Few today know who the Kurds are and where they live? But a large number of people belong to the Kurds. Kurdistan is the southwestern territory of the Asian continent, which is inhabited by Kurds in an absolute or relative majority. Kurdistan is not a state-political, but an ethnographic name, since it is located on the territory of four states:

Today there are Kurds, according to various estimates, from 20 to over 30 million people. There are 14-15 million Kurds in Turkey, about 4.8-6.6 million in Iran, about 4-6 million in Iraq and about 1-2 million in Syria. Almost 2 million Kurds are scattered throughout Europe and America, where they created powerful and organized communities. There are 200-400 thousand Kurds in the countries of the former USSR, mainly in Azerbaijan and Armenia.

Kurds are an Iranian-speaking people living in the territories of Turkey, Iran, Syria, Iraq, and also partially in the Transcaucasus. The Kurdish people speak two dialects - Kurmanji and Sorani.
Kurds are one of the oldest peoples in the Middle East. Ancient Egyptian, Sumerian, Assyrian-Babylonian, Hittite, Urartian sources began to report on the ancestors of the Kurds quite early. The well-known orientalist, doctor of historical sciences M. S. Lazarev, wrote that “it is very difficult to find a people who would have lived on their national territory for so long…”. From the point of view of N. Ya. Marr, “the Kurds retain elements of the ancient culture of the Near East because they are descendants of the autochthonous population…” wrote O. Vilchevsky (1-70). Scientists - Academicians N. Ya. Marr, I. M. Dyakonov, V. F. Minorsky, G. A. Melikishvili, I. Chopin, P. Lerkh, Professor Egon von Elktedt, Amin Zaki, Gurdal Aksoy and others among the ancestors the Kurds are called the ancient tribes of the Gutians, Lullubis, Hurrians, Kassites, Mads (Medes), Kardukhs, Urartians, Khalds, Mares, Kirti and other inhabitants of the gray-haired Middle East. Kurds, as descendants of these tribes, have their roots in the distant historical past.

The Kurds are the largest people without their own state. Kurdish autonomy exists only in Iraq (Kurdish Regional Government of Iraq).

This people has been fighting for the creation of Kurdistan for more than twenty years. It is worth noting that all world powers are playing the Kurdish card. For example, Israel and the United States, which are allies of Turkey, encourage its fight against the Kurdish movement. Russia, Greece and Syria support the PKK.




Such interest of other states in Kurdistan can be explained by their interest in the rich natural resources of the territory inhabited by Kurds. Oil is one of the most important resources.

Due to the rather favorable geographical and strategic position of Kurdistan, foreign conquerors have paid special attention to these lands since ancient times. Therefore, from the time of the formation of the Caliph to the present, the Kurds were forced to fight against the enslavers. It is worth noting that the Kurdish dynasties during the early feudal period had significant political influence in the Middle East and ruled not only in individual principalities, but also in such large countries as Syria and Egypt.

In the 16th century, a series of ongoing wars began in Kurdistan, the cause of which was Iran and the Ottoman Empire, arguing over the possession of its lands.

According to the Zohab Treaty (1639), which was the result of these wars, Kurdistan was divided into two parts - Turkish and Iranian. Subsequently, this event played a fatal role in the fate of the peoples of Kurdistan.

The Ottoman and Iranian governments gradually weakened and then liquidated the Kurdish principalities in order to enslave Kurdistan economically and politically. This led to the strengthening of the feudal fragmentation of the country.

The government of the Ottoman Empire dragged the Kurds against their will into the First World War, which subsequently led to the ruin of the region and its division into four parts: Turkish, Iranian, Iraqi and Syrian.

Origin of the Kurds

The origin of the Kurds is currently a subject of debate and controversy. According to several hypotheses, this people has:



• Scythian-Median origin.


• Japhetic.


• Northern Mesopotamia.


• Iranian plateau.


• Persia.



Obviously, many of the representatives of these areas took part in the formation of the Kurdish people.

Religion of the Kurds

There are several religions in Kurdistan. The bulk of the Kurdish population (75%) professes Sunni Islam, there are also Alawite and Shia Muslims. A small proportion of the population professes Christianity. In addition, 2 million adhere to the pre-Islamic religion of "Yazidism" who call themselves Yezidis. However, regardless of religion, every Kurd considers Zoroastrianism to be his original religion.

Speaking of the Yezidis, one should always remember:



• Yezidis are one of the ancient peoples of Mesopotamia, they speak the Kurmanji dialect of the Kurdish language - the culture is identical to Kurdish, the religion is Yezidism.




• A Yazid is born from a Yezidi Kurdish father, and any decent woman can be a mother.


• YAZIDISM is practiced not only by Yezidi Kurds, but also by other representatives of the Kurdish people.


• Yezidis are ethnic Kurds who profess the ancient Kurdish religion Yezidism.



