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TheKurds[A] are anIranian[1][2][3] ethnic group in theMiddle East. They have historically inhabited the mountainous areas to the south ofLake Van andLake Urmia, a geographical area collectively referred to asKurdistan. Most Kurds speak Northern KurdishKurmanji Kurdish (Kurmanji) andCentral Kurdish (Sorani).
There are various hypotheses as to predecessor populations of theKurds, such as theCarduchoi of Classical Antiquity. The earliest known Kurdish dynasties under Islamic rule (10th to 12th centuries) are theHasanwayhids, theMarwanids, theRawadids, theShaddadids, followed by theAyyubid dynasty founded bySaladin. TheBattle of Chaldiran of 1514 is an important turning point in Kurdish history, marking the alliance of Kurds with theOttomans. TheSharafnameh of 1597 is the first account of Kurdish history. Kurdish history in the 20th century is marked by a rising sense of Kurdish nationhood focused on the goal of an independent Kurdistan as scheduled by theTreaty of Sèvres in 1920. Partial autonomy was reached byKurdistan Uyezd (1923–1926) and byIraqi Kurdistan (since 1991), while notably inTurkish Kurdistan, an armed conflict between the Kurdish insurgent groups andTurkish Armed Forces was ongoing from 1984 to 1999, and the region continues to be unstable with renewed violence flaring up in the 2000s.
There are several theories regarding the origin of the name Kurd. According to one theory, it might be derived from "Cyrtii" (Kurti), a term first recorded in the 2nd century BCE to describe slingers who inhabited the Zagros Mountains.[4][5] In the 13th century, an Italian monk and preacher who visited Kurdistan also used the term "Curti" to refer to the Kurds.[6] Alternatively, it might be derived from "Guti." According to Safarastian, the "r" was assimilated after the "u" (Guti > Gurti), following a common linguistic rule in Indo-European languages, particularly those of the East, such as Kurdish, Greek, and Armenian.[7][8]
According toThe Cambridge History of the Kurds:
Many different interpretations have been made in explaining the origin ofthe word ‘Kurd’ to this day, but the interpreters often have not dwelled on the word ‘Kırd’, the self-designation the Kırmanj (Zazas) use in certain regions. However, Strabo, the ancient Greek author (64 BC–21 AD), uses the termKύρτιοι (Kurtioi) for Kurds, which isKyrtii in Latin; the similarity of these Greek and Latin terms with the word ‘Kırd’ and its plural forms ‘Kırdi’/’Kirdi’ is remarkable (Strabon cited in Islâm Ansiklopedisi, 1977: 1090; Lecoq, 2006: 232). Likewise, in the Armenian language, the plural form ‘Krder’, ‘Krdakan’ is used for the Kurds.[9]
By the time of theIslamic conquests in the 7th century, and possibly earlier, the term 'Kurd' was used with a socio-economic meaning to describe nomadic groups on the western edge of theIranian plateau and, possibly, tribes aligned withSassanian authority inMesopotamia.[10][11] During this period, Kurds were also already present in eastern Anatolia.[12]
Early Islamic writings mention the Kurds across a wide geographical area. However, due to the ambiguity of these accounts, scholars have debated the meaning of the term "Kurds," considering whether it referred to a group defined by ethnicity and language, nomadic lifestyle, or a specific environment in which they lived. A recent study by Boris James, the first scholar to carefully analyze and interpret these writings, focusing on the 12th to 14th centuries, concluded that 12th-century sources show the Kurds had become a unified ethnic group, although divided into several tribes.[13]
From Islamic conquest up until 10th century, Kurdish groups played a marginal role in the regions politics, being mentioned from that era as mercenaries and rebels.[14] the period of 950-1050s, has been called the Kurdish interlude by scholars.[14][15] As variousKurdish tribes seized vast territories and formed their own states. The independent Kurdish principalities were:
The Kurdish principalities relied on Kurdish tribesmen and nomadic kurds as backbone for their principality's army and military prowess. They never neededTurkicghilman for mounted troops like theBuyids, because they provided mounted troops from their own ranks.[14]
Later in the 12th century, the Kurdish[16]Hazaraspid dynasty established its rule in southernZagros andLuristan and conquered territories ofKuhgiluya,Khuzestan andGolpayegan in the 13th century and annexedShushtar,Hoveizeh andBasra in the 14th century.
One of these dynasties may have been able, during the decades, to impose its supremacy on the others and build a state incorporating the whole Kurdish country if the course of history had not been disrupted by the massive invasions of tribes surging out of the steppes ofCentral Asia. Having conqueredIran and imposed their yoke on the caliph ofBaghdad, theSeljuq Turks annexed the Kurdish principalities one by one. Around 1150,Ahmad Sanjar, the last of the great Seljuq monarchs, created a province out of these lands and called itKurdistan. The province of Kurdistan, formed by Sanjar, had as its capital the village Bahar (which means lake or sea), near ancientEcbatana (Hamadan). It included the vilayets ofSinjar andShahrazur to the west of theZagros mountain range and those of Hamadan, Dinawar andKermanshah to the east of this range. An autochthonouscivilization developed around the town of Dinawar (today ruined), located 75 km North-East of Kermanshah, whose radiance was later only partially replaced by that ofSenna, 90 km further North.[2]
Marco Polo (1254–1324) met Kurds inMosul on his way to China, and he wrote what he had learned about Kurdistan and the Kurds to enlighten his European contemporaries. TheItalianKurdologist Mirella Galetti, sorted these writings which were translated into Kurdish.[17]
One of the periods where Kurds were at the peak of their power was during the 12th century, whenSaladin, who belonged to the Rawadiya branch of theHadabani tribe, founded theAyyubid dynasty, under which several Kurdish chieftainships were established. The dynasty ruled areas extending from theKurdish regions to as far asEgypt andYemen.[18][19]
In the Middle Ages, in many cities outside of Kurdistan, Kurdish quarters were formed as a result of an influx of Kurdish tribal forces, as well as scholars.[20] In these cities, Kurds often also had mosques, madrasahs and other edifices.
