Kurdish dialects as Parthian, albeit with a Median substratum. The most argued hypothesis on the localisation of the territory of the Kurds remains D. N. Mackenzies theory. He has tried to reconstruct the alleged Persian-Kurdish-Baluchi linguistic unity presumably in the parts of Iran. Kurdish is divided into three groups, where dialects from different groups are not mutually intelligible without acquired bilingualism, Northern Kurdish is the largest dialect group, spoken by an estimated 15 to 20 million Kurds in Turkey, Syria, northern Iraq and northwestern Iran. Central Kurdish is spoken by an estimated 6 to 7 million Kurds in much of Iraqi Kurdistan, Sorani is a written standard of Central Kurdish developed in the 1920s and was later adopted as the standard orthography of Kurdish as an official language of Iraq. Southern Kurdish is spoken by about 3 million Kurds in Kermanshah and Ilam provinces of Iran, in historical evolution terms, Kurmanji is less modified than Sorani and Pehlewani in both phonetic and morphological structure. The Kermanshahi group has influenced by among other things its closer cultural proximity to Persian. Philip G. Kreyenbroek, a writing in 1992, says. Sorani is normally written in a form of the Arabic script. Reasons for describing Kurmanji and Sorani as dialects of one language are their common origin, for example, Sorani has neither gender nor case-endings, whereas Kurmanji has both. Differences in vocabulary and pronunciation are not as great as between German and English, but they are still considerable, according to Encyclopaedia of Islam, although Kurdish is not a unified language, its many dialects are interrelated and at the same time distinguishable from other Western Iranian languages. The same source classifies different Kurdish dialects as two groups, northern and central
4.
Upper Mesopotamia
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Upper Mesopotamia is the name used for the uplands and great outwash plain of northwestern Iraq, northeastern Syria and southeastern Turkey, in the northern Middle East. This region is approximately correspondent with what was Assyria from the 25th century BC through to the mid-7th century AD and it extends down the Tigris to Samarra and down the Euphrates to Hit. The Khabur River runs for over 400 km across the plain, from Turkey in the north, the major settlements are Mosul, Deir ez-Zor, Raqqa, Al Hasakah, Diyarbakır and Qamishli. The western, Syrian part, is contiguous with the Syrian Al-Hasakah Governorate and is described as Syrias breadbasket. The eastern, Iraqi part, includes and extends slightly beyond the Iraqi Ninewa Governorate, in the north it includes the Turkish provinces of Şanlıurfa, Mardin, and parts of Diyarbakır Province. The name al-Jazira has been used since the 7th century CE by Islamic sources to refer to the section of Mesopotamia. The name means island, and at one time referred to the land between the two rivers, which in Aramaic is Bit Nahren. Historically the name referred to as little as the Sinjar plain coming down from the Sinjar Mountains, in pre-Abbasid times the western and eastern boundaries seem to have fluctuated, sometimes including what is now northern Syria to the west and Adiabene in the east. Al-Jazira is characterised as an outwash or alluvial plain, quite distinct from the Syrian Desert and lower-lying central Mesopotamia, however the area includes eroded hills, the region has several parts to it. In the northwest is one of the largest salt flats in the world, further south, extending from Mosul to near Basra is a sandy desert not unlike the Empty Quarter. In the late 20th and early 21st centuries the region has been plagued by drought and this is the area where the earliest signs of agriculture and domestication of animals have been found, and thus the starting point leading to civilization and the modern world. Al-Jazirah includes the mountain Karaca Dağ in southern Turkey, where the closest relative to modern wheat still grows wild, domestication of goats and sheep followed within a few generations, but didnt become widespread for more than a millennium. Weaving and pottery followed about two years later. Further surprises followed in the 1990s with the finds of the megalithic structures at Göbekli Tepe in south-eastern Turkey. The earliest of these apparently ritual buildings are from before 9000 BC—over five thousand years older than Stonehenge—and thus the absolute oldest known megalithic structures anywhere, as far as we know today no well-established farming societies existed at the time. Farming seemed to be experimental and only a smallish supplement to continued hunting and gathering. After all, Göbekli Tepe lies just 32 km from Karaca Dağ, the questions raised by Göbekli Tepe have led to intense and creative discussions among archeologists of the Middle East. Excavations at Göbekli Tepe continues, only about 5 percent has been revealed so far, Upper Mesopotamia is the heartland of ancient Assyria, founded circa the 25th century BC
5.
Zagros Mountains
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The Zagros Mountains form the largest mountain range in Iran, Iraq and southeastern Turkey. This mountain range has a length of 1,500 km. The highest point in the Zagros Mountains is Dena, the Zagros fold and thrust belt was formed by collision of two tectonic plates, the Eurasian Plate and the Arabian Plate. This collision primarily happened during the Miocene and folded the rocks that had been deposited from the Carboniferous to the Miocene in the geosyncline in front of the Iranian Plate. The process of collision continues to the present and as the Arabian Plate is being pushed against the Eurasian Plate, the Zagros Mountains, a relatively dense GPS network which covered the Iranian Zagros also proves a high rate of deformation within the Zagros. The GPS results show that the current rate of shortening in the southeast Zagros is ~10 mm/yr, the north-south Kazerun strike-slip fault divides the Zagros into two distinct zones of deformation. The GPS results also show different shortening directions along the belt, normal shortening in the southeast, the sedimentary cover in the SE Zagros is deforming above a layer of rock salt whereas in the NW Zagros the salt layer is missing or is very thin. This different basal friction is partly responsible for the different topographies on either side of the Kazerun fault. Higher topography and narrower zone of deformation in the NW Zagros is observed whereas in the SE, deformation was spread more, stresses induced in the Earths crust by the collision caused extensive folding of the preexisting layered sedimentary rocks. Subsequent erosion removed softer rocks, such as mudstone and siltstone while leaving harder rocks, such as limestone and this differential erosion formed the linear ridges of the Zagros Mountains. The depositional environment and tectonic history of the rocks were conducive to the formation and trapping of petroleum, salt domes and salt glaciers are a common feature of the Zagros Mountains. Salt domes are an important target for exploration, as the impermeable salt frequently traps petroleum beneath other rock layers. The Zagros Mountains have a totally sedimentary origin and are primarily of limestone. In the Elevated Zagros or the Higher Zagros, the Paleozoic rocks could be found mainly in the upper and higher sections of the peaks of the Zagros Mountains along the Zagros main fault. On the both sides of this fault, there are Mesozoic rocks, a combination of Triassic and Jurassic rocks that are surrounded by Cretaceous rocks on the both sides. The Folded Zagros is formed mainly of Tertiary rocks, with the Paleogene rocks south of the Cretaceous rocks, the mountains are divided into many parallel sub-ranges, and orogenically have the same age as the Alps. Irans main oilfields lie in the central foothills of the Zagros mountain range. The southern ranges of the Fars Province have somewhat lower summits and they contain some limestone rocks showing abundant marine fossils
6.
Eastern Anatolia Region
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The Eastern Anatolia Region is a geographical region of Turkey. The region and the name Doğu Anadolu Bölgesi were first defined at the First Geography Congress in 1941 and it has the highest average altitude, largest geographical area, and lowest population density of all regions of Turkey. Prior to getting its current name by the Turkish state, most of the region was part of the Six Armenian provinces in the known as the Armenian Highlands. After the Armenian Genocide, the geopolitical term Eastern Anatolia was created to replace what had historically been known as Western Armenia, starting from 1880 the name Armenia was forbidden to be used in official Ottoman documents. The government of Sultan Abdul Hamid II replaced the name Armenia with such terms as Kurdistan or Anatolia, the Sublime Porte was trying to cover up the Armenian Question, if there was no Armenia, then there was no Armenian Question. The process of “nationalization” of toponyms was continued by the Kemalists, who were the successors of the Young Turks. Starting from 1923 the entire territory of Western Armenia was officially renamed “Eastern Anatolia”, in the 17th century when the Armenian Question was not as yet included into the international diplomacy agenda, the terms Anatolia or Eastern Anatolia were never used to indicate Armenia. Furthermore, the Islamic World Map of the 16th century and other Ottoman maps of the 18th and 19th centuries have clearly indicated Armenia on a territory as well as its cities. Armenia, together with its boundaries, was mentioned in the works of earlier Ottoman historians. Kâtip Çelebi, a famous Ottoman chronicler of the 17th century, had a chapter titled “About the Country Called Armenia” in his book Jihan Numa. When, however, this book was republished in 1957, its modern Turkish editor H. Selen changed this title into “Eastern Anatolia”. Osman Nuri, a historian of the half of the 19th century, mentions Armenia repeatedly in his three-volume Abdul Hamid. The word Anatolia means “sunrise” or “east” in Greek and this name was given to the Asia Minor peninsula approximately in the 5th or 4th centuries B. C. During the Ottoman era, the term Anadolou included the vilayets of Asia Minor with Kyotahia as its center. The numerous European, Ottoman, Armenian, Russian, Persian, Arabic and this testifies, inter alia, to the fact that even after the loss of its statehood the Armenian nation still constituted a majority in its homeland, which was recognized by Ottoman occupiers as well. The area of the region is 146,330 km², which comprises 18. 7% of the area of Turkey. The total population of the region is 6,100,000 and 5,906,565, the region has the second most rural population of Turkey after the Black Sea region. The migration level is high and population density is lower than the average for Turkey, the migration toward other Turkeys regions and toward foreign countries is higher than the natural population increase, a fact which is leading to a slight decline of the Regions population
7.
Armenian Highlands
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The Armenian Highlands is the central-most and highest of three land-locked plateaus. that together form the northern sector of the Middle East. To its west is the Anatolian plateau which rises slowly from the lowland coast of the Aegean Sea, to its southeast is the Iranian plateau, where the elevation drops rapidly by about 600 metres to 1,500 metres above sea level. The Caucasus extends to the northeast of the Armenian Highlands, to the southwest of the Armenian Highlands is Upper Mesopotamia. During the Middle Ages, Turkmens settled in numbers in the Armenian Highlands. The region was mainly inhabited by Armenians, and minorities of Georgians and Assyrians. The Christian population of the Western half of the region was exterminated during the Armenian Genocide of 1915, today, the region is mainly inhabited by Armenians, Kurds, Azerbaijanis, Turks, and Georgians. Their total area is about 400,000 km2, historically, the Armenian Highlands have been the scene of great volcanic activity. The Armenian Highlands are rich in water resources, most of the Armenian Highlands is in eastern Turkey, and also includes northwestern Iran, all of Armenia, southern Georgia, and western Azerbaijan. Its northeastern parts are known as Lesser Caucasus, which is a center of Armenian culture. From 4000 to 1000 BC, tools and trinkets of copper, bronze and iron were produced in this region. It is also believed to be one of the possible locations of the Garden of Eden. The Armenian Plateau has been called the epicenter of the Iron Age, in the Early Iron Age, the Kingdom of Van controlled much of the region, until it was overthrown by the Medes and Orontid dynasty. In Gilgamesh, the land of Aratta is placed in a space that could be describing the Armenian plateau. From the early era and on, the region came directly under Safavid Iranian rule. The apricot was known by the Romans as the prunus armenicus and was brought to Europe from the Armenian plateau, history of Armenia Geography of Armenia Hewsen, Robert H. Armenia, A Historical Atlas
8.
