Slashdot Mirror


Google Erases Kurdistan From Maps in Compliance With Turkish Government (kurdistan24.net)

schwit1 shares a report: Google has removed a map outlining the geographical extent of the Greater Kurdistan after the Turkish state asked it to do so, a simple inquiry on the Internet giant's search engine from Wednesday on can show. "Unavailable. This map is no longer available due to a violation of our Terms of Service and/or policies," a note on the page that the map was previously on read. Google did not provide further details on how the Kurdistan map violated its rules.

The map in question, available for years, used to be on Google's My Maps service, a feature of Google Maps that enables users to create custom maps for personal use or sharing through search. Maps drawn by ancient Greeks, Islamic historians, Ottomans, and Westerners showing Kurdistan with alternative names such as "Corduene" or "Karduchi" have existed since antiquity. The use of the name "Kurdistan" was banned by the administration of Turkey's founder Mustafa Kemal Ataturk in the immediate aftermath of the crushed Sheikh Said uprising for Kurdish statehood in 1925.
Further reading: Local media report. "Turkish officials outraged by Google map showing the unofficial border of Kurdistan. Turkey demands the removal of the map. There are around 40 million Kurds divided between 4 main countries," Jiyar Gol, a BBC correspondent tweeted.

203 comments

  1. Politics by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Who cares?

    1. Re:Politics by Desler · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Billions of people?

    2. Re: Politics by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Probably the Kurds facing genocide and Erasure of a 3000 year old historical record of their people. I imagine they care.

    3. Re: Politics by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That's okay. The entire region should be given to Armenia and Georgia anyhow, we don't need another Islamic nation in the world.

    4. Re:Politics by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yes. Billions and Billions.
      https://www.youtube.com/watch?...

  2. Re:There's no such country as Kurdistan by Z00L00K · · Score: 5, Insightful

    The winner writes the history. That is always the case.

    --
    If builders built buildings the way programmers wrote programs, then the first woodpecker would destroy civilization.
  3. Google is evil by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Deliberately selling out to murderous authoritarian governments is about as close to pure evil as you can get.

    1. Re:Google is evil by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Right. Google is the one who should be standing up to the world and defining its borders. This is all google's fault.

    2. Re: Google is evil by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I recommend a new motto for google: put the cart before the horse

    3. Re:Google is evil by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Found the apple retard that lives in Cupertino and thinks imaps are "innovative"

    4. Re:Google is evil by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      And yet the US, and any other western government, do so about every other day.
      So why blame a single company for doing the same as its leadership does?
      If we do not like that, then maybe we should elect our officials to lead by example, instead of by empty words.

    5. Re:Google is evil by l0ungeb0y · · Score: 5, Interesting

      No, but they should be the ones telling foreign authoritarian nation states to go fuck themselves, and not reshaping the world and spreading "fake news" at their behest. Wiping out the political demarcation denies that information to others and serves the agenda of Turkish propaganda

    6. Re:Google is evil by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Google is evil

      Yup.
      Google breaks the law and that act makes them evil.
      Google follows the law and that act makes them evil.
      But any other company you don't hate that follows the law is GOOD.

      Clearly following or breaking the law isn't the key point here, and you don't really care about that at all.
      Companies you irrationally hate are evil no matter what they do good or bad, and companies you don't hate are always good no matter what they do good or bad.

    7. Re: Google is evil by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Fine and good, except for the fact thatâ(TM)s not how America is supposed to work. Companies are not government agencies. They should have nothing to do with goverment decision making, in either direction. That would be a fascist atyle of government.

    8. Re:Google is evil by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The point is that there is no demarcation -- only an aspiration. Claiming that a demarcation in fact exists is the "fake news".

    9. Re:Google is evil by CrimsonAvenger · · Score: 1

      I'm curious...

      Assuming you were alive in 1861, would you have the same opinion about, say, just where the United States ended and the Confederate States began?

      --

      "I do not agree with what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it"
    10. Re: Google is evil by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Companies are not government agencies. They should have nothing to do with goverment decision making, in either direction.

      But in this case there is no choice but to make a political statement. Removing the custom Kurdistan map is seen as siding with the Turkish government. Not removing it would be seen as siding against the Turkish government.

      Sometimes when you're providing a service that is open to the public you don't get to choose to stay out of political faction politics. Your actions or lack thereof get you put on a definitive side regardless of what decision you make.

    11. Re:Google is evil by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      No dumbass, they should not. There is no Kurdistan, there is no officially recognized border. And yes, getting recognition is required for it to exist in any legal definition. Just saying hey look at us we want our own country is not enough. Perhaps one day they will gain such recognition and official acceptance. But not today, and it is not Google's place to say that. They have no authority to decide this for Turkey or any other country. None.

    12. Re: Google is evil by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Confederate states never existed on their own. The north just let em think they existed for the purpose of war.

      The real reason for the civil war was to get rid of all the racist assholes.

    13. Re:Google is evil by puddingebola · · Score: 2

      Lets draw a distinction between a group of people seeking to form their own social contract, and a group of people seeking to deny another group of people their rights as human beings. "National aspirations must be respected; people may now be dominated and governed only by their own consent. 'Self determination' is not a mere phrase; it is an imperative principle of action." - Woodrow Wilson.

    14. Re: Google is evil by jpaine619 · · Score: 2

      Confederate states never existed on their own. The north just let em think they existed for the purpose of war.

      The real reason for the civil war was to get rid of all the racist assholes.

      I see. So when Lincoln said the war was about preserving the Union and not about slavery, he was lying? You're an idiot. Slavery wasn't banned until it became obvious the North was going to win. Lincoln opposed slavery but was never willing to go to war over it. The war was ONLY about preserving the union.

    15. Re: Google is evil by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Companies are never good.

      But they can be evil.

      The problem with your flimsy straw man is that whenever Google has a choice they ALWAYS choose evil. It has nothing to do with the law. Zero. Zip.

      Google is evil because it is run by evil people. These are not random acts. They ALWAYS choose evil.

    16. Re:Google is evil by adrn01 · · Score: 1

      I wonder why Google cares what Turkey wants - surely Google can't be making much money in ads from Turkey. Perhaps Turkey has an ally here in the US who *could* do some damage to Google? Hmmmm..

    17. Re: Google is evil by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I see. So when Lincoln said the war was about preserving the Union and not about slavery, he was lying? You're an idiot. Slavery wasn't banned until it became obvious the North was going to win. Lincoln opposed slavery but was never willing to go to war over it. The war was ONLY about preserving the union.

      Don't be quoting your Patriarchal mansplaining facts from your HISstory books. Everyone knows learning those oppressive lies are only for racist cis-gendered fascists. Facts are what I declare from my basement video game fortress at mom's house. You can keep your judgemental diplomas and tyrannical GPAs because I have all the trophies to prove I am right. Oh. And since you disagree with me, you're a Nazi.

    18. Re: Google is evil by larryjoe · · Score: 0

      There exists is a disturbing pattern of Google conduct. Google went out of their way to placate a human-rights violating, totalitarian regime in order to preserve the ability to increase revenues. Google could have simply added disclaimers about disputed territories, unrecognized claims, or fictional maps. But they chose the path of greatest revenue.

    19. Re:Google is evil by tippen · · Score: 1

      +1 Insightful

    20. Re: Google is evil by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Proclamation of 1863 happened on Jan 1st 1863
      https://www.archives.gov/exhibits/american_originals_iv/sections/nonjavatext_emancipation.html

      Now it is true by the END of 1863 the North was winning the Civil War that wasn't necessarily the case on Jan 1st:
      Grant won his Vicksburg campaign near the end of April that year.
      Jul 1-3rd was Gettysburg and it wasn't until July 9th that Port Hudson was captured cutting off the Confederates from the Mississippi river.
      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Troop_engagements_of_the_American_Civil_War,_1863

    21. Re: Google is evil by phantomfive · · Score: 1

      Before the war, the north said it was about "preserving the union" and the south said it was mainly about slavery (the documents are still there, you can read them). That's because northerners wouldn't have fought to free some slaves. After the war, the North said it was about slavery, the south said it was about the right to secede. Now southerners say their ancestors were brave and good people, and northerners say they were a bunch of racists. Weirdly, all of them these viewpoints are partly true, and everyone in war has their own personal reason for fighting.

