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Kurds

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Kurds
Regions with significant populations
Kurdistan

(Parts of:
Turkey
15 million (est)[50], [51]
Iran
4.8 - 6.6 million [52],[53]
Iraq
4 - 6 million [54],[55]
Syria
1.6 - 2 million [56])
Germany
0.5 - 0.6 million
Armenia
42,139 [57]
Azerbaijan
13,100 (1999)[58]
Others
1.1 million

[59]
Languages
Kurdish and Aramaic (Native)
Persian, Turkish, Arabic (Spoken widely as second language(s)
Swedish, German, French and English (Spoken widely as second language(s) among expatriate communities)
Religion
Islam, Yazidism, Judaism, Yarsan, Christianity
Related ethnic groups
Other Iranian peoples

The Kurds are an ethnolinguistic group inhabiting parts of Iran, Iraq, Syria, and Turkey (a contiguous region commonly referred to as Kurdistan). Smaller communities can also be found in Lebanon, Armenia, Azerbaijan (Kalbajar and Lachin, to the west of Nagorno Karabakh) and, in recent decades, some European countries and the US.

The first mention of the Kurds in historical records was in cuneiform writings from the Sumerians (3,000 BCE), who talked of the "land of the Karda."[1] They are commonly identified with the ancient kingdom of Corduene[2] whose ethnic origins are uncertain.[3] However they are ethnically related to Iranian people groups such as Persians and Lurs.[4] [5] Kurds speak the mostly mutually-intelligible dialects of the Kurdish language, an Indo-European language of the Iranian branch.

Estimated at 25 to 30 million people, the Kurds comprise one of the largest ethnic groups in the world without a separate country. For over a century, many Kurds have campaigned and fought for the right to self-determination. However, the governments of countries with sizable Kurdish populations, believing such a development would require them to give up parts of their own national territories, are actively opposed to the formation of an independent Kurdish state.

Historic roots of the Kurdish people

Hunting scene relief in basalt found at Tell Halaf, dated 850-830 BCE
Main article: History of the Kurds

The earliest known evidence of a unified and distinct culture in the Kurdish mountains dates back to the Halaf culture of 8,000-7,400 years ago. This was followed by the Hurrian period which lasted from 6,300 to about 2,600 years ago. The Hurrians spoke a language that was possibly part of the Northeast Caucasian (or the proposed Alarodian) family of languages, akin to modern Chechen and Lezgian. The Hurrians spread out and eventually dominated significant territories outside their Zagros-Taurus mountainous base. However, like their Kurdish descendents, they did not expand very far from the mountains. As they settled, the Hurrians divided into many clans and subgroups, founding city-states, kingdoms and empires with eponymous clan names. These included the Gutis, Kurti, Khaldi, Mards, Mushku, Mannaeans (Mannai), Mitanni, Urartu, Lullubi and the Kassites among others. All these tribes were part of the larger group of Hurrians (Khurrites), and together helped to shape the Hurrian phase of Kurdish history [6]. The "Hurrian" name has survived, most prominently in the dialect and district of Hawraman/Auraman in present-day Iran. The region of Mahabad was the centre of the Mannaeans, who flourished in the early 1st millennium BC.[7]

Ancient Orient

There are numerous historical records that refer to the antecedents of the modern Kurds. The ancient Greek historian Xenophon referred to the Kurds in Anabasis as "Khardukhi...a fierce and protective mountain-dwelling people" who attacked Greek armies in 400 BCE. The present-day home of the Kurds, the high mountain region south and south-east of Lake Van between Persia and Mesopotamia, was in the possession of Kurds before the time of Xenophon, and was known as the country of the "Carduchi", "Cardyene" or "Cordyene".[8]

The Lullubi people inhabited the Sharazor plain in Iraqi Kurdistan and are known to have fought wars with the Akkadians around 2300-2200 B.C. Today a Kurdish clan known as Lullu may be a possible derivation of the ancient Lullubi.[9] Moreover, the name Madai appears in the Book of Genesis as a Japhethic grandson of Noah in the Biblical tradition. Scholars have identified Madai with various nations, including the early Mitanni and the Medes who were contemporaries of the ancient Persians.

