The Kurds are the world's largest nation without a state. At the same time, the ordinary man in the street knows practically nothing about this proud and mysterious people.
Who are the Kurds?
Kurds are an ancient people uniting many tribes and inhabiting mainly the mountainous region of Western Asia, called Kurdistan. Modern Kurdistan is located in the territories of Turkey, Iraq, Iran and Syria. Kurds lead a semi-nomadic lifestyle, their main occupations are cattle breeding and agriculture.
The exact origin of the Kurds has not been established by scientists. The ancestors of the Kurds are called both the Scythians and the ancient Medes. Scientists prove the closeness of the Kurdish people to the Azerbaijani, Armenian, Georgian and Jewish peoples.
Most Kurds are Muslim. There are also Christians, Jews and Yezidis among them.
The exact number of Kurds is unknown.
In total, from 20 to 40 million Kurds live in the world: 13–18 million in Turkey, 3.5–8 million in Iran, more than 6 million in Iraq, almost 2 million in Syria, and about 2.5 million more Kurds. live in communities in Europe, Asia and America. The exact number of this people is unknown, since in the areas inhabited by Kurds, a population census has never been conducted.
Mark on history
Kurdistan, due to its central geopolitical location in the Middle East, has been a theater of wars of conquest, civil strife and predatory raids since the time of Mesopotamia. During the Arab conquest, most of the Kurds converted to Islam.
Under the Abbasid dynasty of Arab caliphs, which came to power in 750, all Muslims of other nations were equalized in rights with the Arabs. This led to peace in the Caliphate, and representatives of non-Arab peoples had more opportunities to make a political career. Apparently, the Kurds got along well with the Arabs, because their compatriot Jaban Sahabi was an associate of the Prophet Muhammad.
After the collapse of the Caliphate and the invasion of the Turks, the national state of the Kurds was never created. At the same time, natives of this people often became rulers of other peoples. They founded the Ayyubid dynasties, which ruled in the Middle East in 1169-1525, and the Sheddadids, which ruled in Transcaucasia in the 11th-12th centuries.
In the XVI century, Kurdistan was divided between the Turks, who captured almost the entire Middle East, and the Persians. For centuries, the Kurds have played a significant role in the border wars between Turkey and Iran, and the rulers of both countries have not interfered much in the internal affairs of Kurdistan, where tribal leaders managed local affairs.
But the Safavid dynasty founded by the Kurds ruled from the beginning of the 14th century in the Iranian province of Azerbaijan, and in 1501-1722 and 1729-1736 - all of Persia.
The famous eastern ruler and commander Saladin was a Kurd.
Few people know that Sultan Salah ad-Din, the founder of the Ayyubid dynasty, the ruler of almost the entire Middle East and North Africa in the 12th century, was a Kurd. He is known in Europe under the name of Saladin, primarily as a talented commander and leader of the Saracens in the confrontation with the crusaders.
For example, in the battle of Hattin, Saladin utterly defeated the crusaders, the entire color of chivalry either died or was captured by him, including the king of Jerusalem. After the victory, he captured Jerusalem, acting extremely noble for those times in relation to the vanquished: everyone who wished was allowed to leave the city and keep property (which they could take with them) for a small ransom.
Subsequently, despite the variable success of the war with the odious leader of the third crusade, Richard the Lionheart, the peace treaty was signed nevertheless on the terms of Salah ad-Din.
The image of the noble and wise Saladin is often used in films about the Crusades and literature.
Did the Kurdish nation-state never exist?
History knows several national Kurdish states. The most durable of them was the Ardalan Khanate, which was located in the border regions of the Ottoman Empire and Persia and ceased to exist only in the 19th century. At various times, starting from the 16th century, the khanate became a vassal state in relation to the Ottoman Empire or Persia, and at times it was completely independent.
The later state formations created by the Kurds were not recognized by the world community and did not last long.
Ararat Kurdish Republic - the self-proclaimed state of the Kurds, located on the territory of modern Turkey, existed in 1927-1930.
The Kingdom of Kurdistan - a self-proclaimed state created on the territory of modern Iraqi Kurdistan, existed in the years 1921-1924
The Mahabad Republic, a self-proclaimed Kurdish state in Iranian Kurdistan, lasted only 11 months in 1946.
Kurdish question
The organized resistance of the Kurds for the purpose of self-determination and the creation of an independent Kurdistan clearly begins to manifest itself only in the 19th century and intensifies in the 20th century. This was due to the oppression and repression of the Kurdish people by the ruling regimes, sometimes with the aim of forced assimilation. The most serious clashes occurred in Turkey during the reign of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk.
Promises made to the Kurds of expanded freedoms and autonomy in exchange for support in the War of Independence were not fulfilled after the victory. The subsequent uprisings were brutally suppressed, the Kurds were officially forbidden to speak their native language, the words "Kurdistan" and "Kurds" were tabooed - since then they were supposed to be called mountain Turks.
Iraqi Kurdistan currently has the most autonomy, which it received after the overthrow of Saddam Hussein, and the Kurd Jalal Husamaddin Talabani was the president of Iraq from 2005 to 2014.
