SiirtSiirt (Siʿird; S'gherd; Siirt; Sêrt) is a city in the Siirt District of Siirt Province in Turkey. It had a population of 160,340 in 2021. The city is divided into the neighborhoods of Afetevlerı, Alan, Algul, Bahçelievler, Barış, Batı, Conkbayır, Çal, Doğan, Dumlupınar, Halenze, İnönü, Karakol, Kooperatif, Sakarya, Tınaztepe, Ulus, Ülkü, Veysel Karani and Yeni. Previously known as Saird, in pre-Islamic times Siirt was a diocese of the Eastern Orthodox Church (Sirte, Σίρτη in Byzantine Greek).
CordueneCorduene (Կորճայք; Κορδυηνή; Kartigini) was an ancient historical region, located south of Lake Van, present-day eastern Turkey. Many believe that the Kardouchoi—mentioned in Xenophon’s Anabasis as having given his 10,000 troops a mauling as they retreated from Persia in 401 BCE—were the ancestors of the Kurds. According to the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica, Gordyene is the ancient name of the region of Bohtan (now Şırnak Province).
Iranian KurdistanIranian Kurdistan or Eastern Kurdistan (ڕۆژھەڵاتی کوردستان) is an unofficial name for the parts of northwestern Iran with either a majority or sizable population of Kurds. Geographically, it includes the West Azerbaijan Province, Kurdistan Province, Kermanshah Province, Ilam Province and parts of Hamadan Province and Lorestan Province. In totality, Kurds are about 10% of Iran's total population. According to the last census conducted in 2006, the four main Kurdish-inhabited provinces in Iran – West Azerbaijan, Kermanshah Province, Kurdistan Province and Ilam Province – had a total population of 6,730,000.
Kermanshah provinceKermanshah Province (Ostān-e Kermanšah, Parêzgeha Kirmaşan) is one of the 31 provinces of Iran and one of the provinces which border Iraq. The province was known from 1969 to 1986 as Kermanshahan, and from 1986 to 1995 as Bakhtaran. The capital of the province is the city of Kermanshah. According to a 2014 segmentation by the Ministry of Interior, it is the center of Region 4, with the region's central secretariat located in Kermanshah. A majority of people in Kermanshah Province are Shia, and there are Sunni and Yarsani minority groups.
Rojava conflictThe Rojava conflict, also known as the Rojava Revolution, is a political upheaval and military conflict taking place in northern Syria, known among Kurds as Western Kurdistan or Rojava. During the Syrian civil war that began in 2011, a Kurdish-dominated coalition led by the Democratic Union Party as well as some other Kurdish, Arab, Syriac-Assyrian, and Turkmen groups have sought to establish a new constitution for the de facto autonomous region, while military wings and allied militias have fought to maintain control of the region.
Taurus MountainsThe Taurus Mountains (Turkish: Toros Dağları or Toroslar) are a mountain complex in southern Turkey, separating the Mediterranean coastal region from the central Anatolian Plateau. The system extends along a curve from Lake Eğirdir in the west to the upper reaches of the Euphrates and Tigris rivers in the east. It is a part of the Alpide belt in Eurasia. The mountain range under the current name was mentioned in The Histories by Polybius as Ταῦρος (Taûros).
Ansar al-Islam in KurdistanAnsar al-Islam in Kurdistan (ئەنسارولئیسلام له کوردستان), simply called Ansar al-Islam (ئەنسارولئیسلام), also nicknamed the Kurdish Taliban, is a Kurdish Islamist militant and separatist group. It was established in northern Iraq around the Kurdistan Region by Kurdish Islamists who were former Taliban and former Al-Qaeda members, which were coming back from Afghanistan in 2001 after the Fall of Kabul. Its motive is to establish an Islamic state around the Kurdistan region and to protect Kurdish people.
HasanwayhidsHasanwayhids or Hasanuyid was a powerful Shia Kurdish dynasty reigning the western parts of Iran such as Iranian Azerbaijan and Zagros Mountains between Shahrizor and Khuzestan from c. 959 to 1015. The last Hasanwayhid ruler died in 1015 in Sarmadj, south of Bisotun, as the Seljuks began entering the region. The Hasanwayhids were preceded in the region by the Aishanid or 'Ishaniya Kurdish tribe. This particular group had ruled territories in the districts of Dinawar, Hamadan and Nahavand.
Democratic confederalismDemocratic confederalism (Konfederalîzma demokratîk), also known as Kurdish communalism or Apoism, is a political concept theorized by Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) leader Abdullah Öcalan about a system of democratic self-organization with the features of a confederation based on the principles of autonomy, direct democracy, political ecology, feminism, multiculturalism, self-defense, self-governance and elements of a cooperative economy.
Van ProvinceVan Province (Van ili, Parezgêha Wanê, Armenian: Վանի մարզ) is a province in the Eastern Anatolian region of Turkey, between Lake Van and the Iranian border. It is 19,069 km2 in area and had a population of 1,128,749 at the end of 2022. Its adjacent provinces are Bitlis to the west, Siirt to the southwest, Şırnak and Hakkâri to the south, and Ağrı to the north. The capital of the province is the city of Van, with a population of 525,016 at the end of 2022. The second-largest city is Erciş, with 92,945 inhabitants at end 2022.
