Kurdistan

Kurds who advocate for their basic rights and cultural identity often face severe political persecution. Across all four countries, Kurdish political expression is frequently criminalized as “terrorism” or “separatism,” regardless of whether it is peaceful. Advocating for language rights, cultural recognition, or political representation can result in imprisonment, torture, or exile.

In Turkey, thousands of Kurdish politicians, activists, and journalists have been imprisoned on terrorism charges for peaceful political advocacy. The government has replaced democratically elected Kurdish mayors with state-appointed trustees in 48 municipalities since 2019. The pro-Kurdish HDP party faces ongoing closure proceedings despite winning over 6 million votes in elections. In Iran, Kurdish political parties remain banned, and activists face execution on charges of “enmity against God.” In Syria, despite Kurdish forces fighting ISIS, political representation has been blocked at international peace negotiations.

Sources: Human Rights Watch “Turkey: Government Targeting Opposition” (2023), Amnesty International “Iran: Escalating Crackdown on Kurdish Activism” (2022)

Kurdish civilians often experience military violence as a form of collective punishment. State militaries and security forces target entire communities suspected of supporting Kurdish movements, making little distinction between civilians and armed groups. These operations often involve curfews, siege tactics, and destruction of homes and infrastructure.

Turkey’s counter-insurgency operations in Kurdish cities like Cizre and Sur in 2015-2016 destroyed entire neighborhoods, killing hundreds of civilians and displacing over 500,000 people. Turkish military incursions into Syria and Iraq have targeted Kurdish populations through airstrikes on civilian infrastructure and displacement. In Iran, the Revolutionary Guards employ lethal force against Kurdish protestors and border couriers (“kolbars”), killing dozens annually. The militarization of Kurdish regions, characterized by thousands of checkpoints, arbitrary detentions, and special security zones, subjects millions to constant surveillance and restriction of movement.

Sources: UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights “Report on Southeast Turkey” (2017), Kurdistan Human Rights Network “Annual Report on Kolbar Killings” (2022)

Kurdish detainees frequently suffer torture and mistreatment while in custody. Across all four countries, Kurds arrested for political activities face severe abuse designed to extract confessions, gather intelligence, or simply as punishment for their identity and activism. These practices create a climate of fear in Kurdish communities.

In Turkey, human rights organizations have documented extensive use of torture against Kurdish prisoners, including severe beatings, sexual violence, and prolonged isolation. The European Committee for the Prevention of Torture has repeatedly condemned these practices. In Iran, Kurdish political prisoners in facilities like Evin and Rajai Shahr prisons report routine torture to extract confessions, with at least 52 deaths in custody documented since 2018. Similar abuses occur in Syria, where Kurdish detainees in government prisons face systematic torture, and in areas of Iraq outside Kurdish control.

Sources: UN Committee Against Torture “Concluding observations on Turkey” (2022), Amnesty International “Iran: Trampling Humanity – Mass arrests, disappearances and torture since Iran’s 2022 protests” (2023)

For generations, Kurds have struggled against government policies aimed at erasing their language and  cultural identity. Many states have banned or severely restricted the Kurdish language, traditional clothing, music, celebrations, and other expressions of Kurdish culture in an attempt to forcibly assimilate Kurds into dominant national identities.

In Turkey, speaking Kurdish was criminalized until 1991, and restrictions continue today with limited educational rights and broadcasting recently. Currently, only limited  private Kurdish language courses are permitted, while Kurdish in public school and medium education remains prohibited. In Iran, teaching Kurdish in schools is banned, while cultural expressions like traditional dress and music face restrictions. Syria previously banned Kurdish language publications and stripped thousands of Kurds of citizenship. Even in Iraq, where Kurdish has official status, students outside the Kurdistan Region have no right to education in their mother tongue.

Sources: UNESCO “Endangered Languages Report: Middle East” (2023), Minority Rights Group “World Directory of Minorities and Indigenous Peoples: Kurds” (2023)

The Kurdish nation has repeatedly faced forced removal from their ancestral lands as states attempt to change the demographic makeup of Kurdish regions. These displacements, conducted through military operations, village destructions, and discriminatory policies, aim to weaken Kurdish territorial claims and cultural cohesion.

In Turkey, between 1984-1999, security forces destroyed over 3,500 Kurdish villages, displacing an estimated 3 million people as well as illegal settlement of people from Central Asia in Kurdish cities and towns. Recent military operations in Syria have forcibly displaced hundreds of thousands of Kurds, with Turkish-backed groups preventing their return and settling other populations in their homes, Today cities and town such as Efrin(Afrin),Gire Sepi and SerKani are  occupied by Turkish supported Jihandist and extremist  group and Kurds been forced and riven out from their home and leaving on Campus in Rojava. In Iran, Kurdish border regions face systematic development neglect to encourage outmigration. Iraq’s former Ba’athist regime conducted the Anfal genocide campaign, destroying 4,500 Kurdish villages and killing at least 100,000 civilians in a deliberate attempt to remake Kurdistan’s demographics.

Sources: Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre “Turkey: Country Information” (2022), Syrian Network for Human Rights “Demographic Change in Northern Syria” (2023)

Kurdish regions are often rich in soil and  in natural resources like oil, water, and fertile agricultural land, yet Kurdish populations remain disproportionately poor. States systematically underinvest in Kurdish areas while extracting resources that benefit other regions, creating stark economic disparities between Kurdish regions and national averages.

In Turkey, Kurdish provinces have unemployment rates double the national average, while government investment per capita is 70% lower than in western regions. In Iran, Kurdish provinces like Kurdistan and Kermanshah have the highest unemployment and lowest development indicators nationally. Meanwhile, resources from Kurdish regions—including oil, water, and agricultural products—benefit national economies while local populations remain impoverished. Major infrastructure projects like dams have displaced Kurdish communities while primarily serving non-Kurdish regions.

Sources: World Bank “Regional Development Indicators: Middle East” (2022), Turkish Statistical Institute “Provincial Development Index” (2021)