Kurds established several independent states orprincipalities such asArdalan,Badinan,Baban,Soran,Hakkari andBadlis. A comprehensive history of these states and their relationship with their neighbors is given in the famous textbook ofSharafnama written by Prince Sharaf al-Din Biltisi in 1597. The most prominent among these wasArdalan which was established in the early 14th century. The state ofArdalan controlled the territories of Zardiawa (Karadagh),Khanaqin,Kirkuk,Kifri, andHawraman, despite being vassals themselves of the various inPersia centred succeeding Turkic federations in the region, namely that of theKara Koyunlu, and theAk Koyunlu specifically. The capital city of this state of Ardalan was first in Sharazour inIraqi Kurdistan, but was moved toSinne (inIran) later on. TheArdalan Dynasty was allowed to rule the region as vassals by many of the sovereign rulers over the wider territory, until theQajar monarchNasser-al-Din Shah (1848–1896) ended their rule in 1867.
For many centuries, starting in the early modern period withIsmail I, Shah ofSafavid Persia, and Ottoman SultanSelim I, the Kurds came under the suzerainty of the two most powerful empires of theNear East and staunch arch rivals, theSunni Ottoman Empire and the variousShia Empires. It started off with the rule ofIsmail I, who ruled over all regions that encompassnative Kurdish living areas, and far beyond. During the years 1506–1510,Yazidis revolted againstIsmail I (who had Kurdish ancestry himself).[32][33][34][35][36][37][B][C][D][E][F][G] Their leader,Shir Sarim, was defeated and captured in a bloody battle wherein several important officers ofIsmail lost their lives. The Kurdish prisoners were put to death "with torments worse than which there may not be".[44]
In the mid-17th century the Kurds on the western borders disposed of firearms, According toTavernier, the mountain people betweenNineveh andIsfahan would not sell anything but for gunpowder and bullets. Even so, firearms were incorporated neither wholesale nor wholeheartedly among the Kurds, apparently for the same reasons that hindered their acceptance in iran proper. In aPersian statistical overview of tribes dating from the period of Shah sultan Husayn in the early 18th century, it is said that the Kurds of Zafaranlo tribe refused to carry the Tufang, because they considered it unmanly to do so, as a result of which most continued to fight with lance and sword, and some with arrow and bow.[45]
Removal of the population from along their borders with theOttomans in Kurdistan and the Caucasus was of strategic importance to theSafavids. Hundreds of thousands of Kurds were moved to other regions in the Safavid empire, only to defend the borders there. Hundreds of thousands of other ethnic groups living in the Safavid empire such as theArmenians,Assyrians,Georgians,Circassians, andTurkomans, were also removed from the border regions and resettled in the interior ofPersia, but mainly for other reasons such as socio-economic, and bureaucratic ones. During several periods, as the borders moved progressively eastward, with the Ottomans pushing deeper into the Persian domains, entire Kurdish regions ofAnatolia were at one point or another exposed to horrific acts of despoliation and deportation. These began under the reign of theSafavid ShahTahmasp I (ruled 1524–1576). Between 1534 and 1535, Tahmasp, using a policy ofscorched earth against his Ottoman arch rivals, began the systematic destruction of the old Kurdish cities and the countryside. When retreating before the Ottoman army, Tahmasp ordered the destruction of crops and settlements of all sizes, driving the inhabitants before him intoAzerbaijan, from where they were later transferred permanently, nearly 1,600 km (1,000 miles) east, intoKhurasan.
