France has a consulate general in Erbil and Kurdistan Region has a representation in Paris. 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[88], Kurdistan extends to Lake Urmia in Iran on the east. Despite this, much of the region is fertile and has historically exported grain and livestock. The lowlands of southern Kurdistan are called lower Kurdistan. [42] After the collapse of the Ottoman Empire, the Allies contrived to split Kurdistan (as detailed in the ultimately unratified Treaty of Sèvres) among several countries, including Kurdistan, Armenia and others. A comprehensive history of these states and their relationship with their neighbors is given in the text of Sharafnama, written by Prince Sharaf al-Din Bitlisi in 1597. [7] She also visited Kurdistan Region in 1991, visiting refugees at the Iran-Iraq border,[8] and again in July 1992 to witness the establishment of the Kurdistan Region Parliament. [18][19] French Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian met Kurdish officials twice in 2016, once at the Munich Security Conference and once in Erbil. Coordinates: 37°00′N 43°00′E / 37.000°N 43.000°E / 37.000; 43.000, Kurdistan ([ˌkʊɾdɪˈstɑːn] (listen); Kurdish: Kurdistan , کوردستان‎; lit. [77] The mountainous zone along the borders with Iran and Turkey experiences dry summers, rainy and sometimes snowy winters, and damp springs, while to the south the climate progressively transitions toward semi-arid and desert zones. [6], In 1982, First Lady Danielle Mitterrand played an active role in the formation of the Kurdish Institute of Paris by making public awareness around it. [93], Other mineral resources that exist in significant quantities in the region include coal, copper, gold, iron, limestone (which is used to produce cement), marble, and zinc. in Iraq, and 12,000 km² (5,000 sq. Hamit Bozarslan “The Kurdish Question: Can it be solved within Europe?”, The Edinburgh encyclopaedia, conducted by D. Brewster—Page 511, Original from Oxford University—published 1830, An Account of the State of Roman-Catholick Religion, Sir Richard Steele, Published 1715. Kurds (Kurdish: کورد ,Kurd‎) or Kurdish people are an Iranic ethnic group native to a mountainous region of Western Asia known as Kurdistan, which spans southeastern Turkey, northwestern Iran, northern Iraq, and northern Syria. The Kingdom of Corduene, which emerged from the declining Seleucid Empire, was located to the south and south-east of Lake Van between Persia and Mesopotamia and ruled northern Mesopotamia and southeastern Anatolia from 189 BC to AD 384 as vassals of the vying Parthian and Roman empires. In the former is the province of Ardelan, the ancient Arropachatis, now nominally a part of Irak Ajami, and belonging to the north west division called Al Jobal. France has long been a friend to the Kurds, going back to the 1980s, when Danielle Mitterrand, wife of the French president, Francois Mitterrand, took a … [9] Historically, the word "Kurdistan" is first attested in 11th century Seljuk chronicles. [10], Under the presidency of Sarkozy, a French embassy office was opened in Erbil with the presence of French Foreign Minister Kouschner. "[83] Mountains are regarded as sacred by the Kurds. They mention the mountains of Qardu, city of Qardu and country of Qardawaye. [20][21], In August 2014, France sent soldiers to Kurdistan Region to train Kurdish soldiers (Peshmerga). Among rivers of historical importance to Kurds are the Murat (Arasān) and Buhtān rivers in Turkey; the Peshkhābur, the Little Zab, the Great Zab, and the Diyala in Iraq; and the Jaghatu (Zarrinarud), the Tātā'u (Siminarud), the Zohāb (Zahāb), and the Gāmāsiyāb in Iran. [78] There are another 9 to 12 million Turkish citizens of Kurdish descent in predominantly Turkish regions of Turkey as the majority of Turkish Kurds no longer live in Southeastern Anatolia. mi.) These rivers, which flow from heights of three to four thousand meters above sea level, are significant both as water sources and for the production of energy. [11][12] Some Kurdish nationalist organizations seek to create an independent nation state consisting of some or all of these areas with a Kurdish majority, while others campaign for greater autonomy within the existing national boundaries. [49][50][51], In an attempt to deny their existence, the Turkish government categorized Kurds as "Mountain Turks" until 1991;[52][53][54] The words "Kurds", "Kurdistan", or "Kurdish" were officially banned by the Turkish government. Large part of water to the neighbor countries come from it. [14] There is a Kurdistan Province in Iran, but it is not self-ruled. In January 2015, 40 more soldiers were sent to the region. Urmia, Van, as well as Zarivar Lake west of Marivan, and Lake Dukan near the city of Sulaymaniyah, are frequented by tourists.[88]. mi.).