4 - Kurdish Nationalism during Decolonisation and the Cold War

Summary

The third significant period during which maps of Kurdistan became significant is decolonisation, when self-determination became an officially recognised international principle as a normative ground for creating new states in ex-colonies. This raised Kurdish nationalist hopes for statehood. In this period, Kurdish nationalism transformed from an elite project to a grassroots movement and different movements emerged in the four countries in which Kurds reside. They all sought to benefit from the ongoing new state-formation processes and promote the idea that Kurds have a right to self-determination. Several groups redrew the map of Kurdistan and used it to show the location and boundaries of the Kurdish homeland, using these maps to lobby to Kurds, regional states in which Kurds reside and the international community.