1.
Geographic coordinate system
–
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
Geographic coordinate system
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Longitude lines are perpendicular and latitude lines are parallel to the equator.
2.
Kurdish people
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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 to 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
Kurdish people
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Kurdish-inhabited areas in the
Middle East (1992)
Kurdish people
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Map of the
Kurdish languages (2007)
Kurdish people
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Ṣalāḥ ad-Dīn Yūsuf ibn Ayyūb, or
Saladin, founder of the
Ayyubid dynasty in Egypt and Syria
Kurdish people
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Karim Khan, the Laki ruler of the Zand Dynasty
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
Kurdish languages
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Road signs near
Diyarbakır showing the place names in Turkish and Kurdish
Kurdish languages
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Map of Kurdish-speaking areas of the Middle East
Kurdish languages
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Kurdish restaurant sign written in
Arabic script
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
Upper Mesopotamia
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Monumental stone buildings at
Göbekli Tepe, ca. 9000 BC
Upper Mesopotamia
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Al-Jazira—Upper Mesopotamia Region, within the
Middle East.
Upper Mesopotamia
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Uruk period (ca. 4000 to 3100 BCE).
Upper Mesopotamia
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Geography
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
Zagros Mountains
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The Zagros Mountains from space, September 1992
Zagros Mountains
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SRTM Shaded Relief Anaglyph of Zagros Mountains
Zagros Mountains
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Zagros Folded Zone
Zagros Mountains
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Oshtoran Kooh Mountain
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
Eastern Anatolia Region
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1895 map making a clear distinction between Armenia and Anatolia
Eastern Anatolia Region
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View of
Mount Ararat from
Iğdır
Eastern Anatolia Region
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Cumhuriyet Avenue,
Erzurum.
Eastern Anatolia Region
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Çifte Minareli Medrese is an architectural monument of the late
Seljuk period in the city of
Erzurum
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
Armenian Highlands
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The Armenian Mountain Range near the Turkey-Iran border
Armenian Highlands
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Satellite image
Armenian Highlands
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Political map of the region, CIA, 2002
Armenian Highlands
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The natural borders of the Armenian plateau according to
H. F. B. Lynch, 1901
8.
Southeastern Anatolia
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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
Southeastern Anatolia
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Gaziantep Castle
Southeastern Anatolia
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Southeastern Anatolia Region Güneydoğu Anadolu Bölgesi
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
Syria
–
Female figurine, 5000 BC.
Ancient Orient Museum.
Syria
–
Flag
Syria
–
God head, the kingdom of
Yamhad (c. 1600 BC)
Syria
–
Ebla royal palace c. 2400 BC
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
Iraq
–
Cylinder Seal, Old Babylonian Period, c.1800 BCE,
hematite. The king makes an animal offering to
Shamash. This seal was probably made in a workshop at
Sippar.
Iraq
–
Flag
Iraq
–
Victory stele of
Naram-Sin of Akkad
Iraq
–
Bill of sale of a male slave and a building in
Shuruppak, Sumerian tablet, circa 2600 BCE
11.
Iranian Plateau
–
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
Iranian Plateau
–
Closeup of the boundaries with the Eurasian, Arabian and Indian plates.
Iranian Plateau
–
Topographic map of the Iranian plateau connecting to
Anatolia in the west and
Hindu Kush and
Himalaya in the east. The
Caspian Sea is absent from the topographic rendering. It is located in what appears here as the flatland depression directly north of the
Persian Gulf at the border of the
Alborz mountain range.
12.
Northern Kurdistan
–
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
Northern Kurdistan
–
Batman city
Northern Kurdistan
–
A map displaying the Kurdish-majority region of southeastern Turkey.
13.
Western Kurdistan
–
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
Western Kurdistan
–
Map from 1911 showing ethnic groups.
Western Kurdistan
–
Flag
Western Kurdistan
–
Map of Syria's ethno-religious composition in 1976
Western Kurdistan
–
Kurdish-inhabited areas in 1992 according to CIA
14.
Southern Kurdistan
–
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
Southern Kurdistan
–
Erbil, capital of Iraqi Kurdistan.
Southern Kurdistan
–
Flag
Southern Kurdistan
–
Lake Dukan
Southern Kurdistan
–
Greater Zab River near Erbil Kurdistan
15.