The war in Syria, or rather its end and the subsequent possible democratization, opens up the possibility of gaining autonomy for the Syrian Kurds. Turkey remains the most ardent opponent of Kurdish self-determination, fearing Kurdish separatism in Turkey itself.
Who are the Peshmerga?
Often in the news feeds about military events in the Middle East, information about the Peshmerga - Kurdish self-defense units flashes.
Life in conditions of constant danger has taught the Kurds to always be ready for war, and in recent decades, the threat from radical Islamists has increased many times over.
Self-defense units were created at the end of the 19th century and since then have shown themselves in all conflicts that in one way or another affected the territory of Kurdistan. Literally, peshmerga means "facing death."
The image of a modern Peshmerga warrior as a bearded man with an AKM is not true. To date, these are well-equipped fighters, and the units themselves represent an almost regular army with heavy artillery and armored vehicles. Peshmerga formations are recognized as one of the most combat-ready forces in the Middle East and number 150,000 - 200,000 fighters.
- about 1-2 million. Almost 2 million Kurds are scattered throughout Europe and America, where they have created powerful and organized communities. There are 200-400 thousand Kurds in the countries of the former USSR, mainly in Azerbaijan and Armenia.
Kurds are an Iranian-speaking people living in the territories of Turkey, Iran, Syria, Iraq, and also partially in the Transcaucasus. The Kurdish people speak two dialects - Kurmanji and Sorani.
Kurds are one of the oldest peoples in the Middle East. Ancient Egyptian, Sumerian, Assyrian-Babylonian, Hittite, Urartian sources began to report on the ancestors of the Kurds quite early. The well-known orientalist, doctor of historical sciences M. S. Lazarev, wrote that “it is very difficult to find a people who would have lived on their national territory for so long…”. From the point of view of N. Ya. Marr, “the Kurds retain elements of the ancient culture of the Near East because they are descendants of the autochthonous population…” wrote O. Vilchevsky (1-70). Scientists - Academicians N. Ya. Marr, I. M. Dyakonov, V. F. Minorsky, G. A. Melikishvili, I. Chopin, P. Lerkh, Professor Egon von Elktedt, Amin Zaki, Gurdal Aksoy and others among the ancestors the Kurds are called the ancient tribes of the Gutians, Lullubis, Hurrians, Kassites, Mads (Medes), Kardukhs, Urartians, Khalds, Mars, Kirti and other inhabitants of the gray-haired Middle East. Kurds, as descendants of these tribes, have their roots in the distant historical past.
The Kurds are the largest people without their own state. Kurdish autonomy exists only in Iraq (Kurdish Regional Government of Iraq).
This people has been fighting for the creation of Kurdistan for more than twenty years. It is worth noting that all world powers are playing the Kurdish card. For example, Israel and the United States, which are allies of Turkey, encourage its fight against the Kurdish movement. Russia, Greece and Syria support the PKK.
Such interest of other states in Kurdistan can be explained by their interest in the rich natural resources of the territory inhabited by Kurds. Oil is one of the most important resources.
Due to the rather favorable geographical and strategic position of Kurdistan, foreign conquerors have paid special attention to these lands since ancient times. Therefore, from the time of the formation of the Caliph to the present, the Kurds were forced to fight against the enslavers. It is worth noting that the Kurdish dynasties during the early feudal period had significant political influence in the Middle East and ruled not only in individual principalities, but also in such large countries as Syria and Egypt.
In the 16th century, a series of ongoing wars began in Kurdistan, the cause of which was Iran and the Ottoman Empire, arguing over the possession of its lands.
According to the Zohab Treaty (1639), which was the result of these wars, Kurdistan was divided into two parts - Turkish and Iranian. Subsequently, this event played a fatal role in the fate of the peoples of Kurdistan.
The Ottoman and Iranian governments gradually weakened and then liquidated the Kurdish principalities in order to enslave Kurdistan economically and politically. This led to the strengthening of the feudal fragmentation of the country.
The government of the Ottoman Empire dragged the Kurds against their will into the First World War, which subsequently led to the ruin of the region and its division into four parts: Turkish, Iranian, Iraqi and Syrian.
Origin of the Kurds
The origin of the Kurds is currently a subject of debate and controversy. According to several hypotheses, this people has:
- Scythian-Median origin.
- Japhetic.
- Northern Mesopotamia.
- Iranian plateau.
- Persia.
Obviously, many of the representatives of these areas took part in the formation of the Kurdish people.
Religion of the Kurds
There are several religions in Kurdistan. The bulk of the Kurdish population (75%) professes Sunni Islam, there are also Alawite and Shiite Muslims. A small proportion of the population professes Christianity. In addition, 2 million adhere to the pre-Islamic religion of "Yazidism" who call themselves Yezidis. However, regardless of religion, every Kurd considers Zoroastrianism to be his original religion.
Speaking of the Yezidis, one should always remember:
- Yezidis are one of the ancient peoples of Mesopotamia, they speak the Kurmanji dialect of the Kurdish language - the culture is identical to Kurdish, the religion is Yezidism.
- A Yazid is born from a Yezidi Kurdish father, and any decent woman can be a mother.
- YAZIDISM is practiced not only by Yezidi Kurds, but also by other representatives of the Kurdish people.
- Yezidis are ethnic Kurds who profess the ancient Kurdish religion Yezidism.