Shah Abbas inherited a state threatened by the Ottomans in the west and theUzbeks in the northeast. He bought off the former, in order to gain time to defeat the latter, after which he selectively depopulated theZagros andCaucasus approaches, deportingKurds,Armenians,Georgians,North Caucasians and others who might, willingly or not, supply, support or be any use in an Ottoman campaign in the region. Shah Abbas forcibly depopulated much of theKurdish lands ahead of the Ottoman expansion. He made it lucrative and prestigious for Kurds to become military conscripts, and raised an army of tens of thousands of predominantly Kurdish soldiers. Abbas also razed villages to the ground and marched the people into the Persian heartland.[46]
The magnitude ofSafavidScorched earth policy can be glimpsed through the works of the Safavid court historians. One of these,Iskandar Bayg Munshi, describing just one episode, writes in theAlam-ara ye Abbasi thatShah Abbas, in furthering the scorched earth policy of his predecessors,set upon the country north of theAraxes and west ofUrmia, and betweenKars andLake Van, which he commanded to be laid waste and the population of the countryside and the entire towns rounded up and led out of harm's way. Resistance was met "withmassacres andmutilation; all immovable property, houses, churches, mosques, crops ... were destroyed, and the whole horde of prisoners was hurried southeast before the Ottomans should counterattack". Many of these Kurds ended up inKhurasan, but many others were scattered into theAlburz mountains, centralPersia, and evenBalochistan. They became the nucleus of several modern Kurdish enclaves outsideKurdistan proper, inIran andTurkmenistan. On one occasionAbbas I is said to have intended to transplant 40,000 Kurds to northern Khorasan but to have succeeded in deporting only 15,000 before his troops were defeated.[47][48]
According to the early 17th centuryArmenian historianArak'el Davrizhetsi, theSunniKurdish tribe of Jekirlu inhabited the region ofGanja. In 1606, whenShah Abbasreconquered Ganja, he ordered a general massacre of the Jekirlu. Even infants were slaughtered with sharp swords.[49]
There is a well documented historical accountof a long battle in 1609–1610 between Kurds and theSafavid Empire. The battle took place around a fortress called "Dimdim" (DimDim) in Beradost region aroundLakeUrmia in northwesternIran. In 1609, the ruined structure was rebuilt by "Emîr Xan Lepzêrîn" (Golden Hand Khan), ruler of Beradost, who sought to maintain the independence of his expanding principality in the face of both Ottoman and Safavid penetration into the region. Rebuilding Dimdim was considered a move toward independence that could threaten Safavid power in the northwest. Many Kurds, including the rulers of Mukriyan rallied around Amir Khan. After a long and bloody siege led by theSafavid grand vizierHatem Beg, which lasted from November 1609 to the summer of 1610, Dimdim was captured. All the defenders were massacred.Shah Abbas ordered a general massacre in Beradost and Mukriyan (reported by Eskandar Beg Turkoman, Safavid Historian in the BookAlam Aray-e Abbasi) and resettled the TurkishAfshar tribe in the region while deporting manyKurdish tribes toKhorasan. Although Persian historians (like Eskandar Beg) depicted the first battle of Dimdim as a result of Kurdish mutiny or treason, in Kurdish oral traditions (Beytî dimdim), literary works (Dzhalilov, pp. 67–72), and histories, it was treated as a struggle of the Kurdish people against foreign domination. In fact, Beytî dimdim is considered a national epic second only toMem û Zîn byAhmad Khani. The first literary account of this battle is written byFaqi Tayran.[50][51][52]
When SultanSelim I, after defeating ShahIsmail I in 1514, annexedWestern Armenia andKurdistan, he entrusted the organisation of the conquered territories to Idris, the historian, who was a Kurd ofBitlis. He divided the territory intosanjaks or districts, and, making no attempt to interfere with the principle of heredity, installed the local chiefs as governors. He also resettled the rich pastoral country betweenErzerum andYerevan, which had lain in waste since the passage ofTimur, with Kurds from theHakkari and Bohtan districts.
The Janpulat (Turkish: Canpulatoğlu, Arabic:Junblat[53]) clan was ruled by local Kurdish feudal lords in theJabal al-Akrad andAleppo region for almost a century before the Ottoman conquest of Syria. Their leader, Hussein Janpulatoğlu, was appointed as governor of Aleppo in 1604, however he was executed byÇiğalzade Sinan Pasha allegedly for his late arrival at theBattle of Urmia. According to Abul Wafa Al-Urdi, Janpulat had been murdered because of his Kurdish origins. His nephew,Ali Janbulad, revolted in revenge and declared sovereignty in 1606 and was supported by theDuke of Tuscany,Ferdinand I.[54] He conquered a region stretching fromHama toAdana with 30,000 troops.[55] Grand Vizier,Murad Pasha, marched against him with a large army in 1607. Ali Pasha managed to escape and was later pardoned and appointed governor of province ofTemesvár inHungary. He was eventually executed by Murad Pasha inBelgrade in 1610.[56]
In 1655,Abdal Khan the KurdishRozhiki ruler ofBidlis, formed a private army and fought a full scale war against theOttoman troops.Evliya Çelebi noted the presence of manyYazidis in his army.[57] The main reason for this armed insurrection was the discord between Abdal Khan andMelek Ahmad Pasha, the Ottoman governor ofDiyarbakır and Abdal Khan. The Ottoman troops marched onto Bidlis and committed atrocities against civilians as they passed throughRozhiki territory. Abdal Khan had built great stone redoubts around Bitlis, and also old city walls were defended by a large army of Kurdishinfantry armed withmuskets. Ottomans attacked the outer defensive perimeter and defeated Rozhiki soldiers, then they rushed to lootBidlis and attacked the civilians. Once the Ottoman force established its camp in Bidlis, in an act of revenge, Abdal Khan made a failed attempt to assassinate Melek Ahmad Pasha. A unit of twenty Kurdish soldiers rode into the tent of Yusuf Kethuda, the second-in-command and fought a ferocious battle with his guards. After the fall of Bidlis, 1,400 Kurds continued to resist from the city's oldcitadel. While most of these surrendered and were given amnesty, 300 of them were massacred by Melek Ahmad with 70 of them dismembered by sword and cut into pieces.[58]
Except for the short Iranian recapture underNader Shah in the first half of the 18th century, the system of administration introduced by Idris remained unchanged until the close of theRusso-Turkish War of 1828–29. But the Kurds, owing to the remoteness of their country from the capital and the decline of Turkey, had greatly increased in influence and power, and had spread westwards over the country as far asAnkara.