Sunnism is the dominant branch of Islam. Who are Sunni Kurds? Their religion is based on the "Sunnah", which is a set of rules and principles that were based on the example of the life of the Prophet Muhammad.

The Kurdish people are the largest in number, having the status of a "national minority". The number of Kurds in the world does not have accurate data. Depending on the sources, these figures vary greatly: from 13 to 40 million people.

Representatives of this nationality live in Turkey, Iraq, Syria, Iran, Russia, Turkmenistan, Germany, France, Sweden, the Netherlands, Germany, Britain, Austria and many other countries of the world.

Kurds in Turkey today

Currently, there are about 1.5 million Kurds living in Turkey who speak the Kurdish language.

In 1984, the Kurdistan Workers' Party entered into a war (which continues to this day) with the Turkish authorities. Kurds in Turkey today demand the proclamation of a single and independent state - Kurdistan, which will unite all the territories inhabited by Kurds.

Today, the Kurdish issue is one of the key issues in discussions on the further path of Turkey's European integration. European demands to grant the Kurdish people autonomy and rights in line with European standards remain unfulfilled. These circumstances largely explain the reason why the Turks do not like the Kurds.

Traditions and customs of the Kurds

Due to the fact that the Kurds do not have their own official state, a certain political status in the world, not many people know who the Kurds are. The history and culture of this people, meanwhile, is distinguished by its richness and versatility.



• With the consent of the girl, the groom can kidnap her. If this happens against the will of the parents, he has to take her to the sheikh's house, and, if the relatives overtake the fugitives, they can kill them. If the young people have time to take refuge in the sheikh's house, then the latter gives the bride's parents a ransom, and the parties reconcile.


• A Kurdish woman has the right to choose the man she loves as her husband. As a rule, the choice of the daughter and parents coincides, however, otherwise, the father or brother can forcibly marry the girl to the person who is considered a worthy candidate for husbands. At the same time, the refusal of the girl to this candidate is considered a terrible shame. It is also considered shameful to divorce your wife, and such cases are extremely rare.


• A Kurdish wedding can last up to seven days, and its duration depends on the financial situation of the owners. This is very reminiscent of Turkish wedding traditions.


• If the groom's relatives live far from the bride's relatives, then two weddings are played, and in cases where the young people live at a short distance from each other, they celebrate one big wedding.


• Kurdish wedding celebrations are lavish and expensive, so the son's parents have been saving money for the wedding for a long time. However, the expenses are paid off by the gifts of the guests, which, as a rule, are sheep or money.


• Treats for weddings or other celebrations consist of rice and meat. Men and women celebrate holidays separately in different tents.


• Blood feud is relevant among the Kurds to this day. The reasons for quarrels can be the lack of water, pastures, etc. However, modern Kurds are increasingly resolving conflicts with the help of payment. There are also known cases when a woman or a girl who was given in marriage to the enemy acted as a payment, and the parties were reconciled.




• Many Kurdish women and girls wear trousers, which is explained by the convenience of riding horses. Jewelry for women are gold and silver coins.


• In marital relations, the Kurds are monogamous, with the exception of the beks, who may remarry in order to strengthen family ties.


• This people is also distinguished by its respectful attitude towards representatives of other religions, regardless of what faith the Kurds have, they can participate in religious ceremonies of other faiths.


• Kurds are also distinguished by their friendliness towards other nationalities, but they do not tolerate situations related to the oppression of their languages, customs and orders.



Kurdish struggle for independence




The first attempt to create an independent Kurdish state was made in the 1840s by Badrkhan-bek, the emir of the Bokhtan region (with the capital Jazire). In the year he began to mint a coin on his own behalf and completely ceased to recognize the power of the Sultan. However, in the summer, the city of Bokhtan was occupied by Turkish troops, the emirate was liquidated, Badrkhan-bek himself was taken prisoner and exiled (he died in 1868 in Damascus).

A new attempt to create an independent Kurdistan was made by Badrkhan's nephew Yezdanshir. He raised an uprising at the end of the year, taking advantage of the Crimean War; he soon managed to take Bitlis, followed by Mosul. After that, Yezdanshir began to prepare an attack on Erzurum and Van. However, the attempt to connect with the Russians failed: all his messengers to General Muravyov were intercepted, and Yezdanshir himself was lured to meet with Turkish representatives, captured and sent to Istanbul (March). After that, the uprising came to naught.

The next attempt to create a Kurdish state was made by Sheikh Oyidullah in the city of Oyidullah, the supreme leader of the Naqshbandi Sufi order, who was highly respected in Kurdistan both for his position and for his personal qualities, convened in July 1880 in his residence Nehri a congress of Kurdish leaders, at in which he put forward a plan: to create an independent state, and in order to first attack Persia (as a weaker enemy), seize Iranian Kurdistan and Azerbaijan and, relying on the resources of these provinces, fight against Turkey. The plan was accepted, and in August of the same year, the Kurdish invasion of Iranian Azerbaijan began. It was accompanied by an uprising of local Kurdish tribes; detachments of the rebels approached Tabriz itself. However, Obeidullah with his main forces slowed down during the siege of Urmia, was eventually defeated and forced to return to Turkey. There he was arrested and exiled to Mecca, where he died.

