Around 30-45 million Kurds live across Turkey, Iran, Iraq, Syria, and the diaspora. So why is there still no independent Kurdish state?
In this geography and history lesson, Olivia explores four forces behind the Kurdish struggle for statehood: a broken promise after World War I, mountains that protect and divide, neighboring countries that resist new borders, and powerful allies with changing priorities.
In this class:
• The Treaty of Sèvres (1920) and Treaty of Lausanne (1923)
• How the Taurus and Zagros Mountains shaped Kurdish identity and politics
• Turkey, Iraq, Iran, and Syria's opposition to Kurdish independence
• Anfal, Halabja, and the human cost of the struggle
• U.S.-Kurdish relations, the no-fly zone, and the 2017 independence referendum
• Nashville's Little Kurdistan and the Kurdish diaspora
“No friends but the mountains.” What does that saying reveal about a century of Kurdish history?
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This educational video uses AI-assisted visuals and audio.
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