Southeastern Anatolia Region
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The Southeastern Anatolia Region is a geographical region of Turkey. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Region to the west, the Eastern Anatolia Region to the north, Syria to the south, Southeastern Anatolia Region has a semi-arid continental climate with very hot and dry summers and cold and often snowy winters. Tourism information is available in English at the Southeastern Anatolian Promotion Project site, provinces of Turkey Southeastern Anatolia travel guide from Wikivoyage
9.
Syria
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Syrias capital and largest city is Damascus. Religious groups include Sunnis, Christians, Alawites, Druze, Mandeans, Shiites, Salafis, Sunni Arabs make up the largest religious group in Syria. Its capital Damascus and largest city Aleppo are among the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world, in the Islamic era, Damascus was the seat of the Umayyad Caliphate and a provincial capital of the Mamluk Sultanate in Egypt. The post-independence period was tumultuous, and a number of military coups. In 1958, Syria entered a union with Egypt called the United Arab Republic. Syria was under Emergency Law from 1963 to 2011, effectively suspending most constitutional protections for citizens, Bashar al-Assad has been president since 2000 and was preceded by his father Hafez al-Assad, who was in office from 1970 to 2000. Mainstream modern academic opinion strongly favours the argument that the Greek word is related to the cognate Ἀσσυρία, Assyria, in the past, others believed that it was derived from Siryon, the name that the Sidonians gave to Mount Hermon. However, the discovery of the inscription in 2000 seems to support the theory that the term Syria derives from Assyria. The area designated by the word has changed over time, since approximately 10,000 BC, Syria was one of centers of Neolithic culture where agriculture and cattle breeding appeared for the first time in the world. The following Neolithic period is represented by houses of Mureybet culture. At the time of the pre-pottery Neolithic, people used vessels made of stone, gyps, finds of obsidian tools from Anatolia are evidences of early trade relations. Cities of Hamoukar and Emar played an important role during the late Neolithic, archaeologists have demonstrated that civilization in Syria was one of the most ancient on earth, perhaps preceded by only those of Mesopotamia. The earliest recorded indigenous civilisation in the region was the Kingdom of Ebla near present-day Idlib, gifts from Pharaohs, found during excavations, confirm Eblas contact with Egypt. One of the earliest written texts from Syria is an agreement between Vizier Ibrium of Ebla and an ambiguous kingdom called Abarsal c.2300 BC. The Northwest Semitic language of the Amorites is the earliest attested of the Canaanite languages, Mari reemerged during this period, and saw renewed prosperity until conquered by Hammurabi of Babylon. Ugarit also arose during this time, circa 1800 BC, close to modern Latakia, Ugaritic was a Semitic language loosely related to the Canaanite languages, and developed the Ugaritic alphabet. The Ugarites kingdom survived until its destruction at the hands of the marauding Indo-European Sea Peoples in the 12th century BC, Yamhad was described in the tablets of Mari as the mightiest state in the near east and as having more vassals than Hammurabi of Babylon. Yamhad imposed its authority over Alalakh, Qatna, the Hurrians states, the army of Yamhad campaigned as far away as Dēr on the border of Elam
10.
Iraq
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The capital, and largest city, is Baghdad. The main ethnic groups are Arabs and Kurds, others include Assyrians, Turkmen, Shabakis, Yazidis, Armenians, Mandeans, Circassians, around 95% of the countrys 36 million citizens are Muslims, with Christianity, Yarsan, Yezidism, and Mandeanism also present. The official languages of Iraq are Arabic and Kurdish, two major rivers, the Tigris and Euphrates, run south through Iraq and into the Shatt al-Arab near the Persian Gulf. These rivers provide Iraq with significant amounts of fertile land, the region between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, historically known as Mesopotamia, is often referred to as the cradle of civilisation. It was here that mankind first began to read, write, create laws, the area has been home to successive civilisations since the 6th millennium BC. Iraq was the centre of the Akkadian, Sumerian, Assyrian and it was also part of the Median, Achaemenid, Hellenistic, Parthian, Sassanid, Roman, Rashidun, Umayyad, Abbasid, Ayyubid, Mongol, Safavid, Afsharid, and Ottoman empires. Iraqs modern borders were mostly demarcated in 1920 by the League of Nations when the Ottoman Empire was divided by the Treaty of Sèvres, Iraq was placed under the authority of the United Kingdom as the British Mandate of Mesopotamia. A monarchy was established in 1921 and the Kingdom of Iraq gained independence from Britain in 1932, in 1958, the monarchy was overthrown and the Iraqi Republic created. Iraq was controlled by the Arab Socialist Baath Party from 1968 until 2003, after an invasion by the United States and its allies in 2003, Saddam Husseins Baath Party was removed from power and multi-party parliamentary elections were held in 2005. The American presence in Iraq ended in 2011, but the Iraqi insurgency continued and intensified as fighters from the Syrian Civil War spilled into the country, the Arabic name العراق al-ʿIrāq has been in use since before the 6th century. There are several suggested origins for the name, one dates to the Sumerian city of Uruk and is thus ultimately of Sumerian origin, as Uruk was the Akkadian name for the Sumerian city of Urug, containing the Sumerian word for city, UR. An Arabic folk etymology for the name is rooted, well-watered. During the medieval period, there was a region called ʿIrāq ʿArabī for Lower Mesopotamia and ʿIrāq ʿajamī, for the region now situated in Central and Western Iran. The term historically included the south of the Hamrin Mountains. The term Sawad was also used in early Islamic times for the region of the plain of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. In English, it is either /ɪˈrɑːk/ or /ɪˈræk/, the American Heritage Dictionary, the pronunciation /aɪˈræk/ is frequently heard in U. S. media. Since approximately 10,000 BC, Iraq was one of centres of a Caucasoid Neolithic culture where agriculture, the following Neolithic period is represented by rectangular houses. At the time of the pre-pottery Neolithic, people used vessels made of stone, gypsum, finds of obsidian tools from Anatolia are evidences of early trade relations
11.
Iranian Plateau
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The Persian Plateau, or Iranian Plateau, is a geological formation in Western Asia and Central Asia. As a historical region, it includes Parthia, Media, Persis, the Zagros Mountains form the plateaus western boundary, and its eastern slopes may be included in the term. The Encyclopædia Britannica excludes lowland Khuzestan explicitly and characterizes Elam as spanning the region from the Mesopotamian plain to the Iranian Plateau, from the Caspian in the northwest to Baluchistan in the south-east, the Iranian Plateau extends for close to 2,000 km. It is a geologically well-studied area because of general interest in continental collision zones, the Iranian plateau in geology refers to a geographical area north of the great folded mountain belts resulting from the collision of the Arabian plate with the Eurasian plate. In this definition, the Iranian plateau does not cover southwestern Iran and it extends from East Azerbaijan Province in northwest of Iran all the way to Pakistan west of the Indus River. It also includes parts of the Republic of Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan. Its mountain ranges can be divided into five major sub-regions, the region is known as the Anti-Taurus, and the average elevation of its peaks exceeds 3,000 m. Mount Ararat, at 5,137 meters the highest point in Turkey, is located in the Anti-Taurus, Lake Van is situated in the mountains at an elevation of 1,546 meters. Several small streams empty into the Black Sea or landlocked Lake Van also originate in these mountains. The Indus River begins in the highlands of Tibet and flows the length of Pakistan almost tracing the eastern edge of the Iranian plateau, the Indus River forms the Iranian plateaus eastern boundary. Southeast Anatolia lies south of the Anti-Taurus Mountains and it is a region of rolling hills and a broad plateau surface that extends into Syria. Elevations decrease gradually, from about 800 meters in the north to about 500 meters in the south, traditionally, wheat and barley are the main crops of the region. The kingdoms of Aratta known from cuneiform sources may have located in the Central Iranian Plateau. In classical antquity the region was known as Persia, due to the Persian Achaemenid dynasty, originating in Persia proper, the Middle Persian Erān began to be used in reference to the state from the Sassanid period. Oak forests are found around Shiraz, aspen, elm, ash, willow, walnut, pine, and cypress are also found, though the latter two are rare. As of 1920, poplar was harvested for making doors, other trees like acacia, cypress, and Turkestan elm were used for decorative purposes. Flower wise, the plateau can grow lilac, jasmine, hawthorn and Cercis siliquastrum are common, which are both used for basket weaving. The Iranian plateau harvests trees for making doors, ploughs, pears, apples, apricots, quince, plums, nectarines, cherries, mulberries, and peaches were commonly seen in the 20th century
12.
Turkish Kurdistan
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Turkish Kurdistan or Northern Kurdistan refers to portions of Turkeys Eastern Anatolia Region and Southeastern Anatolia Region where Kurds form the predominant ethnic group. There are an estimated 18-20 million Kurds living in Turkey, but many Kurds live outside the disputed Kurdish regions in major cities of Turkey like Ankara and Istanbul. According to Encyclopædia Britannica there are 13 Kurdish majority provinces of Turkey, Iğdır, Tunceli, Bingöl, Muş, Ağrı, Adıyaman, Diyarbakır, Siirt, Bitlis, Van, Şanlıurfa, Mardin, and Hakkâri. The Encyclopaedia of Islam stresses at the time that the imprecise limits of the frontiers of Kurdistan hardly allow an exact appreciation of the area. Since 1987, four new provinces - Şırnak, Batman, Iğdır, the region has no unified administrative identity and the Turkish state rejects the use of the term Kurdistan to describe it. In addition to the already mentioned, the region forms part of the wider geographic subdivisions of Southeastern Anatolia Region. The region forms the edge of Anatolia. It is dominated by high peaks rising to over 3, 700m and arid mountain plateaux and it has an extreme continental climate — hot in the summer, bitterly cold in the winter. Despite this, much of the region is fertile and has traditionally exported grain, the local economy is dominated by animal husbandry and small-scale agriculture, with cross-border smuggling providing a major source of income in the border areas. Larger-scale agriculture and industrial activities dominate the life of the lower-lying region around Diyarbakır. Elsewhere, however, decades of conflict and high unemployment has led to migration from the region to other parts of Turkey. During the Middle Ages, the Kurdish-inhabited regions of the Middle East came under the rule of local Kurdish chieftains, during 10th and 11th centuries, the region was ruled by the Kurdish dynasty of Marwanid. From the 14th century onwards the region was incorporated into the Ottoman Empire. A tax register dating back to 1527, mentions an area called vilayet-i Kurdistan, the document refers to Kurdish emirates as eyalet, an indication of the autonomy enjoyed by these principalities. In a ferman issued by Suleiman I, around 1533, he outlines the rules of inheritance, hereditary succession was granted to Kurdish emirates loyal to the Ottomans, and Kurdish princes were granted autonomy within the Empire. The degree of autonomy of these emirates varied greatly and depended on their geo-political significance, the weak Kurdish tribes were forced to join stronger ones or become a part of Ottoman sancaks. However the powerful and less accessible tribes, particularly close to the Iranian border. The Kurdish sanjaks like ordinary sanjaks, had some military obligations and had to pay some taxes, on the other hand, the Kurdish hükümet neither pay taxes nor provided troops for the Ottoman Army
13.
