What is the largest ethnic group that wants but does not have a nation-state of its own?  No, it's not the "Palestinian people," but rather the Kurds, who number between 30 and 35 million.  Living in areas of Turkey, Iraq, Syria, Iran, and Armenia, they constitute the fourth largest ethnic group.  They constitute 18% of the Turkish population, 10% in Iran, 17% in Iraq, and 10% in Syria. In all the four countries, they have suffered persecution, discrimination, and marginalization, though they were protected to some extent in Syria by the French mandate.  In Turkey, the repression of Kurds has been constant and the Kurdish language forbidden for a time.  In Iran, Ayatollah Khomeini declared "holy war" against them, and 10,000 Kurds were killed.  Saddam Hussein in Iraq removed thousands of them in his "Arabization" program.  At best, there has been an uneven relationship between Kurds and government authorities, who...(Read Full Article)