      --
      "First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
    22. Re:Google is evil by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "Fake news" is the demarcation pushed by the aggressive Turkish regime. We can only hope Turkey implodes under the weight of its own extremism.

    23. Re:Google is evil by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
    24. Re:Google is evil by rtb61 · · Score: 1

      Who cares what Google executives care about, they should simply do their job on the international market and simply go with what ever the united nations goes with, what ever is their approved lines on a map and what ever are the undecided and in dispute ones and their extent. It is not up to Google to decide what the shape of the worlds countries are and present that to the public as reality, I mean really because of the consequences in disputes that kind of stuff should be illegal, depending upon how you present it ie as the truth or as your opinion or you opinion of the truth.

      The sound choice probably source reference the borders as indicate and walk away from the choice apart from the inherent choice of choosing what you deem to be the most appropriate source. Probably different maps for different IP addresses or self chosen country identity (where you are and where you want to be considered from ie just because you are a American in Australia does not mean you want a particular search biased to Australian preference of course sometimes you will, so a valid choice that should be easily picked up in the search bar and the outcome adjusted).

      --
      Chaos - everything, everywhere, everywhen
    25. Re: Google is evil by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Are we still talking about Kurdistan or did we just move on to China?

    26. Re: Google is evil by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I thought this was America?!

    27. Re: Google is evil by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I would have spun up a .tr just for the Turks to redirect their citizens to at their pleasure. White label the damn map and give them a config. Only cowards bow to the man, man.

    28. Re: Google is evil by skywire · · Score: 1

      RTFA, already.

      --
      Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety.
    29. Re: Google is evil by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The Fascist style of government as defined by the 5 founders of Fascism would be a semi-military government which depends on military culture and philosophies shaping organization and changes thereof, and by that account a corporate-led-government can't be Fascist since in military doctrine businesses aren't allowed to corrupt leadership and pose a risk towards any military operation due to opportunism, and are forced to work for the people and the machine both while being only allowed to use their more suspect corporate against foreign enemies in economic warfare.
      So you need to first go take a day off, Google who the founders and influencers of Fascism are, read their biographies and books because reading from the source is how you correctly learn an ideology you are attempting to discuss instead of learning from outside opinions, and then come back with a more IQ-friendly style of posting since IQ is in accuracy and not excuses. In order to fight something, one needs to have a clear cold and objective understanding of it, otherwise you are setting yourself for a failure just like with the US election.

    30. Re: Google is evil by larryjoe · · Score: 2

      There exists is a disturbing pattern of Google conduct. Google went out of their way to placate a human-rights violating, totalitarian regime in order to preserve the ability to increase revenues. Google could have simply added disclaimers about disputed territories, unrecognized claims, or fictional maps. But they chose the path of greatest revenue.

      Are we still talking about Kurdistan or did we just move on to China?

      We moved on from China to Turkey to establish a pattern of trading revenue for granting the wishes of human-rights violating, totalitarian regimes.

      Of course, the alternative is that no quid pro quo exists and rather that that Google does actually ideologically support Chinese censorship and surveillance and Turkish suppression of the Kurdish.

    31. Re:Google is evil by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Deliberately selling out to murderous authoritarian governments is about as close to pure evil as you can get.

      Without actually BECOMING a murderous authoritarian government, that is? You can probably get a little closer than selling out... just saying.

    32. Re: Google is evil by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      +1 informative

    33. Re:Google is evil by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I'm curious...

      Assuming you were alive in 1861, would you have the same opinion about, say, just where the United States ended and the Confederate States began?

      There was in fact a "Confederate States of America", so putting that on a map is just a recognition of reality.

      But that doesn't mean the Confederate States of America weren't fighting to keep their slaves - they were. That was the de facto cause of the war. "State's rights" is BULLSHIT obfuscation. THE "state's right" that was in question was the state's right to keep slavery legal.

      There's a reason why world powers shied away from recognizing the Confederacy, and not one openly supported them.

      So in the context of not catering to oppressive regimes, leaving the CSA off the map wouldn't be objectionable in the way bowing down to Erdogen's Turkey and leaving Kurdistan off the map is.

    34. Re:Google is evil by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Let's call this out as it is, and stop pretending that Google as an entity makes this decisions.

      There's a constant and disturbing pattern with Google and recent years, and it all started with Sundar Pichai being named CEO.

      So let's be clear, this isn't Google per-se, this is Sundar Pichai continuing his evil streak and continuing to change Google for the worse.

      Sundar Pichai needs to be called out as the most evil Silicon Valley exec going right now. At least with Zuckerberg it seems to be naive incompetent stupidity, with Pichai it's a calculated evilness designed to support authoritarian regimes at the expense of innocent and decent people's lives.

      Let's be clear about what this article means, it means that Pichai has opted to support a state that backed ISIS against the people who helped the West defeat ISIS. The Kurds have consistently shown themselves to be one of the finest groups of people in the middle east, and they deserve better - they helped save Yazidis, Shias, Sunnis, Christians, and Atheists alike from the cruelty of Turkish backed extremists. Pichai has now thrown his hat in with the latter, and blaming Google, as a non-physical entity, not Pichai, the person who controls that entity, excuses him from the real cruelty that he supports in the name of profit.

      Google can be good again, it just needs to ditch Pichai and the evil that he stands for, and to start telling evil nation states like Russia, Turkey, and China, to go fuck themselves when they try and kill and oppress people simply for wanting a basic level of freedom and liberty.

    35. Re:Google is evil by RespekMyAthorati · · Score: 1

      Assuming you were alive in 1861, would you have the same opinion about, say, just where the United States ended and the Confederate States began?

      Um .. yes?

  4. Historical Revisionism by fishscene · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Historical Revisionism. Let's call it what it really is. Lies.

    1. Re:Historical Revisionism by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      So, there is a country called Kurdistan that actually exist?

    2. Re:Historical Revisionism by Darinbob · · Score: 1

      Does that matter? Google has maps for other things that don't exist. Google used to have a map of Middle Earth. This Kurdistan map wasn't actually Google's official world map, but a custom service on mymaps.google.com. And on that service you can find all sort of things, historical, fictional, informative, etc.

      Google only took down this one map to appease the Turkish government, and not just within Turkey itself.

    3. Re:Historical Revisionism by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The state of Kurdistan should be formally recognized by the UN and, hopefully, will be in the near future.

  5. Nothing Worse by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    There's nothing worse than fucking uppity Kurds. Except, of course, the Turks. They suck almost as hard.

    1. Re:Nothing Worse by Z00L00K · · Score: 1

      Compared to everyone else in that region the Kurds are pretty decent.

      Just don't make them annoyed with you.

      It's only the Sikhs that have a better standard.

      --
      If builders built buildings the way programmers wrote programs, then the first woodpecker would destroy civilization.
    2. Re:Nothing Worse by Luckyo · · Score: 2, Interesting

      One of the highest female genital mutilation rates in the region. Unapologetic and unironic marxist-leninist system.

      It's true that enemy of your enemy can be your friend, but the enemy in question is all but gone for the West at this stage. Which means there's no need to maintain friendship with someone who's ideologically diametrically opposed to capitalism. And kurds are even more prone to fighting their civil wars in European countries after going there as refugees, and about as rapey as everyone else from the region when in contact with Western women whom they view just like everyone else in the area does. Massive sluts who view sex like those in Brave New World and who utterly emasculated their own men and are in a desperate need of a true man.

