ABOUT KURDISTAN
THE KURDS IN HISTORY
from the 16th century the Ottoman and Persian Empires allowed the Kurdish tribes almost total autonomy in return for keeping, the peace on the rugged but open border area between the two empires. From the mid-19th century, with rifles, machine guns, and later warplanes, the governments of the region increasingly decided to control the border themselves and bring these previously independent tribes under direct control. At the end of World War 1, the Ottoman Empire was carved up and the Kurds found themselves segmented between Turkey, Iran and Iraq.
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AN UNWANTED MINORITY
In each of the new post-war countries, the Kurds found they were treated with suspicion, and pressured to conform to the ways of the majority. Their old independence and traditional pastoralist way of life was rapidly reduced. They were expected to learn the main language of the new state in which they found themselves, Turkish, Persian or Arabic, to abandon their Kurdish identity and to accept Turkish, Iranian or Arab nationalism. As a tribal and traditionally minded society the Kurds wanted to be left in peace, but few then were nationalists. Some tribes tried to resist the encroachment of government while their rivals benefited from operating with the government. But an increasing number of Kurds felt the deliberate undermining of their cultural identity.
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IN TURKEY
In Turkey almost 10 million Kurds are forbidden to use their own language or to describe themselves as Kurds, on pain of imprisonment Kurds are officially known as "Mountain Turks". In the 1920s and 1930s Kurds rebelled against this discrimination, and the government suppressed them with great ferocity deporting thousands from their homeland. The continued stringent suppression of over 9 million people has resulted in the rise of a Marxist guerrilla group.
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IN IRAN
In Iran the Kurds were similarly brought under control in the 1920s. In 1946 the Kurds of Mahabad succeeded in declaring an independent republic, but it only lasted a few months, and the authorities hanged the ringleaders. Tribal chiefs were allowed to register tribal lands as personal possessions and were welcomed into the Iranian ruling elite, in return for making sure their tribes obeyed the government. After the shia revolution the Kurdistan Democratic Party of Iran (KDPI) rebelled after demands for autonomy were refused by Tehran.
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IN IRAQ
there were numerous revolts against Baghdad, mainly by Mullah Mustafa Barzani, the famous leader of the Kurdistan Democratic Party of Iraq (KDP). From 1964 until 1975 Barzani was strong enough to maintain an intermittent state of war and peace negotiations. In 1974 the governing Ba'th party offered the Kurds autonomy, but the Kurds believed it lacked substance and they reverted to war, strongly supported and encouraged by Iran. But In 1975 the Shah of Iran, who had supported Barzani, signed the Agreement of Algiers with the Iraqi government and abandoned the Iraqi Kurds to their fate; as a result the Kurdish resistance virtually collapsed. In the years that followed, many of the achievements of 1970 were gradually whittled down by the Iraqi authorities. In view of the repeated brutal attacks on Kurdish civilians after the end of the Iran-Iraq war (e.g. Halabja, March 1988), and the forced resettlements of parts of the Kurdish population (1989), it seems unlikely that the atmosphere in Iraq will be conducive to worthwhile literary activities in the near future. At the time of writing, it is impossible to predict the effects of the 1991 Gulf War on the position of the Kurds of Iraq.
The successes of the Iraqi Kurds in the field of language and education have, however, enabled them to create an impressive literature and a fully adequate written language, and have produced a generation of Kurds whose primary and secondary education have been in Kurdish. Such achievements will undoubtedly help the Kurds of Iraq in their future efforts to preserve their cultural and ethnic identity.
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KURDISH RELIGION
Nearly three fifths of the Kurds, almost all Kurmanji-speakers, are today at least nominally Sunni Muslims of Shafiite rite. There are also some followers of mainstream Shiitem Islam among the Kurds, particularly in and around the cities of Kirmanshah, to Hamadan and Bijar in southern and eastern Kurdistan and the Khurasan. These Siite Kurds number around half a million. The overwhelming majority of Muslim Kurds are followers of one several mystic Sufi orders, most importantly the Bektashi order of the northwest Kurdistan, the Naqshbandi order in the west and north, Qadiri orders of east and central Kurdistan, and Nurbakhshi of the south.
Zerk rituals are held at the Pir-e Shahriyar's house, in a hall roughly as large as 5*10m located at the extreme of the house. A man holding a Takht-e Guiveh left from the Pir is sitting on a platform at the end of the hall so the people kiss it for blessing. Mam-Wasta (the village clergy) with his white turban, sits by the top platform. After all people gather, they play the Daf and start chanting the Zekr. [From Kurdistan by N. Kasraian, Z. Arshi, and K. Zabihi]
The rest of the Kurds are followers of several indigenous Kurdish faiths of great antiquit and originality, which are variations on and permutation of an ancient religion that can be reasonably but loosely labeled as Yardanism or the "Cult of Angels." The three surviving major divisions of this religion are Yezidism (in west and west-central Kurdistan, ca 2%of all Kurds), Yarsanism or the Ahl-i Haqq (in southern Kurdistan, ca 13% of all Kurds), and Alevism or Kizil Bash(in western Kurdistan and the Khurasan, ca 20%).
Minor communities of Kurdish Jews, Christians and Baha'is are found in various croners of Kurdistan. the ancient Jewish community has progressively emigrated to Israel, while the Christian community is merging their identity with that of the Assyrians.
