Turkey is a country approximately twice the size of Montana, uniquely situated between Europe and Asia. Throughout its history, Turkey has acted as both a barrier and a bridge to the peoples in the
Balkans, Caucasus, Middle East, and the eastern Mediterranean regions. The Treaty of Lausanne, signed in July 1923, officially ended the conflict that had existed between the Ottoman Empire and the Allies since the onset of World War I, and defined the modern border of Turkey. Despite comprising nearly a third of the future state of Turkey’s population, the Treaty did not make a provision for a Kurdish state, leaving the Kurds with minority status in Turkey and other
countries throughout the region, including Syria. Turkey has most recently been the recipient of a mass influx of Syrians, including Syrian Kurds, who have fled a devastating civil war. Since the first bombs from the Assad regime in Syria fell on Syrian citizens in 2011, more than one in ten Syrians have been killed or wounded.
Tyler J. Smith