The article definitely goes out of its way to point out that the researchers were Kurds, which if you know anything about the region makes complete sense: Catal

The article definitely goes out of its way to point out that the researchers were Kurds, which if you know anything about the region makes complete sense: Catalan researchers would insist on being identified as Catalan researchers and not Spanish. Scottish researchers might reasonably insist on not being identified as English. This identification was almost certainly requested by the Kurish researchers themselves. The only thing odd here is your taking umbrage at someone else's need for visible political identity, which makes you seem reactionary or at best naive.