Context: Recently, India has sent humanitarian assistance to support residents of the Kurdistan region in Iraq.
About Kurdistan Region
- Kurdistan region is a geo-cultural area spanning across parts of Iraq, Iran, Turkey and Syria, where the Kurdish people live.
- Kurds are one of the world’s largest stateless ethnic groups.
- This region is rich in oil and natural gas, particularly in Iraqi Kurdistan, making it geopolitically significant. Post World War I, under the Treaty of Sevres (1920), Western powers promised the Kurds their own homeland.
- However, under the Treaty of Lausanne (1924), which divided the Kurds among the newly formed nations of the Middle East, their hopes were dashed.
Key Cities in the Kurdistan Region
- Erbil (Hewlêr): Capital of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) in Iraq.
- Sulaymaniyah (Slemani), Dohuk, Mahadabad, Diyarbakır (Largest Kurdish-majority city in Turkey).
UPSC PYQ |
Q. Community is sometimes mentioned in the news In the affairs of? (2016)
Which of the pairs given above is/are correctly matched? (a) 1 and 2 (b) 2 only (c) 2 and 3 (d) 3 only Answer: C |