Iraqi Kurdistan
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Iraqi Kurdistan, officially called the Kurdistan Region by the Iraqi constitution, is located in the north of Iraq and constitutes the countrys only autonomous region. The region is governed by the Kurdistan Regional Government, with the capital being Erbil. Kurdistan is a democracy with its own regional Parliament that consists of 111 seats. Masoud Barzani, who was elected as president in 2005, was re-elected in 2009. In August 2013 the parliament extended his presidency for two years. His presidency concluded on 19 August 2015 after the parties failed to reach an agreement over extending his term. The new Constitution of Iraq defines the Kurdistan Region as an entity of Iraq. The four governorates of Duhok, Hawler, Silemani, and Halabja comprise around 41,710 square kilometres and have a population of 5.5 million. In 2014, during the 2014 Iraq Crisis, Iraqi Kurdistans forces also took much of the disputed territories of Northern Iraq. The establishment of the Kurdistan Region dates back to the March 1970 autonomy agreement between the Kurdish opposition and the Iraqi government after years of heavy fighting, further, the 1980–88 Iran–Iraq War, especially the Iraqi Armys Al-Anfal Campaign, devastated the population and environment of Iraqi Kurdistan. As Kurds continued to fight government troops, Iraqi forces finally left Kurdistan in October 1991, in 1992, the major political parties in the region, the Kurdistan Democratic Party and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, established the semi-autonomous Kurdistan Regional Government. The 2003 invasion of Iraq and subsequent political changes led to the ratification of a new constitution in 2005, the name Kurdistan literally means Land of the Kurds. The suffix -stan is Iranian for place of or country, in English translations of the Constitution of Iraq, it is called Kurdistan, four times in the phrase region of Kurdistan and once in the phrase Kurdistan region. The regional government calls it the Kurdistan Region, the full name of the government is the Kurdistan Regional Government, abbreviated KRG. Kurds also refer to the region as Başûrê Kurdistanê or Başûrî Kurdistan, during the Baath Party administration in the 1970s and 1980s, the region was called the Kurdish Autonomous Region. The Kurdistan Region is largely mountainous, with the highest point being a 3,611 m point known locally as Cheekha Dar, the mountains are part of the larger Zagros mountain range which also extends into Iran. There are many rivers running through the region, which is distinguished by its fertile lands, plentiful water, the Great Zab and the Little Zab flow from the east to the west in the region. The Tigris river enters Iraqi Kurdistan from Turkish Kurdistan, the mountainous nature of Iraqi Kurdistan, the difference of temperatures in its various parts, and its wealth of waters make it a land of agriculture and tourism
14.
Iranian Kurdistan
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Iranian Kurdistan or Eastern Kurdistan, is an unofficial name for the parts of northwestern Iran inhabited by Kurds which borders Iraq and Turkey. It includes Kurdistan Province, Kermanshah Province, Hamadan Province most of Ilam Province, Kurds generally consider northwestern Iran to be one of the four parts of a Greater Kurdistan, which also includes parts of southeastern Turkey, northern Syria, and northern Iraq. From the 4 to 5 million Iranian Kurds, a majority are Sunni Muslims, Sunni Muslim Kurds inhabit Kurdistan province and some parts of Kermanshah and West Azerbajani province. Shia Kurds inhabit Kermanshah Province, except for parts where people are Jaff. The Kurds of Khorasan Province in northeastern Iran are also adherents of Shia Islam, for the origin of the Kurds see History of the Kurdish people and Kurdish people. From the 10th century to 12th century A. D. two Kurdish dynasties were ruling this region, the Hasanwayhids and the Ayyarids, the Ardalan state, established in the early 14th century, controlled the territories of Zardiawa, Khanaqin, Kirkuk, Kifri, and Hawraman. The capital city of the state was first in Sharazour in present-day Iraqi Kurdistan, the Ardalan Dynasty continued to rule the region until the Qajar monarch Nasser-al-Din Shah ended their rule in 1867. In the 12th century CE, Sultan Sanjar created a province called Kurdistan centered at Bahar and this province included Hamadan, Dinawar, Kermanshah, Sanandaj and Sharazur. It was ruled by Sulayman, the nephew of Sanjar, in 1217, Kurds of Zagros defeated the troops of Ala ad-Din Muhammad II, the Khwarazmid king, who were sent from Hamadan. According to the Encyclopaedia of Islam, the Safavid family came from Iranian Kurdistan and they finally settled in the 11th century C. E. at Ardabil. During Safavid rule, the government tried to extend its control over Kurdish-inhabited areas in western Iran, at that time, there were a number of semi-independent Kurdish emirates such as the Mukriyan, Ardalan, and Shikak tribes around Lake Urmiye and northwest Iran. Kurds resisted this policy and tried to keep some form of self-rule and this led to a series of bloody confrontations between the Safavids and the Kurds. The Kurds were finally defeated, and as a result the Safavids decided to punish rebellious Kurds by forced relocation and deportation in the 15-16th century and this policy began under the reign of the Safavid King Tahmasp I. Between 1534 and 1535, Tahmasp I began the destruction of the old Kurdish cities. Large numbers of Kurds from these found themselves deported to the Alborz mountains and Khorasan. At this time the last remnant of the ancient royal Hadhabâni tribe of central Kurdistan was removed from the heartland of Kurdistan and deported to Khorasan, there is a well documented historical account of a long battle in 1609–1610 between Kurds and the Safavid Empire. The battle took place around a fortress called Dimdim located in Beradost region around Lake Urmia in northwestern Iran, rebuilding Dimdim was considered a move toward independence that could threaten Safavid power in the northwest. Many Kurds, including the rulers of Mukriyan, rallied around Amir Khan, after a long and bloody siege led by the Safavid grand vizier Hatem Beg, which lasted from November 1609 to the summer of 1610, Dimdim was captured
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Rojava
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On 17 March 2016, its de facto administration self-declared the establishment of a federal system of government as the Federation of Northern Syria–Rojava. While entertaining some foreign relations, the NSR is not officially recognized as autonomous by the government of Syria or any state or organization. The protagonists of the NSR consider its constitution a model for a federalized Syria as a whole, the updated December 2016 constitution of the polity uses the name Democratic Federal System of Northern Syria. Also known as Western Kurdistan or Syrian Kurdistan, Rojava is regarded by Kurdish nationalists as one of the four parts of Kurdistan. However, Rojava is polyethnic and home to sizable ethnic Kurdish, Arab, Assyrian and Turkmen populations and this diversity is mirrored in its constitution, society and politics. Rojava lies to the west of the Tigris along the Turkish border and it is composed of three cantons, Jazira, Kobanî, Afrin Canton, as well as the proposed Shahba region. Jazira Canton borders Iraqi Kurdistan to the southeast, other borders are fluid in the Syrian Civil War. All cantons are at latitude approximately 36 and a half degrees north and they are relatively flat except for the Kurd Mountains in Afrin Canton. In terms of governorates of Syria, Rojava is formed from most of al-Hasakah Governorate and the parts of Raqqa Governorate. Rojava is part of the Fertile Crescent, and includes archaeological sites dating to the Neolithic, in antiquity, the area was part of the Mitanni kingdom, its centre being the Khabur river valley in modern-day Jazira Canton. It was then part of Assyria for a long time, the last surviving Assyrian imperial records, from between 604 BC and 599 BC, were found in and around the Assyrian city of Dūr-Katlimmu in what is now Jazira Canton. Later it was ruled by the Achaemenids, Hellenes, Artaxiads, Romans, Parthians, Sasanians, Byzantines, Kurdish settlement in Syria goes back to before the Crusades of the 11th century. A number of Kurdish military and feudal settlements from before this period have been found in Syria, such settlements have been found in the Alawite and north Lebanese mountains and around Hama and its surroundings. The Crusade fortress of Krak des Chevaliers, which is known in Arabic as Hisn al-Akrad, was originally a Kurdish military settlement before it was enlarged by the French Crusaders, similarly, the Kurd-Dagh has been inhabited by Kurds for more than a millennium. The Kurdish regiments that accompanied Saladin established self-ruled areas in and around Damascus and these settlements evolved into the Kurdish sections of Damascus of Hayy al-Akrad and the Salhiyya districts located in the north-east of Damasacus on Mount Qasioun. The Kurdish community’s role in the continued under the Ottomans. Kurdish soldiers and policeman from city were tasked with maintaining order and protecting the pilgrims’ route toward Mecca. Many Kurds from Syria’s rural hinterland joined the local Janissary corp in Damascus, later, Kurdish migrants from diverse areas, such as Diyarbakir, Mosul and Kirkuk, also joined these military units which caused an expansion of the Kurdish community in the city
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Turkey
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Turkey, officially the Republic of Turkey, is a transcontinental country in Eurasia, mainly in Anatolia in Western Asia, with a smaller portion on the Balkan peninsula in Southeast Europe. Turkey is a democratic, secular, unitary, parliamentary republic with a cultural heritage. The country is encircled by seas on three sides, the Aegean Sea is to the west, the Black Sea to the north, and the Mediterranean Sea to the south. The Bosphorus, the Sea of Marmara, and the Dardanelles, Ankara is the capital while Istanbul is the countrys largest city and main cultural and commercial centre. Approximately 70-80% of the countrys citizens identify themselves as ethnic Turks, other ethnic groups include legally recognised and unrecognised minorities. Kurds are the largest ethnic minority group, making up approximately 20% of the population, the area of Turkey has been inhabited since the Paleolithic by various ancient Anatolian civilisations, as well as Assyrians, Greeks, Thracians, Phrygians, Urartians and Armenians. After Alexander the Greats conquest, the area was Hellenized, a process continued under the Roman Empire. The Seljuk Sultanate of Rûm ruled Anatolia until the Mongol invasion in 1243, the empire reached the peak of its power in the 16th century, especially during the reign of Suleiman the Magnificent. During the war, the Ottoman government committed genocides against its Armenian, Assyrian, following the war, the conglomeration of territories and peoples that formerly comprised the Ottoman Empire was partitioned into several new states. Turkey is a member of the UN, an early member of NATO. Turkeys growing economy and diplomatic initiatives have led to its recognition as a regional power while her location has given it geopolitical, the name of Turkey is based on the ethnonym Türk. The first recorded use of the term Türk or Türük as an autonym is contained in the Old Turkic inscriptions of the Göktürks of Central Asia, the English name Turkey first appeared in the late 14th century and is derived from Medieval Latin Turchia. Similarly, the medieval Khazar Empire, a Turkic state on the shores of the Black. The medieval Arabs referred to the Mamluk Sultanate as al-Dawla al-Turkiyya, the Ottoman Empire was sometimes referred to as Turkey or the Turkish Empire among its European contemporaries. The Anatolian peninsula, comprising most of modern Turkey, is one of the oldest permanently settled regions in the world, various ancient Anatolian populations have lived in Anatolia, from at least the Neolithic period until the Hellenistic period. Many of these peoples spoke the Anatolian languages, a branch of the larger Indo-European language family, in fact, given the antiquity of the Indo-European Hittite and Luwian languages, some scholars have proposed Anatolia as the hypothetical centre from which the Indo-European languages radiated. The European part of Turkey, called Eastern Thrace, has also been inhabited since at least forty years ago. It is the largest and best-preserved Neolithic site found to date, the settlement of Troy started in the Neolithic Age and continued into the Iron Age
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Iran
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Iran, also known as Persia, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, is a sovereign state in Western Asia. Comprising a land area of 1,648,195 km2, it is the second-largest country in the Middle East, with 82.8 million inhabitants, Iran is the worlds 17th-most-populous country. It is the country with both a Caspian Sea and an Indian Ocean coastline. The countrys central location in Eurasia and Western Asia, and its proximity to the Strait of Hormuz, Tehran is the countrys capital and largest city, as well as its leading economic and cultural center. Iran is the site of to one of the worlds oldest civilizations, the area was first unified by the Iranian Medes in 625 BC, who became the dominant cultural and political power in the region. The empire collapsed in 330 BC following the conquests of Alexander the Great, under the Sassanid Dynasty, Iran again became one of the leading powers in the world for the next four centuries. Beginning in 633 AD, Arabs conquered Iran and largely displaced the indigenous faiths of Manichaeism and Zoroastrianism by Islam, Iran became a major contributor to the Islamic Golden Age that followed, producing many influential scientists, scholars, artists, and thinkers. During the 18th century, Iran reached its greatest territorial extent since the Sassanid Empire, through the late 18th and 19th centuries, a series of conflicts with Russia led to significant territorial losses and the erosion of sovereignty. Popular unrest culminated in the Persian Constitutional Revolution of 1906, which established a monarchy and the countrys first legislative body. Following a coup instigated by the U. K. Growing dissent against foreign influence and political repression led to the 1979 Revolution, Irans rich cultural legacy is reflected in part by its 21 UNESCO World Heritage Sites, the third-largest number in Asia and 11th-largest in the world. Iran is a member of the UN, ECO, NAM, OIC. Its political system is based on the 1979 Constitution which combines elements of a democracy with a theocracy governed by Islamic jurists under the concept of a Supreme Leadership. A multicultural country comprising numerous ethnic and linguistic groups, most inhabitants are Shia Muslims, the largest ethnic groups in Iran are the Persians, Azeris, Kurds and Lurs. Historically, Iran has been referred to as Persia by the West, due mainly to the writings of Greek historians who called Iran Persis, meaning land of the Persians. As the most extensive interactions the Ancient Greeks had with any outsider was with the Persians, however, Persis was originally referred to a region settled by Persians in the west shore of Lake Urmia, in the 9th century BC. The settlement was then shifted to the end of the Zagros Mountains. In 1935, Reza Shah requested the international community to refer to the country by its native name, opposition to the name change led to the reversal of the decision, and Professor Ehsan Yarshater, editor of Encyclopædia Iranica, propagated a move to use Persia and Iran interchangeably
18.