After the war with Russia, the Kurds attempted to free themselves from Ottoman control which resulted in the Bedr Khan clan uprising in 1834. The Ottoman Porte made the decision to then end the autonomous regions of the Eastern portion of the Empire. This was done by Rashid Pasha, also a Kurd.[59] The principal towns were strongly garrisoned, and many of the Kurdbeys were replaced by Turkish governors. A rising under Bedr Khan Bey in 1843 was firmly repressed, and after theCrimean War the Turks strengthened their hold on the country. In the 1830's, Bedr Khan was defeated by the united Assyrians of Hakkari.[60]
The modernizing and centralizing efforts ofSultan Mahmud II antagonized Kurdish feudal chiefs. As a result two powerfulKurdish families rebelled against the Ottomans in 1830.Bedr Khan of Botan rose up in the west of Kurdistan, aroundDiyarbakır, andMuhammad Pasha ofRawanduz rebelled in the east and established his authority inMosul andErbil. At this time, Turkish troops were preoccupied with invading Egyptian troops in Syria and were unable to suppress the revolt. As a result,Bedr Khan extended his authority toDiyarbakır,Siverik (Siverek),Veransher (Viranşehir),Sairt (Siirt),Sulaimania (Sulaymaniyah) andSauj Bulaq (Mahabad). He established a Kurdish principality in these regions until 1845. He struck his own coins, and his name was included in Friday sermons. In 1847, the Turkish forces turned their attention toward this area, and defeated Bedr Khan and exiled him toCrete. He was later allowed to return toDamascus, where he lived until his death in 1868. Bedr Khan Beg made two campaigns in 1843 and 1846 against the Assyrian Christians (Nestorians) of Hakkari and massacred up to 4,000 Assyrians in an attempt to Islamize the region; those Assyrians who met their fate were the mother and the two brothers of the yet to be spiritual Assyrian leader Mar Shimun.[61]
Bedr Khan became king when his brother died. His brother's son became very upset over this, which the Turks exploited in tricking him into fighting his uncle. They told him that they would make him king if he killed Bedr Khan. Bedr Khan's nephew brought many Kurdish warriors with to attack his uncle's forces. After defeating Bedr Khan, Bedr Khan's nephew was executed instead of becoming king as the Turks had promised.[59] There are two famous Kurdish songs about this battle, called "Ezdin Shêr" and "Ez Xelef im". After this, there were further revolts in 1850 and 1852.[62]
Kurdistan as an administrative entity had a brief and shaky existence of 17 years between 13 December 1847 (followingBedirhan Bey's revolt) and 1864, under the initiative ofKoca Mustafa Reşit Pasha during theTanzimat period (1839–1876) of the Ottoman Empire. The capital of the province was, at first,Ahlat, and coveredDiyarbekir,Muş, Van,Hakkari, Botan (Cizre) andMardin. In the following years, the capital was transferred several times, first from Ahlat to Van, then to Muş and finally to Diyarbakır. Its area was reduced in 1856 and the province of Kurdistan within the Ottoman Empire was abolished in 1864. Instead, the former provinces ofDiyarbekir andVan have been re-constituted.[63] Around 1880, Shaikh Ubaidullah led a revolt aiming at bringing the areas between Lakes Van and Urmia under his own rule, however Ottoman and Qajar forces succeeded in defeating the revolt.[64]
TheRusso-Turkish War of 1877–78 was followed by theuprising of Sheikh Ubeydullah in 1880–1881 to found an independent Kurdprincipality under the protection of Turkey. The attempt, at first encouraged by thePorte, as a reply to the projected creation of an Armenian state under the suzerainty of Russia, collapsed after Ubeydullah's raid into Persia, when various circumstances led the central government to reassert its supreme authority. Until the Russo-Turkish War of 1828–1829 there had been little hostile feeling between the Kurds and the Armenians, and as late as 1877–1878 the mountaineers of both races had co-existed fairly well together.
In 1891, the activity of the Armenian Committees induced the Porte to strengthen the position of the Kurds by raising a body of Kurdishirregularcavalry, who were well-armedHamidieh soldiers after the SultanAbd-ul-Hamid II. Minor disturbances constantly occurred, and were soon followed by a massacre and rape of Armenians atSasun by Kurdish nomads and Ottoman troops.[65]
Kurdish nationalism emerged at the end of the 19th Century around the same time as Turks and Arabs began to embrace an ethnic sense of identity in place of earlier forms of solidarity such as the idea of Ottoman citizenship or membership of a religious community, ormillet.[66] Revolts occurred sporadically but only in 1880 with the uprising led bySheikh Ubeydullah were demands as an ethnic group or nation made. Ottoman sultanAbdul Hamid responded by a campaign of integration by co-opting prominent Kurdish opponents to strong Ottoman power with prestigious positions in his government. This strategy appears successful given the loyalty displayed by the KurdishHamidiye regiments during World War I.[67]
The Kurdish ethnonationalist movement that emerged following World War I and end of the Ottoman empire was largely reactionary to the changes taking place in mainstream Turkey, primarily radicalsecularization which the strongly Muslim Kurds abhorred, centralization of authority which threatened the power of local chieftains and Kurdish autonomy, and rampantTurkish nationalism in the new Turkish Republic which obviously threatened to marginalize them.[68]
Western powers (particularly the United Kingdom) fighting the Turks also promised the Kurds they would act as guarantors for Kurdish independence, a promise they subsequently broke. One particular organization, the Kurdish Teali Cemiyet (Society for the Rise of Kurdistan, or SAK) was central to the forging of a distinct Kurdish identity. It took advantage of period of political liberalization during theSecond Constitutional Era (1908–1920) of Turkey to transform a renewed interest inKurdish culture and language into a political nationalist movement based on ethnicity.[68]
Some Kurdish groups sought self-determination and the championing in theTreaty of Sèvres of Kurdish autonomy in theaftermath of World War I,Mustafa Kemal Atatürk prevented such a result. Kurds backed by the United Kingdom declared independence in 1927 and established so-calledRepublic of Ararat. Turkey suppressed Kurdist revolts in 1925, 1930, and 1937–1938, while Iran did the same in the 1920s toSimko Shikak atLake Urmia and Jaafar Sultan of Hewraman region who controlled the region betweenMarivan and north ofHalabja.
