The Kurds in Iran
Wolfgang Behn
Mansell
Together with western technology western ideas and concepts have reached the countries of the Middle East and penetrated even the most isolated segments of its population. The Kurds, who, until quite recently, have been living on the borderlines between traditional and modern Middle Eastern society, have thus been influenced by modern western ideas such as nationalism. The origins of the Kurds' aspirations for national independence go back to the nineteenth century. Kurdish hope reached its height when, in the Treaty of Sevres, provision was made for an autonomous Kurdistan. However, in the Treaty of Lausanne, which superseded the Treaty of Sevres, no mention was made of this promise. The Kurdish struggle for freedom has been going on ever since, and it was temporarily successful when the Kurdish Republic of Mahabad was proclaimed in 1946. But Kurdish independence was short-lived, and the years following have seen more or less of a continual struggle against the central governments of Iran and Iraq.
The problem of the Kurds is a difficult one. In numbers they amount to a significant part of Iran, Iraq, and Turkey. Their deep attachment to their own language and customs makes it more natural for them to look to reunion with their fellow-Kurds ... | 