[77]. [61][62] Food embargoes were placed on Kurdish villages and towns. [28] Other geographical references to the Kurds in Syriac sources appear in Zuqnin chronicle, writings of Michael the Syrian and Bar hebraeus. [44][45], At the end of the First Gulf War, the Allies established a safe haven in northern Iraq. C. Dahlman, "The Political Geography of Kurdistan", Sardar Aziz (2013). It contains five others namely, Betlis, the ancient Carduchia, lying to the south and south west of the lake Van. [3] The ties between France and Kurdistan Region have been very close since the presidency of François Mitterrand (1981–1995), when his wife Danielle Mitterrand played an instrumental role in the campaign for the no fly zone over Kurdistan Region in 1991. There is a large Kurdish community in France, numbering around 150,000[1] people. [72], The Kurds are a people of Indo-European origin. Kurdistan is one of the most mountainous regions in the world with a cold climate receiving annual precipitation adequate to sustain temperate forests and shrubs. [16][17] One of the ancient names of Kurdistan is Corduene.[18][19]. mi.) However, they were later driven out of Hazza by pagans, and settled in Tamanon, which according to Abdisho was in the land of the Kurds. This makes the Kurdish community in France the second largest Kurdish community in the Kurdish diaspora, after Kurds in Germany. [75], According to the Encyclopædia Britannica, Kurdistan covers about 190,000 km² (or 73,000 square miles), and its chief towns are Diyarbakır (Amed), Bitlis (Bedlîs) and Van (Wan) in Turkey, Erbil (Hewlêr) and Slemani in Iraq, and Kermanshah (Kirmanşan), Sanandaj (Sine), Ilam and Mahabad (Mehabad) in Iran. Kurdistan is a region relatively rich in water, especially for countries in the Middle East region. [58][59] A guerrilla war took place through the 1980s and 1990s in which much of the countryside was evacuated, thousands of Kurdish-populated villages were destroyed by the government, and numerous summary executions were carried out by both sides. Notable companies active in Kurdistan include ExxonMobil, Total, Chevron, Talisman Energy, Genel Energy, Hunt Oil, Gulf Keystone Petroleum, and Marathon Oil. Iraq and Syria dammed many of these rivers and their tributaries, and Turkey has an extensive dam system under construction as part of the GAP (Southeast Anatolia Project); though incomplete, the GAP already supplies a significant proportion of Turkey's electrical energy needs. Various groups, among them the Guti, Hurrians, Mannai (Mannaeans), and Armenians, lived in this region in antiquity. They speak an Iranian language known as Kurdish, and comprise the majority of the population of the region – however, included therein are Arab, Armenian, Assyrian,[73] Azerbaijani, Jewish, Ossetian, Persian, and Turkish communities. Due to the extraordinary archaeological richness of the region, almost any dam impacts historic sites. The plateaus and mountains of Kurdistan, which are characterized by heavy rain and snow fall, act as a water reservoir for the Near and Middle East, forming the source of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, as well as other numerous smaller rivers, such as the Little Khabur, Khabur, Tharthar, Ceyhan, Araxes, Kura, Sefidrud, Karkha, and Hezil. [68][69][70] As of 2015, Turkey is actively supporting the Al-Nusra,[71] but as of January 2017, Turkey's foreign ministry has said that Al-Nusra is a terrorist group and has acted accordingly. Revue des études arméniennes, vol. ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – France will always remain a good and dependable ally for the people of the Kurdistan Region and Kurds elsewhere, French Consul General in Erbil Dominique Mas said on Monday. Kurds in France refers to people born in or residing in France of full or partial Kurdish origin. [39], According to Sharafkhan Bitlisi in his Sharafnama, the boundaries of the Kurdish land begin at the Strait of Hormuz in the Persian Gulf and stretch on an even line to the end of Malatya and Marash. in Turkey, 125,000 km² (48,000 sq. The earliest medieval attestation of the toponym Kurdistan is found in a 12th-century Armenian historical text by Matteos Urhayeci. ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – The presidents of the Kurdistan Region and France met in the Iraqi capital on Wednesday to discuss multiple issues that included relations between their two governments, Erbil-Baghdad disputes, and the serious threat still posed by the Islamic State. However, the reconquest of these areas by the forces of Kemal Atatürk (and other pressing issues) caused the Allies to accept the renegotiated Treaty of Lausanne (1923) and the borders of the modern Republic of Turkey, leaving the Kurds without a self-ruled region. Al-Sheikhly, O.F. Read more: France’s FM reiterates support for Kurdistan Region, invites PM Masrour Barzani to meet Pres. When the Sasanian Marzban asked Mar Abdisho about his place of origin, he replied that according to his parents, they were originally from Hazza, a village in Assyria. [90] Exxon responded by announcing its intention to leave the West-Qurna project. Al-Hasakah province, also known as