The Treaty of Sevres: The break-up of the world's Kurdish population

Iraq was carved into the state it is today by the aftermath of the 1920 Treaty of Sevres, which effectively broke up the Ottoman Empire after its World War I defeat and gave the British control over the new country of Iraq. Though the treaty promised that Kurds would be given their own country, Kurdistan, this dream fell flat. Turkey, another new country determined by the Treaty of Sevres and home to the world's largest population of Kurds, refused to ratify the treaty. Instead the Treaty of Lausanne, a more agreeable treaty for the Turks, was drawn up and ratified in 1923. Since then Kurds have been without a country of their own and consequently have often been at odds with their compatriots.

—Emily Krieger