Table of Contents
Who are the Kurds and their history?
The Kurds (Kurdish: کورد, Kurd, also the Kurdish people, Kurdish: گەلی کورد, Gelê Kurd), are an Iranian ethnic group in the Middle East. They have historically inhabited the mountainous areas to the south of Lake Van and Lake Urmia, a geographical area collectively referred to as Kurdistan.
When did the Kurds come to Turkey?
According to Mark Sykes, the earliest population transfer (or exile) of Kurds to Central Anatolia was carried out during the reign of Selim I (1512–20).
Where did Kurdish come from?
Kurds (Kurdish: کورد ,Kurd) or Kurdish people are an Iranian ethnic group native to the mountainous region of Kurdistan in Western Asia, which spans southeastern Turkey, northwestern Iran, northern Iraq, and northern Syria.
Are Armenians Kurds?
According to some historical records and modern scholars, despite the similarity in names, the Karduchoi were not Kurds. Besides Corduene, the Kingdom of Armenia also governed Moxoene (Miks in Kurdish), located around present-day Bahçesaray, which today is inhabited heavily by Kurds.
Who are the ancestors of the Kurds?
Predecessor groups. Gershevitch and Fisher consider the independent Kardouchoi or Carduchi as the ancestors of the Kurds, or at least the original nucleus of the Iranian-speaking people in what is now Kurdistan. The Medes have often been believed to be a starting point for Kurdish (as well as Baloch) ethnogesis.
What happened to the Kurds in the Safavid Empire?
Displacement of the Kurds. Removal of the population from along their borders with the Ottomans in Kurdistan and the Caucasus was of strategic importance to the Safavids. Hundreds of thousands of Kurds were moved to other regions in the Safavid empire, only to defend the borders there.
Who are the Kurds and why do they want independence?
The drive for independent nationhood is a key part of Kurdish history and identity. Iraqi Kurdistan – a semi-autonomous region in the north of Iraq, and the closest thing to a Kurdish state – is home to around 5m Kurds. The Kurdish people also represent a minority of the population in Turkey to the north, Syria to the West and Iran to the East.
What happened to the Kurds in 1920s Turkey?
In 1920, after the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire, the Kurds were promised their own state in the Treaty of Sevres. The deal was later rejected by Turkish leader Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, and Turkey repressed Kurdish uprisings over the next few decades.