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Kurds

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Kurds
File:Kurds2.jpg
Regions with significant populations
Kurdistan (parts of Turkey, Iran, Iraq, Syria)
Languages
Kurdish
Religion
Islam, Yazidism, Judaism and Yarsan
Related ethnic groups
Indo-European and Iranian peoples

The Kurds are, an Iranian people (a classification that is more linguistic than 'ethnic' in the case of the Kurds) inhabiting a mountainous area of the Middle-East that includes parts of Iraq, Turkey, Iran, Syria as well as smaller sections of Armenia and Lebanon. Kurds speak the mostly mutually intelligible dialects of the Kurdish language, which belongs to the Iranian branch of the Indo-Iranian subfamily of languages.

Ranging anywhere from 25 to 27 million people, the Kurds comprise one of the largest ethnic groups without their own country in the world. For over a century, many Kurds have campaigned and fought for the right to 'self-determination' in an autonomous homeland known as "Kurdistan". The governments of those countries with sizable Kurdish populations are actively opposed to the possibility of a Kurdish state, believing such a development would require them to give up parts of their own national territories.

Historic roots of the Kurdish people

Main article: History of the Kurds

The earliest evidence, thus far, of a unified and distinct culture and peoples inhabiting 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 family of languages (or Alarodian), akin to modern Chechen and Lezgian. The Hurrians spread out and eventually dominated significant territories outside their Zagros-Taurus mountainous base. Like their Kurdish descendents, they however did not expand too far from the mountains. The "Hurrian" name survives now most prominently in the dialect and district of Hawraman/Auraman in Kurdistan. They were divided into many clans and subgroups and settled in city-states, kingdoms and empires with eponymous clan names. These included the Gutis, Kurti, Khaldi, Mards, Mushku, Mannaeans (Mannai), Hatti, Urartu, Lullubi and the Kassites among others. All these tribes were part of the larger group of Hurrians, and together helped to shape the Hurrian phase of Kurdish history [1]. The region of Mahabad was the centre of the Mannaeans, who flourished in the early 1st millennium BC.[2]

Approximately 4,000 years ago, the first groups of Indo-European-speaking peoples started trickling into Kurdistan. These groups included the Medes, Mitanni, Scythians and Sagarthians and other Indo-European-speaking Aryans who settled in Kurdistan. Approximately 2,600 years ago, the Medes had already formed an empire that included much of what is today Kurdistan and beyond.

Kurdish-inhabited areas (Kurdistan).

There are numerous historical records that refer to the antecedents of the modern Kurds. The ancient Greek historian Xenophon referred to the Kurds in the Anabasis as "Khardukhi", a 'fierce and protective mountain-dwelling people' who attacked Greek armies in 400 BCE. The Lullubi people inhabited the "Sharazor" plain in Iraqi Kurdistan and are known for having fought wars with the Akkadians around 2300-2200 B.C. Today a Kurdish clan is known as Lullu and may be a possible derivation of the ancient Lullabi.[3] 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, from the early Mitanni to the Medes who were contemporaries of the ancient Persians.

The modern Kurds are the descendants of many invaders and migrants who settled the region including the aforementioned Hurrians, Guti, Lullubi, Kurti, Medes, Mards, Carduchi, Gordyene, Adiabene, Mushku, Mannai, Mitanni, Kassites, Zila, and Khaldi. In addition, the lands populated by the Kurds were also invaded by the Assyrians, Akkadians, Armenians, Persians, Greeks, Romans, Byzantines, Arabs, Mongols, and Turks and these groups also made contributions to the modern Kurds both culturally and/or genetically. As a result of the vast parade of peoples who have come to Kurdistan, it is safe to say that the Kurds are a combination of indigenous peoples who were living in the Zagros Mountains, Aryan tribes, and numerous other invaders and migrants.[4] Recent genetic tests of random Kurdish populations show links to the Caucasus, various Iranian peoples, Europeans, northern Semites, and Anatolia.

Demographics

Country Estimated number Source
Turkey 13,930,000 CIA factbook
Iran 6,120,000 CIA factbook
Iraq 3,910,000 - 5,220,000 CIA factbook
Syria 1,570,000 - 1,840,000 CIA factbook
Azerbaijan 200,000 khrp.org
Lebanon 80,000 Kurdish Institute
Armenia 75,000 khrp.org
Georgia 40,000 khrp.org
Sub Total Asia 24,568,000 - 26,145,000
Germany 500,000 - 600,000 Kurdish Institute
France 100,000 - 120,000 Kurdish Institute
Netherlands 70,000 - 80,000 Kurdish Institute
Switzerland 60,000 - 70,000 Kurdish Institute
Belgium 50,000 - 60,000 Kurdish Institute
Austria 50,000 - 60,000 Kurdish Institute
Sweden 25,000 - 30,000 Kurdish Institute
United Kingdom 20,000 - 25,000 Kurdish Institute
Greece 20,000 - 25,000 Kurdish Institute
Denmark 8,000 - 10,000 Kurdish Institute
Norway 4,000 - 5,000 Kurdish Institute
Italy 3,000 - 4,000 Kurdish Institute
Finland 2,000 - 3,000 Kurdish Institute
Sub Total Europe1 912,000 - 1,092,000
United States 15,000 - 20,000 Kurdish Institute
Canada 6,000 - 7,000 Kurdish Institute
Sub Total North America 21,800 - 27,000
Grand Total 25,498,800 - 27,263,200
1. Excluding Turkey

