Kurds: Difference between revisions

{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2020}}

{{Infobox ethnic group

| group = Kurds<br />{{nobold|{{lang|ku|کورد}}}}<br />{{small|{{lang|ku-Latn|Kurd}}}}

| pop = 30–40 million<ref name="CIAonline">{{cite book |title= The World Factbook |edition= Online |date= 2015 |publisher= US [[Central Intelligence Agency]] |location= Langley, Virginia |issn= 1553-8133 |url= https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/ |access-date= 2 August 2015 |archive-date= 6 January 2019 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20190106114713/https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/ |url-status= dead }} A rough estimate in this edition gives populations of 14.3 million in Turkey, 8.2 million in Iran, about 5.6 to 7.4 million in Iraq, and less than 2 million in Syria, which adds up to approximately 28–30 million Kurds in Kurdistan or in adjacent regions. The CIA estimates are {{as of|lc=y|2015|8}} – Turkey: Kurdish 18%, of 81.6 million; Iran: Kurd 10%, of 81.82 million; Iraq: Kurdish 15–20%, of 37.01 million, Syria: Kurds, Armenians, and other 9.7%, of 17.01 million.</ref><br />({{small|''[[The World Factbook]]'', 2015 estimate}})<br>36.4–45.6 million<ref name="KIOP2017">[http://www.institutkurde.org/en/info/the-kurdish-population-1232551004 The Kurdish Population] by the [[Kurdish Institute of Paris]], 2017 estimate. The Kurdish population is estimated at 15–20 million in Turkey, 10–12 million in Iran, 8–8.5 million in Iraq, 3–3.6 million in Syria, 1.2–1.5 million in the European diaspora, and 400k–500k in the former USSR—for a total of 36.4 million to 45.6 million globally.</ref><br/>({{small|[[Kurdish Institute of Paris]], 2017 estimate}})

| related = Other [[Iranian peoples|Iranic peoples]]

| footnotes =

}}

{{Kurds}}

 

 

Kurds speak the [[Kurdish languages]] and the [[Zaza–Gorani languages]], which belong to the [[Western Iranian languages|Western Iranian]] branch of the [[Iranian languages]].<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |url= http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-Kurds.html |title= Kurds |year= 2014 |encyclopedia= The Columbia Encyclopedia |edition=6th |publisher= Encyclopedia.com |access-date= 29 December 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |author1=Windfuhr |title=Iranian Languages |date=2013 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1135797041 |page=587}}</ref>

As a response to growing [[Pan-Turkism]] and [[Pan-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.<ref name="ashraf"/> Some of such groups and journals openly advocated Iranian support to the Kurdish rebellion against [[Turkey]].<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |last=Parvin|first=Nassereddin |title=Iran-e Kabir |encyclopedia=[[Encyclopædia Iranica]] |publisher=Columbia University |location=New York |url= http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/iran-e-kabir |date=15 December 2006 |access-date=17 August 2013}}</ref> Secular [[Pahlavi dynasty]] has endorsed Iranian ethnic [[Iranian nationalism|nationalism]]<ref name="ashraf"/> which saw the Kurds as integral part of the Iranian nation.<ref name="banuaziziweiner"/> [[Mohammad Reza Pahlavi]] has personally praised the Kurds as "pure Iranians" or "one of the most noble [[Iranian peoples]]". Another significant ideology during this period was [[Marxism]] which arose among Kurds under influence of [[USSR]]. It culminated in the [[Iran crisis of 1946]] which included a separatist attempt of [[KDP-I]] and [[communist]] groups<ref>Zabih, Sepehr (15 December 1992). [http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/communism-ii Communism ii.]. in ''[[Encyclopædia Iranica]]''. New York: Columbia University</ref> to establish the [[USSR|Soviet]] [[puppet government]]<ref>{{cite book|last=Romano|first=David|title=The Kurdish Nationalist Movement: Opportunity, Mobilization and Identity|series=Cambridge Middle East studies, 22.|publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]]|location=Cambridge, UK; New York|year=2006|page=227|isbn=978-0-521-85041-4|oclc=61425259}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Chelkowski|first1=Peter J.|last2=Pranger|first2=Robert J.|title=Ideology and Power in the Middle East: Studies in Honor of George Lenczowski|publisher=[[Duke University Press]]|location=Durham|year=1988|page=[https://archive.org/details/ideologypowerinm0000unse/page/399 399]|isbn=978-0-8223-0781-5|oclc=16923212|url=https://archive.org/details/ideologypowerinm0000unse/page/399}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Abrahamian|first=Ervand|author-link=Ervand Abrahamian|title=Iran Between Two Revolutions|publisher=[[Princeton University Press]]|location=Princeton, N.J.|year=1982|pages=217–218|isbn=978-0-691-05342-4|oclc=7975938}}</ref> called [[Republic of Mahabad]]. It arose along with [[Azerbaijan People's Government]], another Soviet puppet state.<ref name="kreyenbroek1719"/><ref>{{cite book|last1=Chubin|first1=Shahram|author-link1=Shahram Chubin|last2=Zabih|first2=Sepehr|title=The Foreign Relations of Iran: A Developing State in a Zone of Great-Power Conflict|year=1974|publisher=[[University of California Press]]|pages=[https://archive.org/details/foreignrelations0000chub/page/39 39–41, 178]|location=Berkeley|isbn=978-0-520-02683-4|oclc=1219525|url=https://archive.org/details/foreignrelations0000chub/page/39}}</ref> The state itself encompassed a very small territory, including [[Mahabad]] 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.<ref name="kreyenbroek1719"/> As a result, when the Soviets withdrew from Iran in December 1946, government forces were able to enter Mahabad unopposed.<ref name="kreyenbroek1719"/>