The Big Mosque, Mosul-Kurdistan, where The Ku rdish governer Imadadin Zengi ruled and The Great Salahaddin grew up.
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KURDISH LANGUAGE
Language :
Kurds are speakers of Kurdish, a member of the northwestern subdivision of the Iranic branch of the Indo-Europian family of languages, which is akin to Persian, and by extension to other Europian languages. It is fundamentally different from Semetic Arabic and Altaic Turkish. Modern Kurdish divides into two major groups: 1) the Kurmanji group and, 2) the Dimili-Gurani group. These are supplemented by scores of sub-dialects as well. The most popular vernacular is that of Kurmanji(or Kirmancha), spoken by about three-quarters of the Kurds today. Kurmanji divided into North Kurmanji(also called Bahdinani, with around 15 million speakers, primarily in Turkey, Syria, and the former Soviet Union) and South Kurmanji(also called Sorani, with about 6 million speakers, primarily in Iraq and Iran).
The Kurds: A Concise Handbook by Mehrdad R. Izady (This information should not be considered as a 'fact'---The KIN).
To the far north of Kurdistan along Kizil Irmak and Murat rivers in Turkey, Dimili(less accurately but more commonly known as Zaza) dialect is spoken by about 4 million Kurds. There are small pockets of this language spoken in various croners of Anatolia, northern Iraq, northern Iran and the Caucasus as well.
In the far southern Kurdistan, both in Iraq and Iran, the Gurani dialect is spoken by about 3 million Kurds. Gurani along with its two major subdivisions: Laki and Awramani, merit special attention for its wealth of sacred and secular literature stretching over a millennium.
The Kurds: A Concise Handbook by Mehrdad R. Izady (This information should not be considered as a 'fact'---The KIN).
In Iraq and Iran a modified version of the Perso-Arabic alphabet has been adapted to South Kurmani(Sorani). The Kurds of Turkey have recently embarked on an extensive campaign of publication in the North Kurmanji dialect of Kurmaji (Bahdinani) from their publishing houses in Europe. these employed a modified form of the Latin alphabet. The Kurds of the former Soviet Union first began writing Kurdish in the Armenian alphabet in the 1920s, followed by Latin in 1927 , then Cyrillic in 1945, and now in both Cyrilic and Latin. Gurani dialects continue to employ the Persian alphabet without any change. Dimili now uses the same modified Latin alphabet as North Kurmanji for print.
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Every year on March 21st, the Kurdish people celebrate Newroz. In the Kurdish language, Newroz means "new day", by which the Kurds mean the first day of spring. The Kurdish calendar begins on this day. Newroz, therefore, is the new day, the first day of spring, the first day of the new year. The Kurdish nation has been celebrating Newroz since the time of ancient history. This tradition dates back to the myth of Kawa the Blacksmith. On March 21st in the year 612 B.C., Kawa killed the Assyrian tyrant Dehak and liberated the Kurds and many other peoples in the Middle East. Dehak was an evil king who represented cruelty, abuse, and the enslavement of peoples. People used to pray every day for God to help them to get rid of Dehak. On Newroz day, Kawa led a popular uprising and surrounded Dehak's palace. Kawa then rushed passed the king's guards and grabbed Dehak by the neck. Kawa then struck the evil tyrant on the head with a hammer and dragged him off his throne. With this heroic deed, Kawa set the people free and proclaimed freedom throughout the land. A huge fire was light on the mountaintops to send a message: firstly to thank God for helping them defeats Dehak, and secondly to the people to tell them they were free. This is where the tradition of the Newroz fire originates. Today, Newroz is not just a day for remembering, it is also a day for protest and resistance against the oppression which the Kurdish people continue to suffer from. Since the recent struggle for national liberation began, some Kurdish martyrs used their own bodies to carry the flames of Newroz, In Turkish-occupied Kurdistan, resistance actions from the civilian population have given the Newroz festival new life. But year after year, the Turkish State reacts to Kurdish cries for self-determination with violence and massacres. What about democracy in Turkey!? At present, the world's 35 million Kurds, the largest people in the world without their own state, are a persecuted nation living under foreign occupation. The Kurdish situation today is similar to their situation back in the days when King Dehak enslaved the ancient Kurds. Saddam Hussein of Iraq is much worse than Dehak. He is carrying out genocide against the Kurdish people in Iraq. The army and police in Turkey are no better than Dehak's thugs are. And officials in Iran exploit and enslave the people of the Kurdish regions of Iran just as Dehak's agents did in the past. Kurdistan must be free. The Kurdish people need a voice in International affairs. Let us raise the flag of freedom and justice! We cannot remain silent in the face of the massacres, which the Kurdish people are suffering. Now is the time for all people to show their solidarity and support the national liberation struggle in Kurdistan. This struggle is not just for Kurdistan; it is for all humanity. No one can be free until we all are free. We are calling on everyone to celebrate Newroz according to its original spirit of resistance. Newroz does not just belong to the Kurdish people; it is a possession for all oppressed peoples and for all of humanity. We believe the spirit and actions of Newroz can give strength to all humanity to end injustice and oppression. We say "Newroz Piroz Be! - Happy Newroz!" to all our people and to all our friends and to all of humanity.
Newroz Piroz Be!
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