The exact number of Kurdish people living in the Middle East is unknown, due to both an absence of recent and extensive census analysis, and the reluctance of the various governments in Kurdish-inhabited regions to give accurate figures. The fact that some Kurds have mixed with other local ethnic groups has also contributed to the uncertainty as to who can be counted as a 'Kurd'. For example, many Kurds in Turkey have adopted Turkish, having moved to mainly Turkish regions of the country and assimilated to some extent, while most Kurds in Iraq have attempted to maintain their distinct identity. In addition, groups such as the Zaza and Dimli are often counted by some as Kurds, but are actually a closely- related Iranian people.

Nonetheless, if estimated figures are accurate, comprising between 25 and 27 million people, the Kurds are, as Carole A. O’Leary (a professor at the American University) commented, the largest ethnic group without a separate state in the world. [5]

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 Alevi Shia Muslims, who are mainly found in Turkey. The remaining Kurds are either Christians, Kurdish Jews or Yezidis.

Yazidism

Before the spread of Islam in the 7th century CE, the majority of Kurds practiced their own indigenous religions. The religion of the Medes was supplanted by new religions emanating from it, which remain to this day: Yezidism and Yarsan. 'Yezidism' is an ancient Kurdish religion. The name of this religion in Kurdish language is Êzidî. Most Yezidis live in Iraqi Kurdistan, in the vicinity of Mosul, Sinjar, and Lalish. Large numbers of Yezidis are also found in Syria, Armenia and Turkey. The holy book of the Yezidis is "Mishefa Reş" (The Black Book)[6]. There is also another native Kurdish religion in eastern parts of Kurdistan, called Yarsan or Ahl-e Haqq.

According to the Kurdish scholar Tawfiq Wahbi, during the 4th and 5th centuries AD the majority of Kurds east of the Zagros, Cizre , Botan (both in south-eastern Turkey), Kirkuk, and those in the mountains of southeast Kurdistan (i.e. Kermanshah province and Kurdistan in western Iran) were not Zoroastrians. The last emperor of the Medes, Rishti Vega-Azhi Dahak (Astyages), killed Zoroaster, ruled his followers and overthrew Vishtaspa (Hystaspes). No doubt this explains in large measure why the Zoroastrians equated the name Azhi Dahak with oppression and cruelty. ( see[7])

Judaism

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 [8]. Rabbi Asenath Barzani, who lived in Mosul, Kurdistan, from 1590 to 1670 was among the very first Jewish women to become a Rabbi (see Kurdish Jews).

Language

Main article: Kurdish language

The Kurdish language is part of the northwestern group of the Iranian section of the Indo-Iranian branch of the Indo-European family. Even though Kurdish is an Iranian language, Kurds have been greatly-influenced by languages around them, especially Arabic, as well as Turkish and Persian. In addition, the Northern Kurdish dialects such as Kurmanji are written using the Roman alphabet, while the southern dialects tend to be written in the Arabic alphabet.

The Kurdish languages form a dialect continuum, with comprehensibility diminishing as the distance from one's native dialect increases. The principal Kurdish languages are:

Kurds in Iraq

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 1980's, 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.)

Anfal genocidal campaign

Main article: Al-Anfal campaign

Anfal—"the Spoils" of War—is the name of the eighth sura of the Koran. From March 29, 1987 until April 23, 1989, Iraqi army under the command of Ali Hassan al-Majid carried out a genocidal campaign against Kurds, characterized by the following human rights violations: the widespread use of chemical weapons, the wholesale destruction of some 2,000 villages, and slaughter of around 50,000 rural Kurds, by the most conservative estimates. The large Kurdish town of Qala Dizeh (population 70,000) was completely destroyed by the Iraqi army. The campaign also included Arabization of Kirkuk, a program to drive Kurds out of the oil-rich city and replace them with Arab settlers from central and southern Iraq. Kurdish sources report the number of dead to be greater than 182,000 [9].

Kurds in Turkey

Further information: Human rights in Turkey

About half of all Kurds live in Turkey, numbering some 14 million. They comprise 20% of the total population of Turkey and are predominantly distributed in the southeastern corner of the country. Modern Turkey's founder, Mustafa Kemal (better known as Atatürk in Turkish—"father of the Turks"), 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. To this day, music, radio and TV broadcasts, and education in Kurdish are not allowed except under extremely limited circumstances. Teaching Kurdish in public schools is still banned. The Turkish government has consistently thwarted attempts by the Kurds to organize politically. Kurdish political parties are shut down one after another, and party members are harassed and imprisoned for "crimes of opinion."