      It's the same reason kurds have been dropped by the West after their purpose was served after first Iraq war. They're not any more "decent" than the rest of the region unless you either really like marxism-leninism and really hate capitalism, which is unfortunately increasingly true for modern Western media workers. Or you're into empowering women through dampening their biological interest in men. Which aligns with interests of modern feminism that are doing just that. The only divergence is that they do this via psychological rather than surgical methods in the West.

      But if you're not ideologically aligned with those two groups, then compared to the rest of the region they're marginally better in some ways and worse in others. As such, your approach to alliance with such people should be pragmatic to the extreme, just like it would be with any other entity that is utterly opposed to you on societal level. And pragmatic reasons to support Kurds ran out with failure of IS. Turkey and Iraq are far more important as allies and both are diametrically opposed to Kurdistan (greater or not) as a state. Which is the primary political goal of Kurds today. So when the choice comes to choose either Turkey and Iraq or Kurdish forces, the pragmatic choice is obvious to the extreme.

    3. Re:Nothing Worse by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Cold war era bullshit much?

    4. Re:Nothing Worse by Kjella · · Score: 4, Informative

      The Kurds are in deep economic trouble because they're practically under an embargo both from the central government in Baghdad as well as from Turkey, with Syria and Iran being absolutely no help. They do try to run a welfare state that they can't really afford, but the rest is you smoking crack. Capitalism is very much alive and well in Kurdistan.

      Turkey is becoming another Islamic theocracy under Erdogan, the territory is strategically important but as allies they're in the "they're bastards, but they're our bastards" category. They're pissed off about the West and EU and is looking east to Russia for more dictator-friendly regimes. The Iraqi government can barely keep the country together, if it hadn't been for foreign military support and the Peshmerga most the country would be lost to IS.

      They do seem to be one of the territories with a history of female genital mutilation though, I'll give you that. But hey they have women in the armed forces, this is not "stay at home and pop out babies in a burka"-Islam. The problem is that the creation of any Kurdistan - even just the independence of the Iraqi region - would set off a helluva chain reaction nobody wants to see where leads. But I think they've earned it.

      --
      Live today, because you never know what tomorrow brings
    5. Re:Nothing Worse by Luckyo · · Score: 1, Interesting

      You're regurgitating stock grade current Western media propaganda, which demonstrates utter lack of familiarity with the region. Kurdish power structures themselves, such as PKK and YPG openly declare themselves marxist-leninist all the way from the time of founding to on the ground operations today. This is so uncontroversial, that it can be read on wikipedia if you're uninterested into wading into regions history and understanding how and why these people adopted these systems.

      You're also utterly unaware of realities of Turkey-US relations beyond stock propaganda either. Turkey is necessary for containment of Russia because of Bosphorus as well as being one of the three primary powers in the Saudi-Turkey-Iran triangle. US is necessary for Turkey because of its military reach and ability to provide security guarantees in the Saudi-Turkey-Iran power struggle. Ideological narratives about "person with massive democratic support in his country is actually a dictator because we don't like him" is utterly irrelevant to actual realities in the region. These narratives only matter in how the actions and outcomes are packaged to ordinary people in Western states for variety of domestic propaganda reasons. These reasons are utterly disconnected from realities in the region and do not interact with such realities in any meaningful way.

    6. Re:Nothing Worse by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Islamic theocracy? If you said power-dictatorship i'd be fine, but if it was a theocracy, then the middle-aged woman who drove a car without a license in the midst of Istanbul a month back and was stopped by a cop only to end up screeching at him, wouldn't have had the cop trying to calm her down and the police force releasing her almost without a fine, she would have been hanged at the very least in an Islamic theocracy just for screeching at a policeman. So shut your dumbshit mouth if you don't know shit about anything. I fucking hate Turks due to 4 centuries of reasons i have to want them genocided, but i hate retarded idiots who don't know what the shit they are talking about like you just an ounce under the Turks.

  6. Worse than 1984... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    We apparently live in a world where not just the government can rabbit hole inconvenient information, but apparently ANY government can do it.

  7. Why is the headline blue? by Chris+Mattern · · Score: 1

    Normal stories get green headlines, and ads get brown. So what does blue mean?

    1. Re:Why is the headline blue? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Bollocks

    2. Re:Why is the headline blue? by Chris+Mattern · · Score: 1

      And now it's green. The heck?

    3. Re:Why is the headline blue? by mhotchin · · Score: 1

      Are you a subscriber? /. used to release stories 'early' to them....

  8. Next Steps by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Realizing a new tactic to winning this war against the yankee rebels, Google removes all maps of the USA because the British government asked them to.

    1. Re:Next Steps by datavirtue · · Score: 1

      Yeah, seems milieu control comes cheap at the threat of a few users. You used to have to deploy armies for this shit and run over citizens with tanks. Everything is getting automated.

      --
      I object to power without constructive purpose. --Spock
  9. Re: There's no such country as Kurdistan by cyber-vandal · · Score: 2, Informative

    There was no country called Israel for 1900 years either. The last long-term ruler of the area was the Ottoman Empire so the former citizens of that have a far better claim on the area than a bunch of European refugees.

  10. Kurdistan Doesn't Exist by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I know there's many Kurds who want their own country, but such a place doesn't exist. It's unreasonable to have countries defined by ethnicity or culture. It is also unreasonable for countries to segregate based upon ethnicity or culture. It's disappointing that neither the Kurds nor especially Turkey is interested in actually resolving the issue by integration of the Kurds into their society. Trying to separate out into an autonomous area/country/whatever is the exact opposite steps towards a solution.

    Having said all that, I'm surprised Google doesn't have more issues with China/Taiwan.

    1. Re:Kurdistan Doesn't Exist by jfdavis668 · · Score: 2

      Pakistan was a place that didn't exist, either. But, if you kill enough people, you to can have your own country.

    2. Re:Kurdistan Doesn't Exist by jfdavis668 · · Score: 0

      Correction: wasn't

    3. Re: Kurdistan Doesn't Exist by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Turkey still wishes it was the couch empire. Google must believe that the couch empire is a real thing. Probably a predilection for smoking too much of something

    4. Re:Kurdistan Doesn't Exist by PPH · · Score: 2

      by integration of the Kurds into their society

      Kurds don't want to be integrated into Turkey.

      --
      Have gnu, will travel.
    5. Re:Kurdistan Doesn't Exist by Opportunist · · Score: 1

      If you replace "integrate" with "assimilate" (very much in the Borg sense), you actually have a correct statement there.

      --
      We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
    6. Re:Kurdistan Doesn't Exist by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Assimilation is not necessary. It would be sufficient for Turkey to recognize the Kurds as a people and for the Kurds to participate in the Turkish government. That neither side is rather interested in this and Turkey has the power to guarantee long-term attrition, I tend to place the blame a bit more on Turkey; the Kurds, as much as they are a people, are made up of individuals and over time many would eventually accept integration into Turkey if Turkey was not hostile to them. Assimilation is likely to eventually happen, but that's really the natural byproduct of hundreds or thousands of years of integration for groups who even resist assimilation.

    7. Re:Kurdistan Doesn't Exist by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Pakistan wasn't a place that didn't exist, either.

      A correction is double negatives? I think your first sentence was fine...

    8. Re:Kurdistan Doesn't Exist by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I know there's many Kurds who want their own country, but such a place doesn't exist.

      You should totally delete the Wikipedia article or perhaps actually read it and learn something. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...

      It's unreasonable to have countries defined by ethnicity or culture. It is also unreasonable for countries to segregate based upon ethnicity or culture.

      LOL tell that to the Israelis.

      It's disappointing that neither the Kurds nor especially Turkey is interested in actually resolving the issue by integration of the Kurds into their society.

      Turkey is lead by a raving lunatic.

      Trying to separate out into an autonomous area/country/whatever is the exact opposite steps towards a solution.

      Apparently others have come to different conclusions.