Sunnism is the dominant branch of Islam. Who are Sunni Kurds? Their religion is based on the "Sunnah", which is a set of rules and principles that were based on the example of the life of the Prophet Muhammad.
The Kurdish people are the largest in number, having the status of a "national minority". The number of Kurds in the world does not have accurate data. Depending on the sources, these figures vary greatly: from 13 to 40 million people.
Representatives of this nationality live in Turkey, Iraq, Syria, Iran, Russia, Turkmenistan, Germany, France, Sweden, the Netherlands, Germany, Britain, Austria and many other countries of the world.
Kurds in Turkey today
Currently, there are about 1.5 million Kurds living in Turkey who speak the Kurdish language.
In 1984, the Kurdistan Workers' Party entered into a war (which continues to this day) with the Turkish authorities. Kurds in Turkey today demand the proclamation of a single and independent state - Kurdistan, which will unite all the territories inhabited by Kurds.
Today, the Kurdish issue is one of the key issues in discussions on the further path of Turkey's European integration. European demands to grant the Kurdish people autonomy and rights in line with European standards remain unfulfilled. These circumstances largely explain the reason why the Turks do not like the Kurds.
Traditions and customs of the Kurds
Due to the fact that the Kurds do not have their own official state, a certain political status in the world, not many people know who the Kurds are. The history and culture of this people, meanwhile, is distinguished by its richness and versatility.
- With the consent of the girl, the groom can kidnap her. If this happens against the will of the parents, he has to take her to the sheikh's house, and, if the relatives overtake the fugitives, they can kill them. If the young people have time to take refuge in the sheikh's house, then the latter gives the bride's parents a ransom, and the parties reconcile.
- A Kurdish woman has the right to choose the man she loves as her husband. As a rule, the choice of the daughter and parents coincides, however, otherwise, the father or brother can forcibly marry the girl to the person who is considered a worthy candidate for husbands. At the same time, the refusal of the girl to this candidate is considered a terrible shame. It is also considered shameful to divorce your wife, and such cases are extremely rare.
- A Kurdish wedding can last up to seven days, and its duration depends on the financial situation of the owners. This is very reminiscent of Turkish wedding traditions.
- If the groom's relatives live far from the bride's relatives, then two weddings are played, and in cases where the young people live at a short distance from each other, they celebrate one big wedding.
- Kurdish wedding celebrations are lavish and expensive, so the son's parents have been saving money for the wedding for a long time. However, the expenses are paid off by the gifts of the guests, which, as a rule, are sheep or money.
- Treats for weddings or other celebrations consist of rice and meat. Men and women celebrate holidays separately in different tents.
- Blood feud is relevant among the Kurds to this day. The reasons for quarrels can be the lack of water, pastures, etc. However, modern Kurds are increasingly resolving conflicts with the help of payment. There are also known cases when a woman or a girl who was given in marriage to the enemy acted as a payment, and the parties were reconciled.
- Many Kurdish women and girls wear trousers, which is explained by the convenience of riding horses. Jewelry for women are gold and silver coins.
- In marital relations, the Kurds are monogamous, with the exception of the beks, who may remarry in order to strengthen family ties.
- This people is also distinguished by its respectful attitude towards representatives of other religions, regardless of what faith the Kurds have, they can participate in religious ceremonies of other faiths.
- Kurds are also distinguished by their friendliness towards other nationalities, but they do not tolerate situations related to the oppression of their languages, customs and orders.
Kurdish struggle for independence
The first attempt to create an independent Kurdish state was made in the 1840s by Badrkhan-bek, the emir of the Bokhtan region (with the capital Jazire). In the year he began to mint a coin on his own behalf and completely ceased to recognize the authority of the Sultan. However, in the summer, the city of Bokhtan was occupied by Turkish troops, the emirate was liquidated, Badrkhan-bek himself was taken prisoner and exiled (he died in 1868 in Damascus).
A new attempt to create an independent Kurdistan was made by Badrkhan's nephew Yezdanshir. He raised an uprising at the end of the year, taking advantage of the Crimean War; he soon managed to take Bitlis, followed by Mosul. After that, Yezdanshir began to prepare an attack on Erzurum and Van. However, the attempt to connect with the Russians failed: all his messengers to General Muravyov were intercepted, and Yezdanshir himself was lured to meet with Turkish representatives, captured and sent to Istanbul (March). After that, the uprising came to naught.
The next attempt to create a Kurdish state was made by Sheikh Oyidullah in the city of Oyidullah, the supreme leader of the Naqshbandi Sufi order, who was highly respected in Kurdistan both for his position and for his personal qualities, convened in July 1880 in his residence Nehri a congress of Kurdish leaders, at in which he put forward a plan: to create an independent state, and in order to first attack Persia (as a weaker enemy), seize Iranian Kurdistan and Azerbaijan and, relying on the resources of these provinces, fight against Turkey. The plan was accepted, and in August of the same year, the Kurdish invasion of Iranian Azerbaijan began. It was accompanied by an uprising of local Kurdish tribes; detachments of the rebels approached Tabriz itself. However, Obeidullah with his main forces slowed down during the siege of Urmia, was eventually defeated and forced to return to Turkey. There he was arrested and exiled to Mecca, where he died.
