Kurdistan and Greece has a very special relationship. Today we will look into the detailed relationship of the Kurdish and the Greek people. Before we get into the video, consider donating to our PayPal account in order to help us survive. More information in the description box below. Also, don't forget to like this video, subscribe to the channel and hit the notification button in order to not miss any further videos on this channel. Now, without further ado, let's get into the video. The history between the Kurdish and the Greek people goes into ancient times when Alexander de Great conducted his conquest of Persia. Alexander's first meeting with the ancestors of the Kurds came on his road towards meeting King Dorius III. Before the first battle with King Dorius III, Alexander faced the Kurdish ancestor in a battle where his forces would overrun the city of Kalatga the Rebend in October 331 BC. Alexander de Great defeated King Dorius III at the Battle of Guagamela. This battle took place in modern Kurdistan in the mountainous area between the K.R.G. capital Haleir and the town of Bardarash. When Alexander and his armies went on further east, they had to pass the mountain of Zagros. Here the troops of Alexander de Great faced trouble with both Uxis but also another ancient tribe, considered to be the ancestors of the Kurds. Eventually the Uxis did surrender for Alexander de Great who continued to expand his kingdom all the way to some parts of India. According to ancient scripts, the ancestors of the Kurds is described as skilled bowmen which moved fast as shadows behind dark mountains and it is said that myths of these skilled warriors would make advisors of different kings in different empires to advise their leaders to not go through these mountains. In modern days, the relation between Kurds and Greek starts before, during and after the First World War. Even though some Kurdish tribes were loyal to the Ottoman Empire chasing out the Greeks from modern, western Turkey, the Kurds were never involved in these persecutions since they actually was ordered to take care of the Armenian and Assyrian problem in the east. Greece had already claimed some of their freedom in the Greek War of Independence when they riced up against the Ottomans in 1821. However, Greeks were chased out of modern Turkey and therefore many Greeks fled to modern Greece and since then and even since the Greek War of Independence, the relationship between the Greek and the Turkish people has always been complicated. Not at least after the illegal Turkish occupation of Cyprus in the 70s. Now, we can face the fact that Turks doesn't like Greeks and Greek doesn't like Turks and also face the fact that it is the same scenario when replacing Greeks with Turks, meaning that Turks doesn't like Kurds as well as Kurds doesn't like Turks at all. As it seems, back in 1999, Greece tried their best to help Abdullah Açalan on his escape from the Turkish state. As Açalan first came to Athens, Greece were pushed by Turkey, something that would force Açalan to find a new place. He went to Moscow before he eventually stayed in Rome for a while. Nobody really wanted to give him a sanctuary and now a cat and rat game started between different states who had different relationships with Turkey. In January 1999, Açalan took the flight from Rome to Moscow before he once again came to Greece. It is said that the Greek government did what they could behind closed door to help Açalan. Soon they arranged a flight which would take him to the Greek ambassador resident in the capital city of Kenya called Nairobi. However, within two days his location was exposed. The 15th of February, Greek authorities told Açalan that he would get asylum in Holland. Canyon police drove him to the airport, but as Açalan entered the plane, it was overpowered by Turkish special agents. After 20 years in exile, Açalan was now on his way back to Turkey. Because of this, there is a national friendship between the Kurdish and the Greek people, but of course, that is not all of it. Today, there is between 40 to 60,000 Kurds living in Greece. The number is unsure since different sources claims different numbers. Most of the Kurds in Greece, however, migrated there due to war and persecution, and according to statistics, most of the Kurds in Greece come from Iraqi occupied Kurdistan, followed by Turkish occupied Kurdistan. In the 90s, there was a huge boost of fleeing Kurdish people to Greece. However, out of the 43,759 Kurds who arrived to Greece, only 9797 sought asylum in Greece. In 2016, Greek minister of migration, Yanis Muza'las, expressed his feelings towards the Kurdish people in Greece saying, I do not think we have so many Kurds here in Greece. Most of them don't want to leave Kurdistan, instead they want to fight terrorists in there. Those Kurdish migrants that are here are good people and not trouble makers. We have exceptional relations with the Kurds here. They are very friendly and peaceful. The Kurdish people of Greece has also been able to perform demonstrations and political movements in a much more freely way than in Turkey, something that has irritated the Turks as Kurds on the other side of the border are free too, for example, demonstrate for a Chalan and a PKK. Turkey has several time claims without proof that Greece are supporting the PKK, both by funds and by letting sympathizers move freely. Greek-Ejspacia Papadupulu, responsible for migration and forced displacement within the European Commission, mentioned a lot about the relationship between Kurds and Greece in her PhD candidate at the University of Oxford. The whole work can be found in a description box below. Anyway, Aspacia among a lot of stuff claims that the relationship between Greek people and the Kurds living in Greece are extra good. Not at least because of the migrated Kurds, works hard to settle into the Greek community, but also because the Greek people themselves have experience being on fleeing foot, which makes it easier for them to accept other people fleeing for their life. In 2016 Greece opened a consulate general in Hauleyr. However, upon this day Kurdistan doesn't have any representative office in Greece. During the same period, the relationship between K.R.G. and Greece had expanded. Not at least as Greece will one of the most giving partner to K.R.G. when coming to ammunition and weapons in the fight against ISIS. When the 2017 referendum took place in Iraqi-occupied Kurdistan, the former foreign minister, Nikos Kotsias, was among the few to support the Kurdish right of holding the referendum. However, no action was taken from Greek side after this. The Kurdish and Greek relationship has a history timeline which goes from ancient times to present day, and the relationship between them will certainly be good in the future. Not at least since the both sides share a common enemy in between each other. We hope that you liked this video, and if so, don't forget to like, subscribe and comment down below which relationship video you want us to do next time. Until the next video comes up, here is two other videos that we recommend for you. Be sure to check them out.