File:Bracelet2.jpg
Golden bracelet decorated with two pairs of lion cubs lying face to face. From the treasures of Ziwiyeh; 7th century BC.

By the end of the Hurrian period, the Kurdish areas seem to have been culturally and ethnically homogenized to form a single civilization which was identified as such by the neighboring cultures and peoples. In early Sumerian writings about the northern parts of Mesopotamia, The area was referred to as the land of the "Karda" or "Qarduchi" and the land of the "Guti" or "Gutium". These are described as being the same people only differing in tribal name. The Babylonians called these people "Gardu" and "Qarda". In neighbouring area of Assyria, they were "Qurti" or "Guti". When the Greeks entered the territory, they referred to these people as either "Kardukh", "Carduchi" or "Gordukh". The Armenians called the Kurds "Gortukh" or "Gortai-kh" and the Persians knew them as "Gord" or "Kord". In the Syriac, Hebrew and Chaldean languages they were, respectively, "Qardu", "Kurdaye" and "Qurdaye". In Aramaic and Nestorian they were "Qadu".

In addition, the lands populated by the Kurds were also invaded by the Assyrians, Akkadians, Armenians, Persians, Greeks, Romans, Byzantines, Arabs, Mongols, and Turks. Consequently, these groups also have influenced modern Kurds both culturally and genetically. As a result of this vast parade of peoples, the Kurds are a combination of indigenous peoples living in the Zagros Mountains and numerous invaders and migrants.[10] Recent genetic tests of random Kurdish populations show links to the Caucasus, various Iranian peoples, Europeans, northern Semites, and Anatolia.

Kurdish Dynasties

The Kurdish kingdom of Corduene, situated to the east of Tigranocerta[11] (east and south of present-day Diyarbakir, Turkey)became a province of the Roman Empire in 66 BCE and was under Roman control for four centuries until 384 CE.

In the second half of the 10th century, the Kurdish area was shared amongst four big Kurdish principalities. In the North was the Shaddadid (951-1174) in parts of present-day Armenia and Arran. In the East were the Hasanwayhids (959-1015) and the Annazid (990-1117) in Kermanshah, Dinawar and Khanaqin. In the West were the Marwanid (990-1096) of Diyarbakir. After these, the Ayyubid (1171-1250) of Syria and the Ardalan dynasty (14th century-1867) were established in present-day Khanaqin, Kirkuk and Sinne.

Population

Main article: Demographics of Kurdish people
Kurdish-inhabited areas (Kurdistan).

The exact number of Kurdish people living in the Middle East is unknown, due to both an absence of recent census analysis and the reluctance of the various governments in Kurdish-inhabited regions to give accurate figures.

According to the CIA Factbook, Kurds comprise 20% of the population in Turkey, 15-20% in Iraq, 9% in Syria, 7% in Iran and 1.3% in Armenia. In all of these countries except Iran, Kurds form the second largest ethnic group. In other words about 55% of the world's Kurds live in Turkey, 22% in Iran, 16.5% in Iraq and 6.5% in Syria.

Kurds, numbering 27 to 28 million people, are regarded as the fourth largest ethnicity in the Middle East after Arabs, Persians and Turks.

Kurdish diaspora

Main article: Kurdish diaspora
Map showing areas with significant Kurdish population as well as Kurdish diaspora in Middle East.

Kurdish people are found in regions far from their ancestral homeland. The largest Kurdish enclave outside Kurdistan is the Kurdish region in north Khorasan, in north-eastern Iran. Smaller scattered communities are found in Azarbaijan (Kalbajar and Lachin, to the west of Nagorno Karabakh), the Alburz mountain range in northern Iran, Guilan province in northern Iran and Sistan and Baluchistan province in southeastern Iran.[12]). Kurds have more recently begun to settle in Germany as a result of immigration from Turkey and other Middle Eastern nations.

Language

Main article: Kurdish language

The Kurdish language is a dialect continuum of mostly mutually intelligible dialects belonging to the Iranian subgroup of the Indo-European family. Contemporary linguistic evidence has challenged the previously held view that the Kurds are descendants of the Medes.[13] Kurdish originally might have been the predecessor of other Caucasian languages[14].