Area
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Area is the quantity that expresses the extent of a two-dimensional figure or shape, or planar lamina, in the plane. Surface area is its analog on the surface of a three-dimensional object. It is the analog of the length of a curve or the volume of a solid. The area of a shape can be measured by comparing the shape to squares of a fixed size, in the International System of Units, the standard unit of area is the square metre, which is the area of a square whose sides are one metre long. A shape with an area of three square metres would have the area as three such squares. In mathematics, the square is defined to have area one. There are several formulas for the areas of simple shapes such as triangles, rectangles. Using these formulas, the area of any polygon can be found by dividing the polygon into triangles, for shapes with curved boundary, calculus is usually required to compute the area. Indeed, the problem of determining the area of plane figures was a motivation for the historical development of calculus. For a solid such as a sphere, cone, or cylinder. Formulas for the areas of simple shapes were computed by the ancient Greeks. Area plays an important role in modern mathematics, in addition to its obvious importance in geometry and calculus, area is related to the definition of determinants in linear algebra, and is a basic property of surfaces in differential geometry. In analysis, the area of a subset of the plane is defined using Lebesgue measure, in general, area in higher mathematics is seen as a special case of volume for two-dimensional regions. Area can be defined through the use of axioms, defining it as a function of a collection of certain plane figures to the set of real numbers and it can be proved that such a function exists. An approach to defining what is meant by area is through axioms, area can be defined as a function from a collection M of special kind of plane figures to the set of real numbers which satisfies the following properties, For all S in M, a ≥0. If S and T are in M then so are S ∪ T and S ∩ T, if S and T are in M with S ⊆ T then T − S is in M and a = a − a. If a set S is in M and S is congruent to T then T is also in M, every rectangle R is in M. If the rectangle has length h and breadth k then a = hk, let Q be a set enclosed between two step regions S and T
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Erbil
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Erbil, also spelt Arbil or Irbil, and also known as Hewler, is the capital city of Erbil Governorate and of Iraqi Kurdistan. It is located approximately 350 kilometres north of Baghdad and its governorate has a permanent population of approximately 1.61 million as of 2011. Human settlement at Erbil can be dated back to possibly 5000 BC, at the heart of the city is the ancient Citadel of Arbil. The earliest historical reference to the dates to the Ur III dynasty of Sumer, when king Shulgi mentioned the city of Urbilum. Following the Arab conquest of Persia, Assyria as a geo-political entity slowly dissolved, Erbils archaeological museum houses a large collection of pre-Islamic artefacts and is a centre for archaeological projects in the area. The city was designated as Arab Tourism Capital 2014 by the Arab Council of Tourism, in July 2014, Erbil Citadel was inscribed as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. The city has a diverse population of Kurds, the still extant Assyrians, Arabs, Armenians, Turcomans, Yezidis, Shabakis. It is equally religiously diverse, with believers of Sunni Islam, Sufi Islam, Shia Islam, Christianity, Yezidism, Yarsan, Shabakism and Mandeanism extant in, later, the Akkadians and Assyrians by a folk etymology rendered the name as arbaū ilū to mean four gods. The city became a centre for the worship of the Assyro-Babylonian goddess Ishtar, in classical times the city became known as Arbela, from the Syriac language and Assyrian Neo-Aramaic form of the name. In Old Persian the city was called Arbairā, today, the modern Kurdish name of the city, Hewlêr, appears to be a corruption of the name Arbel by a series of metatheses of consonants. Erbil is one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in history, the region in which Erbil lies was largely under Sumerian domination from c. Today the indigenous Assyrian people endure as a minority in northern Iraq, north east Syria, south east Turkey and north west Iran, the first mention of Erbil in literary sources comes from the archives of the east Semitic speaking kingdom of Ebla. They record two journeys to Erbil by a messenger from Ebla around 2300 BC, later, Erridupizir, king of the language isolate speaking kingdom of Gutium, captured the city in 2150 BC. The Neo-Sumerian ruler of Ur, Amar-Sin, sacked Urbilum in his second year, the Persian emperor Cyrus the Great occupied Assyria in 547 BC, and established it as an Achaemenid satrapy called in Old Persian Aθurā, with Arbela as the capital. The Battle of Gaugamela, in which Alexander the Great defeated Darius III of Persia in 331 BC, after the battle, Darius managed to flee to the city, and, somewhat inaccurately, the confrontation is sometimes known as the Battle of Arbela. Subsequently, Arbela was part of Alexanders Empire, after the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BCE, Arbela became part of the Hellenistic Seleucid Empire. Erbil became part of the region disputed between Rome and Persia under the Sasanids, the ancient Assyrian kingdom of Adiabene had its centre at Erbil, and the town and kingdom are known in Jewish Middle Eastern history for the conversion of the royal family to Judaism. During the Parthian era to early Sassanid era, Erbil became the capital of the Assyrian state of Adiabene, the metropolitanate of Ḥadyab in Arbela became a centre of eastern Syriac Christianity until late in the Middle Ages
20.
Kermanshah
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Kermanshah, the capital of Kermanshah Province, is located 525 kilometres from Tehran in the western part of Iran. According to the 2011 census, its population is 851,405, Kermanshah has a moderate and mountainous climate. Kermanshah is the largest Kurdish-speaking city in Iran, because of its antiquity, attractive landscapes, rich culture and Neolithic villages, Kermanshah is considered one of the cradles of prehistoric cultures. The Lower Paleolithic evidence consists of some found in the Gakia area to the east of the city. The Middle Paleolithic remains have been found in the vicinity of the city in Tang-e Kenesht. Neanderthal Man existed in the Kermanshah region during this period, the known Paleolithic caves in this area are Warwasi, Qobeh, Malaverd and Do-Ashkaft Cave. The region was one of the first places in which human settlements including Asiab, Qazanchi, Tappeh Sarab, Chia Jani. This is about the time that the first potteries pertaining to Iran were made in Ganj-Darreh, near present-day Harsin. P. was discovered in Sahneh. Remains of later village occupations and early Bronze Age are found in a number of sites in the city itself. In ancient Iranian mythology, construction of the city is attributed to Tahmuras and it is believed that the Sassanids have constructed Kermanshah and Bahram IV gave his name to this city. It was a city in Sassanid period about the 4th century AD when it became the capital city of Persian Empire. In AD226, following a war led by the Persian Emperor, Ardashir I, against Kurdish tribes in the region. At the time, the term Kurd was used as a term, designating Iranian nomads. The word became an identity in the 12th and 13th century. Within the dynasty known as the House of Kayus remained a semi-independent kingdom lasting until AD380 before Ardashir II removed the dynastys last ruling member, Kermanshah was conquered by the Arabs in AD640. Under Seljuk rule in the century, it became the major cultural and commercial center in western Iran. The Safavids fortified the town, and the Qajars repulsed an attack by the Ottomans during Fath Ali Shahs rule, Kermanshah was occupied by Ottomans between 1723–1729 and 1731-1732. Occupied by the Imperial Russian army in 1914, followed by the Ottoman army in 1915 during World War I, Kermanshah played an important role in the Iranian Constitutional Revolution during the Qajar dynasty period and the Republic Movement in Pahlavi dynasty period
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Kirkuk
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Kirkuk is an Iraqi city in northern Iraq,236 kilometres north of Baghdad and 83 kilometres south of Erbil. It is the capital of Kirkuk Governorate, Kirkuk lies in a wide zone with an enormously diverse population and has been multilingual for centuries. There were dramatic changes during Kirkuks urbanization in the twentieth century. Kurds, Turkmen, Arabs and Assyrians lay conflicting claims to this zone, the city sits on the ruins of the original Kirkuk Citadel, site of the ancient mid 3rd millennium BC, Assyrian city of Arrapha, and which sits near the Khasa River. The city is mentioned during the Sumero-Akkadian period of Assyria in cuneiform script from about 2400 BC, the region became a part of the Akkadian empire which united all of the Akkadian and Sumerian speaking Mesopotamians under one rule. Arrapha remained an important Assyrian city until the fall of the Assyrian empire between 615-599 BC, the Arab Islamic conquest of the 7th century AD saw the dissolution of Assyria as a geo-political entity. Kurds and Turkmens have claimed the city as a cultural capital and it was named the capital of Iraqi culture by the Iraqi ministry of culture in 2010. The city currently consists mainly of people who self-identify as Kurds, Arabs, with changes in population after the fall of Saddam Hussein, the US invasion, and the advent of Daesh The ancient name of Kirkuk was the Assyrian Arrapha. During the Parthian era, a Korkura/Corcura is mentioned by Ptolemy, since the Seleucid Empire it was known as Karkha D-Bet Slokh, which means Citadel of the House of Seleucid in Mesopotamian Aramaic, the lingua franca of the Fertile Crescent in that era. The region around Kirkuk was known historically in the Eastern Aramaic and it was one of a number of independent Neo-Assyrian states which flourished during the Parthian empire. Kirkuk itself was the Assyrian Karkha DBeth Slokh, the centre of Beth Garmai. It is also thought that region was known during the Parthian and Sassanid periods as Garmakan, which means the Land of Warmth or the Hot Land. In Persian Garm means warm, During the Seleucid period, the city was renamed after king Seleucus, Karkha d Beth Slokh, after the 7th century, Muslim writers used the name Kirkheni to refer to the city. Others used other variant, such as Bajermi (a corruption of Aramaic Bth Garmayeh or Jermakan, a cuneiform script found in 1927 at the foot of Kirkuk Citadel stated that the city of Erekha of Babylonia was on the site of Kirkuk. Other sources consider Erekha to have simply one part of the larger Arrapha metropolis. It is suggested that Kirkuk was one of the occupied by Neanderthals based on archeological findings in the Shanidar Cave settlement. A large amount of pottery dating to the Ubaid period were also excavated from several Tells in the city. Ancient Arrapkha was a part of Sargon of Akkads Akkadian Empire, later the city was occupied around 2150 BC by language Isolate speaking Zagros Mountains dwellers who were known as the Gutian people by the Semitic and Sumerian of Mesopotamians
