Baronvonrort wrote on Nov 28
th, 2014 at 7:44pm:
None of you have explained why the kurds are persecuted by sunni and shia muslims from Iran,Iraq,Syria and Turkey,the Kurds have even fought a few wars with Iraq and Turkey bombed the Kurds in Iraq fairly recently,if the Kurds are muslims explain why they are persecuted by all their muslim neighbors.
HB did - it is an issue more of cultural and political differences than religious ones, Baron. That you keep ignoring this merely indicates you're clutching at straws.
Quote:The Kurds are a prime example because the majority of Kurdish people follow the Islamic faith, most are Sunni. Despite this, the Kurds, irrespective if Sunni or Shia, face persecution in modern day Iran, Iraq, Syria, and Turkey. The Kurds, ironically, have much greater freedoms in mainly Christian Armenia where a minority reside or throughout the European Union where many have fled because of persecution in the Middle East.
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Quote:There is no “Kurdistan” nation, instead about 15 to 20 million live in the unofficial “Kurdistan” region between Armenia, Iran, Iraq and Turkey.
At least eight million Kurds live in south-east Turkey.
Kurds have lived in the region since the end of WWI when the Kurdish people were not given an official “Kurdistan” nation when the Ottoman Empire was divided.
Kurds have failed in their attempts to establish independent states in Iran, Irag and Turkey since then.
Prof Barton says Kurds in Northern Iraq were extensively persecuted by Saddam Hussein during his reign, including large mass gassing attacks.
Since Hussein’s demise Kurds in Iraq have become quite stable, with the majority living in Northern Iraq.
Now the majority of the Kurdish population lives in Turkey where, Prof Barton says, the worst persecution of Kurdish people is over.
“I think the days of extensive persecution of Kurdish people have finished with the current Government," he said.
“In the worst years we had more or less a localised civil war, guerilla war where many thousands of people were killed one way or another. The situation today is not that at all, there’s not a lot of open exchange of fire except every so often they (the PKK) carry out terrorist attacks.”
He says the Kurdish population in Turkey could make up as much as 20 per cent of the population.
"There is now significant Kurdish communities living across the whole of Turkey, there are millions of Kurds in Istanbul and the vast majority of Kurds living in Turkey have made peace with the Republic”.
He says the situation in Turkey is worst in the South East of the country where the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) carry out terrorist attacks on Turkish civilians at times.
The PKK emerged in 1978 with the sole intent of gaining an independent Kurdish nation. There has been as yet no suggestion by investigators that today's raids are connected to the PKK.
It has been listed as a terrorist organization by the UN and NATO.
The Australian Government has listed the PKK as a terrorist organisation since 2005.
The Attorney-General’s Department says “the PKK has consistently demonstrated a willingness to use violence in order to achieve these objectives”.
77 people have been killed and 424 injured or wounded from attacks by the PKK across Turkey since 2006.
Most of these attacks were suicide bombings targeted at Turkish civilians and police officers.
In July 2008 the PKK took three German tourists hostage, they were released unharmed two weeks later.
Professor Barton says the terrorist organisation has lost support since the new Turkish Government improved equality for Kurds, including allowing the use of the Kurdish language.
“There are still a small number of hardliners that are intent on using violence,” he says.
The Department of Justice says it provides a range of services to help newly arrived Kurdish refugees and migrants including “settlement, advocacy, referral, education and health issues” as well as cultural and recreational programs.
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Quote:Of course apologists like you like to claim the kurds are mostly muslim you like to islamise everything even your signature.
I'm not claiming it, HB isn't claiming it - the whole bloody world seems to be claiming it if all the references we've produced it are stating it, Baron. Are you stating that all the references are lying?
![Roll Eyes Roll Eyes](http://www.ozpolitic.com/yabbfiles/Templates/Forum/default/rolleyes.gif)
You really are a complete loon. All the demographics state that the majority of Kurds are Muslim, Baron. Time to come back to reality and stop denying it.