Most Kurds are bilingual or polylingual, speaking the languages of the surrounding peoples such as Arabic, Turkish and Persian as a second language. Kurdish Jews and Kurdish Christians usually speak Aramaic as a first language. Aramaic is a Semitic language related to Hebrew and Arabic rather than Kurdish.

The Kurdish language is comprised of two major dialects and several sub-dialects[citation needed]:

  • The Gorani or Kurmancki dialects (sometimes also referred to as Pehlewi)

Genetic relations of the Kurds to other ethnic groups

Kurds and Jews

In 2001, a team of Israeli, German, and Indian scientists discovered that the majority of Jews around the world, belonging to various different Jewish ethnic divisions, are closely related to the Kurdish people, more closely than they are to the Semitic-speaking Arabs or any other population that was tested. Most of the 95 Kurdish Muslim test subjects came from northern Iraq. Moreover, according to another study, the CMH (Cohen modal haplotype) is a genetic marker from the northern Middle East which is not unique to Jews. However, its existence among many Kurds and Armenians, as well as some Italians and Hungarians, would seem to support the overall contention that Kurds and Armenians are the close relatives of modern Jews and that the majority of today's Jews have paternal ancestry from the northeastern Mediterranean region.[15]

In another study, Kurdish Jews were found to be close to Muslim Kurds, but so were Ashkenazim and Sephardim, suggesting that much if not most of the genetic similarity between Jewish and Muslim Kurds is from ancient times.[16]

Kurds and Iranians

Genetic distance comparisons have revealed that the Turkic and Turkmen speaking peoples in the Caspian area cluster with the Kurds, Greeks and Iranis. The Persian speakers are genetically remote from these populations, they are, however, close to the Parsis who migrated from Iran to India at the end of the 7th Century A.D.[17]


According to the Encyclopedia Britannica, "The Persians, Kurds, and speakers of other Indo-European languages in Iran are descendants of the Aryan tribes that began migrating from Central Asia into what is now Iran in the 2nd millennium BC."[18]


Some sources state they are ethnically close to other Iranian groups such as the Persians and Lurs [19], [20]. Kurds are often classified as an Iranic ethnic group[21] [22] According to the Encyclopedia of Islam, "The classification of the Kurds among the Iranian nations is based mainly on linguistic and historical data and does not prejudice the fact there is a complexity of ethnical elements incorporated in them."

Modern history and Human Rights Situation

Kurds in Iraq

Main article: Iraqi Kurdistan

Under the former Iraqi Ba'athist regime, which ruled Iraq from 1968 until 2003, Kurds were initially granted limited autonomy (1970), and after the Barzani revolt in 1961, were given some high-level political representation in Baghdad. However, for various reasons, including the pro-Iranian sympathies of some Kurds during the Iran-Iraq War in the 1980s, the regime implemented anti-Kurdish policies and a de facto civil war broke out. Iraq was widely-condemned by the international community, but was never seriously punished for oppressive measures, including the use of chemical weapons against the Kurds, which resulted in thousands of deaths. (See Halabja poison gas attack.) and the grossly widepsread genocide of the Kurdish people. (See: Al-Anfal campaign)

After the Kurdish uprising in 1991 (Kurdish:Raperîn, led by the PUK and KDP), Iraqi troops recaptured the Kurdish areas, hundreds of thousand of Kurds fled to the borders. Many were accepted as refugees in Iran, but soldiers beat the refugees back at the Turkish border. To alleviate the situation a "safe haven" was established by the Security Council. The autonomous Kurdish area was controlled by the rival parties KDP and PUK, small enclaves also by islamist groups like Ansar al-Islam. A Kurdish parliament was elected, but mutual animosity between the two major parties led to serious infighting. KDP called on the government in Baghdad for help, and the PUK called on Iran. In the end the US had to supervise a peace treaty, and the Kurdish are was effectively split into two rival administrations.

