03/07/2026
THE KURDS: THE LARGEST PEOPLE WITHOUT A STATE
The Kurdish people are an ethnic group spread across several Middle Eastern countries. Today, their population distribution roughly looks like this:
• About 18% of Turkey’s population
• Around 15% of Iraq’s population
• Nearly 10% of Iran’s population
• Approximately 9% of Syria’s population
Altogether, the Kurdish population is estimated at close to 40 million people. This makes them the fourth-largest ethnic group in the Middle East, after Arabs, Persians, and Turks.
Yet despite their size, the Kurds do not have an internationally recognized state of their own. They remain divided across multiple countries.
This raises an obvious question:
Why does an ethnic group larger than many nations still lack a homeland?
A HISTORY OF FAILED KURDISH STATES
After the collapse of the Ottoman Empire, Kurdish nationalism briefly produced several attempts at statehood.
One example was the Republic of Ararat, declared in 1920 with British backing. The fledgling state was eventually crushed by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the founder of modern Turkey.
Another attempt was the Republic of Mahabad, established in Iran in 1946 with Soviet support. That government lasted less than a year before it was dismantled by Iranian forces.
In Iraq, the Kingdom of Kurdistan, declared in 1922, endured longer but never achieved international recognition. Instead, decades of conflict eventually led to Kurdish autonomy within Iraq, particularly after the civil struggles of the 1960s and later developments.
Because these efforts failed to produce a permanent state, the Kurdish people today are often described as “the largest ethnic group without a country.”
THE CURRENT DEBATE
Recent discussions about potentially arming Kurdish groups against Iran have revived debate about the Kurdish question.
At first glance, some might view such a move as supporting Kurdish self-determination. But the issue is far more complex.