evidence: Since the Treaty of Zuhab (Qasr-e Shirin) in 1639, which integrated the Kurdistan region into the Ottoman and Persian Empires, the Kurds have proactively sought to create an independent territorial state of Kurdistan. The secret Sykes-Picot deal (May 15-16, 1916)[2] among Britain, France, and Tsarist Russia created new boundaries for the peoples of the Middle East, although these frontiers were recognized neither by the United States nor by the Bolsheviks. By that deal, Kurdistan would have been partitioned into British, French, and Russian-administered zones, as well as the Persian sphere.[3] Upon Russia's retreat and forfeiture of all its claims, and pursuant to the deal of December 23, 1917 between France and Britain, Kurdistan was assigned to the "English zone' of 'influence."[4]