      The overriding problem with your statements they are entirely subjective and offer no objective justification of any kind to support your conclusions/ideology. If you expect others to care about what you have to say you will have to do much better than that.

      Having said all that, I'm surprised Google doesn't have more issues with China/Taiwan.

      I'm NOT surprised Google is so willing to capitulate to tyrants.

  11. Re: There's no such country as Kurdistan by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Indeed that is always the case. Apple maps rarely have political demarcations, but they check every square inch ahead of time inherently to make sure everything is right.

  12. Re:There's no such country as Kurdistan by TFlan91 · · Score: 2

    Quite literally... In this case, two people, british and french, who really had no clue as to what they were doing, have been shaping the world for almost a century. (source)

  13. Re:There's no such country as Kurdistan by skoskav · · Score: 1

    ...Unless the loser is really bitter about the winner, such as medieval English monks writing about vikings.

  14. What about Mexico by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Think about it from the point of view of Turkey. How about if Google showed a map of Mexico that included Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and California? USA wouldn't be happy.

    1. Re:What about Mexico by 1ucius · · Score: 2, Insightful

      There are many, many such maps " drawn by ancient" people and still used for "personal use or sharing through search." e.g., anything showing the borders before the Mexican-American war.

      Nobody in the U.S. cares, least of all, the U.S. government.

    2. Re:What about Mexico by careysub · · Score: 4, Informative

      If you read the summary, no need to even go to TFA, you will see that Google deleted a personal map created by an individual on a service that exists for exactly that purpose - MyMaps.

      If someone created a MyMap showing an ethnic region where there are many Latinos which extended into the U.S. and labelled it "LatinoLand" of something, why would the U.S. care, and why would it have any standing to demand that the personal map be deleted?

      This is treating a personal map, showing a real ethnic group's real distribution, as if it were, say, child pornography -- something inherently criminal and illegal in all contexts.

      And what should the Kurds call the region where Kurds actually live? "Place where the Kurd's live"? Seems reasonable, wouldn't you think? That is exactly what "Kurdistan" literally means.

      --
      Starships were meant to fly, Hands up and touch the sky - Nicky Minaj
    3. Re: What about Mexico by phantomfive · · Score: 1

      The USA wouldn't care. Apparently they'd continue building the wall, and not worry about a silly website.

      --
      "First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
    4. Re:What about Mexico by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Ever looked at Google for maps of Aztlan?
      Yup, they're there.

  15. Google by puddingebola · · Score: 1

    Google is beholden to governments where they do business, which is everywhere on the globe. Google does not want to annoy or upset any government. It cannot serve any good purpose for them. If someone wants to define a country called Kurdistan, or Palestine, or Candyland on a map, can't they extend to the users the ability to define such a country? Is it possible for the internet in 2018 to create a service that provides an open map that can be defined as the users as they so choose? Services like Wikipedia suggest it is possible.

    1. Re:Google by datavirtue · · Score: 1

      The notion of controlled borders creates more problems than it solves. Look at how wonderful it is in the US where you can become a citizen of another state and the only requirement is packing up your shit and moving there and declaring that you are a citizen of that state. It lets humans rights abuses stand. If everyone considered the world as their home you wouldn't have people fleeing a warlord shithole to another region a few feet away and the people a few feet away could not escape the realities by pretending they only exist on the other side of an imaginary line where it is someone else's problem. Human progress is missing the invisible hand. Primitive.

      --
      I object to power without constructive purpose. --Spock
    2. Re:Google by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      In the case of Palestine you could argue that they at least get to call their regions Gaza Strip and West Bank. Regions that you can actually find on a google maphe map. I can look them up on google Earth right now and see the red lines that distinguish them from Israel and the orange lines that separates West Bank and Jordan. The Kurds on the other hand get nothing whatsoever.

  16. Re:There's no such country as Kurdistan by datavirtue · · Score: 2

    Google erased Kurdistan?!! We knew it would come to this, however it seems they started with a powerless country and no one will really complain. One by one they are going to erase us all until only the state of Google remains.

    --
    I object to power without constructive purpose. --Spock
  17. ethnicity and nationalism is tricky business by bigpat · · Score: 1

    On the one hand the people of a geographically defined area should have every right to self determination, on the other hand basing self determination on ethnic majorities in arbitrarily defined regions isn't something that the modern more metropolitan world wants to be based on... but ethnic groups predominantly still is the dominant political organizing principle in the world.

    So if we go with democracy and recognize that organizing along ethnic lines is a valid way to organize politically, then we should support the kurds and the right of any ethnic group that gains majority status in a large enough geographic area. But if we go with democracy and reject ethnicity as a valid way to organize politically, then we have to somehow reconcile that there is some better overarching commonality that we should be organizing around.

    Otherwise, humanity are just a bunch of thugs working towards the biggest gang that can control the most turf using whatever BS excuse they can to include some and exclude others.

    1. Re:ethnicity and nationalism is tricky business by CanadianMacFan · · Score: 2

      Except that the Turkish government has imposed their rules on the entire planet by having the map taken down. The map violates their laws so then they should have had Google make it so nobody in Turkey could view the map while leaving it up for everyone else to view.

    2. Re:ethnicity and nationalism is tricky business by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      > On the one hand the people of a geographically defined area should have every right to self determination

      California tried that. Maybe the USA should start by sorting itself out at home first....not to go all whataboutism, but just staking a plot of land is not the basis for recognizing a world border. Even if you were born there and your ancestors fought for it. If you can defend it (eg Chinese manufactured islands) militarily and politically you can claim it. Otherwise, it's not yours in a nation building aspect.

  18. Re:There's no such country as Kurdistan by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    "respectively", you twit.

  19. separations by DrYak · · Score: 1

    ...and maybe the British empire should integrate its rebel colonies (such as the USA).

    --
    "Sufficiently advanced satire is indistinguishable from reality." - [Tips: 1DrYakQDKCQ6y52z6QbnkxHXAocMZJE61o ]
  20. Google Loves Tyrants by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Google also shows Crimea as part of Russia, even though Russia's occupation is totally illegal and an Act of War against Ukraine, not to mention a violation of dozens of international laws and treaties.

    Yet, Google's like, "Okay sure, we'll change it."

    Fuck Google.

  21. Was it the name? by tepples · · Score: 2

    How about if Google showed a map of Mexico that included Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and California? USA wouldn't be happy.

    I doubt the United States would object to a historic map labeled "Mexico prior to American intervention". If it did, then a map of Mexico as of 1824 would already have been removed from an article about American intervention in Mexico on an American website.

    Would the map of Kurdish regions have been removed if its author eschewed the disputed name "Kurdistan" in favor of "Historically Kurdish regions of modern-day Turkey, Iran, Iraq, and Syria"?

    1. Re:Was it the name? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Maybe if they phrased it like "Regions of modern-day Turkey, Iran, Iraq, and Syria that the terrorist Kurds historically attempted to usurp."
      If you don't paint them as the bad guys as well the Turkish government would probably still have objected.
      Given other incidents like the Armenian genocide, the Turkish government will strongly disagree with anything 'historical' that does not fit Erdogan's narrative.
      Everyone who disagrees (it may just be some post on facebook or twitter) is either nazi, fascist, terrorist (supporter), or a combination of those, who will be captured and put into jail if they enter Turkey.

  22. Re: There's no such country as Kurdistan by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    But god claimed it for his CHOSEN PEOPLE. The dirty Palestinians are but beasts to be subjugated or be put down

  23. Well Google recognized Jerussalam as capital by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Well Google recognized Jerussalam as capital just before the bell rang. I believe that is in accordance to the US govt. Hypocrites..

  24. Re: There's no such country as Kurdistan by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Sure there was. You should check out all the references in the bible to "The Land of Israel", "The People of Israel", "the Borders of Israel." You're just confused into thinking if it didn't happen in the last hundred years it shouldn't be counted.