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Sulaymaniyah
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Sulaymaniyah, also called Sulaimani or Slemani, is a city in Iraqi Kurdistan. Sulaymaniyah is surrounded by the Azmer Range, Goyija Range and the Qaiwan Range in the northeast, Baranan Mountain in the south, the city has a semi-arid climate with very hot dry summers and cool wet winters. Sulaymaniyah served as the capital of the historic Kurdish principality of Baban from 1784 to 1850, the modern city of Sulaymaniyah was founded on 14 November 1784 by the Kurdish prince Ibrahim Pasha Baban who named it after his father Sulaiman Pasha. From its foundation Sulaymaniyah was always a center of great poets, writers, historians, politicians, scholars and singers, such as Nalî, Mahwi, the region of Sulaymaniyah was known as Zamwa prior to the foundation of the modern city in 1784. The capital of the Kurdish Baban principality, before Sulaymaniyah was a territory named Qelaçiwalan, at the time of the Babanis rule there were major conflicts between the Safavid dynasty and the Ottoman Empire. Qelaçiwalan became a battleground for the two rivals and this obliged Mahmud Pasha of Baban in 1781 to think about moving the center of its Emirate to another safer place. He chose Melkendî, then a village but now a district in central Sulaymaniyah, to construct a number of Serahs for his political and armed units. In 1783, Ibrahim Pasha of Baban became ruler of the Emirate, soon Melkendî, which was originally intended to be the city itself, instead became one of its quarters and still is today. In the early 1800s refugees from Ardalan moved to Sulaymaniyah including Mastura Ardalan, the widow of Khasraw Khani Ardalan, Ardalan wrote an account of Kurdish history in Persian and was buried in Sulaymaniyah when he died in 1848. From 1922 to 1924, Sulaymaniyah was designated the capital of the Kingdom of Kurdistan, Ottoman documents from 1907 suggest that there were 8,702 Muslim and 360 non-Muslim residents living in the city at that time. The Peshkawtin newspaper which was distributed in Sulaymaniyah in 1920 estimated its population to be ten thousand. According to Iraqi government documents, by 1947 the number of residents had increased to 23,475, by 1998 to 548,747, the city is located in northern Iraq. Of the main centers in the country, it is characterized by its cooler summer temperatures. Average temperatures range from 0 °C to 39 °C, in the winters, there can be a significant amount of snow. Snow is not frequent in winter, but snow has fallen in Sulaymaniyah in January 2008, January 2010, February 2010, February 2011, March 2012, January 2013, köppen-Geiger climate classification system classifies its climate as hot-summer Mediterranean climate. Public education is free from school until graduation from university. The University of Sulaymaniyah was opened in 1968 with instruction in Kurdish, Arabic and it has faculties in engineering, agriculture, the arts, science, and medicine. It is the largest university in South Kurdistan, a new University of Sulaymaniyah was established in 1991, teaching in Kurdish, English and Arabic
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Urfa
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Şanlıurfa, pronounced, often simply known as Urfa or Al-Ruha, in ancient times Edessa, is a city with 561,465 inhabitants in south-eastern Turkey, and the capital of Şanlıurfa Province. It is a city with a primarily Arabic, Kurdish and Turkmen population, Urfa is situated on a plain about eighty kilometres east of the Euphrates River. Urfas climate features hot, dry summers and cool, moist winters. The city has been known by names in history, Ուռհա Uṙha in Armenian, ܐܘܪܗܝ Urhai in Syriac, الرها Ar-Ruhā in Arabic and Ορρα. For a while during the rule of Antiochus IV Epiphanes it was named Callirrhoe or Antiochia on the Callirhoe, during Byzantine rule it was named Justinopolis. Prior to Turkish rule, it was often best known by the name given it by the Seleucids, Ἔδεσσα, the title was achieved following repeated requests by the citys members of parliament, desirous to earn a title similar to those of neighbouring cities Gazi Antep and Kahraman Maraş. The history of Şanlıurfa is recorded from the 4th century BC, but may date back at least to 9000 BC, the city was one of several in the upper Euphrates-Tigris basin, the fertile crescent where agriculture began. According to Jewish and Muslim tradition, Urfa is Ur Kasdim and this identification was disputed by Leonard Woolley, the excavator of the Sumerian city of Ur in 1927 and scholars remain divided on the issue. Urfa is also one of cities that have traditions associated with Job. For the Armenians, Urfa is considered a place since it is believed that the Armenian alphabet was invented there. Although the site of Urfa has been inhabited since prehistoric times, islam had first arrived in Urfa around 638 AD, when the region surrendered to the Rashidun army without resisting, and had become a significant presence under the Ayyubids, Seljuks. Subsequently, Urfa was ruled by Zengids, Ayyubids, Sultanate of Rum, Ilkhanids, Memluks, Akkoyunlu, under the Ottomans Urfa was part of the Aleppo Vilayet. The area became a centre of trade in cotton, leather, there was a small but ancient Jewish community in Urfa, with a population of about 1,000 by the 19th century. Most of the Jews emigrated in 1896, fleeing the Hamidian massacres, there were three Christian communities, Syriac, Armenian, and Latin. According to Lord Kinross,8,000 Armenians were massacred in Urfa in 1895, the last Neo-Aramaic Christians left in 1924 and went to Aleppo. In 1914 Urfa was estimated to have 75,000 inhabitants,45,000 Muslims,25,000 Armenians and 5,000 Syriac/Assyrian Christians, there was also a Jewish presence in the town. During the First World War, Urfa was a site of the Armenian and Assyrian Genocides, by the end of the war, the entire Christian population had been killed, had fled, or was in hiding. The British occupation of the city of Urfa started de facto on 7 March 1919 and officially de jure as of 24 March 1919, and lasted until 30 October 1919
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Sanandaj
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Sanandaj pronunciation At the 2016 census, its population was 373,987 Sanandaj is the capital of Kordestan province at Iran. Sanandaj is the twenty-third largest city in Iran, Sanandaj is not old and was founded about 200 years ago, yet under its short existence it has grown to become a center of Kurdish culture. The population of Sanandaj is mainly Kurdish, the city also had an Armenian minority who gradually emigrated from the city. Until the Iranian Revolution, the city had a small Aramaic-speaking Jewish community of about 4,000 people, the city boasted a sizable Assyrian community that spoke a unique dialect of Aramaic called Senaya. The economy of Sanandaj is based upon the production of carpets, processed hides and skins, milled rice, refined sugar, woodworking, cotton weaving, metalware, the Ardalani dialect of Kurdish is spoken in Sanandaj and its surroundings. Ardalani dialect is distinct to Kurdistan province and is spoken in Sanandaj, the other important dialect of Sorani Kurdish is Mokriani which is spoken in Mokrian region in the cities of Piranshahr and Mahabad in West Azerbaijan province. Under the Iranian revolution Komalah took control over the city under a period of time. Famous Swedish economist and author of Kurdish Iranian origin Tino Sanandaji was born in Sanandaj, Sanandaj Sanandaj Online Community Islamic Azad University of sanandaj
25.
Van, Turkey
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Van is a city in eastern Turkeys Van Province, located on the eastern shore of Lake Van. The city has a history as a major urban area. It has been a city since the first millennium BC, initially as the capital of Urartu in the 9th century BC. It remained an important center of Armenian culture until the Armenian Genocide of 1915, today, Van has a Kurdish majority and a sizeable Turkish minority. The Van Central district stretches over 2,289 square kilometres, archaeological excavations and surveys carried out in Van province indicate that the history of human settlement in this region goes back at least as far as 5000 BC. The Tilkitepe Mound, which is on the shores of Lake Van, under the ancient name of Tushpa, Van was the capital of the Urartian kingdom in the 9th century BC. The early settlement was centered on the bluff now known as Van Castle, close to the edge of Lake Van. Here have been found Urartian cuneiform inscriptions dating to the 8th and 7th centuries BC, in the trilingual Behistun inscription, carved in the order of Darius the Great of Persia, the country referred to as Urartu in Babylonian is called Armenia in Old Persian. The name Van comes from the Urartian Biaina, the region came under the control of the Orontids in the 7th century BC and quickly later the Persians in the mid 6th century BC. The inscription survives in perfect condition and is divided into three columns of 27 lines written in Old Persian, Babylonian, and Elamite. In 331 BC, Van was conquered by Alexander the Great, by the early 2nd century BC it was part of the Kingdom of Armenia. It became an important center during the reign of the Armenian king, Tigranes II, in the early centuries BC, it fell to the emerging Arsacid dynasty of Parthia until the 3rd century AD. However, it fell once to the Arsacid Dynasty of Armenia in this timespan. In the History of Armenia attributed to Movses Khorenatsi, the city is called Tosp, following the fall of the Parthians and the emergence of the Neo-Persian Empire, better known as the Sassanian Empire, the town naturally fell into the possession of the latter. During the over 700 years lasting Roman-Persian Wars, some of the wars razed at or around the location of modern-day Van, decline in Arab power eventually allowed local Armenian rulers to re-emerge, with the Artsruni dynasty soon becoming the most powerful. Initially dependent on the rulers of the Kingdom of Ani, they declared their independence in 908, the kingdom had no specific capital, the court would move as the king transferred his residence from place to place, such as Van city, Vostan, Aghtamar, etc. In 1021 the last king of Vaspurakan, John-Senekerim Artsruni, ceded his kingdom to the Byzantine empire. Incursions by the Seljuk Turks into Vaspurakan started in the 1050s, after their victory in 1071 at the battle of Manzikert the entire region fell under their control
26.