The Kurdish population welcomed the American-led invasion in 2003. The area controlled by peshmerga was expanded, and Kurds now have effective control in Kirkuk and parts of Mosul.

In 2003, a terrorist rocket attack against PUK and KDP political offices in Baghdad was narrowly thwarted by U.S Army soldiers from the Florida National Guard, though the perpetrators were not found.

Kurds in Turkey

Main article: [[:Kurds in Turkey, Turkish Kurdistan and Human rights in Turkey]]

About half of all Kurds live in Turkey, and they account for 20% of total population of Turkey numbering some 15 million [23] [24]. According to some sources, they comprise an estimated 10% of the total population of Turkey [25]. They are predominantly distributed in the southeastern corner of the country. Modern Turkey's founder, Mustafa Kemal (better known as Atatürk in Turkish—), enacted a constitution 70 years ago which denied the existence of distinct cultural sub-groups in Turkey. As a result, any expression by the Kurds (as well as other minorities in Turkey) of unique ethnic identity has been harshly repressed. For example, until 1991, the use of the Kurdish language—although widespread—was illegal. As a result of reforms inspired by the EU, music, radio and TV broadcasts, and education in Kurdish are now allowed.

Kurdish internally displaced people (IDP) in Turkey

More than 3,000 Kurdish villages in Turkey were virtually wiped from the map by the Turkey's security forces during 1980s and 1990s. As a result, more than 378,000 Kurdish villagers were forcibly displaced and left homeless see [26],[27] and [28]. Also see Report D612, October, 1994, "Forced Displacement of Ethnic Kurds"(A Human Rights Watch Publication)[29]).

Leyla Zana

Main article: Leyla Zana

In 1994 Leyla Zana (the first female Kurdish representative in the Turkey's Parliament), was charged for separatist speech and sentenced to 15 years in prison. At her inauguration as an MP, she reportedly identified herself as a Kurd. Amnesty International reported "She took the oath of loyalty in Turkish, as required by law, then added in Kurdish, 'I shall struggle so that the Kurdish and Turkish peoples may live together in a democratic framework.' Parliament erupted with shouts of 'Separatist', 'Terrorist', and 'Arrest her'".

PKK insurgency

Main article: Kurdistan Workers Party

The Partiya Karkerên Kurdistan (PKK), also known as KADEK and Kongra-Gel, is a militant organization, dedicated to creating an independent Kurdish state in a territory (sometimes referenced as Kurdistan) that consists of parts of southeastern Turkey, northeastern Iraq, northeastern Syria and northwestern Iran. It is an ethnic secessionist organization using force and threat of force against both civilian and military targets for the purpose of achieving its political goal.

Kurds in Iran

File:Republic of Kurdistan in Mehabad.png
Republic of Kurdistan, Mehabad 1946
Main article: [[:Iranian Kurdistan and History of the Kurds]]

The Kurds, who constitute approximately 7% of Iran's overall population, have resisted the Iranian government's efforts, both before and after the revolution of 1979, to assimilate them into the mainstream of national life and, along with their fellow Kurds in adjacent regions of Iraq and Turkey, have sought either regional autonomy or the outright establishment of an independent Kurdish state in the region [30].

In Iran, Kurds twice had their own controlled free area without government control: The Republic of Mahabad in Iran in 1946 (the second independent Kurdish state of the 20th century, after the Republic of Ararat in modern Turkey); and second time after the Iranian Revolution in 1979. After the military coup in 1953, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi became more autocratic and suppressed most opposition including ethnic minorities such as Kurds. He also prohibited any Kurdish language instruction [31].

In recent years, intense fighting occurred between Kurds and the Iranian state between 1979 and 1982. The Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps fought to reestablish government control in the Kurdish regions. As a result around 10,000 Kurds were killed [32]. Since 1983 the Iranian government has had control over the area which the Kurds inhabit [33]. Frequent unrest and occasional military crackdown have also happened throughout the 1990s and even to the present [34].

