Watch Kurdistan: Dream or Reality?

The future, for the Kurds, has long been uncertain. Suppressed as a minority by governments across the Middle East, the Kurdish people have been denied the practical advantages of citizenship. Yet as the rise of Islamic State challenges security in the Middle East, Kurdish communities are in the world spotlight as never before. The Kurdish path to recognition is defined by contradictions. While Turkey makes war with its Kurdish provinces, oil-rich Iraqi Kurdistan depends on Ankara for the delivery of its wealth. As a result Iraq's glittering Kurdish North, with its new shopping malls and busy airports, has become a shining example to the rest of the Middle East. And across the border in Syria the socialist YPG Kurdish forces are a model army, disciplined, cohesive and powerful. Through the eyes of the Kurdish minority, this timely and compelling film reveals the fascinating complexity of politics and identity in the Kurdish territories. At a unique point in the region's history of conflict, Kurdish voices express the hope that they may at last achieve the recognition - and perhaps statehood - they have for so long fought for.

Kurdistan: Dream or Reality? is a 2016 documentary with a runtime of 52 minutes.