From 1922 to 1924 in Iraq, aKingdom of Kurdistan existed. WhenBa'athist administrators thwarted Kurdish nationalist ambitions inIraq, war broke out in the 1960s. In 1970 the Kurds rejected limited territorial self-rule within Iraq, demanding larger areas including the oil-richKirkuk region. For recent developments seeIraqi Kurdistan.
In 1922, an investigation was initiated for Nihad Pasha, the commander ofEl-Cezire front, byAdliye Encümeni (Council of Justice) ofGrand National Assembly of Turkey with allegations of fraud. During a confidential convention on the issue on 22 July, a letter of introductions by the Cabinet of Ministers and signed by Mustafa Kemal was read. The text was referring to the region as "Kurdistan" three times and providing Nihad Pasha with full authorities to support the local Kurdish administrations (idare-i mahallîyeye dair teşkilâtlar) as per the principle ofself-determination (Milletlerin kendi mukadderatlarını bizzat idare etme hakkı), in order to gradually establish a local government in the regions inhabited by Kurds (Kürtlerle meskûn menatık).[69]
In 1931, Iraqi Kurdish statesman Mihemed Emîn Zekî, while serving as the Minister of the Economy in the firstNuri as-Said government, drew the boundaries of Turkish Kurdistan as: "With mountains of Ararat and theGeorgian border (including the region ofKars, where Kurds and Georgians live side by side) to the north, Iranian border to the east, Iraqi border to the south, and to the west, a line drawn from the west ofSivas toİskenderun. These boundaries are also in accord with those drawn by the Ottomans."[70] In 1932,Garo Sassouni, formerly a prominent figure ofDashnak Armenia, defined the borders of "Kurdistan proper" (excluding whole territory ofWilsonian Armenia) as: "... with a line from the south of Erzincan toKharput, incorporatingDersim,Çarsancak, and Malatya, including the mountains ofCebel-i Bereket and reaching the Syrian border", also adding, "these are the broadest boundaries of Kurdistan that can be claimed by Kurds."[71]
During the 1920s and 1930s, several large-scale Kurdish revolts took place in this region. The most important ones were the Saikh Said Rebellion in 1925, theArarat Revolt in 1930 and the Dersim Revolt in 1938 (seeKurds in Turkey). Following these rebellions, the area of Turkish Kurdistan was put undermartial law and many Kurds were displaced. Government also encouraged resettlement ofAlbanians from Kosovo andAssyrians in the region to change the population makeup. These events and measures led to a long-lasting mutual distrust between Ankara and the Kurds.[72]
In 1937 and 1944 Soviet Kurdsexperienced forced deportations from Azerbaijan SSR (mostly), Armenian SSR and Georgian SSR.
During World War Two, the Kurds formed 10 companies in theIraq Levies that the British had recruited in Iraq. Kurds supported the British in the defeating the pro-Nazi1941 Iraqi coup d'état.[73] Twenty-five percent of the Iraq Levies' 1st Parachute Company was Kurdish. The Parachute Company was attached to theRoyal Marine Commando and was active in Albania, Italy, Greece, and Cyprus.[74][75]
Kurds participated in the Soviet occupation of northern Iraq in 1941,[76] creating thePersian Corridor, a vital supply line for the USSR. This led to the short-lived formation of the KurdishRepublic of Mahabad.
Despite the fact they were a tiny minority in the Soviet Union, Kurds played a significant role in the Soviet war effort. On 1 October 1941,Samand Siabandov was awarded the honourHero of the Soviet Union. Kurds served atSmolensk,Sevastopol,Leningrad, andStalingrad. Kurds took part in thepartisan movement behind German lines. Karaseva received both the Hero of the Soviet Union medal and the medal Partisan of the Fatherland War (First Degree) for organising partisans to fight against the Germans inVolhynia Oblast in Ukraine. Kurds took part in theadvance into Hungary and theinvasion of Japanese-held Manchuria.[76][77]
About half of all Kurds live in Turkey. According to the CIA Factbook they account for 18 percent of the Turkish population.[78] They are predominantly distributed in the southeastern corner of the country.[79]
The best available estimate of the number of persons in Turkey speaking the Kurdish language is about five million (1980). About 3,950,000 others speak Northern Kurdish (Kurmanji) (1980).[80] While population increase suggests that the number of speakers has grown, it is also true that the ban on the use of the language in Turkey was only lifted in 1991 and still exists in most official settings (including schools), and that many fewer ethnic Kurds live in the countryside where the language has traditionally been used. The number of speakers is clearly less than the 15 million or so persons who identify themselves as ethnic Kurds.