In Iran Kurds, like other minorities, express their cultural identity with difficulties and they are denied the right of self-government or administration. Similar to other parts of Iran, membership of any non-governmental political party in Kurdistan could be punishable by persecution, imprisonment and even death. The Kurdish language is also banned from being taught in public schools. Although according to Iranian constitution, literature of non-Persian ethnicities can be taught in school but never allowed to be practised; except some limited higher education of Kurdish literature in some universities. There are even restrictions on publishing Kurdish literature in press. Kurdish human rights activists in Iran have been threatened by Iranian authorities in connection with their work. [35] [36]

On July 9 2005, after the killing of a Kurdish opposition activist, Shivan Qaderi ([37]) (Template:Lang-fa) and two other Kurdish men by Iranian security forces in Mahabad, for six weeks, riots and protests erupted in Kurdish towns and villages throughout Eastern Kurdistan, with scores killed and injured, and an untold number arrested without charge. The Iranian authorities also shut down several major Kurdish newspapers arresting reporters and editors. [38]

Kurds in Syria

Main article: Syria's Kurds

Kurds account for 10% of the population in Syria or about 1.9 million people[39] making them the largest ethnic minority in the country. Kurds often speak Kurdish in public, unless all those present do not. Kurdish human rights activists are mistreated and persecuted.[40] No political parties are allowed for any group, Kurdish or otherwise.

Techniques used to suppress the ethnic identity of Kurds in Syria include various bans on the use of the Kurdish language, refusal to register children with Kurdish names, replacement of Kurdish place names with new names in Arabic, prohibition of businesses that do not have Arabic names, not permitting Kurdish private schools, and the prohibition of books and other materials written in Kurdish.[41] [42] About 300,000 Kurds have been deprived of any social rights due to having been arbitrarily denied the right to Syrian nationality in violation of international law.[43] [44] These Kurds, who have no claim to a nationality other than Syrian, are literally trapped in Syria.[45]

But according to some sources Syria is recently (February 2006) planning to grant citizenship to those 300,000 Kurds deprived citizenship living in the country.[46] However a number of ethnic Kurds were deported from Syria after the fall of Baghdad in 2003, with most settling in the western Dohuk governorate north of Mosul.[citation needed]

On March 12, 2005, in days of clashes began at a stadium in Qamishli, a largely Kurdish city in northeastern Syria, at least 30 people were killed and more than 160 were injured. The unrest spread to other Kurdish towns along the northern border with Turkey, and then to Damascus and Aleppo.[47] [48]

Kurds in Armenia

As part of the Soviet Union from the 1930's to the 1980's, Kurds in Armenia had the status of a protected minority under Soviet Law. They had their own state-sponsored newspaper, a radio broadcast and were allowed to hold cultural events. During the conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh, many Kurds were forced to leave their homes.

Religion

Islam

The majority of the Kurds are Sunni Muslims, belonging to the Shafi and Hanafi Schools of Islam. There is also a significant minority of Kurds that are Shia Muslims, and they primarily live in the Kermanshah and Ilam provinces of Iran and Central Iraq ("Al-Fayliah" Kurds). Another religious minority among the Kurds are the Alevis, who are mainly found in Turkey. The remaining Kurds are mostly either Christians, Kurdish Jews, Yazidis or Agnosticists.

Êzidîtî (Yazidism)

Main article: Yazidism

Before the spread of Islam in the 7th century CE, the majority of Kurds practised their own indigenous religions. The religion of the Medes was supplanted by new religions emanating from it, which remain to this day: Yazidism and Yarsan. 'Yazidism' is an ancient Kurdish religion. The name of this religion in Kurdish language is Êzidîtî or Îzedîtî. Most Îzedîs live in Iraqi Kurdistan, in the vicinity of Mosul, Sinjar, and Lalish. Large numbers of Yazidis are also found in Syria, Armenia and Turkey. The holy book of the Yazidis is "Mishefa Reş" (The Black Book)[49]. There is also another native Kurdish religion in eastern parts of Kurdistan, called Yarsan or Ahl-e Haqq.

Judaism

Main article: Kurdish Jews

The Kurdish Kingdom of Adiabene converted to Judaism in the course of the 1st century BC, along with, a large number of Kurdish citizens in the kingdom [50]. Rabbi Asenath Barzani, who lived in Mosul, Kurdistan, from 1590 to 1670 was among the very first Jewish women to become a Rabbi.