Eastern Kurdistan
–
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
Eastern Kurdistan
–
A view of
Sanandaj, the second-largest city in Iranian Kurdistan
Eastern Kurdistan
–
Mazanderani
16.
Turkey
–
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
Turkey
–
Some
henges at
Göbekli Tepe were erected as far back as 12,000 BC, predating those of
Stonehenge,
England by almost ten millennia.
Turkey
–
Flag
Turkey
–
The Lion Gate in
Hattusa, capital of the
Hittite Empire. The city's history dates back to the 6th millennium BC.
Turkey
–
The
Library of Celsus in
Ephesus was built by the
Romans in 135 AD. The
Temple of Artemis in Ephesus, built by king
Croesus of
Lydia in the 6th century BC, was one of the
Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.
17.
Iran
–
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
Iran
–
Cave painting in Doushe cave,
Lorestan, Iran,
8th millennium BC
Iran
–
Flag
Iran
–
A depiction of the united
Medes and
Persians in
Apadana,
Persepolis
Iran
–
Ruins of the
Gate of All Nations,
Persepolis
18.
Area
–
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
Area
–
A square metre
quadrat made of PVC pipe.
Area
–
The combined area of these three
shapes is
approximately 15.57
squares.
19.
Kurds
–
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 to 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
Kurds
–
Kurdish-inhabited areas in the
Middle East (1992)
Kurds
Kurds
–
Ṣalāḥ ad-Dīn Yūsuf ibn Ayyūb, or
Saladin, founder of the
Ayyubid dynasty in Egypt and Syria
Kurds
–
Karim Khan, the Laki ruler of the Zand Dynasty
20.
Corduene
–
Corduene was an ancient region located in northern Mesopotamia, present-day south-eastern Turkey and northern Iraq. According to the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica, Gordyene is the ancient name of the region of Bohtan and it has been cited as the country of the Carduchians, a fertile mountainous district, rich in pasturage. The Kingdom of Gordyene emerged from the declining Seleucid Empire and for most of its history, it was a province of the Roman Empire, from 189 to 90 BC, it enjoyed a period of independence. The people of Gorduene were known to have worshipped the Hurrian sky God Teshub, according to Arshak Safrastian, the Medes and Scythians mentioned in classical Greek literature existed only as preconceived notions. A people called the Carduchoi are mentioned in Xenophons Anabasis and they inhabited the mountains north of the Tigris in 401 BC, living in well-provisioned villages. They were enemies to the king of Persia, as were the Greek mercenaries with Xenophon and they have been also mentioned as Gordi by Hecataeus of Miletus c.520 BC. Targum, a Rabbinic source of Talmudic period, consistently assumes Mount Ararat to be located in Corduene and this region is traditionally identified with the landing site in Deluge mythology. According to Aggadah, Noah landed in Corduene in Armenia, the early 3rd century BCE Babylonian writer Berossus was also of the opinion that Xisthros landed with his ship in Corduene. In Nashim, the order of Talmud, Rav Nahman bar Jacob has allowed proselytization of Kurds from Corduene. According to the Greek historian and geographer Strabo, the region of Gorduene referred to the mountains between Diyarbakır and Muş and he recorded its main cities as Sareisa, Satalca and Pinaca, and considered its inhabitants as descendants of the ancient Carduchians. Ammianus Marcellinus visited this region while on a visit to the satrap of Corduene. Eretrians who were exiled and deported by the Persians to Mesopotamia, were said to have taken up their dwelling in the region of Gordyene. According to Strabo the Gordyaeans received their name from Gordys son of Triptolemus, who assisted in searching after Io, both Phraates III and Tigranes the Great laid claim to this province. However, it was conquered by the Roman troops under Pompey, the local population did not defend the Armenian rule since according to Plutarch, Tigranes had demolished their native cities and had forced them into exile in Tigranocerta. In 69 BC, Zarbienus, the king of Corduene, was planning for a revolt against Tigranes. He was negotiating with Appius Claudius for Roman help, however the plan was revealed and he was killed by Tigranes. After this, Lucullus raised a monument to Zarbienus and then he took over the region of Corduene and he took part in the funeral of Zarbienus, offered royal robes, gold and the spoils, and called him his companion and confederate of the Romans. After Pompeys success in subjugating Armenia and part of Pontus, however, Pompey held him in contempt and demanded back the territory of Corduene
Corduene
–
60 BC Kingdom of Corduene
Corduene
–
Castle of Pinaca (or Finik), northwest of Cizre
Corduene
–
Korduene in northern and northeastern Mesopotamia; map from the Encyclopaedia Biblica
Corduene
–
Map showing kingdoms of Corduene and
Adiabene in the last centuries BC. The blue line shows the expedition and then retreat of the ten thousand through Corduene in 401 BC.