Jazira region, has geopolitical importance of oil and is suitable for agricultural lands. [55] Following the military coup of 1980, the Kurdish language was officially prohibited in public and private life. However, following the chaos in Iraq after the US invasion, Turkey has increasingly worked with the autonomous Kurdistan Regional Government. [94], In July 2012, Turkey and the Kurdistan Regional Government signed an agreement by which Turkey will supply the KRG with refined petroleum products in exchange for crude oil. Iraqi Kurdistan is divided into six governorates, three of which (and parts of others) are under the control of the Kurdistan Regional Government. in Iran, 65,000 km² (25,000 sq. The suffix -stan (Persian: ـستان‎, translit. [4] France has a military presence in Kurdistan Region,[5] and Consul General Dominique Mas described their relations as being "historic" and "long-term". in Syria, with a total area of approximately 392,000 km² (151,000 sq. [12] In the same year, Massoud Barzani met with President Nicolas Sarkozy and Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner in Paris,[13] where they signed a protocol strengthening ties in various fields, including trade, education and culture. Turkish Kurdistan encompasses a large area of Eastern Anatolia Region and southeastern Anatolia of Turkey and it is home to an estimated 6 to 8 million Kurds. Crude deliveries are expected to occur on a regular basis. Mountain chains harbor pastures and forested valleys, totaling approximately 16 million hectares (160,000 km²), including firs and countryside is mostly oaks, conifers, platanus, willow, poplar and, to the west of Kurdistan, olive trees.[77]. [91], As of July 2007, the Kurdish government solicited foreign companies to invest in 40 new oil sites, with the hope of increasing regional oil production over the following five years by a factor of five, to about 1 million barrels per day (160,000 m3/d). [citation needed], A 2010 US report, written before the instability in Syria and Iraq that exists as of 2014, attested that "Kurdistan may exist by 2030". Kurdistan in the Middle Ages was a collection of semi-independent and independent states called emirates. [4] In 1989, she organized that 1,000 Kurdish refugees would be taken in by France with consent from the President and the government. The region includes Lake Van, the largest body of water in Turkey; the only lake in the Middle East with a larger surface is Lake Urmia – though not nearly as deep as Lake Van, which has a much larger volume. [24] French Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian made an unannounced visit to Erbil in April 2016, where he stated that: "I also came here to meet with the Kurdistan Region President Masoud Barzani and Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani to reiterate the support of France to Peshmerga forces in the fight against Da’esh,” and furthermore that: “The Peshmerga plays an important role in this fight. [10], "Kurdistan" was also formerly spelled Curdistan. Corduene was situated to the east of Tigranocerta, that is, to the east and south of present-day Diyarbakır in south-eastern Turkey. The region was declared a closed military area from which foreigners were banned between 1925 and 1965. [84] Included in the region are Mount Judi and Ararat (both prominent in Kurdish folklore), Zagros, Qandil, Shingal, Mount Abdulaziz, Kurd Mountains, Jabal al-Akrad, Shaho, Gabar, Hamrin, and Nisir. [10], Contemporary use of the term refers to the following four areas: southeastern Turkey (Northern Kurdistan), northern Syria (Western Kurdistan), northern Iraq (Southern Kurdistan), and northwestern Iran (Eastern Kurdistan). In another passage in the same document, the region of the Khabur River is also identified as land of the Kurds. ; and Nader, I.A. France has a consulate general in Erbil[2] and Kurdistan Region has a representation in Paris. KRG-controlled parts of Iraqi Kurdistan are estimated to contain around 45 billion barrels (7.2×10^9 m3) of oil, making it the sixth largest reserve in the world. Le bureau de la Représentation du Gouvernement Régional du Kurdistan-Irak a été inauguré pour la première fois à Paris en mars 2001. [48], The incorporation into Turkey of the Kurdish-inhabited regions of eastern Anatolia was opposed by many Kurds, and has resulted in a long-running separatist conflict in which thousands of lives have been lost. T. A. Sinclair, "Eastern Turkey, an Architectural and Archaeological Survey", 1989, volume 3, page 360. ", A Dictionary of Scripture Geography, p 57, by John Miles, 486 pages, Published 1846, Original from Harvard University, Village on the Euphrates: From Foraging to Farming at Abu Hureyra, by A.M.T Moore, G.C. Lower Curdistan comprises all the level tract to the east of the Tigris, and the minor ranges immediately bounding the plains and reaching thence to the foot of the great range, which may justly be denominated the Alps of western Asia.