History of Turkish Occupation of Northern Kurdistan. Since 1984, and especially the last few months, the domestic problems of a major N.A.T.O, Middle Eastern, and American ally state have come to the forefront of the international news scene. That state is the Republic of Turkey and it's primary troubles stem from the past seven decades of acrimonious policies directed at the indigenous ethnic Kurds. The main problem, now, is the Kurdish popular insurgency on it's hands, in Turkish occupied Northern Kurdistan. The Kurdish question has long been covered up and denied by the state of Turkey, but recent events has forced Turkey