Kurdish language
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Kurdish is a continuum of Northwestern Iranian languages spoken by the Kurds in Western Asia. Kurdish forms three dialect groups known as Northern Kurdish, Central Kurdish, and Southern Kurdish, a separate group of non-Kurdish Northwestern Iranian languages, the Zaza–Gorani languages, are also spoken by several million Kurds. Recent studies estimate between 8 to 20 million native Kurdish speakers in Turkey, the majority of the Kurds speak Northern Kurdish. The literary output in Kurdish was mostly confined to poetry until the early 20th century, today, there are two principal written Kurdish dialects, namely Northern Kurdish in the northern parts of the geographical region of Kurdistan and Central Kurdish further east and south. Central Kurdish is, along with Arabic, one of the two languages of Iraq and is in political documents simply referred to as Kurdish. The Kurdish languages belong to the Iranian branch of the Indo-European family and they are generally classified as Northwestern Iranian languages, or by some scholars as intermediate between Northwestern and Southwestern Iranian. Martin van Bruinessen notes that Kurdish has a strong south-western Iranian element, whereas Zaza, windfuhr identified Kurdish dialects as Parthian, albeit with a Median substratum. The most argued hypothesis on the localisation of the territory of the Kurds remains D. N. Mackenzies theory. He has tried to reconstruct the alleged Persian-Kurdish-Baluchi linguistic unity presumably in the parts of Iran. Kurdish is divided into three groups, where dialects from different groups are not mutually intelligible without acquired bilingualism, Northern Kurdish is the largest dialect group, spoken by an estimated 15 to 20 million Kurds in Turkey, Syria, northern Iraq and northwestern Iran. Central Kurdish is spoken by an estimated 6 to 7 million Kurds in much of Iraqi Kurdistan, Sorani is a written standard of Central Kurdish developed in the 1920s and was later adopted as the standard orthography of Kurdish as an official language of Iraq. Southern Kurdish is spoken by about 3 million Kurds in Kermanshah and Ilam provinces of Iran, in historical evolution terms, Kurmanji is less modified than Sorani and Pehlewani in both phonetic and morphological structure. The Kermanshahi group has influenced by among other things its closer cultural proximity to Persian. Philip G. Kreyenbroek, a writing in 1992, says. Sorani is normally written in a form of the Arabic script. Reasons for describing Kurmanji and Sorani as dialects of one language are their common origin, for example, Sorani has neither gender nor case-endings, whereas Kurmanji has both. Differences in vocabulary and pronunciation are not as great as between German and English, but they are still considerable, according to Encyclopaedia of Islam, although Kurdish is not a unified language, its many dialects are interrelated and at the same time distinguishable from other Western Iranian languages. The same source classifies different Kurdish dialects as two groups, northern and central
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Kurdish nationalism
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These territories lie in northern Iraq, northwestern Iran, eastern and southeastern Turkey, and northern Syria. Early Kurdish nationalism had its roots in the days of the Ottoman Empire, Kurdish nationalist movements have long been suppressed by Turkey, Iran and the Arab-majority states of Iraq and Syria, all of whom fear loss of territory to a potential independent Kurdistan. Since the 1970s, Iraqi Kurds have pursued the goal of greater autonomy and even outright independence against the Baath Party regimes, since the 1980s, the Kurdish-Turkish conflict led by Kurdish armed groups challenged the Turkish state, which responded with martial law. After the 2003 invasion of Iraq that ousted dictator Saddam Hussein, Iraqi Kurdistan became a region, enjoying a great measure of self-governance. Kurdish nationalism has long been espoused and promoted by the worldwide Kurdish diaspora, the Kurdish nationalist struggle first emerged in the late 19th century when a unified movement demanded the establishment of a Kurdish state. In 1880, Ubeydullah, demanded political autonomy or outright independence for Kurds, the uprising against Qajar Persia and the Ottoman Empire was ultimately suppressed by the Ottomans and Ubeydullah, along with other notables, were exiled to Istanbul. Western powers fighting the Turks also promised the Kurds they would act as guarantors for Kurdish freedom, one particular organization, the Kürdistan Teali Cemiyeti was central to the forging of a distinct Kurdish identity. While these researchers had ulterior political motives their findings were embraced, under the millet system, Kurds primary form of identification was religious with Sunni Islam being the top in the hierarchy. While the Ottoman Empire embarked on a modernization and centralization campaign known as the Tanzimat, Kurdish regions retained much of their autonomy, the Sublime Porte made little attempt to alter the traditional power structure of segmented, agrarian Kurdish societies – agha, sheikh, and tribal chief. This bolstered the Kurds authority and autonomy, for instance, the Ottoman qadi, in 1908, the Young Turks come to power asserting a radical form of Turkish ethnic identity and closed Ottoman associations and non-Turkish schools. At the end of World War I, Kurds still had the right to conduct their affairs in Kurdish, celebrate unique traditions. The once politically unified Ottoman Kurdistan was then divided into the different administrative and political systems in Iraq, Turkey, equal citizenship rights were enshrined in Turkeys 1920 Provisional Constitution. Article 8 asserted that the country was composed of both Turks and Kurds but under the law they would be treated as common citizens, however, the 1923 formation of the Republic of Turkey marked the beginning of continuing period of reduced civic rights for Kurds. The Caliphate was abolished a year later as well as all public expressions and institutions of Kurdish identity, Kurdish madrassas, newspapers, religious fraternal organizations, and associations were shut down. Kurdish regions were placed under martial law and the use of the Kurdish language, dress, folklore and it was this continued repression that led to reemergence of Kurdish nationalism in the 1960s and 1970s. During this period the primary goal of the movement was to resolve its grievances with the Turkish government through legitimate channels, civic rights were temporarily improved with the Turkish Constitution of 1961 which allowed freedom of expression, the press, and association for Kurds. The 1964 Political Parties Act criminalized Kurdish political parties and the acknowledgment of the existence of different languages and races in Turkey, the 1972 Law of Association further restricted rights to association and political organization. The failure to address the Kurdish grievances throughout the 1960s and 1970s led to alternate avenues of resolution, in 1984 the Kurdistan Workers Party started a guerrilla insurgency against the Turkish Republic
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Taurus Mountains
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The Taurus Mountains are a mountain complex in southern Turkey, dividing the Mediterranean coastal region of southern Turkey from the central Anatolian Plateau. The system extends along a curve from Lake Eğirdir in the west to the reaches of the Euphrates. It is a part of the Alpide belt in Eurasia, the mountains are a place of many ancient storm-god temples. The Hurrians, probably originators of the various storm-gods of the ancient Near East, were a people whom modern scholars place in the Taurus Mountains at their probable earliest origins, a Bronze Age archaeological site, where early evidence of tin mining was found, is at Kestel. The pass known in antiquity as the Cilician Gates crosses the north of Tarsus. The Amanus range in southern Turkey is where the Taurus Mountains are pushed up as three tectonic plates come together, the Amanus is a natural frontier, west is Cilicia, east is Syria. There are several passes, like the Amanian Gate, which are of great strategical importance, in 333 BCE at the Battle of Issus, Alexander the Great defeated Darius III Codomannus on the foothills along the coast between these two passes. During World War I, the German and Turkish railway system through the Taurus Mountains proved to be a strategic objective of the Allies. This region was mentioned as a strategically controlled objective slated for surrender to the Allies in the Armistice. In the Aladaglar and Bolkar mountains, limestone has eroded to form karstic landscapes of waterfalls, underground rivers, the Manavgat River originates on the southern slopes of the Beydaglari range. The Varda Viaduct, situated on the railway lines Konya-Adana at Hacıkırı village in Adana Province, is a 98 m high railway bridge constructed in the 1910s by Germans, west Taurus and Taurus Mountains form an arc around the Gulf of Antalya. The East Taşeli Plateau and Goksu River divide it from the Central Taurus Mountains and it has many peaks rising above 3, 000–3,700 m. They are also the source of the Euphrates River and Tigris River, map of Eurasia showing Taurus Mountain ranges
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Nation state
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A state is specifically a political and geopolitical entity, whilst a nation is a cultural and ethnic one. The term nation state implies that the two coincide, in that a state has chosen to adopt and endorse a specific cultural group as associated with it. The concept of a state can be compared and contrasted with that of the multinational state, city state, empire, confederation. The key distinction is the identification of a people with a polity in the nation state, the origins and early history of nation states are disputed. A major theoretical question is, Which came first, the nation or the nation state and it was with these intellectual discoveries and technological advances that the nation state arose. For others, the nation existed first, then nationalist movements arose for sovereignty, some modernization theories of nationalism see it as a product of government policies to unify and modernize an already existing state. Most theories see the state as a 19th-century European phenomenon, facilitated by developments such as state-mandated education, mass literacy. However, historians note the early emergence of a relatively unified state and identity in Portugal. In France, Eric Hobsbawm argues, the French state preceded the formation of the French people, Hobsbawm considers that the state made the French nation, not French nationalism, which emerged at the end of the 19th century, the time of the Dreyfus Affair. At the time of the 1789 French Revolution, only half of the French people spoke some French, during the Italian unification, the number of people speaking the Italian language was even lower. The French state promoted the unification of various dialects and languages into the French language, the introduction of conscription and the Third Republics 1880s laws on public instruction, facilitated the creation of a national identity, under this theory. Some nation states, such as Germany and Italy, came into existence at least partly as a result of campaigns by nationalists. In both cases, the territory was divided among other states, some of them very small. The sense of identity was at first a cultural movement, such as in the Völkisch movement in German-speaking states. In these cases, the nationalist sentiment and the nationalist movement clearly precede the unification of the German and Italian nation states, some authors deconstruct the distinction between ethnic nationalism and civic nationalism because of the ambiguity of the concepts. They argue that the case of Ernest Renan is an idealisation and it should be interpreted within the German tradition. For example, they argue that the used by Renan at the conference What is a nation. Are not consistent with his thinking and this alleged civic conception of the nation would be determined only by the case of the loss gives Alsace and Lorraine in the Franco-Prussian War
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Kurdistan Province
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The province of Kurdistan is 28,817 km² in area which encompasses just one-fourth of the Kurdish inhabited areas of Iran or Iranian Kurdistan. It is located in the west of Iran, in Region 3, and bound by Iraq on the west, the capital of Kurdistan Province is the city of Sanandaj. Other counties with their cities are Marivan, Baneh, Saqqez, Qorveh, Piranshahr, Bijar, Kamyaran, Dehgolan, Diwandarreh. The mountainous lands of this area first encouraged Iranian-speaking tribes to settle in this region after their immigration to Iran. It was from here where the first plan to overthrow the Assyrian Empire began, leading to their defeat in 612 BCE, during the next few hundred years, the area of present-day Kurdistan Province became the arena of conflict between various invaders, including the Mongols and Timurids. Its steady decline began in the 16th century, when sea traffic replaced the famous Silk Road and it remained the capital for nearly one-and-a-half centuries, until, in 1372 CE, the government moved to Hassanabad fort,6 km south of Sanandaj. Around 14th century, people from Ardalan tribe established themselves in Sinne as the rulers of this region, according to Sharafnama written by Sharaf al-Din Bitlisi, the earliest known leader of the tribe, Bawa Ardalan, was a descendant of Ahmad bin Marwan, who ruled in Diyarbakır. He settled down among the Gorani people in Kurdistan and toward the end of the Mongol period took over the Şare Zor region and he is considered to be the founder of the Ardalan principality. The territories of Zardiawa, Khanaqin, Kirkuk, and Kifri, the capital city of the principality was first in Sharazor, but was moved to Sinne later on. During the reign of Shah Ismail I, the founder of Safavid dynasty, when Soleiman Khan Ardalan came to power in 1630 CE, the throne was transferred to Sanandaj, and, from then on, the rulers contributed to the flourishing and development of the area. The Ardalan Dynasty continued to rule the region until the Qajar monarch Nasser-al-Din Shah ended their rule in 1867 CE, Kurdistan Province is a mountainous region that can be topographically divided into a western and an eastern section at Sanandaj. As a result of its elevation and mountains, Kurdistan province has many rivers, lakes, glaciers and caves, consequently, Kurdistan has always attracted a large number of tourists and fans of mountaineering, ski and water-sports. The Zarrineh River,302 km long, is one of the longest rivers of this province and its banks offer great opportunities for recreation and the rivers plentiful water renders itself ideal for water sports. This river runs northwards and ultimately pours into Lake Urmia, the Sirvan River is another prominent river in this province. It runs over a distance, eventually to join the Tigris in Iraq. The banks of river are remarkably attractive. The Simineh River is also an important river in this province, a large number of marine species and birds live on the banks of the provinces numerous rivers which they seem to find ideal habitats. Lake Zarivar is the most beautiful water-way of the province, which lies at the feet to high mountains, the lake has a maximum depth of 50 m and an average depth of 3 m