[79]. N. Maxoudian, "Early Armenia as an Empire: The Career of Tigranes III, 95–55 BC". Historically, the word "Kurdistan" is first attested in 11th century Seljuk chronicles. the fourth is Jeezera ul Omar, a city on an island in the Tigris, and corresponding to the ancient Bezabde. [63][64] More than 20,000 Kurds were killed in the violence and hundreds of thousands more were forced to leave their homes. (2013). 2019 Turkish offensive into north-eastern Syria, "Thousands march in France, Germany, Austria to support Kobane Kurds", "Offensive turque en Syrie : de violents combats sur le terrain, des milliers de manifestants en France", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Kurds_in_France&oldid=978431051, "Related ethnic groups" needing confirmation, Articles using infobox ethnic group with image parameters, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, This page was last edited on 14 September 2020, at 21:37. The main cities in this area are Kirkuk and Arbil. "[25] In June 2016, two shipments of military aid reached Kurdistan Region consisting of MM89 rockets, thousands of different types of ammunition, defense and attacking grenades and night-vision goggles. Having established self-governing regions in an Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria, they call for autonomy in a federal Syria after the war. Precipitation varies between 200 and 400 mm a year in the plains, and between 700 and 3,000 mm a year on the high plateau between mountain chains. Tamanon lies just north of the modern Iraq-Turkey border, while Hazza is 12 km southwest of modern Erbil. [2] Thousands of Kurdish refugees and political refugees fled from Turkey during the 1970s and onward, from Iraq and Iran during the 1980s and 1990s, and from Syria especially during the Syrian Civil War. [21] The region came under Persian rule during the reign of Cyrus the Great and Darius I. It means that political stability and peace in the region are important to the water supply of the region and preventing wars. [32][33] The emirates included Baban, Soran, Badinan and Garmiyan in the south; Bakran, Bohtan (or Botan) and Badlis in the north, and Mukriyan and Ardalan in the east. The world's largest deposit of rock sulfur is located just southwest of Erbil (Hewlêr). Geographically, Kurdistan roughly encompasses the northwestern Zagros and the eastern Taurus mountain ranges. [47] The Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant, who took more than 80 Turkish persons captive in Mosul during their offensive, is an enemy of Turkey, making Kurdistan useful for Turkey as a buffer state. All were forcefully put down by the authorities. [56] Many people who spoke, published, or sang in Kurdish were arrested and imprisoned. The Status of the Iraq Smooth-coated Otter Lutrogale perspicillata maxwelli Hayman 1956 and Eurasian Otter Lutra lutra Linnaeus 1758 in Iraq. [22] In August 2014, France also supplied Kurdish soldiers with an undisclosed amount of weapons and 20 tons of humanitarian aid. Hillman and A.J Legge, Published 2000, Oxford University Press. the fifth and largest is Kara Djiolan, with a capital of the same name. At the San Francisco Peace Conference of 1945, the Kurdish delegation proposed consideration of territory claimed by the Kurds, which encompassed an area extending from the Mediterranean shores near Adana to the shores of the Persian Gulf near Bushehr, and included the Lur inhabited areas of southern Zagros. "[9], In an interview with L'essentiel in 2012, Kurdish President Massoud Barzani stated that Kurdistan Region had no direct relations with President Chirac, but had contacts to several ministers including Minister of the Interior Nicolas Sarkozy. East and south east of Betlis is the principality of Julamerick, south west of it is the principality of Amadia. [80][79] The steppe and desert in the south, by contrast, have such species as palm trees and date palm. [2], In October 2014, Kurds in France and other European countries marched in protest over the ISIS offensive on the Syrian town of Ayn al-Arab, known in Kurdish as Kobani.[3][4]. Syrian Kurdistan (Kurdish: Rojavayê Kurdistanê) is located primarily in northern Syria, and covers the province of Al Hasakah and northern Raqqa Governorate, northern Aleppo Governorate and also Jabal al-Akrad (Mountain of the Kurds) region. In the 16th century, after prolonged wars, Kurdish-inhabited areas were split between the Safavid and Ottoman empires. The desert in the south is mostly steppe and would feature xeric plants such as palm trees, tamarix, date palm, fraxinus, poa, white wormwood and chenopodiaceae. mi.) [8] Geographically, Kurdistan roughly encompasses the northwestern Zagros and the eastern Taurus mountain ranges. stân) is Persian for land. On 28 June 2014 Hüseyin Çelik, a spokesman for the ruling AK party, made comments to the Financial Times indicating Turkey's readiness to accept an independent Kurdistan in northern Iraq. Contemporary use of the term refers to the following four areas: southeast