Part 4 The Fragile Basis of Democracy and Development, 4.4 The Legal Status of the Kurds in Iraq and Syria

As of yet, there is still no universally accepted definition of minorities in international law. In fact, to date a fixed definition of what constitutes a minority has been deliberately avoided in international legal instruments designed to protect minorities.1 However, a minority can be said to exist when a group is objectively different from others and its members subjectively see themselves as such and have a sense of community. The objective characteristics are often unclear. Though some claim that there are “races” of the human population, the world is so old...