    M

  25. Re: There's no such country as Kurdistan by TomBauserman · · Score: 1, Flamebait

    You're confused into thinking that something written in a book is cold hard fact. I've had textbooks that were very wrong.

  26. Calling a tail a leg by tepples · · Score: 1

    If someone wants to define a country called Kurdistan, or Palestine, or Candyland on a map, can't they extend to the users the ability to define such a country?

    Hasbro might object to one of those.

    As for the other two, I'd find it justified to map "historic Kurdish lands" and "historic Palestine", but "country" is a stretch. Just because you call something a country doesn't make it one. Recall a story that appears in the 1909 book Reminiscences of Abraham Lincoln edited by Allen Thorndike Rice: If you call a tail a leg, a kangaroo has five legs but a cow only four. This is because a leg bears weight, and a cow's tail does not. Likewise, Kurdistan and Palestine fail international treaty organizations' tests for what makes a sovereign state.

    1. Re:Calling a tail a leg by puddingebola · · Score: 1

      In one sense, my comment was simply to point out that the users of a service could make their own maps and define their own borders as they saw fit. As to the question of what makes a nation a nation, there is of course the argument for national self determination. Side stepping the many shades of what that term means, there is always the basic principal of a group of people saying they wish to form their own government. "National aspirations must be respected; people may now be dominated and governed only by their own consent. 'Self determination' is not a mere phrase; it is an imperative principle of action." -Woodrow Wilson.

    2. Re:Calling a tail a leg by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Recall a story that appears in the 1909 book Reminiscences of Abraham Lincoln edited by Allen Thorndike Rice: If you call a tail a leg, a kangaroo has five legs but a cow only four. This is because a leg bears weight, and a cow's tail does not.

      That doesn't make any sense because Kangaroos don't even have four legs even if you don't define their tale as a leg. They have two legs and two arms...

      captcha: physique

    3. Re:Calling a tail a leg by tepples · · Score: 1

      When moving slowly, a kangaroo uses arms, legs, and tail all for weight bearing.

  27. What is really sad by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Is it was the Kurds who have been the US's greatest ally against ISIS in both Syria and Iraq. Now we walk away from them after they did the work.

  28. Re: There's no such country as Kurdistan by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

    Sorry, but your bible is a work of fiction. Do you have a real source?

  29. Heh... Another nail by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Google is really licking the dictatorial boots lately... Good riddance once that company finally whithers away unto obsoletion

  30. Re: There's no such country as Kurdistan by comodoro · · Score: 1

    Everybody knows that Israel was occupied and now occupies, it is not "informative". The word "so" is usually used to mean implication, I don't think you are using it right in the second sentence.

  31. Re: There's no such country as Kurdistan by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    What about all the countries the Ottoman's conquered?

    RO

  32. Re: There's no such country as Kurdistan by cyber-vandal · · Score: 4, Informative

    The state of Israel ceased to exist under the Roman Empire. I didn't say it never existed. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wik...

  33. In 2018 does it have to be? by rsilvergun · · Score: 1, Flamebait

    There's so much media now and so much information. Cell phones and the Internet make it possible to suss out the truth in a way that wasn't possible before. e.g. a big part of the reason Black Lives Matters became a thing was folks using cell phones to record abuses by police officers.

    --
    Hi! I make Firefox Plug-ins. Check 'em out @ https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/youtube-mp3-podcaster/
    1. Re: In 2018 does it have to be? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

      A big reason why black lives matter became a thing is because they lied and the leftist press covered it up or even pushed their lies as truth.

      That plus the now common anti-white racism even when the cop being targeted is black, boggle, go figure on that one when blm fools call black cops racist.

      FTFY

    2. Re: In 2018 does it have to be? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      where's blm while black on black crime increases? the mind boggles.

    3. Re: In 2018 does it have to be? by astrofurter · · Score: 1

      BLM got huge press coverage - it was never a *popular* movement - because it was bankrolled by billionaire Nazi collaborator George Soros and embraced by the semi-official fake news media as a tactic to divide the working class along racist lines.

    4. Re: In 2018 does it have to be? by slashdot_commentator · · Score: 1

      when blm fools call black cops racist.

      Are you suggesting that black cops can't be racist?

      Go back to your potato, Russian stooge.

      --
      There is no America. There is no democracy. There is only IBM and AT&T and DuPont, Dow, General Electric, and Exxon
    5. Re: In 2018 does it have to be? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      No, he's saying that it's not possible for a black cop to be racist toward black people.

      Either you need to learn how to read or you need to stop with the spin doctoring, you faux outraged, SJW, crybaby, busybody shill.

    6. Re: In 2018 does it have to be? by tehcyder · · Score: 1

      BLM got huge press coverage - it was never a *popular* movement - because it was bankrolled by billionaire Nazi collaborator George Soros and embraced by the semi-official fake news media as a tactic to divide the working class along racist lines.

      Lizard people.

      You forgot to mention the lizard people.

      --
      To have a right to do a thing is not at all the same as to be right in doing it
    7. Re: In 2018 does it have to be? by astrofurter · · Score: 1

      There are no lizard people. Just good old fashioned suitcases full of money and racist divide & conquer tactics.

  34. Re:There's no such country as Kurdistan by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    There's no such country as Israel. It's called occupied Palestine.

  35. Re: There's no such country as Kurdistan by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    +1, Funny

  36. This is not the first time by guacamole · · Score: 1

    Sadly, this was not the first time Google caved in to Turkish demands. I mean, just a few years ago there was some kind of a video on Youtube that mocked Ataturk and caused an uproar in Turkish internet. Well, google took it down.

  37. Internet Archive by CanadianMacFan · · Score: 1

    Has anyone gone to the Internet Archive and tried to get the map from there? I get an error when it starts loading Google Maps but the border does show up. I think it's the way my browser is configured. If it had worked I was going to post a screen shot of the map on Twitter saying it's the map that Turkey doesn't the world to see. Maybe someone else can do it.

    https://web.archive.org/web/20...

    1. Re:Internet Archive by RespekMyAthorati · · Score: 1
      Got the same result on two different browsers:

      Oops! Something went wrong. This page didn't load Google Maps correctly. See the JavaScript console for technical details.

  38. What about openstreetmap? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    They should be a good place for disputed territories. Set up the map there and make it open source so it can be streissand effected.

  39. Re: There's no such country as Kurdistan by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    shut up u weirdo. IsraÃl ðY®ðY± stole the land. we should of lrt Hitler burn u guys

  40. Re: There's no such country as Kurdistan by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Those refugees' ancestors - the nations of Judah and Israel - occupied that land before. And they took it from other people who lived there before them. Going back in the past doesn't help. NOW the land of Israel is occupied by Israel and they are sharing it with Arabs and all Muslims and Christians who want to visit or live there. That more than can be said for their Arab and Persian neighbors.

  41. Mandela effect? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I hear Kurdistan. it is obviously in existance because has been spoken. Im from modern-day Ephesus, what is this ...Turkey i keep hearing about? Isnt Turkey an annoying squat gobbling gay bird the Americans try to genecide at first snowfall end of every year?

  42. Re:There's no such country as Kurdistan by bob4u2c · · Score: 2

    What troubles you Google Brother? Are you not of the happy? All hail the glorious Google!

  43. Re: There's no such country as Kurdistan by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Here come all the Jew haters in response.

    I wonder if they feel the same way about Native Americans? They lost so fuck em we should stop subsidizing their fake states and wipe them out, right? I believe the phrase used by Muslims is push them into the sea.

    It never fails to amaze me how all the leftists hate Jews, one of the most culturally left people on the planet, yet support the arch conservative Muslims in all their sick barbaric shit. And the dumb Jews continue to support the very same people who want them dead.

    Someone of us have not forgotten what the Jew haters have done to us. We are not all your useful fools and victimizable stooges. We know who you are. Never again.

