Kurds fleeing conflict

Kurds fleeing conflict

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Saddam Hussein's use of chemical weapons against Iraqi Kurds in the 1980s was cited by Western powers as one of the justifications for the 2003 invasion that toppled him.

Once again, the perilous situation of the Kurds - this time attacked by Islamic State fighters - has spurred the United States and its allies in Europe and the Gulf to use military force in Iraq and Syria.

. Cukurca, Turkey. REUTERS/Srdjan Zivulovic

Reuters photographers have chronicled Kurdish refugee crises over the years. Pictures from 1991 show men, women and children carrying their possessions, gathering firewood and burying their dead in a refugee camp in Cukurca, Turkey, just across the border from Iraq.

They had escaped a military operation by Saddam's government aimed at "Arabising" Kurdish areas in the north. Hundreds of thousands fled into Turkey and Iran.

. SURUC, Turkey. REUTERS/Murad Sezer

Now, once again, the Kurds — as many as 30 million people spread through Turkey, Iraq, Syria and Iran, but with no state of their own — are on the move. Usually far from the headlines, whole families have trekked away from danger.

Since the fall of Saddam, the Kurds' semi-autonomous region in northern Iraq became, until the Islamic State offensive that started in Iraq in June and turned against the Kurds in August, a haven of relative peace in a war-ravaged country.

. Cukurca, Turkey. REUTERS/Srdjan Zivulovic

The attacks by the militants — who are notorious for killing anyone who refuses to convert to their austere version of Sunni Islam — created a new wave of refugees, from Iraq and Syria.

Most Kurds are Sunni Muslims, but tend to feel more loyalty to their Kurdishness, rather than their religion.

. SURUC, Turkey. REUTERS/Kai Pfaffenbach

Reuters pictures taken in a refugee camp in Suruc, Turkey in recent months show familiar scenes - a line of people stretches into the distance as they walk from their homes in Kobani, across the border in Syria, where Islamic State has besieged the town.

The battle for Kobani has become a focal point, not just for the plight of the Kurds, but of the West's confrontation with global Islamist militancy.

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Slideshow

Iraqi Kurdish refugees wait in the Cukurca refugee camp.
. Cukurca, Turkey. REUTERS/Srdjan Zivulovic

Iraqi Kurdish refugees wait in the Cukurca refugee camp.

A Kurdish refugee from the Syrian town of Kobani shows the victory sign as a rainbow forms over the camp.
. SURUC, Turkey. REUTERS/Kai Pfaffenbach

A Kurdish refugee from the Syrian town of Kobani shows the victory sign as a rainbow forms over the camp.

Men throw loafs of bread to Iraqi Kurdish refugees.
. Cukurca, Turkey. REUTERS/Srdjan Zivulovic

Men throw loafs of bread to Iraqi Kurdish refugees.

Syrian Kurdish refugees sit in a truck after crossing the Turkish-Syrian border.
. SURUC, Turkey. REUTERS/Murad Sezer

Syrian Kurdish refugees sit in a truck after crossing the Turkish-Syrian border.

Iraqi Kurdish refugees collect firewood.
. Cukurca, Turkey. REUTERS/Srdjan Zivulovic

Iraqi Kurdish refugees collect firewood.

Kurdish Syrian refugees carry their belongings after crossing the Turkish-Syrian border.
. SURUC, Turkey. REUTERS/Murad Sezer

Kurdish Syrian refugees carry their belongings after crossing the Turkish-Syrian border.

Iraqi Kurdish refugees carry their belongings.
. Cukurca, Turkey. REUTERS/Srdjan Zivulovic

Iraqi Kurdish refugees carry their belongings.

A Kurdish Syrian refugee waits for transport during a sand storm on the Turkish-Syrian border.
. SURUC, Turkey. REUTERS/Murad Sezer

A Kurdish Syrian refugee waits for transport during a sand storm on the Turkish-Syrian border.

Iraqi Kurdish refugees wait for medical treatment.
. Cukurca, Turkey. REUTERS/Srdjan Zivulovic

Iraqi Kurdish refugees wait for medical treatment.

Elderly Syrian Kurdish refugees wait after crossing into Turkey.
. SURUC, Turkey. REUTERS/Murad Sezer

Elderly Syrian Kurdish refugees wait after crossing into Turkey.

Iraqi Kurdish men bury the dead in the Cukurca refugee camp.
. Cukurca, Turkey. REUTERS/Srdjan Zivulovic

Iraqi Kurdish men bury the dead in the Cukurca refugee camp.

Turkish Kurds carry a coffin during the funeral of Kurdish fighters killed during clashes against Islamic State in the Syrian town of Kobani, at a cemetery in the town of Suruc.
. SURUC, Turkey. REUTERS/Kai Pfaffenbach

Turkish Kurds carry a coffin during the funeral of Kurdish fighters killed during clashes against Islamic State in the Syrian town of Kobani, at a cemetery in the town of Suruc.

An Iraqi Kurdish refugee buries her child with her bare hands in the Cukurca refugee camp.
. Cukurca, Turkey. REUTERS/Srdjan Zivulovic

An Iraqi Kurdish refugee buries her child with her bare hands in the Cukurca refugee camp.

Women mourn near the graves of Kurdish fighters who died in Kobani.
. SURUC, Turkey. REUTERS/Kai Pfaffenbach

Women mourn near the graves of Kurdish fighters who died in Kobani.