At this time, the ideology of nationalism is increasingly penetrating into Kurdistan from Europe; its propaganda was conducted by the first Kurdish newspaper, Kurdistan, which was issued from the city of Cairo by the descendants of Badrkhan.
A new upsurge of the national movement in Kurdistan came after the Young Turk Revolution of the year. The nationalist society “Revival and Progress of Kurdistan” arises and immediately gains popularity, the head of which was Sheikh Abdel-Kader, the son of Obeidullah, who returned from exile; after that, the “Kurdistan League” arises, which aimed to create a “Kurdistan beylik” (Kurdish principality) either as part of Turkey, or under the protectorate of Russia or England - there were disagreements in this regard. The sheikh of the Barzan Abdel-Salam tribe, who raised a number of uprisings in 1909-1914, and especially Molla Selim, who became the leader of the uprising in Bitlis in March 1914, was associated with her.
As for Turkish Kurdistan, the Kurds, who were afraid to fall under the rule of Armenians and Western powers, succumbed to the agitation of Mustafa Kemal, who promised them complete autonomy in a joint Kurdish-Turkish Muslim state, and supported him during the Greco-Turkish war. As a result, in 1923, the Lausanne Peace Treaty was concluded, in which the Kurds were not mentioned at all. This treaty defined the modern borders between Iraq, Syria and Turkey, cutting through the former Ottoman Kurdistan.
After that, the Kemalist government began to pursue a policy of "Turkization" of the Kurds. The answer was an uprising raised in early 1925 by Sheikh Said Piran. The rebels captured the city of Gench, which Sheikh Said proclaimed the temporary capital of Kurdistan; further, he intended to capture Diyarbekir and proclaim an independent Kurdish state in it. However, the assault on Diyarbekir was repulsed; after that, the rebels were defeated near Gench, the leaders of the uprising (including Sheikh Abdul-Qadir, son of Obaidullah) were taken prisoner and hanged.
A new uprising of Turkish Kurds began in the city of Ararat mountains. It was organized by the Khoibun (Independence) society; the rebels tried to form a regular army under the command of the former colonel of the Turkish army, Ihsan Nuri Pasha; A civil administration was also created under the leadership of Ibrahim Pasha. The uprising was crushed in the city. The last mass movement of the Turkish Kurds was the movement of the Zaza Kurds (a tribe speaking a special dialect, professing Alavism and hating Muslims) in Dersim. Before the city of Dersim enjoyed de facto autonomy. The transformation of this area into the Tunceli vilayet with a special regime of government caused an uprising under the leadership of the Dersim sheikh Seyid Reza. The army corps sent against the rebels was not successful. However, the commander of the corps, General Alpdogan, lured Seyid Reza to Erzurum for negotiations, where the Kurdish leader was arrested and soon hanged. The uprising was suppressed only in the city. As a result of the regime of military-police terror established in Turkish Kurdistan, the ban on the Kurdish language, Kurdish national clothes and the very name "Kurds" (Kemalist scholars declared the Kurds "mountain Turks", allegedly running wild and forgetting the original Turkish language) , as well as mass deportations of Kurds to Western and Central Anatolia, the Kurdish movement in Turkey was destroyed for many years, and the Kurdish society was destructured.
The center of the Kurdish movement at that time was Iraqi and Iranian Kurdistan. In the city of Suleymaniye, Mahmud Barzanji again raises an uprising. The uprising was crushed, but immediately after that, the uprising of Sheikh Ahmed broke out in Barzan (1931-1932). In 1943-1945, a new uprising led by 1975 took place in Barzan. During the uprising, Barzani managed to achieve formal recognition of the right to autonomy for the Kurds of Iraq; however, in the end he was defeated. The defeat of the uprising provoked a split in the movement of the Iraqi Kurds: a number of left-wing parties broke away from the Democratic Party of Kurdistan, in the summer of 1975 they took shape in the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan under the leadership of Jalal Talabani.
At the beginning of the year, in connection with the Islamic revolution in Iran, power in Iranian Kurdistan was practically in the hands of the Kurds. However, already in March, armed clashes began between the detachments of the Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan and the Guardians of the Islamic Revolution sent from Tehran. In early September, the Iranians launched a massive offensive, accompanied by mass executions of residents of the captured villages from 12-13 years old. As a result, government forces managed to take control of the main part of Iranian Kurdistan.
The Iranian and Iraqi Kurds found themselves in a tragic situation during the Iran-Iraq war of 1980-1988, when the former enjoyed the support of Baghdad, and the latter, Tehran; on this basis, there were armed clashes between detachments of Iraqi and Iranian rebels.
