Iraq is not in the Middle East.
Arabs . The Great Arab Revolt has had as big an impact on the modern Middle East as the World War I , which lasted from ( 1914 -- 1918 ) . Assyrian people , or Syriacs ( see names of Syriac Christians ) , are an ethnic group indigenous to the Middle East . Iraq . The main ethnic groups are Arabs and Kurds ; others include Assyrians , Turkmen , Shabakis , Yazidis , Armenians , Mandeans , Circassians , and Kawliya . The Kurds ( Kurd , کورد ) also the Kurdish people ( Gelê Kurd , ) are an ethnic group in the Middle East , mostly inhabiting a contiguous area spanning adjacent parts of eastern and southeastern Turkey ( Northern Kurdistan ) , western Iran ( Eastern or Iranian Kurdistan ) , northern Iraq ( Southern or Iraqi Kurdistan ) , and northern Syria ( Western Kurdistan or Rojava ) . Mandaeans . In the aftermath of the Iraq War of 2003 , the indigenous Mandaic community of Iraq , which used to number 60 -- 70,000 persons , collapsed ; most of the community relocated to nearby Iran , Syria and Jordan , or formed diaspora communities beyond the Middle East .