From 1915 to 1918, Kurds struggled to end Ottoman rule over their region. They were encouraged byWoodrow Wilson's support for non-Turkish nationalities of the empire and submitted their claim for independence to theParis Peace Conference in 1919.[81] TheTreaty of Sèvres stipulated the creation of an autonomous Kurdish state in 1920, but the subsequentTreaty of Lausanne (1923) failed to mention Kurds. After theSheikh Said rebellion was suppressed in 1925,Kemal Atatürk established a Reform Council for the East (Turkish:Şark İslahat Encümeni)[82] which prepared theReport for Reform in the East (Turkish:Şark İslahat Raporu) which encouraged the creation ofInspectorates-Generals (Turkish:Umumi Müfettişlikler, UMs), in the areas comprising a majority Kurdish population.[83] Following there were established three regional Inspectorates Generals comprising the Kurdish provinces, the Inspectorates General were ruled with Martial Law and Kurdish notables in the areas were meant to be resettled to the west of Turkey. The Inspectorates Generals were disestablished in 1952.[84]
During the relatively open government of the 1950s, Kurds gained political office and started working within the framework of the Turkish Republic to further their interests but this move towards integration was halted with the1960 Turkish coup d'état.[67] The 1970s saw an evolution in Kurdish nationalism asMarxist political thought influenced a new generation of Kurdish nationalists opposed to the localfeudal authorities who had been a traditional source of opposition to authority, eventually they would form the militant separatistPKK, orKurdistan Workers Party in English.
Following these events, Turkey officiallydenied the existence of the Kurds or an other distinct ethnic groups and any expression by the Kurds of their ethnic identity was harshly repressed. Until 1991, the use of the Kurdish language – although widespread – was illegal. As a result of reforms inspired by the EU, music, radio and television broadcasts in Kurdish are now allowed albeit with severe time restrictions (for example, radio broadcasts can be no longer than sixty minutes per day nor can they constitute more than five hours per week while television broadcasts are subject to even greater restrictions). Additionally, education in Kurdish is now permitted though only in private institutions.
As late as 1994, however,Leyla Zana, the first female Kurdish representative inGrand National Assembly of Turkey, was charged with making "separatist speeches" and sentenced to 15 years in prison. At her inauguration as an MP, she reportedly identified herself as a Kurd.Amnesty International reported that "[s]he 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.' In response to this, calls for her arrest blaming her of being a "Separatist" and "Terrorist" were heard in the Turkish parliament.[85]
The Partiya Karkerên Kurdistan (PKK), also known asKADEK andKongra-Gel is Kurdish militant organization which has waged an armed struggle against the Turkish state for cultural and political rights and self-determination for the Kurds.Turkey's military allies the US, the EU, andNATO see the PKK as a terrorist organization.
From 1984 to 1999, the PKK and the Turkish military engaged in open war, and much of the countryside in the southeast was depopulated, with Kurdish civilians moving to local defensible centers such asDiyarbakır,Van, andŞırnak, as well as to the cities of western Turkey and even to western Europe. The causes of the depopulation included PKK atrocities against Kurdish clans who they could not control, the poverty of the southeast, and the Turkish state's military operations.[86]Human Rights Watch has documented many instances where the Turkish military forcibly destroyed houses and villages. An estimated 3,000 Kurdish villages in Turkey were virtually wiped off the map, representing the displacement of more than 378,000 people.[87][88][89][90]
Nelson Mandela refused to accept theAtatürk Peace Award in 1992 because of the oppression of the Kurds,[91] but later accepted the award in 1999.[92]
Kurds make up around 17% of Iraq's population. They are the majority in at least three provinces in Northern Iraq which are known asIraqi Kurdistan. There are around 300,000 Kurds living in the Iraqi capitalBaghdad, 50,000 in the city ofMosul and around 100,000 Kurds living elsewhere in Southern Iraq.[93] Kurds led byMustafa Barzani were engaged in heavy fighting against successive Iraqi regimes from 1960 to 1975. In March 1970, Iraq announced a peace plan providing for Kurdish autonomy. The plan was to be implemented in four years.[94] However, at the same time, the Iraqi regime started an Arabization program in the oil rich regions of Kirkuk and Khanaqin.[95] The peace agreement did not last long, and in 1974, the Iraqi government began a new offensive against the Kurds. Moreover, in March 1975, Iraq and Iran signed theAlgiers Accord, according to which Iran cut supplies to Iraqi Kurds. Iraq started another wave of Arabization by moving Arabs to the oil fields in northern Iraq, particularly those around Kirkuk.[96] Between 1975 and 1978, 200,000 Kurds were deported to other parts of Iraq.[97]
During theIran–Iraq War in the 1980s, the regime implemented anti-Kurdish policies and ade facto civil war broke out. Iraq was widely condemned by the international community, but was never seriously punished for oppressive measures such as the mass murder of hundreds of thousands of civilians, the wholesale destruction of thousands of villages and the deportation of thousands of Kurds to southern and central Iraq. The campaign of Iraqi government against Kurds in 1988 was calledAnfal ("Spoils of War"). The Anfal attacks led to destruction of two thousand villages and death of between 50 and 100,000 Kurds.[98]
After the Kurdish uprising in 1991 (Kurdish:Raperîn) led by thePUK andKDP, Iraqi troops recaptured the Kurdish areas and hundreds of thousand of Kurds fled to the borders. To alleviate the situation, a "safe haven" was established by the Security Council. The autonomous Kurdish area was mainly controlled by the rival parties KDP and PUK. The Kurdish population welcomed the American troops in 2003 by holding celebrations and dancing in the streets.[99][100][101][102] The area controlled bypeshmerga was expanded, and Kurds had effective control in Kirkuk and parts of Mosul. By the beginning of 2006, the two Kurdish areas were merged into one unified region. A series of referendums were scheduled to be held in 2007, to determine the final borders of the Kurdish region.
