the kurds by hakan Özoğlu. problems of defining an ethnic group? “people without a country” if...
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The KurdsThe Kurds• by
• Hakan Özoğlu
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Problems of defining an ethnic Problems of defining an ethnic group?group?
• “People without a country”
• If there were no America, would there be Americans?
• Is there any ethnic “essence” in every human defining their characteristics?
• Is ethnicity learned?
• The role of geography/climate in flow of history.
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LocationLocation
Today most Kurds live in the mountains of Eastern Turkey (Taurus Mountains) and Northwestern Iran (Zagros Mountains). Many reside in Iraq, Syria, and Armenia aswell.
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PopulationPopulationThe following is only the estimates. We do not have exact numbers.
Turkey=12-15 millionIran=6-7 millionIraq=5-6 millionSyria=1.5-2 millionArmenia=42,000Azerbaijan=150-200KEurope= 1.5-2 million
Total= Around 30-35 million (some claim as many as 50 millilon)
Approximately 2/3 of the Kurds live in Turkey..
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Language Language
• The Kurdish languages belong to the northwestern sub‑group of the Iranian languages, which in turn belongs to the Indo-Iranian branch of the Indo-European family.
• Most Kurds are either bilingual or multilingual, speaking Arabic, Persian or Turkish.
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Kurdish DialectsKurdish Dialects
• The Kurmanji dialect group.
• The Sorani dialect group.
sub-dialects:• Kirmanshahi/Feyli• Laki• Gorani• Zazaki • Some consider Zaza to be a separate language.
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ReligionReligion
• Mainly Sunni, some Shia
• Alevis in Turkey
• Ahl-i Haqq
• Yazidis
• Jewish Kurds (200K)
• Christians
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Geography/TopographyGeography/Topography
• The traditional Kurdish land is typically mountainous and referred to by many as “uninhabitable.”
• The Kurds have become settled agrarian peoples by forced assimilation into modern countries—they were mostly nomadic previously.
• Mountain dwelling had advantages and disadvantages:
• Isolation from settled cultures• Assimilation
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ClimateClimate• characterized by extreme conditions, with large temperature
differences between day and night and between winter and summer. • has two patterns; semiarid and summer-dry. The temperature in
winter drops below -35 ºC whereas in summer rises as high as 45 ºC.
• Variations in elevation create vast differences in climate.
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HistoryHistory
• When do we see the name “Kurd” in historical records?
• Origin of the Kurds?– How reliable are the “origin of an ethnic
group” stories?
Kurds claim descent from the ancient “Medes” circa 7-6 centuries BCE.
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• There are other “territory based” assumptions about the Kurds.– Kardouchi– Cyrtii
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Arab travelersArab travelers
• More reliable information comes from the Arab invasion of the region in the 7th century CE.
• “Mountain people”
• But origin of the word is unknown…
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• The earliest record of the Kurds, written by a Kurd comes from the 16th century.– Sharafnama
• Later, we have much information about Kurds especially under the Ottoman and Persian empires.
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Emergence of Kurdish Emergence of Kurdish nationalismnationalism
• Kurdish rebellions of the 19th century
• World War I and the Kurds– Division of Kurdish
territories into Iran, Iraq, Syria and Turkey
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Kurds in TurkeyKurds in Turkey
• Endured long discrimination
• Suppression of Kurdish identity
• Recently major changes in Kurdish policy– Acceptance of “Kurdish reality”– Kurds in the parliament – Language, publication, TV stations
• War against the PKK
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Kurds in IraqKurds in Iraq
• 17 % of the Iraqi population
• After WWI, they were forced to stay with Iraq, in exchange for cultural autonomy
• Broken promises and first Berzenji than Barzani rebellions
• “Halabja Massacre”
• in 1988
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• Iraqi Kurdish Civil War involved two Kurdish factions KDP and PUK
• Took place in the mid 1990s and 5K people from both side lost their lives.
• In 1998 Barzani and Talabani signed a US mediated agreement
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• In 1992, Kurds began self-governing as KRG• After the fall of Saddam in 2003, the KRG grew
in influence signing oil deals with international corporations.
• Currently Massoud Barzani, the President of the autonomous region.
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Kurds in IranKurds in Iran• Kurds are 7-9 % of Iran’s overall
population.
• Mostly Shia
• In 1946, the “Mahabad Experience”
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1990s KDPI insurgency1990s KDPI insurgency
• Insurrection by the KDPI took place in Iranian Kurdistan through early and mid-90s, initiated by assassination of its leader in exile in July 1989.
• The insurrection ended in 1996, as KDPI announced a unilateral cease fire.
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PJAK insurrectionPJAK insurrection
• PJAK is based in the border area with Iraqi Kurdistan and is affiliated with the PKK (in Turkey).
• Its goal is an establishment of a Kurdish autonomy in Iran.
• Ceasefire signed in 2011
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Kurds in SyriaKurds in Syria
• 9% of Syria's population, the largest ethnic minority in Syria.
• mostly concentrated in the northeast and the north, but there are also significant Kurdish populations in Aleppo and Damascus.
• Previously, denied citizenship to 300K Kurds, but in 2011, they received their citizenship.
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• Kurdish evolved into armed clashes after the opposition Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD) and Kurdish National Council (KNC) signed a cooperation agreement on 12 July 2012 that created the Kurdish Supreme Committee as the governing body of all Kurdish controlled areas.
• Under this, the Popular Protection Units (YPG) were created to control the Kurdish inhabited areas in Syria.