What nationality was sultan Saladin?

The story behind the answer

Kurdish is correct because Saladin (Ṣalāḥ ad-Dīn Yūsuf ibn Ayyūb) was born into a Kurdish family in Tikrit in 1137 and belonged to the Rawadiya branch of the Kurdish people. Though he later became sultan of Egypt and Syria and ruled largely Arabic-speaking lands, his ethnic origin was Kurdish, not Arab, Egyptian, or Syrian.

Context: Saladin founded the Ayyubid dynasty and famously recaptured Jerusalem in 1187 after the Battle of Hattin, earning renown for his leadership and chivalry during the Crusades. Memory tip: think “Saladin the Kurd who ruled the Arab world”—he governed Egypt and Syria but came from the Kurdish highlands of Mesopotamia.