 

Several [[Nationalism|nationalist]] and [[Marxist]] insurgencies continued for decades ([[1967 Kurdish revolt in Iran|1967]], [[1979 Kurdish rebellion in Iran|1979]], [[KDPI insurgency (1989–1996)|1989–96]]) led by [[KDP-I]] and [[Komala Party of Iranian Kurdistan|Komalah]], but those two organization have never advocated a separate Kurdish state or greater Kurdistan as did the [[Kurdistan Workers' Party|PKK]] in [[Turkey]].<ref name="kreyenbroek138141"/><ref name="romano240"/><ref>{{cite book|last=Abrahamian|first=Ervand|author-link=Ervand Abrahamian|title=Iran Between Two Revolutions|year=1982|publisher=[[Princeton University Press]]|location=Princeton, New Jersey|page=453|isbn=978-0-691-05342-4|oclc=7975938}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Yodfat|first=Aryeh|title=The Soviet Union and Revolutionary Iran|publisher=[[St. Martin's Press]]|location=New York|year=1984|isbn=978-0-312-74910-1|oclc=9282694|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/sovietunionarabi0000yodf}}</ref> Still, many of dissident leaders, among others [[Qazi Muhammad]] and [[Abdul Rahman Ghassemlou]], were executed or assassinated.<ref name="kreyenbroek1719"/> During [[Iran–Iraq War]], Tehran has provided support for Iraqi-based Kurdish groups like [[Kurdish Democratic Party|KDP]] or [[Patriotic Union of Kurdistan|PUK]], along with asylum for 1.4 million Iraqi refugees, mostly [[Kurdish refugees|Kurds]]. Kurdish Marxist groups have been marginalized in Iran since the [[dissolution of the Soviet Union]]. In 2004 new [[Iran–PJAK conflict|insurrection]] started by [[PJAK]], separatist organization affiliated with the Turkey-based [[Kurdistan Workers' Party|PKK]]<ref name="katzman">{{cite book|last=Katzman|first=Kenneth|title=Iraq: Post-Saddam Governance and Security|publisher=[[Nova Science Publishers]]|location=New York|year=2009|page=32|isbn=978-1-61470-116-3|oclc=756496931}}</ref> and designated as [[List of designated terrorist groups|terrorist]] by Iran, Turkey and the United States.<ref name="katzman"/> Some analysts claim PJAK do not pose any serious threat to the [[government of Iran]].<ref>{{cite book|last1=Habeeb|first1=William Mark|last2=Frankel|first2=Rafael D.|last3=Al-Oraibi|first3=Mina|title=The Middle East in Turmoil: Conflict, Revolution, and Change|publisher=[[Greenwood Publishing Group]]|location=Santa Barbara|year=2012|page=46|isbn=978-0-313-33914-1|oclc=753913763}}</ref> 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.<ref name="elling">{{cite book|last=Elling|first=Rasmus Christian|title=Minorities in Iran: Nationalism and Ethnicity after Khomeini|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan|location=New York|year=2013|page=312|isbn=978-0-230-11584-2|oclc=714725127}}</ref> Since the [[Iranian Revolution]] of 1979, accusations of "discrimination" by Western organizations and of "foreign involvement" by Iranian side have become very frequent.<ref name="elling"/>

 

 

===Handicrafts===

Outside of weaving and clothing, there are many other Kurdish [[handicrafts]], which were traditionally often crafted by nomadic Kurdish tribes. These are especially well known in Iran, most notably the crafts from the [[Kermanshah]] and [[Sanandaj]] regions. Among these crafts are chess boards, talismans, jewelry, ornaments, weaponry, instruments etc.{{Citation needed|date=September 2022}}