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Syrian Civil War
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The Syrian Civil War is an armed conflict taking place in Syria. Syrian opposition groups formed the Free Syrian Army and seized control of the area surrounding Aleppo, over time, some factions of the Syrian opposition split from their original moderate position to pursue an Islamist vision for Syria, joining groups such as al-Nusra Front and ISIL. In 2015, the Yekîneyên Parastina Gel joined forces with Arab, Assyrian, Armenian, Russia and Hezbollah militarily engaged in support of the Syrian government, while beginning in 2014, a coalition of NATO countries began launching airstrikes against ISIL. International organizations have accused the Syrian government, ISIL, and some groups of severe human rights violations. The conflict has caused a major refugee crisis, over the course of the war a number of peace initiatives have been launched, including the March 2017 Geneva peace talks on Syria led by the United Nations, but fighting continues. Syria became an independent republic in 1946, although democratic rule ended with a coup in March 1949, a popular uprising against military rule in 1954 saw the army transfer power to civilians. From 1958 to 1961, a union with Egypt replaced Syrias parliamentary system with a highly centralized presidential government. The secular Baath Syrian Regional Branch government came to power through a successful coup détat in 1963, for the next several years Syria went through additional coups and changes in leadership. In March 1971, Hafez al-Assad, an Alawite, declared himself President, on 31 January 1973, Hafez al-Assad implemented a new constitution, which led to a national crisis. They labeled Assad the enemy of Allah and called for a jihad against his rule, the government survived a series of armed revolts by Sunni Islamists, mainly members of the Muslim Brotherhood, from 1976 until 1982. Upon Hafez al-Assads death in 2000, his son Bashar al-Assad was elected as President of Syria, Bashar al-Assad and his wife Asma, a Sunni Muslim born and educated in Britain, initially inspired hopes for democratic reforms. The Damascus Spring, a period of social and political debate, the Damascus Spring largely ended in August 2001 with the arrest and imprisonment of ten leading activists who had called for democratic elections and a campaign of civil disobedience. In the opinion of his critics, Bashar al-Assad had failed to deliver on promised reforms, Syrian Arabs, together with some 600,000 Palestinian Arabs, make up roughly 74 percent of the population. Syria Muslims are 74 percent Sunnis, and 13 percent Shias,3 percent were Druze, not all of the Sunnis are Arabs. Bashar is married to a Sunni, with whom he has several children and he is affiliated with the sect that his parents belong to, the minority Alawite sect which comprises an estimated 8-12 percent of the total population. Assyrians, an indigenous Eastern Aramaic-speaking Christian Semitic people, numbering approximately 500,000, are mainly in northeast Syria. A larger population lives over the border in northern Iraq, other ethnic groups include Armenians, Circassians, Turkmens, Greeks, Mhallami, Kawliya, Yezidi, Shabaks, and Mandeans. Socioeconomic inequality increased significantly after free market policies were initiated by Hafez al-Assad in his later years, the country also faced particularly high youth unemployment rates
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Bashar al-Assad
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Bashar Hafez al-Assad is the 19th and current President of Syria, holding the office since 17 July 2000. He is also commander-in-chief of the Syrian Armed Forces, General Secretary of the ruling Arab Socialist Baath Party and he is a son of Hafez al-Assad, who was President of Syria from 1971 to 2000. Born and raised in Damascus, Assad graduated from the school of Damascus University in 1988. Four years later, he attended postgraduate studies at the Western Eye Hospital in London, in 1994, after his elder brother Bassel died in a car crash, Bashar was recalled to Syria to take over Bassels role as heir apparent. He entered the academy, taking charge of the Syrian occupation of Lebanon in 1998. On 10 July 2000, Assad was elected as President, succeeding his father, in the 2000 and subsequent 2007 election, he received 99. 7% and 97. 6% support, respectively, in referendums on his leadership. On 16 July 2014, Assad was sworn in for another term after taking 88. 7% of votes in the first contested presidential election in Baathist Syrias history. The Assad government describes itself as secular, while some claim that the government exploits sectarian tensions in the country. During the Syrian Civil War, an inquiry by the United Nations reported finding evidence which implicated Assad in war crimes, in June 2014, Assad was included in a list of war crimes indictments of government officials and rebels handed to the International Criminal Court. Assad has rejected allegations of war crimes, and criticised the American-led intervention in Syria for attempting regime change, however, after the election of Donald Trump, the priority of the United States concerning Assad is to no longer force him out of power. Bashar Hafez al-Assad was born in Damascus on 11 September 1965, al-Assad in Arabic means the Lion, Assads peasant paternal grandfather had changed the family name from Wahsh upon acquiring minor noble status in 1927. Hafez promoted his supporters within the Baath Party, many of whom were also of Alawite background, after the coup, Alawite strongmen were installed while Sunnis, Druzes and Ismailis were purged from the army and Baath party. Assad had five siblings, three of whom are deceased, a sister named Bushra died in infancy. Assads youngest brother, Majd, was not a figure and little is known about him other than he was intellectually disabled. Unlike his brothers Bassel and Maher, and second sister, also named Bushra, Bashar was quiet, reserved and lacked interest in politics or the military. The Assad children reportedly rarely saw their father, and Bashar later stated that he entered his fathers office once while he was president. Assad received his primary and secondary education in the Arab-French al-Hurriya School in Damascus, in 1982, he graduated from high school and went on to study medicine at Damascus University. In 1988, Assad graduated from school and began working as an army doctor at the Tishrin military hospital on the outskirts of Damascus
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History of the Kurds
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The Kurds also the Kurdish people are a Northwestern Iranic ethnic group in the Middle East. They have historically inhabited the areas to the South of Lake Van and Lake Urmia. Most Kurds speak Northern Kurdish or Sorani, which belong to the Kurdish languages. There are various hypotheses as to predecessor populations of the Kurds, the earliest known Kurdish dynasties under Islamic rule are the Hasanwayhids, the Marwanids, the Rawadids, the Shaddadids, followed by the Ayyubid dynasty founded by Saladin. The Battle of Chaldiran of 1514 is an important turning point in Kurdish history, the Sharafnameh of 1597 is the first account of Kurdish history. Kurdish history in the 20th century is marked by a sense of Kurdish nationhood focused on the goal of an independent Kurdistan as scheduled by the Treaty of Sèvres in 1920. There are different theories about the origin of name Kurd, according to one theory, it originates in Middle Persian as kwrt-, a term for nomad, tent-dweller. After the Muslim conquest of Persia, this term is adopted into Arabic as kurd-, the ethnonym Kurd may ultimately derive from an ancient toponym in the upper Tigris basin. According to the English Orientalist Godfrey Rolles Driver, the term Kurd is related to the Sumerian Karda which was found from Sumerian clay tablets of the third millennium B. C and this view is supported by some recent academic sources which have considered Corduene as proto-Kurdish region. Alternatively, kwrt- may be a derivation from the name of the Cyrtii tribe instead, sherefxan Bidlisi in the 16th century states that there are four division of Kurds, Kurmanj, Lur, Kalhor and Guran, each of which speak a different dialect or language variation. Kurdish is a language of the Northwestern Iranian group which has separated from the other dialects of Central Iran during the early centuries AD. Kurdish has in turn emerged as a group within Northwest Iranian during the Medieval Period, the Kurdish people are believed to be of heterogeneous origins combining a number of earlier tribal or ethnic groups including Lullubi, Guti, Cyrtians, Carduchi. The most argued hypothesis on the localisation of the territory of the Kurds remains D. N. Mackenzies theory. He has tried to reconstruct such a Persian-Kurdish-Baluchi linguistic unity presumably in the parts of Iran. In 641 AD, Arab commander Utba ibn Farqad conquered Kurdish forts of Adiabene, around this time, Kurds lived a partly sedentary life and raised sheep and cattle in the regions of Beth Begash and Beth Kartewaye above Arbil in Adiabene. In 696, Kurds joined the Khariji revolt near Hulwan, under the caliphs of Baghdad there were numerous uprisings. Al-Dinawari, from Dinawar near Kermanshah, lived in this period, there is no consensus regarding his ethnic background among scholars, some say he was Persian or Kurdish, while others indicate he was an Arab. A Kurd named Nasr or Narseh converted to Christianity, and changed his name to Theophobos during the reign of Emperor Theophilus and was the intimate friend
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Kurdish population
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The Kurdish people live in the historical Kurdistan region, which today is split between Iran, Iraq, Turkey, and Syria. The estimated population is 35 million, recent emigration has resulted in a Kurdish diaspora of about 1.5 million people, about half of them in Germany. This groups population was estimated at close to 0.4 million in 1990, the bulk of Kurdish groups in Kurdistan are Sunni, but there are significant minorities adhering to Shia Islam, Yazidism, Yarsanism, Christianity and Judaism. According to a report by Turkish agency KONDA, in 2006, out of the population of 73 million people in Turkey there were 11.4 million Kurds. The Turkish newspaper Milliyet has reported in 2008 that the Kurdish population in Turkey is 12.6 million, According to the World Factbook, Kurdish people make up 18% of Turkeys population. Kurdish sources put the figure at 10 to 15 million Kurds in Turkey, Kurds mostly live in southeastern and eastern parts of Anatolia. But large Kurdish populations can be found in western Turkey due to internal migration, According to Rüstem Erkan, Istanbul is the province with the largest Kurdish population in Turkey. From the 7 million Iranian Kurds, a significant portion are Sunni, Shia Kurds inhabit Kermanshah Province, except for those parts where people are Jaff, and Ilam Province Province, as well as some parts of Kurdistan, Hamadan and Zanjan provinces. The Kurds of Khorasan Province in northeastern Iran are also adherents of Shia Islam, during the Shia revolution in Iran the major Kurdish political parties were unsuccessful in absorbing Shia Kurds, who at that period had no interest in autonomy. However, since the 1990s Kurdish nationalism has seeped into the Shia Kurdish area partly due to outrage against governments violent suppression of Kurds farther north, Kurds constitute approximately 17% of Iraqs population. They are the majority in at least three provinces in northern Iraq which are known as Iraqi Kurdistan. Kurds also have a presence in Kirkuk, Mosul, Khanaqin, around 300,000 Kurds live in the Iraqi capital Baghdad,50,000 in the city of Mosul and around 100,000 elsewhere in southern Iraq. Kurds led by Mustafa Barzani were engaged in fighting against successive Iraqi regimes from 1960 to 1975. In March 1970, Iraq announced a plan providing for Kurdish autonomy. The plan was to be implemented in four years, however, at the same time, the Iraqi regime started an Arabization program in the oil-rich regions of Kirkuk and Khanaqin. The peace agreement did not last long, and in 1974, moreover, in March 1975, Iraq and Iran signed the Algiers Accord, according to which Iran cut supplies to Iraqi Kurds. Iraq started another wave of Arabization by moving Arabs to the oil fields in Kurdistan, between 1975 and 1978,200,000 Kurds were deported to other parts of Iraq. Kurds are the largest ethnic minority in Syria and make up nine percent of the countrys population, Syrian Kurds have faced routine discrimination and harassment by the government
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Kurds in Armenia
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The Kurds in Armenia mainly live in the western parts of Armenia. The Kurds of the former Soviet Union first began writing Kurdish in the Armenian alphabet in the 1920s, followed by Latin in 1927, then Cyrillic in 1945, the Kurds in Armenia established a Kurdish radio broadcast from Yerevan and the first Kurdish newspaper Rya Taza. There is a Kurdish Department in the Yerevan State Institute of Oriental studies, during the Soviet period a large number of Kurdish literature was published in Armenia, national schools and radio were opened. According to the Great Soviet Encyclopedia, the Soviet Armenia was the center of Kurdish literature. In 1925 more than fifty schools were opened for the Kurds of Armenia, during the period of stalinism in 1937, the Kurds in Armenia became victims of forced migration, thousands of Kurds were forcibly deported from Armenia. According to the director of the Center of Kurdish research, the situation with Kurds in Armenia today is normal, in the period between 1992-94 the Kurdish population of Lachin and Kelbajar districts of Azerbaijan was forced to flee due to Armenian invasion during the Nagorno-Karabakh War. Armenia has effectively occupied the former region Red Kurdistan as it is used as a land corridor that connects Armenia with the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic. Prominent Armenian composer Komitas notated many Kurdish folk songs included Lur dalur, Komitas was a guest of Hasan-agha in Aslan village, where he participated at the Kurdish evenings. Komitas loved the Kurdish popular art and in 1897 he made a research at Frederick William University. Armenian writer Vrtanes Papazian translated the legend of Lur dalur into Armenian, Armenian poet Hovhannes Shiraz used the motives of Kurdish legend in his famous poem Siamanto and Khjezare. Najm ad-Din Ayyub and his brother, Shirkuh, who were born near the ancient city of Dvin, ayyubs son, Saladin would establish a dynasty under his fathers name and led the Islamic opposition to the Franks and other European Crusaders in the Levant
36.
