Research Guides: Middle East and North Africa: Kurdish Issue

GW Resources

Minorities in the Middle East: Kurdish Communities, 1918-1974
These digitized volumes of original dispatches, correspondence and reports record aspects of the Kurdish situation starting from the period following the First World War.

Selected Essential Books

The Kurds: An Historical and Political Study. by Hasan Arfa
Publication Date: 1966
Written by a former Iranian Military officer and diplomat, this book provides a fascinating and intimate look at the early Kurdish struggle from a unique perspective.
This book is a perfect primer for anyone interested in the historical roots of Kurdish militancy in Iraq, Iran, and Turkey.
Blood and Belief by Aliza Marcus
ISBN: 0814757111
Publication Date: 2007-08-01
Blood and Belief combines reportage and scholarship to give the first in-depth account of the PKK. Aliza Marcus, one of the first Western reporters to meet with PKK rebels, wrote about their war for many years for a variety of prominent publications before being put on trial in Turkey for her reporting. Based on her interviews with PKK rebels and their supporters and opponents throughout the world—including the Palestinians who trained them, the intelligence services that tracked them, and the dissidents who tried to break them up—Marcus provides an in-depth account of this influential radical group.
The Kurds: A Concise Handbook by Mehrdad Izady
Call Number: DS59.K86 I93 1992
ISBN: 0844817279
Publication Date: 1992-09-01
This book is an excellent primer for newcomers to the study of the Kurds. Although it doesn't cover the recent developments associated with the war in Syria, this book will provide the reader with an excellent base of knowledge upon which to explore the Kurdish issue in depth.

Experts

Aliza Marcus, PKK expert.

Bulent Aliriza, Center for Strategic and International Studies.

Cengiz Candar,columnist for Radikal and Al-Monitor.

Denise Natali, expert on Kurdish politics at NDU in Washington, DC.

Ersel Aydinli, expert on PKK terrorism.

Gonul Tol, Director of the Center for Turkish Studies at the MEI in Washington, DC.

Harriet Allsopp, expert on Syrian Kurds at MERI in Erbil.

Jordi Tejel, professor at the Graduate Institute Geneva.

Kadri Gursel, columnist for Al-Monitor and Milliyet.

Nihat Ali Ozcan,expert on the Turkish military and PKK at TEPAV in Ankara.

Documentaries

News Sources

A list of on-line newspaper and television sources that provide news, analysis, and/or propaganda about the Kurdish Issue.

Note: The Kurdish media outlets listed below are banned in Turkey and/or Europe due to Turkey's claims that these outlet have connections with and/or provide propaganda on behalf of terrorist organizations. They are listed here for academic and research purposes.

Gerilla TV (Kurdish)

Kurd Press (English) (Kurdish)

Kurdistan TV (Kurdish)

NRT TV (Kurdish) (Arabic)

Rejova Kurdistan (Turkish) (Kurdish)

Think Tanks

A list of institutes and think tanks that deal with the Kurdish Issue.

Blog

ISIS and the False Dawn of Kurdish Statehood

Documentaries: The Kurds

Kurdish Groups by Country

Turkey:

Iraq:

Iran:

The Party of Free Life of Kurdistan (PJAK)

Syria:

Online Resources

Council on Foreign Relations: Inside the PKK
Outlines the mission and tactics of the PKK. Provides information about the background and history of the PKK as well as biographical information about the group's leaders. Introduces Turkey's views regarding the PKK and the Kurdish separatist movement.
Kurdish Repression in Turkey
Cultural Survival Quarterly Magazine 1982.
Kurdistan People’s Congress (KGK, formerly the Kurdistan Worker’s Party, PKK)
Information presented by the United States' National Counterterrorism Center on the Turkish Kurdish separatist group the KGK, formerly known as the PKK. Provides a timeline of the group's actions in Turkey and other affiliated terrorist, guerrilla, and separatist groups.
Understanding The Kurds' Different Roles In Different Conflicts
Audio of the NPR radio program, Morning Edition, explaining the different roles of Iraqi Kurds, Syrian Kurds, and Turkish Kurds in their independence movements and ongoing wars.

Key Figures

Abdullah Ocalan, PKK founder.

Ahmet Turk, Kurdish nationalist politician in Turkey, former chairman of DTP.

Barham Salih, Iraqi Kurdish politician. He is the former prime minister of the KRG.

Cemil Bayik, one of the founders of the PKK and member of the PKK Executive Committee.

Fuad Masum, Iraqi Kurdish politician, 7th President of Iraq.

Hakan Fidan, Turkish politician, head of the National Intelligence Organization.

Jalal Talabani, Kurdish nationalist politician in Iraq and founder of the PUK. Former President of Iraq.

Kosrat Rasul Ali, Iraqi Kurdish politician, PUK member, Peshmerga veteran.

Leyla Zana, Kurdish politician in Turkey, former DTP member.

Masoud Barzani, President of the KRG and leader of the KDP.

Mullah Mustafa Barzani, legendary Kurdish nationalist leader. Former leader of the KDP.

Murat Karayilan, PKK Chairman of Executive Committee, commander-in-chief of the People's Defense Force.

Masrour Barzani, Chancellor of the Kurdistan Region Security Council.

Nawshirwan Mustafa, Iraqi Kurdish politician, General Coordinator of the Movement for Change, opposition leader within KRG.

Nechervan Barzani, Prime Minister of the KRG.

Qazi Muhammad, former Kurdish leader and the Head of the Republic of Kurdistan (Republic of Mahabad).

Qubad Talabani, Deputy Prime Minister of the KRG.

Salih Muslim, co-chairman of the PYD.

Selahattin Demirtaş, Kurdish nationalist politician in Turkey and co-head of the left-wing pro-Kurdish HDP.

Middle East and North Africa: Kurdish Issue