In early June 2010, following a visit to Turkey by one of the PKK leaders, the PKK announced an end to the cease fire,[103] followed by an air attack on several border villages and rebel positions by the Turkish air force.[H]
On 11 July 2014 KRG forces seized control of the Bai Hassan andKirkuk oilfields, prompting a condemnation from Baghdad and a threat of "dire consequences", if the oilfields were not relinquished back to Iraq's control.[105] The2017 Kurdistan Region independence referendum took place on 25 September, with 92.73% voting in favor of independence. This triggered amilitary operation in which the Iraqi government retook control of Kirkuk and surrounding areas, and forced the KRG to annul the referendum.
TheKurdish region ofIran has been a part of the country since ancient times. Nearly all ofKurdistan was part of theIranian Empire until its western part was lost during thewars against theOttoman Empire.[106] Following thedissolution of the Ottoman Empire, at theParis Conferences in 1919, Tehran demanded various territories includingTurkish Kurdistan,Mosul, and evenDiyarbakır, but these demands were quickly rejected by Western powers.[107] Instead, the Kurdish area was divided by modernTurkey,Syria andIraq.[108] Today, the Kurds inhabit mostly North-Western Iran but also parts ofKhorasan, and constitute approximately 7–10%[109] of Iran's overall population (6.5–7.9 million), compared to 10.6% (2 million) in 1956 or 8% (800,000) in 1850.[110]
Unlike in other Kurdish-populated countries, there are very strong ethno-linguistical, historical and cultural ties betweenKurds and others asIranian peoples.[109] Some of modern Iranian dynasties likeSafavids andZands are considered to be partly of Kurdish origin.Kurdish literature in all of its forms (Kurmanji,Sorani andGorani) has been developed withinhistorical Iranianboundaries under strong influence ofPersian language.[108] Due to Kurds sharing a common history, very close cultural and linguistic links as well as common origins with the rest of Iran, this is seen as a reason why Kurdish leaders in Iran do not want a separate Kurdish state.[109][111][112]
Thegovernment of Iran has always been implacably opposed to any sign of independence for the Iranian Kurds.[109] During and shortly after theFirst World War, the government of Iran was ineffective and had very little control over events in the country and several Kurdishtribal chiefs gained local political power, and established large confederations.[111] In the same time, a wave ofnationalism from the disintegrating Ottoman Empire has partly influenced some Kurdish chiefs in border region, and they posed as Kurdish nationalist leaders.[111] Prior to this, identity in both countries largely relied upon religion i.e.Shia Islam in the particular case of Iran.[112][113] In 19th centuryIran,Shia–Sunni animosity and describingSunni Kurds as Ottomanfifth column was quite frequent.[114]
During the late 1910s and early 1920s,tribal revolt led by Kurdish chieftainSimko Shikak swept across Iranian Kurdistan. Although elements ofKurdish nationalism were present in the movement, historians agree they were hardly articulate enough to justify a claim that recognition of Kurdish identity was a major issue in Simko's movement, and he had to rely heavily on conventional tribal motives.[111]Government forces and non-Kurds were not the only ones to have allegedly been attacked, theKurdish population was also robbed and assaulted.[111][115] The fighters do not appear to have felt any sense of unity or solidarity with fellow Kurds.[111] Kurdish insurgency and seasonal migrations in the late 1920s, along with long-running tensions between Tehran and Ankara, resulted in border clashes and even military penetrations in both Iranian and Turkish territory.[107] Two regional powers have used Kurdish tribes as tool for own political benefits: Turkey has provided military help and refuge for anti-Iranian TurcophoneShikak rebels in 1918–1922,[116] while Iran did the same duringArarat rebellion against Turkey in 1930. The Iranian government's forceddetribalization andsedentarization in the 1920s and 1930s resulted in many tribal revolts in Iranian regions such asAzerbaijan,Luristan andKurdistan.[117] In particular case of the Kurds, these policies partly contributed to developing revolts among some tribes.[111]
As a response to growingPan-Turkism andPan-Arabism in region which were seen as potential threats to the territorial integrity of Iran,Pan-Iranist ideology has been developed in the early 1920s.[113] Some of such groups and journals openly advocated Iranian support to the Kurdish opposition againstTurkey.[118]Pahlavi dynasty has endorsed Iranianethnicnationalism[113] which allegedly seen the Kurds as integral part of the Iranian nation.[112] Another significant ideology during this period wasMarxism which arose among Kurds under influence of theUSSR. It culminated in theIran crisis of 1946 which included a bold attemptKDP-I andcommunist groups to try to gain autonomy[119] to establish theSovietpuppet government[120][121][122] calledRepublic of Mahabad. It arose along withAzerbaijan People's Government, another Soviet puppet state.[109][123] The state itself encompassed a very small territory, includingMahabad and the adjacent cities, unable to incorporate the southern Iranian Kurdistan which fell inside the Anglo-American zone, and unable to attract the tribes outside Mahabad itself to the nationalist cause.[109] As a result, when the Soviets withdrew from Iran in December 1946, government forces were able to enter Mahabad unopposed when the tribes betrayed the republic.[109]
