This propaganda map, drawn by Robert M. Chapin, was published by the magazine Time in 1952, to accompany an article on the Kurds.

The article, written by the American correspondent James Bell, describes the Kurdish territory as «a large, clumsy sickle across the Middle East, with the handle anchored in the mountains near the Persian Gulf and the tip of the blade resting on Russia». Chapin takes this statement and sketches Kurdistan onto the map, taking considerable liberties to fit the text’s description. The article itself states that the Kurdish people are divided across five countries (Russia, Turkey, Syria, Iran and Iraq), but the outline drawn by Chapin leaves Syria out entirely.

The result is not simply a rough outline of a region with blurred boundaries, but rather a deliberate design in which the fact that Kurdistan takes the shape of the Soviet sickle is given greater significance. Chapin’s propagandistic intent is clear: to warn that the Kurds, neglected by the West, are gravitating towards the USSR right on the border with Turkey, a country that has recently joined NATO.

The hammer and sickle motif is a recurring feature in Chapin’s cartography. It can also be found on other maps by him, such as Europe from Moscow o Asia from Irkutsk.

Sources

• MIDDLE EAST: Report on the Kurds
• Map published in *Time* magazine (22 September 1952) showing Kurdistan as a hammer and sickle.