In March of the year, as a result of the defeat of Iraqi troops, a new uprising broke out in Iraqi Kurdistan. In April, it was suppressed by Saddam Hussein, but then NATO forces, acting under a UN mandate, forced the Iraqis to leave part of Iraqi Kurdistan, where the so-called "Free Kurdistan" was created with a government of members of the KDP and PUK. The final liberation of Iraqi Kurdistan took place after the fall of Saddam Hussein. At present, there exists a formally federal, but in fact semi-independent state, whose president is
At this time, the Kurdish Workers' Party appeared in Turkey, headed by Abdullah Ocalan, nicknamed "Apo" ("Uncle"), which is why its adherents are called "apochists". After the military coup, its members fled to Syria, where, having received help from the Syrian government, they began an armed struggle against the Turkish state under the slogan "A united, democratic, independent Kurdistan". The first armed action was committed in the year, by the mid-90s . The PKK has already bombarded several thousand (according to its own claims up to 20 thousand) “Guerillas” (guerrillas) and extensive political structures in the Kurdish diaspora around the world with an army. In total, more than 35 thousand people died as a result of hostilities. In Syria, under pressure from Turkey, she refused to support the PKK and expelled Ocalan, which inflicted the strongest blow on the parties, and as it turned out, an irreparable blow; Ocalan was captured by the Turks in Kenya, tried and sentenced to death; he is currently in prison on about. Imraly.
Currently, the actual center of the Kurdish national movement is Iraqi Kurdistan. There is a widespread hope among Kurds that it will become the basis of a future independent and united "Greater Kurdistan".
Modern researchers of nation-forming processes and the very phenomenon of national identity assert that the most important factor in the formation of any nation is the formation of its own state, through which it can express its fundamental interests and life priorities. That is why the movements of the Basques, Catalans and some other minorities in Western Europe have lived so long. However, the Kurds are the most numerous people, who, obviously, are already ready to formalize themselves as a nation, but still do not have their own state. This nationality has more representatives than many European nations. According to various estimates, the Kurds are from thirty to forty million people living in different countries of our planet.
Who are the Kurds?
This nationality is a combination of a number of tribal groups of Turkic origin. Their homeland and the densest area of modern settlement is the territory in the very east of Asia Minor. Modern Kurdistan (as this region is called) is divided between several states at once: Turkey, Iraq, Iran and Syria. Naturally, the vast majority of representatives of this people profess Sunni Islam. Although there are also Christians: Catholics and even Orthodox Kurds. also widespread in other countries of the Middle East, as well as in Europe and the CIS.
Origin of the Kurds
This people is one of the most ancient in Asia Minor. Its origin today is a highly controversial issue. So, there are opinions that the Kurds are the heirs of the Scythians. Other scientists deduce their genealogy from the tribes of Kurtians who inhabited Persia and Mesopotamia in ancient times. Genetic studies of haplogroups indicate the relationship of modern Kurds with the peoples of the Caucasus: Azerbaijanis, Georgians and Armenians, as well as Jews.
Kurdish issue in Turkey
Actually, it consists in the discrepancy between such a large number of people and their actual status as a national minority in several eastern states. Thus, the Kurds, whose nationality was denied for a long time by the Turkish government, were subjected to cultural oppression until the 2000s. For many years it was banned in the local media. The situation is also aggravated by the fact that the Kurds in Turkey for the most part are at a fairly low stage of social development in comparison with the Turks themselves. At the same time, according to some expert estimates, their number reaches 20% of the country's population. Intensive growth of national consciousness took place here after the entire 20th century, a weak unorganized struggle was waged in Kurdistan. It was able to take shape in earnest only under the influence of Marxist ideology already in the late 1970s - the first half of the 1980s. Under the influence of Kurdish separatist paramilitary organizations and under pressure from European states pushing for the democratization of Turkey, the local government was forced to make concessions in the 2000s. Bans on the use of their language and the manifestation of culture are being relaxed. For some time now, regular TV channels in Kurdish have appeared, and national schools have been opened.
Kurdish issue in other countries of the Middle East
Kurds in Iraq, as in Turkey, live in compact groups in certain areas. For a long time they fought for their identity with the local monarchy, and later with the regime of Saddam Hussein. In the early 1990s, the Kuwait War even almost helped them create their own independent state. However, the attempt of the separatists failed. In the 2000s, he received a very wide autonomy within the state. live in the northern regions of the country, accounting for 9% of the population. The cultural situation of this people here is even worse than in Iraq and Turkey, since the use of the Kurdish language, names, private schools, books and other printed publications is still prohibited in Syria. At the same time, there are local paramilitary organizations that tend to create autonomy.
The Kurds are the world's largest nation without a state. At the same time, the ordinary man in the street knows practically nothing about this proud and mysterious people.
Who are the Kurds?
The Kurds are an ancient people uniting many tribes and inhabiting mainly the mountainous region of Western Asia, called Kurdistan. Modern Kurdistan is located in the territories of Turkey, Iraq, Iran and Syria. Kurds lead a semi-nomadic lifestyle, their main occupations are cattle breeding and agriculture.
The exact origin of the Kurds has not been established by scientists. The ancestors of the Kurds are called both the Scythians and the ancient Medes. Scientists prove the closeness of the Kurdish people to the Azerbaijani, Armenian, Georgian and Jewish peoples.
Most Kurds are Muslim. There are also Christians, Jews and Yezidis among them.
The exact number of Kurds is unknown.
In total, from 20 to 40 million Kurds live in the world: 13–18 million in Turkey, 3.5–8 million in Iran, more than 6 million in Iraq, almost 2 million in Syria, and about 2.5 million more Kurds. live in communities in Europe, Asia and America. The exact number of this people is unknown, since in the areas inhabited by Kurds, a population census has never been conducted.