  44. Re:There's no such country as Kurdistan by jellomizer · · Score: 1

    Borders are not as well defined as some like them to be.
    Border disputes happen for a lot of different reasons. Sometimes a border line is considered when it hits a river. Now over time such river will change, and give more land to one entity and less from the other, or even more complex the river bends to a point where there is an island, then which municipality owns that?
    We have other areas such as districts where a particular culture resides where there is no formal border. Like the Italian District or China Town.
    Then we have other areas such as the Native American Reservations which some take up large spots of land, have their own rules and government, that spans and crosses state borders.

    There may not be any formal country called Palestine, but there is a splotch of land called Palestine, with its edges of its borders in dispute.

    --
    If something is so important that you feel the need to post it on the internet... It probably isn't that important.
  45. Re:There's no such country as Kurdistan by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    And this is as opposed to all the indigenous peoples who were disorganized and allowed themselves to be colonized by the Brits and Frenchies?

    There is no such thing as a native peoples. We are all conquerors. Might always makes right. The strong united tribes displace and subjugate the weaker tribes. This is how it must be. As we speak a weak and disunited United States of America is being colonized by Latino's. As we speak a weak politically correct European Union is being taken over by a strong and united group of Islamic fundamentalists. Don't hate them for it. Blame the weak. I don't blame Europeans for colonizing the world, just as I don't blame the Latinos and Muslims from recolonizing the USA and Europe.

    Empires rise and fall. Eventually the losers become the victors once again. It has nothing to do with morality. It has everything to do with Darwin.

    Some day 250 years form now a European Union united under the flag of Islam and perpetually worried about the Islamic Brown Privilege will be reconquered by barbaric strong barbaric tribes of White and Black Christian fundamentalists. The old Muslims living in Europe will the decry the loss of faith in the youth, while the youth will see no problem letting these poor disadvantaged hardworking white Christian build a church across from an empty mosque.

    The future is for the strong. The strong inevitably become week and compliant until they are conquered. Then the cycle repeats.

  46. Re: There's no such country as Kurdistan by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    > 2018
    > taking bait

  47. Which historical revisionism? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Actually what it really is, on both sides, is "politics".

    Which historical revisionism? The pro-Turk or the pro-Kurd one? Your politics, and mine, may make the Kurds the sympathetic party in the debate but renaming the ancient nations of "Corduene" or "Karduchi" to the modern aspirational "Kurdistan" is also a political move. I'm personally OK with the creation of a modern Kurdistan, but lets not pretend that this ethnic region doesn't span three existing countries. While two of these countries have modern boundaries of a somewhat ahistorical nature, and who admittedly get little political sympathy from me and perhaps you as well, the third is a rather well established historical entity of the region and the lands in question. Both sides have historical arguments, both sides are playing politics with "names"

    Face it, we have political biases. Please avoid using the big words of "historical revisionism" until you can manage a more unbiased historical perspective. Doubly so for the word "lies". Things are more complicated than your emotions account for.

    That said, create a Kurdistan from Iraqi and Syrian territory, their claims to the land are weak. But lets not pretend this would not be a political call that could go either way, history is not clear here. More historically troubling would be including Turkish territory, and more of a political decision.

  48. Re: There's no such country as Kurdistan by jpaine619 · · Score: 3, Insightful

    No she didn't.. The President isn't elected by popular vote. Never has been, never will be. The fact that you don't understand WHY the system is as it is does not make it wrong or unfair.

    Systems like this are all over the place.

    Case in point: You could own 99.9% of the shares in a company, but if it's not preferred (voting) stock, you have no say in how the company runs. You get the share of the profits (if they are paid out) but no say in day to day operations. This information is not secret. Companies have to disclose this information. But if you bitch about it later, nobody is going to give a fuck.

    Constitutional amendments require the consent of the states. The smaller states (population wise) will not cut their own throats and change this system.

  49. Re: There's no such country as Kurdistan by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    That's why I have no problem with coups. Also, anybody who is killed by terrorists was weak and deserved it. /s

  50. Openstreetmap by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The beauty of Openstreetmap is that it's does not need to operate the same way Google or any large corporations do.

    Let's hope that this is highlighted in big fat bold lines in Openstreetmap.

  51. Re: There's no such country as Kurdistan by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    As it exists again, in the same region and for largely the same majority demographic, it's more accurate to say its existence was interrupted for a time under the Roman Empire.

  52. Re: There's no such country as Kurdistan by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    For literally billions of years, there weren't countries. The Homo genus have been around in some form for less than 3 million years. Seems pretty clear that unicellular life is the only thing with any legitimate claim to any country. Now that we've got that bullshit out of the way, Israel has the better claim because they actually have a country with borders they defend. The same with Turkey and Iraq. That's where current legitimacy comes from, not some historic claim or a magic book.

  53. NATO Sucks by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Please remind me why anyone in the USA should give a single, solitary damn about Turquiye?
    Intercourse Google with a pointed stick.

  54. Re:There's no such country as Kurdistan by Aighearach · · Score: 2

    Just as you can find Palistine under the similar name Philistine on biblical-era maps, you can find Karduchia too.

    If you read Anabasis by Xenophon, he describes in detail their northwest border, which is currently in land claimed by Turkey. If you use a topo map, you can see that their traditional land includes most of a mountain range that goes from just north and east of the Euphrates river in modern Iraq, north to their border with the land that was traditionally Western Armenia, east in Iran, and south nearly to the Persian Gulf.

  55. Re:There's no such country as Kurdistan by ShanghaiBill · · Score: 2

    The British and French are responsible for a lot of problems in Southwest Asia, but not this one. The fate of the Kurds was sealed by Turkish victory in the 1919-1922 War of Independence. The British and French were the losers, along with their Greek and Armenian allies.

  56. Re:There's no such country as Kurdistan by Aighearach · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Right, 2500 years ago when the Ten Thousand invaded Karduchia (in order to pass through it and escape the Persian Empire) they were victorious in their strategic retreat. They fought a running battle from the southern border, in what is now Iraq, all the way north into Western Armenia, where the people were much more accepting of strangers. (!)(lol)

    The Karduchians had previously been famously invaded by 1 million Persian cavalry, none (!) of whom made it home. If you look at the topo map, you can see a really really long valley, not a river valley but rather the remnants of an ancient mountain chain, with steep sides and no exits but at the ends, something like 50 or 100 miles apart. They blocked the end with their army, and the whole length of the trench was lined with villagers throwing down stones.

    The Greeks took a different route; they captured a guide, and went right through the heart of the land, down the twisting mountain roads that the Karduchians used for local traffic. Without a guide, you just go in circles, but with a guide, (and heavy infantry) they were able to fight from ridge to ridge in two teams.

    And later Xenophon wrote that history down. So it is too late to erase Karduchia merely by winning some war, because victors of yesteryear already wrote it down. And being that they had no intention of war, the Greeks merely wanted to pass through the land, they give an honest and direct account. The Kurds refused to even negotiate for passage at all, but they did negotiate and respect temporary cease-fires for both sides to recover and bury the dead.

  57. Re:There's no such country as Kurdistan by ShanghaiBill · · Score: 1

    The future is for the strong. The strong inevitably become week and compliant until they are conquered. Then the cycle repeats.

    This is a general rule, but there are exceptions, especially China. Throughout history, China has expanded by allowing themselves to be conquered, and then demographically swamping and absorbing the invaders. They won by out breeding their enemies rather than out fighting them.

    This happened with the Xiong Nu (Huns), Mongols (90% of Mongols today are Chinese) and the Manchus.

    Even Tibet first became part of China in the 1st millennium when the Tibetan Empire invaded and conquered large parts of Sichuan and Yunnan.

  58. Re:There's no such country as Kurdistan by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Can we erase Turkey, the real problem child of the region? Google made a big mistake and will be judged for this. This is political censorship on the "open" internet.

  59. Re: There's no such country as Kurdistan by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Ok so if thinking the Israel thing was a dumb idea implemented by idiots who are now dead means I hate the Jews.....

