Kurdayeti

   Kurdayeti is the coherent system of modern pan-Kurdish nationalism that was developed by Kurdish intellectual nationalists by the 1960s. The suffix ayeti is used for forming abstract nouns. Kurdayeti connotes the idea of and struggle for freeing the Kurds from national oppression by uniting all parts of Kurdistan under the rule of an independent Kurdish state. It is basically secular nationalism and has been influenced by Marxism-Leninism. Sedentarization of the rural population, growth of urbanization, the rise of a middle and intellectual class, development of a modern leadership, and the unique international attention following the Gulf War in 1991 all contributed to Kurdayeti.

   Given Kurdistan's division among the states of Turkey, Iran, Iraq, and Syria, as well as divisions among the Kurds themselves, however, Kurdayeti remains only a dream.