Mark on history
Kurdistan, due to its central geopolitical location in the Middle East, has been a theater of wars of conquest, civil strife and predatory raids since the time of Mesopotamia. During the Arab conquest, most of the Kurds converted to Islam.
Under the Abbasid dynasty of Arab caliphs, which came to power in 750, all Muslims of other nations were equalized in rights with the Arabs. This led to peace in the Caliphate, and representatives of non-Arab peoples had more opportunities to make a political career. Apparently, the Kurds got along well with the Arabs, because their compatriot Jaban Sahabi was an associate of the Prophet Muhammad.
After the collapse of the Caliphate and the invasion of the Turks, the national state of the Kurds was never created. At the same time, natives of this people often became rulers of other peoples. They founded the Ayyubid dynasties, which ruled in the Middle East in 1169-1525, and the Sheddadids, which ruled in Transcaucasia in the 11th-12th centuries.
In the XVI century, Kurdistan was divided between the Turks, who captured almost the entire Middle East, and the Persians. For centuries, the Kurds have played a significant role in the border wars between Turkey and Iran, and the rulers of both countries have not interfered much in the internal affairs of Kurdistan, where tribal leaders managed local affairs.
But the Safavid dynasty founded by the Kurds ruled from the beginning of the 14th century in the Iranian province of Azerbaijan, and in 1501-1722 and 1729-1736 - throughout Persia.
The famous eastern ruler and commander Saladin was a Kurd.
Few people know that Sultan Salah ad-Din, the founder of the Ayyubid dynasty, the ruler of almost the entire Middle East and North Africa in the 12th century, was a Kurd. He is known in Europe under the name of Saladin, primarily as a talented commander and leader of the Saracens in the confrontation with the crusaders.
For example, in the battle of Hattin, Saladin utterly defeated the crusaders, the entire color of chivalry either died or was captured by him, including the king of Jerusalem. After the victory, he captured Jerusalem, acting extremely noble for those times in relation to the vanquished: everyone who wished was allowed to leave the city and keep their property (which they could take with them) for a small ransom.
Subsequently, despite the variable success of the war with the odious leader of the third crusade, Richard the Lionheart, the peace treaty was signed nevertheless on the terms of Salah ad-Din.
The image of the noble and wise Saladin is often used in films about the Crusades and literature.
Did the Kurdish nation-state never exist?
This hypothesis is not true.
History knows several national Kurdish states. The most durable of them was the Ardalan Khanate, which was located in the border regions of the Ottoman Empire and Persia and ceased to exist only in the 19th century. At various times, starting from the 16th century, the khanate became a vassal state in relation to the Ottoman Empire or Persia, and at times it was completely independent.
The later state formations created by the Kurds were not recognized by the world community and did not last long.
Ararat Kurdish Republic - the self-proclaimed state of the Kurds, located on the territory of modern Turkey, existed in 1927-1930.
The Kingdom of Kurdistan - a self-proclaimed state created on the territory of modern Iraqi Kurdistan, existed in the years 1921-1924
The Mahabad Republic, a self-proclaimed Kurdish state in Iranian Kurdistan, lasted only 11 months in 1946.
Kurdish question
The organized resistance of the Kurds for the purpose of self-determination and the creation of an independent Kurdistan clearly begins to manifest itself only in the 19th century and intensifies in the 20th century. This was due to the oppression and repression of the Kurdish people by the ruling regimes, sometimes with the aim of forced assimilation. The most serious clashes occurred in Turkey during the reign of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk.
Promises made to the Kurds of expanded freedoms and autonomy in exchange for support in the War of Independence were not fulfilled after the victory. The subsequent uprisings were brutally suppressed, the Kurds were officially forbidden to speak their native language, the words "Kurdistan" and "Kurds" were tabooed - since then they were supposed to be called mountain Turks.
Iraqi Kurdistan currently has the most autonomy, which it received after the overthrow of Saddam Hussein, and the Kurd Jalal Husamaddin Talabani was the president of Iraq from 2005 to 2014.
The war in Syria, or rather its end and the subsequent possible democratization, opens up the possibility of gaining autonomy for the Syrian Kurds. Turkey remains the most ardent opponent of Kurdish self-determination, fearing Kurdish separatism in Turkey itself.
Who are the Peshmerga?
Often in the news feeds about military events in the Middle East, information flashes about the Peshmerga - Kurdish self-defense units.
Life in conditions of constant danger has taught the Kurds to always be ready for war, and in recent decades, the threat from radical Islamists has increased many times over.
Self-defense units were created at the end of the 19th century and since then have shown themselves in all conflicts that in one way or another affected the territory of Kurdistan. Peshmerga literally means "facing death".
The image of a modern Peshmerga warrior as a bearded man with an AKM is not true. To date, these are well-equipped fighters, and the units themselves represent an almost regular army with heavy artillery and armored vehicles. Peshmerga formations are recognized as one of the most combat-ready forces in the Middle East and number 150,000 - 200,000 fighters.
Everyone has heard of this "nation without a state". However, few people really understand this people, who ended up on the territory of four countries at once (Turkey, Iran, Iraq and Syria).
