are an ancient people who about 4,000 thousand years ago
             started to trickle into Kurdistan in limited numbers to
             settle there.3 By the classical era in 300 b.c. the Kurds
             were already experiencing massive population movements that
             resulted in settlement and domination of many surrounding
             regions.5 Although they did at times rule over the land
             outside the mountains, for the most part, the Kurds home
             ended where the mountains ended. The Kurds as a distinct
             people have only survived in the mountains.6 The
             relationship between the Kurds and the mountains is so
             strong that they have become synomonis.7 These mountains
             are also the axis for five major countries, which include
             Turkey, Iran, Iraq, Syria, and the former Soviet Union.
             Since the end of World War I, Kurdistan has been divided
             into these five sovereign states, in which a significant
             population of Kurds inhabit (see below).
             Notice that the total number of Kurds in all countries is
             larger than that of Iraq but smaller than Iran. Barring a
             catastrophe, Kurds will become the third most populous
             ethnic group in the Middle East by the year 2000,
             furthermore, if present demographics trends hold, the Kurds
             will replace the Turks as the majority ethnic group in
             Turkey itself.9 The Kurds remain the only ethnic group in
             the world with indigenous representatives in three world
             geographic blocs: the Arab World (in Iraq and Syria), NATO
             (in Turkey), the South Asian - Central Asian bloc (in Iran
             an Turkmenistan), and until recently the Soviet bloc (in the
             Caucasus, now Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia).10
             The most important features of Kurdistan society since
             the end of medieval times has been it's strong tribal
             organization, with independence or autonomy being the
             political status of the land. Kurdish soc
             ...