Kurdistan is the Kurdish-majority territories in western Asia spanning most of southeastern Turkey. Parts of modern day Iraq, Syria and Iran are also included in Kurdistan. It is not a recognized entity in any of the nations it inhabits, but the Kurdish people do have an autonomous zone in northern Iraq that was set up after the first Iraq war, where they govern themselves with de facto independence. Territory controlled by the Syrian Democratic Forces in the Syrian war has also been described as "Kurdistan", though they do not consider themselves such.
The Kurdish people have been engaging in an ongoing struggle for a free and independent Kurdistan for nearly 100 years and have ranged success against some of the strongest militaries in the Middle East including Iran and Iraq. Military success against Iraq was met with the reprisal of chemical attacks that killed thousands of Kurds during Saddam's reign.
Kurdish freedom fighter groups have the distinction of fielding entire units of women fighters and giving women equal status and rights within the Kurdish government.
The movement for a free and independent Kurdistan has sometimes been helped and hindered by the outside world, namely the US. The Kurds fight against the Iraqi, Iranian, Syrian and Turkish militaries for control over Kurdistan and outside support has waxed and waned depending on US relations with the nations Kurdistan is a part of.