The Kurds are the largest nation without a state, scattered across at least four Middle Eastern countries (Iraq, Iran, Turkey, Syria) and have a large European diaspora.
They certainly have something to say about the massive restructuring of the region, which could lead to Arab insurgencies.
All this is a great occasion to reflect on what the Kurds are today and what they want, together with Sandrine Alexie from the Kurdish Institute in Paris. This translator and writer has been blogging about the Kurdish world since 2000.
We don't know how many Kurds there are
Right. Estimates range from 20 to 40 million. None of the countries where Kurds live has ever conducted an ethnic census. Nebula in this matter completely suits all governments.
The most plausible estimates are 15 million in Turkey and 7-8 million in Iran. The authorities of these states avoid the census in order to avoid increasing ethnic isolation. In Syria, there are about 1-2 million of them, and 800,000 of them do not have citizenship and are doomed to an illegal existence.
In Iraq, the Kurdistan Regional Government gives an official figure of 5.3 million, while the Iranian authorities say 4.3 million, as this allows them to reduce the amount of funds allocated to the Kurdish provinces.
If other Kurdish regions besides Kurdistan are taken into account, then the total number of Kurds in Iraq can be estimated at about 6-6.5 million people.
Finally, let's look at the Council of Europe data on the Kurdish diaspora: 800,000 in Germany (mostly from Syria and Turkey), 100,000 in Sweden (from Iran and Iraq), 90,000 in the UK (from Iraq) and 120,000 - 150,000 in France (mostly from Turkey). However, these estimates can hardly be called accurate due to the large number of illegal immigrants in the diaspora. It is also impossible to count the number of Kurds in the territory of the former USSR. There are about 130,000 of them in Israel.
Thus, the figure of 35 million Kurds in the world does not look so unrealistic.
No "Kurdish people" really exist
Wrong. Members of tribes and families can live in the territory of several states at once, while some political parties have influence beyond national borders.
Thus, the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which is listed as a terrorist organization by the US and the European Union, has an offshoot in every country: Syria (Democratic Union), Iran (Kurdistan Free Life Party), and Iraq. In addition, Kurdish parties in Syria often sympathized with one of the two main Iraqi parties: Barzani's Kurdistan Democratic Party and Talabani's Patriotic Union of Kurdistan.
The Kurds have two main dialects that are different from each other, the speakers of which, nevertheless, understand each other: Kurmanji is spoken in Syria, Turkey, in the north of Iraqi Kurdistan and in all countries of the former USSR, while Sorani is in use in Iran and Iraq . In Turkish Kurdistan, another related language is spoken, Zazaki, which is primarily spoken in Tunceli Province.
Explanation by Sandrine Alexi:
“Given all that they had to endure since the end of the First World War (the policy of assimilation or even genocide in Iraq, the ban on learning the language, etc.), if the Kurds were not a people, they would have disappeared long ago, and no There would be no trace of the "Kurdish question". The oppression only increased the national feelings of the Kurds.”
Among the Kurds there are Muslims, Christians and Jews
Right. The vast majority of Kurds (70%) profess Sunni Islam.
A small group of Shia Kurds living in Iraq were destroyed or deported by Saddam Hussein in 1987-1988. Some of the Shia Kurds who fled Iraq are now living in refugee camps in Iran. After the overthrow of the Ba'ath Party, they gradually begin to return to the country, but there are a maximum of 20,000 of them.
In addition, the Shiite Kurdish community lives in southern Iran. It should also be noted that Sufi-Shiite syncretism (Alevis in Turkey, Yezidis in northern Iraq, Shabaks near Mosul and Ahl-e Akt in Iran) enjoys a noticeable influence among the Kurds.
The Christians of Kurdistan are divided into Catholics and representatives of autocephalous churches: Chaldeans, Assyrians, Syro-Jacobites. They all speak Aramaic.
Since 1967, many of these Christians have taken part in the Kurdish uprisings, as they were threatened with eviction, the destruction of their villages and forced Arabization, which today has transformed into Islamization.
There are currently over 100,000 Christian Kurds in Iraqi Kurdistan. In addition, they are not recognized as a religious or ethnic minority in Turkey, where during the war in the 1990s they had to leave the Kurdish regions (they have often found themselves between a rock and a hard place in battles between the Kurds and the government).
In Syria, their relationship with Muslim Kurds is more positive, and Christians in Kurdish cities support Kurdish movements and are not persecuted, unlike what happens in the rest of the country.
From 1949-1950, all Jewish Kurds moved to Israel, Australia or the USA.
Iraq does not maintain diplomatic ties with Israel, but in 2006 the leader of the Kurdistan Democratic Party, Barzani, supported the opening of an Israeli consulate in Erbil. Now Jewish Kurds can see their native village again only with different passports. There is no hostility towards them from the Muslim Kurds.
Mustafa Barzani (the father of the current leader of the party) maintained excellent relations with Israel back in the 1960s, and the Kurds have never hidden this. The Barzani tribe had close ties to Jews from Acre, including former Israeli Defense Minister Yitzhak Mordechai. Among Israeli citizens there are also quite a few people named Barzani.
Kurdistan never existed
True and false. Kurdistan (a word banned in Turkey) never had the status of a nation-state in the 20th century, but independent or semi-independent Kurdish principalities existed in the Middle Ages.
