Since the second half of 2014, hundreds (if not thousands) of volunteers from the West joined the ranks of the Kurds in Syria and Iraq respectively to fight against ISIS. In an effort to assess the origins and importance of 'Phil-Kurds' (or 'friends of the Kurds'), this article compares this new trend to Phil-Hellenism, the 19th century grassroots movement among intellectuals and politicians in Western Europe which contributed decisively to the success of the Greek War of Independence (1821-1830).