Culture

Kurdish men dancing in Kurdish traditional clothing
Main article: Kurdish culture

Kurdish cultural heritage is rooted in one of the world's oldest cultures, the Mesopotamian. Through the ages, this heritage has been subject to injustices, neglect and repression, or has been eclipsed by other cultures. Important components of the original cultural heritage have disappeared or have been destroyed. There are numerous examples of how valuable or irreplaceable Kurdish physical heritage are endangered or destroyed.

The quest for social justice and equity is regarded as an important Kurdish cultural trait. Respect for the elderly and hospitality for the foreigners are also integral part of the Kurdish etiquette.

The Kurds celebrate the Newroz/Norouz as the new year day, which is celebrated on March 21. It is the first day of the month of Xakelêwe in Kurdish calendar (Farvardin in the Iranian calendar) and the first day of spring. Newroz has been nominated as one of the "Masterpieces of the Intangible Heritage of Humanity" by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization UNESCO in 2004.

Literature

Main article: Kurdish literature

Kurdish literature faces difficulties since the Kurdish language is not an official language except in Iraq and has restrictions in teaching in Iran and Turkey, and is banned in Syria. [citation needed].

Film

Kurdish films mainly evoke poverty and the lack of rights of Kurdish people in the region. Perhaps Yilmaz Guney and Bahman Qubadi are among the best known Kurdish directors.

Music

Main article: Kurdish music

Traditionally, there are three types of Kurdish Classical performers - storytellers (çîrokbêj), minstrels (stranbêj) and bards (dengbêj). There was no specific music related to the Kurdish princely courts, and instead, music performed in night gatherings (şevbihêrk) is considered classical. Several musical forms are found in this genre. Many songs and are epic in nature, such as the popular Lawik's which are heroic ballads recounting the tales of Kurdish heroes of the past like Saladin. Heyrans are love ballads usually expressing the melancholy of separation and unfulfilled love. Lawje is a form of religious music and Payizoks are songs performed specifically in autmun. Love songs, dance music, wedding and other celebratory songs (dîlok/narînk), erotic poetry and work songs are also popular.

Women

Main article: Kurdish Woman

Kurdish women played an important role throughout Kurdish history.

Asenath Barzani was the first female Rabbi in history.

Mestureh Ardalan (Mestûrey Erdelan) (1805 -1848) was a Kurdish poet and writer. She is known for her books two centuries ago.

Leyla Zana, Leyla Qasim and thousands of other Kurdish women are well known for their role in Kurdish politics, literature, history and peshmarga.

Renowned Kurdish individuals

Main article: List of Kurdish people


See also

Kurdish Kingdoms

Modern Kurdish governments

Militant organizations

See also: Kurdish organisations

Notes

  1. ^ [1]
  2. ^ [[2]
  3. ^ [3]
  4. ^ [4]
  5. ^ [5]
  6. ^ [6]
  7. ^ [7]
  8. ^ [8]
  9. ^ [9]
  10. ^ [10]
  11. ^ [11]
  12. ^ [12]
  13. ^ [13]
  14. ^ [14]
  15. ^ [15]
  16. ^ [16]
  17. ^ [17]
  18. ^ [18]
  19. ^ [19]
  20. ^ [20]
  21. ^ [21]
  22. ^ [22]
  23. ^ [23]
  24. ^ [24]
  25. ^ [25]
  26. ^ [26]
  27. ^ [27]
  28. ^ [28]
  29. ^ [29]
  30. ^ [30]
  31. ^ [31]
  32. ^ [32]
  33. ^ [33]
  34. ^ [34]
  35. ^ [35]
  36. ^ [36]
  37. ^ +18
  38. ^ [37]
  39. ^ [38]
  40. ^ [39]
  41. ^ [40]
  42. ^ [41]
  43. ^ [42]
  44. ^ [43]
  45. ^ [44]
  46. ^ [45]
  47. ^ [46]
  48. ^ [47]
  49. ^ [48]
  50. ^ [49]

The Kurdish Issue in Turkey

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