Kurds in Australia
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Kurdish Australians refers to Australians of Kurdish origin or descent. Approximately 7,000 people in Australia claim to be of Kurdish ancestry, in Australia, Kurdish migrants first arrived in the second half of the 1960s, mainly from Turkey. In the late 1970s families from Syria and Lebanon were also present in Australia, since the second half of the 1980s, the majority of Kurds arriving in Australia have been from Iraq and Iran, many of them were accepted under the Humanitarian Programme. However, Kurds from Lebanon, Armenia and Georgia have also migrated to Australia, the majority live in Melbourne and Sydney. Assyrian Australians Iranian Australians Turkish Australians Iraqi Australians Syrian Australians
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Kurds in Azerbaijan
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Kurds settled what is now Azerbaijan in waves at various times beginning in the ninth century. Safavids resettled Shia Kurds where borders of the regions of Karabakh. In the eighteenth century, many Kurdish tribes had formed unions with Azeris in Karabakh lowlands. Nineteenth-century Russian historian Peter Budkov mentioned that in 1728, groups of Kurds, in 1807, amidst the Russo-Persian War over the South Caucasus, a tribe chief by the name of Mehmed Sefi Sultan moved from Persian to the Karabakh khanate followed by 600 Kurdish families. By the second half of the century, Kurds were found in large numbers in the uyezds of Zangezur, Javanshir. In 1886, they constituted 4. 68% of the population of the Elisabethpol Governorate, small populations of Kurds were also found in the uyezds of Nakhchivan, Sharur-Daralagoz and Aresh. The Kurdish population of the South Caucasus was prone to internal immigration, common religion and shared elements of culture led to rapid assimilation of Azerbaijans Kurdish population already by the end of the nineteenth century. Statistical data from 1886 shows that Kurds of Jabrayil, Arash, according to the first Soviet census of 1926, only 3,100 of Azerbaijans Kurdish population spoke Kurdish. According to the 1926 census, 73% of its population was Kurdish, in 1930 it was abolished and most remaining Kurds were progressively recategorized as Azerbaijani. In the 1930s, a traditional Kurdish puppet theatre kilim arasi in Aghjakand, Soviet authorities deported most of the Kurdish population of Azerbaijan and Armenia to Kazakhstan in 1937, and Kurds of Georgia in 1944. Starting from 1961, there were efforts by deportees for the restoration of their rights, spearheaded by Mehmet Babayev who lived in Baku, Kurds continued to assimilate into the dominant culture of the neighbouring Azeris. Historically mixed Azeri-Kurdish marriages were commonplace, however the Kurdish language was passed on to the children in such marriages. The Nagorno-Karabakh War between Armenia and Azerbaijan spilled across the region of Nagorno-Karabakh into the traditionally Kurdish populated areas in both of these countries, in 1992–1993, Armenian troops advanced into Kalbajar, Lachin, Qubadli and Zangilan, forcing all the non-Armenian civilian population out. As much as 80% of the Kurdish population of those settled in IDP camps in Aghjabadi. Shamil Asgarov, poet and folklorist Suleyman Rahimov, writer Nurmammad bey Shahsuvarov, Minister of Education and Religious Affairs Khosrov bey Sultanov, Minister of Defence
38.
Kurds in Canada
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Kurdish Canadians may refer to people born in or residing in Canada of Kurdish origin. In Canada, Kurdish immigration was largely the result of the Iran–Iraq War, thus, many Iraqi Kurds immigrated to Canada due to the constant wars and suppression of Kurds and Shiites by the Iraqi government. Like all Canadians with origins in West Asia, Kurdish Canadians are legally defined as a visible minority, Kurdish population Assyrians in Canada Iraqi Canadians Iranian Canadians Turkish Canadians
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Kurds in France
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Kurds in France may refer to people born in or residing in France of full or partial Kurdish origin. There is a large Kurdish community in France, numbering around 150,000 people and this makes the Kurdish community in France the second largest Kurdish community in the Kurdish diaspora, after Germany. In France, Kurdish immigrant workers from Turkey first arrived in the half of the 1960s. In October 2014, Kurds in France and other European countries marched in protest over the ISIS offensive on the Syrian town of Ayn al-Arab, on 25 July 2015, Kurds in France march in Paris to protest Turkish Army airstrikes on Kurdish party PKK. Amira Casar Lila Azam Zanganeh Zana Allée Yazidis in France
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Kurds in Georgia
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Georgian Kurds are members of the eponymous ethnic group that are citizens of Georgia. In the 20th century, most Kurds fled religious persecution in the Ottoman Empire to the Russian Empire, the Kurds also have their own schools, school books and a printing press in Georgia. Illiteracy among them disappeared in the early 1900s, Kurds in Georgia are politically neutral, however, in 1999 they staged a huge demonstration in Tbilisi, demanding the release of the founder of the Kurdistan Workers Party, Abdullah Öcalan. Kurds in Georgia today use Cyrillic script, earlier, in the 1920s, they used the Latin script. The first Kurds came to Georgia during the reign of George III in the 12th century, Kurdish tribes appeared in Georgia in the 16th century in the city of Mtskheta. During the 18th century, Kurds arrived in Tbilisi to get assistance from King Erekle II of the Kingdom of Kakheti during the Kurdish liberation in Turkey, when Russia and Iran signed the Treaty of Turkmenchay in 1828, Kurds got the opportunity to work in Georgia. Most Kurds left Van and Kars for Georgia in 1918 after Turkey oppressed them politically and religiously, the Kurds of Georgia also became victims of Stalin’s purges in 1944. Between 1979 and 1989, the Kurdish population in Georgia increased 30%, when Georgia became independent, the Kurdish population in Georgia decreased. David Comas and colleagues found that mitochondrial sequence pools in Georgians and Kurds are very similar, both populations present mtDNA lineages that clearly belong to the Western Eurasian gene pool. These similarities are trivial at best, however, considering similar mtDNA can even be found between populations in France and India, Kurdish population Yazidis in Georgia Wikileaks. Cable 08TBILISI516, Meeting with Union of Kurds of Georgia
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Kurds in Germany
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Kurds in Germany may refer to people born in or residing in Germany of full or partial Kurdish origin. There is a large Kurdish community in Germany, numbering around 650 and this makes the Kurdish community in Germany the largest Kurdish community in the Kurdish diaspora. In addition, most probably the Kurdish community in Germany is expanding as a result of the turmoil in Syria, in Germany, Kurdish immigrant workers from Turkey first arrived in the second half of the 1960s. Hatun Sürücü was murdered at the age of 23 in Berlin, by her own youngest brother, the incident was widely debated and led to demonstrations against gender violence across Germany. In October 2014, Kurds in Germany marched in protest over the ISIS offensive on the Syrian town of Ayn al-Arab, on 8 August 2015, thousands of Kurds in Germany marched against Turkish Army air strikes on the Kurdish PKK. According to the German authorities, there were 8 Russian,57 Turkish,11 Lithuanian and 4 Kurdish gangs in 2013, the group is not well known and its existence is controversial. Other Kurdish motorcycle club and gangs include Median Empire and Red Legion, hatun Sürücü was murdered at the age of 23 in Berlin, by her own youngest brother, in an honor killing. In a well-known case, Eren T. killed his pregnant girlfriend in Berlin, in 2016 a Kurdish woman was shot dead at her wedding in Hannover for refusing to marry her cousin in a forced marriage
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Kurdish Jews in Israel
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Kurdish Jews in Israel are immigrants and descendants of the immigrants of the Kurdish Jewish communities, who now reside within the state of Israel. The thriving period of Safed however ended in 1660, with Druze power struggles in the region, since the early 20th century some Kurdish Jews had been active in the Zionist movement. One of the most famous members of Lehi was Moshe Barazani, whose family immigrated from Iraqi Kurdistan, the vast majority of Kurdish Jews were forced out of Northern Iraq, being evacuated to Israel in the early 1950s, together with other Iraqi Jewish community. The vast majority of the Kurdish Jews of Iranian Kurdistan relocated mostly to Israel as well, the Times of Israel reported on September 30,2013, Today, there are almost 200,000 Kurdish Jews in Israel, about half of whom live in Jerusalem. There are also over 30 agricultural villages throughout the country that were founded by Kurdish Jews, Today, the large majority of the Jews of Kurdistan and their descendants live in Israel
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Kurds in Japan
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Kurds in Japan refers to Kurdish people residing in Japan. Most Kurds in Japan are from shepherding villages in Southeast Turkey and reside in the Warabi and Kawaguchi areas of Saitama Prefecture, north of Tokyo. Warabi, especially, has been nicknamed Warabistan by those who are interested in Kurdish people, culture, a documentary directed by Masaru Nomoto entitled Backdrop Kurdistan documented the legal struggles of one Kurdish family from Kahramanmaraş Province. A clash took place outside the Turkish embassy in Tokyo between Kurds and Turks in Japan, japanese and Kurdish sources claimed the clash began when the Turks assaulted the Kurds after a Kurdish party flag was shown at the embassy. Kurdish diaspora Newroz Turks in Japan Newroz New Year celebration in Japan
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listen); lit. "homeland of the Kurds")[4] or Greater Kurdistan is a roughly defined geo-cultural historical region wherein the Kurdish people form a prominent majority population[5] and Kurdish culture, languages and national identity have historically been based.[6] Kurdistan roughly encompasses the northwestern Zagros and the eastern Taurus mountain ranges.[7] The territory corresponds to Kurdish irredentist claims.
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Media related to Kurdistan at Wikimedia Commons
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