The persecution of Kurds is the ethnic and political persecution which is inflicted upon Kurds by the governments of Iran, Syria, Turkey, and Iraq.
20th century The newly declared Turkish Republic leader Mustafa Kemal Atatürk repudiated the Treaty of Sèvres which proposed a referendum be conducted in the Kurdish homeland. As a result, conflict continued between the Turkish military and the Kurds. This conflict still exists today.
After the Dersim massacre, 40,000–70,000 civilians were killed by the Turkish Army and 11,818 people were exiled, depopulating the province."Resmi raporlarda Dersim katliamı: 13 bin kişi öldürüldü", Radikal, November 19, 2009. Nuri Dersimi stated that many tribesmen were killed after surrendering, and women and children were locked into hay sheds which were then lit on fire. 30,000 Kurds were massacred by the Turkish Army after the rebellion.
The Zilan massacre killed about 15,000 Kurdish civilians and the Zilan River was full to the brim with dead bodies.Yusuf Mazhar, Cumhuriyet, 16 Temmuz 1930, ... Zilan harekatında imha edilenlerin sayısı 15.000 kadardır. Zilan Deresi ağzına kadar ceset dolmuştur... Ahmet Kahraman, ibid, p. 211, Karaköse, 14 (Özel muhabirimiz bildiriyor) ... Ayşe Hür, "Osmanlı'dan bugüne Kürtler ve Devlet-4" , Taraf, October 23, 2008, Retrieved August 16, 2010. Ayşe Hür, "Bu kaçıncı isyan, bu kaçıncı harekât?" , Taraf, December 23, 2007, Retrieved August 16, 2010.
The Kuşkonar massacre killed 38 people, 13 in Koçağılı and 25 in Kuşkonar. Most of the victims were children, women or elderly, including seven babies. 13 people were injured. Later the Turkish Armed Forces blamed the PKK and used the massacre as propaganda. The Turkish government refused to start investigating despite complaints of surviving villagers.
The 3-year-long Anfal campaign killed 50,000 to 100,000 non-combatant Kurdish civilians.GENOCIDE IN IRAQ Human Rights Watch, 1993 Kurdish officials claimed the figure could be as high as 182,000.The Crimes of Saddam Hussein – 1988 The Anfal Campaign PBS Frontline 1,754 schools, 270 hospitals, 2,450 mosques, and 90% of the Kurdish villages were destroyed.
21st century The 2021 Konya massacre was the killing of a Kurdish family in Turkey. 4 women and 3 men were killed as a result. According to an interview given by members of the family to Duvar, the attackers where close to the far-right Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) who did not want to permit Kurds to live in the neighborhood.
The Roboski massacre was the killings of 40 Kurdish villagers on the night of December 28, 2011. They were coming from Iraq towards the Turkish border. They were mostly teenagers from the Encü family of Ortasu (in ) in the Uludere district of Şırnak Province, Turkey. They were smuggling cigarettes, diesel fuel and other goods into Turkey, riding on mules.
Later in 2020, pro-Iranian government protesters torched Kurdish party offices in Baghdad.
During the clashes in Syria in 2025, the Syrian transitional government, Turkey, and Arab Tribal and Clan Forces fought against Kurdish forces, leading to allegations of war crimes and massacres.
List NameDateLocationDeathsDiyarbakir massacre1925Diyarbakır, Turkey15,200Zilan massacre1930Van, Turkey15,000Ahmet Kahraman, ibid, pp. 207–208. Zini Rift Massacre1938Kılıçkaya, Turkey95Muğlalı incident, Turkey1943Özalp, Turkey32Maraş massacre, Turkey1978Marash, Turkey3,000Kurdish villages depopulated by Turkey1984–2009Turkish Kurdistan30,000August 1986 Turkish incursion into northern Iraq1986Iraqi Kurdistan165Anfal campaign1989Iraqi Kurdistan50,000–182,000Murder of Zübeyir Akkoç1993Diyarbakır, Turkey1Lice massacre1993Lice, Turkey30Vartinis massacre1993Muş, Turkey91996Güçlükonak, Turkey11Kuşkonar and Koçağılı massacre1994Şırnak, Turkey3826 July 1994 bombing of North Iraq1994Iraqi Kurdistan79December 2007 Turkish incursion into northern Iraq2007Iraqi Kurdistan2012008 Turkish incursion into northern Iraq2008Iraqi Kurdistan2372011 Hakkâri attack2011Hakkâri, Turkey72August 2011 Turkey–Iraq cross-border raids2011167Roboski massacre2011Uludere, Turkey34September 2012 Beytüşşebap attack2012Beytüşşebap, Turkey46Triple murder of Kurdish activists in Paris2013Paris, France3Death of Berkin Elvan2014Okmeydanı, Turkey12015 police raids in Turkey2015Turkey1Siege of Silvan (2015)2015Silvan, Turkey122015 Hakkari assault2015Hakkâri, Turkey119Siege of Sur (2016)2015–2016Sur, Turkey200December 2015 – February 2016 Cizre curfew2015–2016Cizre, Turkey178April 2017 Turkish airstrikes in Syria and Iraq201770Turkish airstrikes on Sinjar (2018)2018Sinjar, Iraq5Murder of Deniz Poyraz2021Konak, Turkey12021 Konya massacre2021Meram, Turkey7Turkish airstrikes on Sinjar (2021)2021Sinjar, Iraq11Zakho resort attack2022Zakho, Iraq92022 Paris shooting2022Paris, France3
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