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The Kurds are an Iranian ethnic group inhabiting a mountainous area of the Middle-East that includes parts of Iraq, Turkey, Iran, Syria i.e. northern and northeastern Mesopotamia as well as smaller sections of Armenia, Azarbaijan (Kalbajar and Lachin, to the west of Nagorno Karabakh) and Lebanon. Kurds speak the mostly mutually intelligible dialects of the Kurdish language, which belongs to the Iranian languages group of the Indo-European family. According to Encyclopaedia Britannica, Kurds are members of an ethnic and linguistic group living in the Taurus Mountains of eastern Anatolia, the Zagros Mountains of western Iran, northern Iraq, and adjacent areas. Most of the Kurds live in contiguous areas of Iran, Iraq, and Turkey, a region generally referred to as Kurdistan (Land of the Kurds). According to some sources, they are an Iranian people.

Ranging anywhere from 27 to 28 million people, the Kurds comprise one of the largest ethnic groups in the world without their own country. 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

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), Hittites, 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 . The region of Mahabad was the centre of the Mannaeans, who flourished in the early 1st millennium BC.

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.

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. 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. Recent genetic tests of random Kurdish populations show links to the Caucasus, various Iranian peoples, Europeans, northern Semites, and Anatolia.

Kurdish Dynasties

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

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 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.

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.

Kurds and Persians

Genetic distance comparisons have revealed that the Turkic and Turkmen speaking peoples in the Caspian area cluster with the Kurds, Greeks. 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.

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."

Demographics

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 in the world without a separate state.

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 mostly either Christians, Kurdish Jews or Yazidis.

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: Yazidism and Yarsan. 'Yazidism' is an ancient Kurdish religion. The name of this religion in Kurdish language is Êzidî. Most Yazidis 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). 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 in east of the Zagros , Cizre , Botan and Kirkuk 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)

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 . Rabbi Asenath Barzani, who lived in Mosul, Kurdistan, from 1590 to 1670 was among the very first Jewish women to become a Rabbi.

Language

The Kurdish language is part of the northwestern group of the Iranian language section of the Indo-Iranian branch of the Indo-European family.

Even though Kurdish is an Iranian language, Kurds have been influenced by languages around them, especially Arabic, as well as Turkish and Persian. In addition, Northern Dialects tend to use Roman alphabet, while the southern dialects tend to be written in the Arabic alphabet and recently Latin 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:

• Northern Kurdish including Kurmanji
• Central Kurdish or Sorani
• The Southern Kurdish dialects
• Hewrami or Auramani

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 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.)

Anfal genocidal campaign

Anfal—"the Spoils" of War—is the name of the eighth sura of the Koran. The name was grossly applied to a widepsread genocide of the Kurdish people. 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 .

Kurds 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 , and . Also see Report D612, October, 1994, "Forced Displacement of Ethnic Kurds"(A Human Rights Watch Publication) )

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

The Partiya Karkerên Kurdistan (PKK), also known as KADEK and Kontra-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. Its original ideology was based on revolutionary Marxism-Leninism and Kurdish nationalism ( it has since then dropped the Marxist-Leninist ideology ). 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. The organization was founded in 1973 by Abdullah Ocalan.

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.

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.

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.

Kurds in Syria

The Kurdish population in Syria is 10% or about 1.9 million making 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 . No political parties are allowed for any group, Kurdish or otherwise.

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 and )

Deprivation of Citizenship

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According to Human Rights Watch, there are 142,465 Kurds (by the government's count), and well over 200,000 Kurds 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.

According to some sources Syria is recently planning to grant citizenship to those 300,000 Kurds living in the country deprived citizenship.

The March 2004 Incident

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

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

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 Nnmerous examples of how valuable or irreplaceable Kurdish physical heritage are endangered or destroyed.

• Kurdish music

Renowned Kurdish individuals

• Al-Dinawari, (828 - 889) botanist, historian, and muslim theologian.
• Baba Tahir, (11-th Century), Poet and Bâb of the Yarsan branch of Yazdanism, born in Hamadan.
• 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.
• Badiuzzaman Said Nursi, (1877-1960), Islamic Scholar
• 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 (PDK), Iraq.
• Massoud Barzani,(b. 1946) Kurdish Nationalist leader (PDK), Iraq
• Abdullah Öcalan, (b. 1949) Kurdish nationalist leader (PKK), Turkey.
• Jalal Talabani, (b. 1933) Kurdish nationalist leader (PUK), President of Iraq.
• Ebdolrehman Qasimlo, (1930-1989), Kurdish nationalist leader (PDKI), Iran.

See also

• History of the Kurds
• Shaddadid
• Marwanid
• Annazid
• Ayyubids
• Ardalan
• Kurdish Jews
• Kurdish language
• Kurdistan
• Genetic insights into the background of the Kurds
• Iraqi Kurdistan
• Iranian Kurdistan
• Demographics of Iran
• Demographics of Iraq
• Demographics of Syria
• Demographics of Turkey
• Foreign relations of Turkey
• Accession of Turkey to the European Union
• Atatürk's reforms
• Leyla Zana
• Mustafa Barzani
• Qarna
• Qazi Muhammad

Kurdish governments

• Kurdistan Regional Government - Iraqi Kurdistan
• Republic of Mahabad (1946)
• Republic of Ararat (1927-1931)
• Kingdom of Kurdistan
• Ayyubid dynasty

Kurdish organisations

• List of Kurdish organisations

Militant organizations

• Ansar al-Islam (in Northern Iraq)
• Komalah (in Northwest Iran)
• Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) (Southern Kurdistan - Northern Iraq)
• Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) a.k.a Congress for Freedom and Democracy Kurdistan (KADEK) a.k.a People's Congress of Kurdistan (Kongra-Gel)
• (Turkish) Kurdish-Hizbullah (in South-Eastern Turkey)
• Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) (Southern Kurdistan - Northern Iraq)

External links

• The Kurdish Institut of Paris Kurdish language, history, books and latest news articles.
• The Encyclopaedia of Kurdistan
• Istanbul Kurdish Institute
• The Kurdish Center of International Pen
• Kurdish Library, supported by the Swedish Government.
• Yazidism: Historical Roots, International Journal of Kurdish Studies, Jan. 2005.
• Ethnic Cleansing and the Kurds
• The Kurds in the Ottoman Hungary by Zurab Aloian

The Kurdish Issue in Turkey

• A report on the Kurdish IDP's - 2005
• A German newspaper's take on the Kurdish issue - 2005
• The Bulletin of Atomic Scientists' take - 1999

• NPOV disputes
• Current events
• Ethnic groups in Iran
• Ethnic groups in Iraq
• Ethnic groups in the Middle East
• Ethnic groups in Turkey
• Iranian peoples
• Kurds