BANGLADESH INSTITUTE OF INTERNATIONAL AND STRATEGIC STUDIES

THE KURDS AND THE MIDDLE EAST POLITICS: A HISTORICAL EVOLUTION

Author: Gobinda Chakraborty, Levent Duman

DOI Link: DOI: https://www.doi.org/10.56888/BIISSj2006v27n3a4

ABSTRACT

The Gulf War was a ‘critical event’ for the Kurds in the Middle East politics. With the end of the Gulf War, the Kurdish issue received more attention in the West and people in many parts of the world became familiar with it. In other words, the Gulf War has not changed the existing problem itself rather it has changed the perception of the problem in other countries. The main objective of this paper is to present a brief historical evolution of the Kurdish problem in the Middle East and analyze effects of the current events, especially in the post-1991 era, on the Kurds. Special attention will be given tothe effects of the war in 2003 on the Kurdish political power, especially within Iraq.