    Why do YOU GUYS hate the Kurds?! Since you clearly support their subjugation and laugh at the idea of intervening to form a state for their people like we did with Israel?

    Oh wait you're gonna say that the idiot words of dead iron age morons makes the Jews special.

    Sorry but I don't respect your position any more than you respect mine. Whoops.

  60. Re: There's no such country as Kurdistan by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    That's a very broad brush you're painting with there, bub.

    Leftists, including this one, don't hate Jews. What we hate is mistreatment of people of all stripes. That means not persecuting someone for their race or religion (as long as their religion doesn't affect anyone else negatively).

    There's plenty of blame to pass around with the Israel and Palestinian issue. The Palestinians are causing severe problems by indoctrinating their children against Jews... teaching them that the entirety of the land that Israel sits on is rightfully and, by divine mandate, theirs. This only continues the conflict and makes it impossible to come to any sort of resolution. Conversely, there have been serious and significant human rights violations against the Palestinians by Israel. And Israel's current ultra-right-wing government is not showing any signs of changing that.

    So just stop with the idea the 'leftists' hate Jews. That's just what the right-wing media uses to get the less-informed and people with no critical thinking skills to, once again, paint liberals as hateful and who's ideas should be dismissed.

  61. For those unaware of the history of the region by Solandri · · Score: 4, Informative

    In a nutshell, a large part of the Middle East including part of modern-day Turkey used to be part of the Ottoman Empire. One of the less-known facts about WWI was that the Ottoman Empire was on the losing side, which eventually led to its dissolution. The European victors then carved it up with little regard for the cultural and religious boundaries of the indigenous people. The modern countries there - Turkey, Syria, Iraq, Kuwait, Lebanon, Israel - Palestine, Jordan were drawn with these arbitrary borders. The instability in the region is partially (mostly) due to the cultural borders not coinciding with the political borders. The Kurds (about 40 million of them) were the biggest ethnicity screwed out of a country to call their own. They're spread between Iraq, Iran, Syria, and Turkey, and all of those countries are paranoid that the Kurds will try to declare independence and secede.

    1. Re:For those unaware of the history of the region by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      just give them their own country, it worked so well for palestine

  62. Re: There's no such country as Kurdistan by cyber-vandal · · Score: 1

    1900 years is more than an "interruption"

  63. Re: There's no such country as Kurdistan by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    HAHAHHA!!!

  64. Re: There's no such country as Kurdistan by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Jesus Christ fuck off with these dumb ass /s tags

    Learn how to write properly you /stupid fuck

  65. Re: There's no such country as Poland by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    You didn't forget Poland.

  66. Re:There's no such country as Kurdistan by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Truth!

  67. Usage of language by del_diablo · · Score: 1

    What i find amazing is how this is not a English native language text. There is a few odd formats here and there, a few odd structures. And a really big masturbary focus on "Persian military numbers", written like somebody was dragging their jock strap like a mad man while hammering the keyboards tangents.
    I don't have a opinion on this text, but i have seen similar expressions used when doing direct translation of various Arabic dialects.
    What this strikes me as, is that the Text is intended to be a Strong Open, as a verbal piece. Its intended to have emphasis and tonal range on a lot of the concepts, almost sung between those major strokes of the bellowing lungs.

    So what i will find amazing is that if you read about Turks talking about Ottomans, Iranians/Iraques about Persia, or their society written dialogues on religion: It follows the same format with the exact same presentation.
    Its how Arabic society spread its word(s)

    1. Re:Usage of language by Aighearach · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Greek isn't really that difficult to translate into English.

      For historical reasons. ;)

      The "million" Persian cavalry was cited in the story as a rumor. Other military numbers are given by visual estimate, and there are detailed descriptions of the military engagements and who was where, who fought who, etc. The Ten Thousand is how many professional soldiers the Greeks had with them; that's just the people with full heavy armor. Each of them had a bunch of helpers, and there were lots of light units with them. They had numerous generals, and while Xenophon started as just a mercenary, he quickly rose during the campaign to be a general.

      They describe the numbers because it was important to the story, if you assume that the intended audience would have their own military experience from that era. And for the same reason, the observations of numbers in the story are likely to be fairly accurate. I'm not sure why you presume that any sort of literary detail that you're not personally interested in must be "masturbary."[sic] And honestly, commentary on an English translation by a person who doesn't know the word masturbatory is a bit of an exercise in, well, you get it.

      But absolutely, a story about an army that had to travel that far to get home, fighting through most of the lands as they went, is going to have a certain "mad man dragging his jock strap" character to it; because that is what it is like to engage in that sort of activity. If you're not ready to be mad, you're not ready to get home, you might as well dig your grave where you stand.

      I don't think the Greeks cared at all about Arabic society, and they certainly didn't go that far south. They marched from Ionia through Turkey to what is now Syria, and crossed into Persia from the west. A route that was not considered wise at the time, but they were imposing enough to manage it. They fought a major battle with the Persians near what is now Baghdad. They were victorious in their own engagements, but the Persian prince they were fighting for died in the battle, and so their side had lost, and the story is their journey home. Most of the story takes places in Karduchia and Western Armenia.

      I'm sure there were a few Arabs in the Persian army somewhere, but it wasn't part of the story. It is only in the last few hundred years that the Arab population have been that far north to border the Kurds.

    2. Re: Usage of language by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You, too, are very obviously not a native speaker of English.

  68. Re:There's no such country as Kurdistan by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Comedian Joe Wong, on the late show:
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=36v9GSOFMFc

    Minute 4:37: "I have a lot of things in common with white guys. For example, I have an Asian wife."

  69. Where's the rage? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Where are all those social justice fuckwits inside Google now? This seems like just the kind of thing that would get all their panties in a knot.

  70. When the CIA makes an offer by AHuxley · · Score: 1

    Remember South Vietnam, the Hungarian Revolution of 1956, Tibet and ST CIRCUS, 1991 Kurdish uprising.
    Now the truth sets in again with big US tech brands.
    The USA used the Kurds for its own strategy of tension https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... in the region.
    Not to allow a US approved and supported "Kurdistan" to emerge.
    Always read the fine print when the US gov and mil offers "support" for "democracy" and "freedom fighters".

    --
    Domestic spying is now "Benign Information Gathering"
  71. places where kurd live is turkey not kurdistan by aepervius · · Score: 1

    There is no such a thing as kurdistan. There is turkey country, armenia, irak, iran, syria where kurds live, but no such country as kurdistan. Now a case may be made that there should be one, but factualy there is no kurdistan country.

    --
    C. Sagan : A demon haunted world:
    http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0345409469/
    visit randi.org
    1. Re:places where kurd live is turkey not kurdistan by hvidstue · · Score: 1

      Where does anybody say that it is a country?

    2. Re:places where kurd live is turkey not kurdistan by Cederic · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Then why is the Turkish government so fucked off about someone creating a map delineating the geographic boundaries of the areas in which Kurds live?

      Sounds to me like the Turks want to commit another genocide. Hopefully the Kurds can avoid the same outcome the Armenians suffered.

    3. Re:places where kurd live is turkey not kurdistan by strikethree · · Score: 1

      Sounds to me like the Turks want to commit another genocide. Hopefully the Kurds can avoid the same outcome the Armenians suffered.

      Why hope for a different outcome? The Kurds would gladly pay that price to have a country to call their own.

      I mean, Armenia exists and Kurdistan does not, with that being the only difference between the two groups so far. Both have suffered attempted genocide, so if the Kurds get the same outcome, they also get a country. See?

      I know you meant that you hope that the Kurds do not experience more bloody slaughters. I just HAD to point out the naive interpretation despite that.

      --
      "Someone needs to talk to the tree of liberty about its ghoulish drinking problem." by ohnocitizen
    4. Re:places where kurd live is turkey not kurdistan by Cederic · · Score: 1

      Genocide doesn't assure any survivors gain independence.
      Shit, genocide doesn't assure any survivors.

