کوردستان
An umbrella for Kurdish political projects associated with Türkiye, Iraq, Iran and Syria. “Kurdistan” is used as a historical and geographical term, not as a boundary or a proposed state. Projects differ by actor and period — independence, autonomy, federalism and other goals — and no single programme is treated as the objective of all Kurds. Only the branch associated with Iraq has been researched so far.
The Kurds live in a mountainous region straddling the borders of Turkey, Iraq, Syria, Iran and Armenia and have never had a permanent nation state.[1] The 1920 Treaty of Sèvres set out a conditional route to Kurdish independence, but it never took effect and the 1923 Treaty of Lausanne made no such provision.[2][3] Since then Kurdish movements have pursued different goals in different states, from short-lived declarations in 1922 and 1946 to autonomy demands and a 2017 independence referendum in Iraq.[4][5][6][7]
History
Kurdish political projects since the end of the Ottoman Empire: Sèvres and Lausanne, early declarations, and the diverging paths of Kurdish movements in Turkey, Iraq, Iran and Syria.
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· Agreement
The peace treaty with the Ottoman government provided for Kurdish local autonomy and a conditional route to independence; it never took effect.
Significance here: The first treaty text to set out a possible independent Kurdish state; it was superseded by the Treaty of Lausanne in 1923.
· Declaration
Sheikh Mahmud Barzanji declared a Kingdom of Kurdistan around Sulaimaniyah under British-administered Iraq; it was unrecognised and suppressed.
Significance here: One of the earliest attempts at a Kurdish state after the Ottoman collapse.
· Declaration
A Kurdish republic proclaimed in Soviet-occupied north-western Iran collapsed within a year after Soviet withdrawal.
Significance here: A short-lived Kurdish republic that linked Kurdish politics in Iran and Iraq.
· Referendum or popular consultation
Voters in the Kurdistan Region and some disputed areas voted on independence; Baghdad rejected the vote and the federal Supreme Court later cancelled its results.
Significance here: The most prominent recent vote on Kurdish independence.
Branches have their own evidence and objectives. They are not assumed to share the goals of this wider case.
Independence movements
هەرێمی کوردستان
Kurdish movements in Iraq from the 1920s, the self-governing Kurdistan Region created in 1992 and recognised in 2005, and the 2017 independence referendum.
“Related” never means allied, supportive or equivalent. Each connection explains itself.
Umbrella case and branch
Branch covering Kurdish political history and the Kurdistan Region in Iraq.
Each number marks a specific claim. Notes give the source, its locator and how it relates to the claim.
Claim: The BBC described the Kurds in 2019 as numbering between 25 and 35 million, living in a mountainous region straddling the borders of Turkey, Iraq, Syria, Iran and Armenia, and as never having obtained a permanent nation state. Attributed to BBC News (2019)
Claim: Article 64 provided that if, within a year, the Kurdish peoples of those areas showed the League of Nations Council that a majority desired independence from Turkey, and the Council recommended it, Turkey would renounce its rights over the areas; the Allies would not object to Kurds of the Mosul Vilayet joining such a state.
Claim: The Treaty of Sèvres never took effect; it was replaced in 1923 by the Treaty of Lausanne, which made no provision for a Kurdish state.
Claim: In 1922 in and around Sulaimaniyah, Sheikh Mahmud Barzanji, who had been working with the British administration, declared a “Kingdom of Kurdistan”, which was not recognised and was ended by British intervention. Attributed to International Centre for Defence and Security (2017)
Claim: Qazi Muhammad announced the formation of the Kurdish Republic of Mahabad on 22 January 1946, a republic declared “within the limits of the Iranian state” in Soviet-controlled north-western Iran, and invited Mustafa Barzani of Iraq to form its armed force. Attributed to International Centre for Defence and Security (2017)
Claim: According to the BBC, the PKK established by Abdullah Öcalan in 1978 called for an independent state and began an armed struggle in 1984, and in the 1990s rolled back its demand for independence in favour of greater cultural and political autonomy. Attributed to BBC News (2019)
Claim: On 25 September 2017 a unilaterally declared referendum on independence was held in the Kurdistan region of Iraq and in some disputed areas outside it, including Kirkuk Governorate.
Claim: In the early 20th century many Kurds began to consider the creation of a homeland, generally referred to as “Kurdistan”. Attributed to BBC News (2019)
Claim: The Kurdistan Parliament in Erbil uses the Sorani forms “پەرلەمانی کوردستان” (Kurdistan Parliament) and “هەرێمی کوردستان” (Kurdistan Region) in its official site title and address.
Claim: After Soviet forces withdrew from north-western Iran in 1946, Iran reasserted control and the republic was destroyed; Qazi Muhammad was hanged in Mahabad on 31 March 1947, and Barzani and his fighters escaped to the Soviet Union. Attributed to International Centre for Defence and Security (2017)
Claim: Iraq’s 2005 Constitution defines Iraq as a single federal state and, on coming into force, recognises the region of Kurdistan and its existing authorities as a federal region.
Claim: On 20 November 2017 Iraq’s federal Supreme Court ruled the referendum unconstitutional and cancelled its results.
Claim: In Syria, Kurdish parties led by the PYD declared autonomous administrations in 2014 and a federal system in 2016; as reported in 2019, the PYD said it was not seeking independence but legal guarantees and recognition of Kurdish autonomy. Attributed to BBC News (2019)
Claim: Carnegie’s Diwan reported in July 2026 that during the war that began on 28 February 2026, Iran carried out hundreds of strikes on exiled Iranian Kurdish groups in Iraqi Kurdistan, and that seven Iranian Kurdish factions had formed an alliance in February 2026. Attributed to Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (Diwan), July 2026