SeveralMarxist insurgencies continued for decades (1967,1979,1989–96) led byKDP-I andKomalah, but those two organization have never advocated a Kurdish country as did thePKK inTurkey.[111][124][125][126] Still, many dissident leaders, among othersQazi Muhammad andAbdul Rahman Ghassemlou, were executed or assassinated.[109] DuringIran–Iraq War, Tehran has provided support for Iraqi-based Kurdish groups likeKDP orPUK, along with asylum for 1,400,000 Iraqi refugees, mostlyKurds. Although Kurdish Marxist groups have been marginalized in Iran since thedissolution of the Soviet Union, in 2004 newinsurrection has been started byPJAK, separatist organization affiliated with the Turkey-basedPKK[127] and designated asterrorist by Iran, Turkey and the United States.[127] Some analysts claim that the PJAK does not pose any serious threat to thegovernment of Iran.[128] Cease-fire has been established in September 2011 following the Iranian offensive on PJAK bases, but several clashes between PJAK and IRGC took place after it.[129] Since theIranian revolution of 1979, accusations of discrimination by Western organizations and of foreign involvement by the Iranian side have become very frequent.[129]
Kurds have been well integrated inIranian political life during the reign of various governments.[111] During the reign ofMohammad Reza Pahlavi some members of parliament and high army officers were Kurds, and there was even a Kurdish Cabinet Minister.[111] DuringPahlavi reign Kurds allegedly received many favours from the authorities, for instance to keep their land after theland reforms of 1962.[111] In the early 2000s, the supposed presence of thirty Kurdish deputies in the 290-strongparliament has allegedly shown that Kurds have a say in Iranian politics.[130] Some of influential Kurdish politicians during recent years include formerfirst vice presidentMohammad Reza Rahimi andMohammad Bagher Ghalibaf,Mayor of Tehran and second-placedpresidential candidate in 2013.Kurdish language is today used more than at any other time since therevolution, including in several newspapers and among schoolchildren.[130] Large numbers of Kurds in Iran show no interest inKurdish nationalism,[109] especiallyShia Kurds, and even vigorously reject the idea of autonomy, preferring direct rule fromTehran.[109][125] Iranian national identity is questioned only in the peripheral KurdishSunni regions.[131]
Kurds and other Non-Arabs account for ten percent ofSyria's population, a total of around 1.9 million people.[132] This makes them the largest ethnic minority in the country. They are mostly concentrated in the northeast and the north, but there are also significant Kurdish populations in Aleppo and Damascus. Kurds often speak Kurdish in public, unless all those present do not. Kurdish human rights activists are mistreated and persecuted.[133] No political parties are allowed for any group, Kurdish or otherwise.
Techniques used to suppress the ethnic identity of Kurds inSyria include various bans on the use of the Kurdish language, refusal to register children with Kurdish names, the replacement of Kurdish place names with new names in Arabic, the prohibition of businesses that do not have Arabic names, the prohibition of Kurdish private schools, and the prohibition of books and other materials written in Kurdish.[134][135] Having been denied the right to Syrian nationality, around 300,000 Kurds have been deprived of any social rights, in violation of international law.[136][137] As a consequence, these Kurds are in effect trapped within Syria.[134] In February 2006, however, sources reported that Syria was now planning to grant these Kurds citizenship.[137]
On 12 March 2004, beginning at a stadium inQamishli (a city in northeastern Syria where many Kurds live), clashes between Kurds and Syrians broke out and continued over a number of days. At least thirty people were killed and more than 160 injured. The unrest spread to other Kurdish inhabited towns along the northern border with Turkey, and then toDamascus andAleppo.[138][139]
Between the 1920s and 1990s,Armenia was a part of the Soviet Union, within which Kurds, like other ethnic groups, had the status of a protected minority. Armenian Kurds were permitted their own state-sponsored newspaper, radio broadcasts and cultural events. During the conflict inNagorno-Karabakh, many non-Yazidis and Kurds were forced to leave their homes. Following the end of the Soviet Union, Kurds in Armenia were stripped of their cultural privileges and most fled to Russia or Western Europe.[140] Recently introducedElectoral System of the Armenian National Assembly reserves one seat in theparliament to the representative of the Kurdish minority.[141]
In 1920, two Kurdish-inhabited areas of Jewanshir (capitalKalbajar) and eastern Zangazur (capitalLachin) were combined to form theKurdistan Okrug (or "Red Kurdistan"). The period of existence of the Kurdish administration was brief and did not last beyond 1929. Kurds subsequently faced many repressive measures, including deportations. As a result of theconflict inNagorno-Karabakh, many Kurdish areas have been destroyed and more than 150,000 Kurds have been deported by the Armenian forces since 1988.[140]
The Kurdish leaderSaladin along with his uncles Ameer Adil and Ameer Sherko, were joined by Kurdish fighters from the cities of Tigrit,Mosul, Erbil and Sharazur in a drive towards 'Sham' (today's Syria and Lebanon) in order to protect Islamic lands against crusader attack. The Kurdish King and his uncles ruled north Iraq, Jordan, Syria and Egypt for a short period.[I][J][145] Salah El Din in Syria, Ameer Sherko in Egypt and Ameer Adil in Jordan, with family members ruling most of the cities of today's Iraq. The Kurds built many monumental castles in the lands which they ruled, especially in what was called 'Kurdistan of Syria' and in Damuscus, the capital of Syria. A tall building, called 'Qalha', is still standing, in the mid south-west quarter of Damascus. The Ayubian dynasty continued there for many years, all from Kurdish descent.
The Kurds, an Iranian people of the Near East, live at the junction of (...)
Hazāraspids, a local dynasty of Kurdish origin which ruled in the Zagros mountains region of southwestern Persia,...
Bikur Holim Street, named for the Bikur Holim Jewish hospital that operated here from 1864 to 1947. But the Arabic on the same signs names the alley as Tariq Haret al-Sharaf ('Sharaf Quarter Road') […]Mujir ad-Din records that before Haret al-Sharaf the same neighbourhood was known as the Kurdish quarter.
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