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Kurdistan, or Greater Kurdistan, is a roughly defined geo-cultural region in West Asia wherein the Kurds form a prominent majority population and the Kurdish culture, languages, and national identity have historically been based. Geographically, Kurdistan roughly encompasses the northwestern Zagros and the eastern Taurus mountain ranges.
Iraqi Kurdistan or Southern Kurdistan refers to the Kurdish-populated part of northern Iraq. It is considered one of the four parts of Greater Kurdistan in West Asia, which also includes parts of southeastern Turkey, northern Syria, and northwestern Iran. Much of the geographical and cultural region of Iraqi Kurdistan is part of the Kurdistan Region (KRI), a semi-autonomous region recognized by the Constitution of Iraq. As with the rest of Kurdistan, and unlike most of the rest of Iraq, the region is inland and mountainous.
Kurdistan Region (KRI) is a semi-autonomous federal region of the Republic of Iraq. It comprises four Kurdish-majority governorates of Arab-majority Iraq: Erbil Governorate, Sulaymaniyah Governorate, Duhok Governorate, and Halabja Governorate. It is located in northern Iraq, which shares borders with Iran to the east, Turkey to the north, and Syria to the west.
Kurdish women traditionally had more rights than those living in other Islamic social and political systems, although traditional Kurdish culture, as most of traditional societies in the Middle East, is patriarchal, and in Kurdish families and communities, it has been "natural" for men to enjoy predominant power. Kurdish traditions, despite the religious pressure, have allowed women to work outside their home and alongside men, including militarily, and Kurdish histrory saw examples of women becoming military or community leaders. Pro-feminist values began gaining a significant weight among politically active Kurds in the 1980s, and Kurdish women's rights and equality have improved dramatically in the 21st century due to progressive movements within Kurdish society, and Kurdish women have played an almost equal role with men in struggle for democracy and Kurdish national liberation. However, despite the progress, Kurdish and international women's rights organizations still report problems related to gender inequality, forced marriages, honor killings, and in Iraqi Kurdistan, female genital mutilation (FGM).
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Syrian Kurdistan or Rojava is a region in northern Syria where Kurds form the majority. It is surrounding three noncontiguous enclaves along the Turkish and Iraqi borders: Afrin in the northwest, Kobani in the north, and Jazira in the northeast. The term started to become more widely known as Kurdish nationalist groups and parties started to use it to describe the political entity later known as "Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria".
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The Rojava conflict, also known as the Rojava Revolution, is a political upheaval and military conflict taking place in northern Syria, known among Kurds as Western Kurdistan or Rojava.
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The Kurdish Democratic Progressive Party in Syria is one of the oldest Kurdish parties in Syria, having been active since seceding from the Kurdistan Democratic Party of Syria the 1960s. Prominently led by Abd al-Hamid Darwish for much of its history, who was described as "one of the last remaining of the original Kurdish political activists", the PDPKS serves as the Syrian sister party of the Iraqi Patriotic Union of Kurdistan. Known for its moderate and conciliatory politics, the party has sided at different times during the Syrian Civil War with the Syrian opposition, the Ba'athist government, the Kurdish National Council, and the Democratic Union Party.
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The al-Hasakah Governorate campaign was a multi-sided military conflict between Syrian government forces, Kurdish forces, armed Syrian opposition groups, and Salafist jihadist forces, including al-Qaeda's Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant and the al-Nusra Front in the al-Hasakah Governorate as part of the Syrian Civil War. The clashes began with the People's Protection Units (YPG)'s entrance into the civil war in July 2012 and spread across the governorate.
The Northern Aleppo offensive was a military offensive launched by armed Syrian opposition forces led by the Free Syrian Army against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant in the northern Aleppo Governorate. The offensive resulted in ISIL's withdrawal from the city of Azaz, Menagh Military Airbase, and a number of towns and villages in the area.
Farhad Abdi Shaheen, better known by his nom de guerreMazlum Kobane, is a Syrian Kurdish military leader, serving as the commander-in-chief of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).
References
- 1 2 "Wladimir van Wilgenburg". www.kurdistan24.net. Retrieved 2020-04-02.
- 1 2 Bloomsbury.com. "Bloomsbury - Wladimir van Wilgenburg - Wladimir van Wilgenburg". www.bloomsbury.com. Retrieved 2020-04-02.
- ↑ "Wladimir van Wilgenburg". Let's Get Mental. Retrieved 2021-01-14.
- ↑ "The Kurdish Dilemma: Counterterrorism and Realpolitik in Iraq". Atlantic Council. 2014-05-16. Retrieved 2020-04-02.
- ↑ Bloomsbury.com. "The Kurds of Northern Syria". Bloomsbury Publishing. Retrieved 2020-04-02.
- ↑ Wilgenburg, Wladimir van (2014-03-10). "Still banned from Turkey". Al-Monitor. Retrieved 2020-04-02.
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