21.
Kurdish nationalism
–
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
Kurdish nationalism
–
Kurdish-inhabited area according to the
CIA (1992).
Kurdish nationalism
–
Flag of Kurdistan
Kurdish nationalism
–
Saladin 's heroism and leadership was a great inspiration for the rise of Kurdish nationalism during the
Ottoman Empire.
22.
Zagros
–
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
Zagros
–
The Zagros Mountains from space, September 1992
Zagros
–
SRTM Shaded Relief Anaglyph of Zagros Mountains
Zagros
–
Zagros Folded Zone
Zagros
–
Oshtoran Kooh Mountain
23.
Taurus Mountains
–
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
Taurus Mountains
–
Demirkazık in
Niğde Province
Taurus Mountains
–
Amanus Mts. near the
Gulf of Issus and
Antioch
Taurus Mountains
–
Termessos is an ancient city in the western Taurus
Taurus Mountains
–
Antalya with the sunset and mountains in the west
24.
Rojava
–
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
Rojava
–
Map from 1911 showing ethnic groups.
Rojava
–
Flag
Rojava
–
Map of Syria's ethno-religious composition in 1976
Rojava
–
Kurdish-inhabited areas in 1992 according to CIA
25.
Nation state
–
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
Nation state
–
Portrait of "The Ratification of the Treaty of Münster", one of the treaties leading to the
Peace of Westphalia, where the concept of the "nation state" was born.
Nation state
–
Dark yellow: 85% or more are from majority ethnicity
Nation state
–
Ainu, an
ethnic minority people from
Japan (between 1863 and early 1870s).
26.
Kurdistan Province
–
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
Kurdistan Province
–
Freedom Square in
Sanandaj
Kurdistan Province
–
Location of Kurdistan within Iran
27.
Syrian Civil War
–
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 YPG 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 rebel groups of 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
Syrian Civil War
–
Pro-regime demonstration in
Latakia, heartland of Assad's
Alawite people
Syrian Civil War
–
Current military situation: Red:
Government, Yellow:
Kurds (Rojava), Grey:
Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, White:
al-Nusra Front, Green:
Opposition (for a more detailed map, see
Cities and towns during the Syrian Civil War). Map above was last updated on 11 November 2015.
Syrian Civil War
–
Anti-Assad protests in Baniyas, April 2011
Syrian Civil War
–
Protests in
Douma
28.
Bashar al-Assad
–
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
Bashar al-Assad
–
Bashar al-Assad بشار الأسد
Bashar al-Assad
–
The
Al-Assad family around 1994. At the front are
Hafez al-Assad and his wife, Anisa. At the back row, from left to right:
Maher (commander of the
Republican Guard), Bashar,
Bassel, Majd, and
Bushra
Bashar al-Assad
–
Protests in Douma, a Damascus suburb, 8 April 2011
Bashar al-Assad
–
Destroyed vehicles on an Aleppo street in 2012.
29.
History of the Kurds
–
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
History of the Kurds
–
Saladin, painted 1568
History of the Kurds
–
A drawing of a Kurdish prince in an Italian book called Giro Mondo
History of the Kurds
–
Kurdish Soldiers One of 274 Vintage Photographs,
Brooklyn Museum
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listen); "Homeland of the Kurds" or "Land of the Kurds";[3] also formerly spelled "Curdistan";[4][5] ancient name: Corduene[6][7]) or Greater Kurdistan, is a roughly defined geo-cultural region wherein the Kurdish people form a prominent majority population,[8] and Kurdish culture, languages, and national identity have historically been based.[9] Kurdistan roughly encompasses the northwestern Zagros and the eastern Taurus mountain ranges.[10]
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Media related to Kurdistan at Wikimedia Commons
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