  72. Re: There's no such country as Kurdistan by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    There are 5 million Christians in Iran (Persia). Try again.

  73. Re palestine by aberglas · · Score: 1

    There is no comparison to Palestine.

    The Kurds already live in the area. And have proved themselves capable of operating an effective, fairly democratic state for many years. The Israelis had not lived there for centuries. An the Palestinians have proven themselves incapable of anything.

    Your comment is nonsense.

    1. Re:Re palestine by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The Jews lived in the Middle East, in the area now knows as Israel and its environs, for millennia, not mere centuries.

  74. Re: There's no such country as Kurdistan by cyber-vandal · · Score: 1

    What about them

    Not RO

  75. Re: There's no such country as Kurdistan by cyber-vandal · · Score: 1

    Depends on the leftist mate. I've got no time for religious fanatics of any stripe and there is plenty of that on both sides. The Israelis don't have any right to the former Ottoman province of Palestine just because their holy book says God gave it to them 4000 years ago. That doesn't give the Palestinians the right to murder the Israelis.

  76. A Facile Analysis by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    See, I hate this "the colonial powers are responsible for everything bad!" stuff. It's facile and wrong.

    Are you saying that Mustafa Kemal didn't take control of Turkey's destiny? Are you saying that King Faisal was uninvolved in the rebellion promoted by T.E. Lawrence? That he didn't want the outcome it precipitated?

    Sure, the colonial powers did lots of bad stuff, and were generally more concerned with their own interests than those of the lands they occupied. However I always say: Europe was a place where everyone was all up in each other's business. Constantly, for thousands of years. Yet they managed to find peace and prosperity. What stops the Middle East from doing likewise? Are they incapable of negotiating borders, trade agreements, peace treaties, promoting good governance, and all the mechanics of civil society?

    No, blaming everything on the colonial powers is far too easy and treats Middle Eastern adults like they are children, unable to take responsibility and incapable of making sound adult decisions. The Arab Spring had a lot of promise and failed on every front. The only success was where it started (Tunisia). Are you going to blame the colonial powers for that too? When the colonies have been shut down for decades?

  77. Re: There's no such country as Kurdistan by cyber-vandal · · Score: 1

    Thank you for your incredibly useful input. It added so much to the discussion.

  78. Re: There's no such country as Kurdistan by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    > The Karduchians

    Did you mean the Kardashians?

  79. Re: There's no such country as Kurdistan by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Not from the perspective of the next ten thousand years!

  80. Re: There's no such country as Kurdistan by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    So?

  81. There was no Genocide by jsepeta · · Score: 1

    Not much distance between erasing a map of a tribe's territory and deleting the entire history of the tribe.

    --
    Remember kids, if you're not paying for the service, YOU ARE THE PRODUCT THAT IS BEING SOLD.
  82. There is no Tiananmen Square by jsepeta · · Score: 1

    Don't Google Turkish genocide of Armenians, or Chinese genocide of Muslims

    --
    Remember kids, if you're not paying for the service, YOU ARE THE PRODUCT THAT IS BEING SOLD.
    1. Re:There is no Tiananmen Square by RespekMyAthorati · · Score: 1

      I just did.
      There are many extensive articles on both.

  83. First, be evil. by skywire · · Score: 1

    Of course Google cannot explain how this private map violates its rules, because it doesn't. Every time some state official voices a desire, Google says Your wish is my command.

    --
    Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety.
  84. Re: There's no such country as Kurdistan by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    /s! /S! /.

  85. Re: There's no such country as Kurdistan by Impy+the+Impiuos+Imp · · Score: 1

    Their fake asses deserve their own Google maps.

    --
    (-1: Post disagrees with my already-settled worldview) is not a valid mod option.
  86. Re: There's no such country as Kurdistan by gravewax · · Score: 1

    That is the equivalent of the tobacco industry publishing information on the health benefits of smoking.

  87. Re: There's no such country as Kurdistan by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    And paint huffers like you get to repeat 9th grade. That is also always the case.

  88. All hail Erdogan by CptJeanLuc · · Score: 1

    Just leaving this trojan horse headline here for the Turkish thought police in case I ever have to go to the Ottoman empire on vacation, to prove my "support" for Turkish dictators.

  89. Re: There's no such country as Kurdistan by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Widespread election fraud was the only reason universally-despised nazi candidate Hillary Clinton "won" the popular vote.

  90. Re:Nothing Worse (they do FGM, do they?) by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    > They do seem to be one of the territories with a history of female genital mutilation though
    I'm half kurdish and I'm totally unaware of any hint of this. If it happened it'd be almost impossible for me not to know of it. If you have a cite, I'd appreciate it.
    As for the geopolitics, I just want to cry.

  91. Re: There's no such country as Kurdistan by c6gunner · · Score: 1

    You're on crack. The actual number is around 300,000. Out of a total population of 81 million.

    Compare that to Israel with about 1.5 million Muslims and 170,000 Christians, out of a total population of just under 9 million.

  92. Kurdistan existed before Turkey by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    And oh the irony....

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Kurds#Similarity_to_Jewish_people

  93. Re: There's no such country as Kurdistan by c6gunner · · Score: 1

    Conversely, there have been serious and significant human rights violations against the Palestinians by Israel.

    And there haven't been any human rights violations against Israelis by Palestine, eh?

    And Israel's current ultra-right-wing government is not showing any signs of changing that.

    Whereas Palestine's current ultra-right-wing government is all about change, right?

    This is why people assume you hate the Jews. You make a halfhearted effort to criticize Palestinians for indoctrinating their kids, and then turn around and lambast Israel with terminology which would apply even more strongly to the Palestinians.

    For my part, I understand that this is just the limp-wristed-left's knee jerk reaction to back the non-western underdog in all conflicts. It's not that you hate the Jews neccesarily; you're just trying to make up for your white-guilt by criticizing whichever side of the conflict happens to be more civilized, democratic, tolerant, and otherwise "westernized". But I can certainly see why others would assume that your position was based on nothing more complex than pure jew-hatred.

  94. Religion of Capitalism by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Google's religion is Capitalism, and in that religion money is God. God before all else.

    If disobeying an evil government could cause the loss of revenue in that country, then Google will not disobey.

  95. Re: There's no such country as Kurdistan by slashdot_commentator · · Score: 1

    You could own 99.9% of the shares in a company, but if it's not preferred (voting) stock, you have no say in how the company runs.

    While I'm quite happy you understand the subtleties of a Constitutional Republic government, its (mostly) the common stock that has the voting privileges. Preferred stock has no voting privileges. If it makes you feel any better, I've never really understood what makes preferred stock "preferable".

    --
    There is no America. There is no democracy. There is only IBM and AT&T and DuPont, Dow, General Electric, and Exxon
  96. Re: There's no such country as Kurdistan by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Nope. Your bible is 100% bullshit. You believe in faerie tales.

  97. Re: There's no such country as Kurdistan by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    ...he said with no citations, seriouse examples or evidence whatsoever.

  98. Re: There's no such country as Kurdistan by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I think u forgot ur meds again...

  99. Re: There's no such country as Kurdistan by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    > And there haven't been any human rights violations against Israelis by Palestine, eh?

    Weakest argument yet in this thread. Bullshit strawman meets two-wrongs-make-a-right.

  100. Re: There's no such country as Kurdistan by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    You mean other than California has literally no enforcement of voter laws, and has actually made it illegal to check if a person voting is legally allowed to, or even the person they say they are?

  101. Re: There's no such country as Kurdistan by jpaine619 · · Score: 1

    You are correct. I got my definitions wrong. The prime difference is that preferred stock are paid dividends. Common stock owner may or may not receive dividends.

  102. Karduchians? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I decry the empty materialism and First World Problems of the show The Karduchians. But I'd totally 'hit that'.