In 1150, the Persian sultan Sanjar, a Seljuk Turk, created a province called Kurdistan. In parallel with this, Ottoman Kurdistan arose, the outlines of which changed along with the Turkish-Persian border.
“According to the state Ottoman archives, among the titles of the Ottoman sultans there was also the “Padishah of Kurdistan”. However, the Turkish authorities do not want to remember this,” says Sandrine Aleksi.
Since then, the province of Kurdistan has always existed in the territory of Persia, and then modern Iran.
At the end of the First World War, the new borders scattered the Kurds across four states. The first maps of Kurdistan were drawn up in 1919 by a representative of the Kurds at the suggestion of the League of Nations (Articles 62 and 64 of the Sevres Peace Treaty signed in 1920 provided for the creation of an autonomous or even independent Kurdistan and independent Armenia). On these documents, the territory of Kurdistan resembled a huge camel touching the sea with its head and was equal in area to France.
Kurds want their own state
Right. Most Kurds are striving for independence. They emphasize that they meet all the necessary criteria for this (territorial continuity, language, culture, history), and that they have every right to do so.
But they understand that such a demand is tantamount to political suicide. This may encourage the Americans to abandon the Kurds in Iraq to their fate. The first time after its formation, that is, in the late 1980s and early 1990s, the Kurdistan Workers' Party sought independence, but subsequently abandoned this demand.
In addition, since the 1960s, another decision has been outlined, from which it follows that each of the four parts of Kurdistan should achieve autonomy for itself in order to subsequently form something like the Benelux, that is, an entity with thinner borders.
The idea was first introduced in 1963 by The New York Times journalist Dana Adams Schmidt, who spent 46 days in the mountains with Mustafa Barzani and wrote the short story Journey Among Brave Men.
Today, this union project is once again coming to the fore and even boasts a certain consensus. What has been happening in Iraqi Kurdistan since 2003 has given confidence to Kurds from other countries.
This is especially noticeable in Turkey, where since 2009 the Union of Communities of Kurdistan, based on the model of Iranian Kurdistan, has been regularly carrying out political initiatives on the way to autonomy and self-determination, which in particular explains the increased repressive measures by the Turkish state (arrests, trials, bans and etc.).
Kurds can not agree among themselves
Right. They are very independent and have never lived under a centralized Kurdish government.
The Kurds are a mountainous and historically nomadic people, which in no way predisposes them to unification. In addition, its current organization is still largely tribal in nature, and conflicts arise between tribal leaders.
“The Kurds do not have a cult of the great dictator, and they are more like the Gascons. Every Kurd is a king on his mountain. Therefore, they quarrel with each other, conflicts arise often and easily,” explains Sandrine Alexi.
From 1992 to 1996, the Kurds fought a civil war in northern Iraq. The major regional powers took turns supporting one side or the other. In 2003, the warring brothers united again. However, this war nearly killed dreams of independence and remains a painful memory for the Kurds to this day.
Kurds have the hardest time in Turkey
Wrong. Despite the prosecution, arrests and prison terms, the Kurds in Turkey are still easier now than it was in the 1980s-1990s (deportations, burned villages, mass torture, disappearances of the military, Turkish Hezbollah operations) before coming to power of the conservative Islamist Justice and Development Party.
In Iran, the situation of the Kurds is noticeably worse: the ban on all minority languages (including Arabic), newspapers in the Kurdish language, cultural and human rights organizations, women's associations and Kurdish trade unions, persecution, repression and suppression of all sprouts of civil society.
Kurdistan Free Life Party activists, who are supposed to be supported by the CIA, are detained, tortured, sent to prison. Death sentences are also not uncommon, as Kurds from this party sometimes call themselves atheists or even Marxists (the political line of this movement and the PKK is quite difficult to trace, but it is anti-Islamic).
There are also Sunni Kurds in the country, who are also disliked in Tehran. Iranian revolutionary courts can (and often take this opportunity) to recognize them as "enemies of Allah", which is tantamount to the death penalty.
War in Syria opens opportunities for Kurds
Right. Either democracy will be established in the country, and the Kurds will at least be able to achieve greater autonomy, as well as constitutional recognition of their people and language. Or chaos will reign there with the formation of various zones of influence, and they will also be able to benefit for themselves by trying to reproduce what happened in Iraq in 1992 (autonomy), when Saddam Hussein retreated from the northern part of the camp.
In this case, they will seek to prevent the return of Arab soldiers to the zones left to them by Bashar al-Assad. As well as, they will not let the Syrian Free Army go there, as they fear the influence of the Islamists fighting with it (the clashes between the FSA units and the Kurdish militias have already begun).
The strategy of the Democratic Union is probably as follows: let the Syrian Sunnis fight the Shiites, and in the meantime we will protect our minorities, population and territory.
“Nevertheless, the possibility of a civil war between the Kurds from the Democratic Union and the new revolutionary coalition cannot be ruled out,” notes Sandrine Alexi. The fact that the Syrian Peshmerga (volunteers who deserted from the Syrian army and took refuge in Iraqi Kurdistan) did not gain strength in northern Syria is probably due to the desire to avoid intra-Kurdish clashes.