Kurdish internally displaced people (IDP) in Turkey

Security forces in Turkey forcibly displaced Kurdish rural communities during the 1980s and 1990s in order to combat the Kurdish Workers’ Party (PKK) insurgency, which drew its membership and logistical support from the local peasant population. Turkish security forces did not distinguish the armed militants they were pursuing from the civilian population they were supposed to be protecting. By the mid-1990s, more than 3,000 villages had been virtually wiped from the map, and, according to official figures, 378,335 Kurdish villagers had been displaced and left homeless.(see [10],[11] and [12]. Also see Report D612, October, 1994, "Forced Displacement of Ethnic Kurds"(A Human Rights Watch Publication)[13] )

Leyla Zana

Main article: Leyla Zana

Most famously, in 1994 Leyla Zana—who, three years prior, had been the first Kurdish woman elected to the Turkish parliament—was sentenced to 15 years for "separatist speech". 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 PKK is a formerly Marxist separatist group that until recently sought to create an independent Kurdish state in southeastern Turkey and parts of neighboring countries inhabited by Kurds. (It’s known as the PKK after its Kurdish name, Partiya Karkerên Kurdistan.) During a rebellion that began in the mid-1980s and claimed some 35,000 lives, the group used guerrilla warfare and terrorism, including kidnappings of foreign tourists in Turkey, suicide bombings, and attacks on Turkish diplomatic offices in Europe. The PKK has also repeatedly attacked civilians who refuse to assist it. The organization was founded in 1973 by Abdullah Ocalan. He ruled the party until his capture in 1999 by Turkish special forces in Kenya, after taking refuge in the Greek embassy in Kenya. Ocalan remains imprisoned on an island (Imrali) near Istanbul.(see [14] and [15])

Kurds in Iran

For a detailed account of history of the Kurds in the Persian Empire and Iran see History of the Kurds and Iranian Kurdistan. In recent years, intense fighting occurred between Kurds and the Iranian state between 1979 and 1982. Since 1983 the Iranian government has had control over the area which the Kurds inhabit. This area encompasses Kurdistan Province and greater parts of West Azarbaijan, Kermanshah, Ilam Province and smaller parts of Lorestan that totally is called Iranian Kurdistan.

In Iran Kurds, like other minorities, express their cultural identity with difficulties and they are denied the right of self-government or administration. Membership of any Kurdish 'separatist' party could be punishable by death. The Kurdish language is also banned from being taught in schools; which is a breach of the current constitution, and there are restrictions today on publishing Kurdish literature. In 2005, the Islamic government banned the two Kurdish magazines "Aso" and "Ashti" (following many Persian-language ones in other areas of Iran in recent years), and their editors have been arrested.

Kurdish human rights activists in Iran have been threatened by Iranian authorities in connection with their work. [16]

Kurds in Syria

Kurds often speak Kurdish in public, unless all those present do not. It is claimed that Kurdish human rights activists are mistreated. No political parties are allowed for any group, Arab or Kurdish. Population is 10% or about 1.8 million.

According to Human Rights Watch, there are 142,465 Kurds (by the government's count), and well over 200,000 Kurds (according to Kurdish sources), who have been arbitrarily denied the right to Syrian nationality in violation of international law. These Kurds, who have no claim to a nationality other than Syrian, are literally trapped in Syria: not only are they treated in a discriminatory fashion in the land of their birth, but also they do not have the option of relocating to another country because they lack passports or other internationally recognized travel documents. They are not permitted to own land, housing or businesses. They cannot be employed at government agencies and state-owned enterprises, and cannot practice as doctors or engineers. They may not legally marry Syrian citizens. Kurds with "foreigner" status, as they are called, do not have the right to vote in elections or referenda, or run for public office. They are not issued passports or other travel documents, and thus may not legally leave or return to Syria. [17]

Suppression of 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. (see [18] and [19])

Kurds in Armenia

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

Culture

Renowned Kurdish individuals

Main article: List of Kurdish people
  • Al-Dinawari, (828 - 889) botanist, historian, and muslim theologian.
  • Saladin, (1138–1193), Founder of the Ayyubid dynasty of Egypt and Syria.
  • Ibn Athir, (1160-1233), Kurdish/Islamic historian, born in Jazira (Cizîre) region.
  • Ibn Khallikan, (1211-1282), Muslim judge and author of a classic Arabic biographical dictionary. Born in Irbil, Iraqi Kurdistan.
  • Malaye Jaziri (Melayê Cizîrî),(1570-1640), Renowned Kurdish poet and sufi
  • Ahmad Khani (Ehmedê Xanî),(1651-1707), Renowned Kurdish poet, Author of Mem û Zîn.
  • Jaladat Ali Badirkhan (Celadet Alî Bedirxan), (1893-1951), Linguist, Journalist and Politician, Founder of the Kurdish Latin Alphabet.
  • Mustafa Barzani,(1903-1979) Kurdish nationalist leader, Iraq.

See also

Kurdish governments

Kurdish organisations

Militant organizations

The Kurdish Issue in Turkey

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