At this time, the ideology of nationalism is increasingly penetrating into Kurdistan from Europe; its propaganda was conducted by the first Kurdish newspaper, Kurdistan, which was issued from the city of Cairo by the descendants of Badrkhan.

A new upsurge of the national movement in Kurdistan came after the Young Turk Revolution of the year. The nationalist society “Revival and Progress of Kurdistan” arises and immediately gains popularity, the head of which was Sheikh Abdel-Kader, the son of Obeidullah, who returned from exile; after that, the “Kurdistan League” arises, which aimed to create a “Kurdistan beylik” (Kurdish principality) either as part of Turkey, or under the protectorate of Russia or England - there were disagreements in this regard. The sheikh of the Barzan tribe Abdel-Salam, who raised a number of uprisings in 1909-1914, and especially Molla Selim, who became the leader of the uprising in Bitlis in March 1914, was associated with her.

As for Turkish Kurdistan, the Kurds, who were afraid to fall under the rule of Armenians and Western powers, succumbed to the agitation of Mustafa Kemal, who promised them complete autonomy in a joint Kurdish-Turkish Muslim state, and supported him during the Greco-Turkish war. As a result, in 1923, the Lausanne Peace Treaty was concluded, in which the Kurds were not mentioned at all. This treaty defined the modern borders between Iraq, Syria and Turkey, cutting through the former Ottoman Kurdistan.


After that, the Kemalist government began to pursue a policy of "Turkization" of the Kurds. The answer was an uprising raised in early 1925 by Sheikh Said Piran. The rebels captured the city of Gench, which Sheikh Said proclaimed the temporary capital of Kurdistan; further, he intended to capture Diyarbekir and proclaim an independent Kurdish state in it. However, the assault on Diyarbekir was repulsed; after that, the rebels were defeated near Gench, the leaders of the uprising (including Sheikh Abdul-Qadir, son of Obaidullah) were taken prisoner and hanged.

A new uprising of Turkish Kurds began in the city of Ararat mountains. It was organized by the Khoibun (Independence) society; the rebels tried to form a regular army under the command of the former colonel of the Turkish army, Ihsan Nuri Pasha; A civil administration was also created under the leadership of Ibrahim Pasha. The uprising was crushed in the city. The last mass movement of the Turkish Kurds was the movement of the Zaza Kurds (a tribe speaking a special dialect, professing Alavism and hating Muslims) in Dersim. Before the city of Dersim enjoyed de facto autonomy. The transformation of this area into the Tunceli vilayet with a special regime of government caused an uprising under the leadership of the Dersim sheikh Seyid Reza. The army corps sent against the rebels was not successful. However, the commander of the corps, General Alpdogan, lured Seyid Reza to Erzurum for negotiations, where the Kurdish leader was arrested and soon hanged. The uprising was suppressed only in the city. As a result of the regime of military-police terror established in Turkish Kurdistan, the ban on the Kurdish language, Kurdish national clothes and the very name "Kurds" (Kemalist scholars declared the Kurds "mountain Turks", allegedly running wild and forgetting the original Turkish language) , as well as mass deportations of Kurds to Western and Central Anatolia, the Kurdish movement in Turkey was destroyed for many years, and the Kurdish society was destructured.

The center of the Kurdish movement at that time was Iraqi and Iranian Kurdistan. In the city of Suleymaniye, Mahmud Barzanji again raises an uprising. The uprising was crushed, but immediately after that, the uprising of Sheikh Ahmed broke out in Barzan (1931-1932). In 1943-1945, a new uprising led by 1975 took place in Barzan. During the uprising, Barzani managed to achieve formal recognition of the right to autonomy for the Kurds of Iraq; however, in the end he was defeated. The defeat of the uprising provoked a split in the movement of the Iraqi Kurds: a number of left-wing parties broke away from the Democratic Party of Kurdistan, in the summer of 1975 they took shape in the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan under the leadership of Jalal Talabani.

At the beginning of the year, in connection with the Islamic revolution in Iran, power in Iranian Kurdistan was practically in the hands of the Kurds. However, already in March, armed clashes began between the detachments of the Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan and the Guardians of the Islamic Revolution sent from Tehran. In early September, the Iranians launched a massive offensive, accompanied by mass executions of residents of the captured villages from 12-13 years old. As a result, government forces managed to take control of the main part of Iranian Kurdistan.

The Iranian and Iraqi Kurds found themselves in a tragic situation during the Iran-Iraq war of 1980-1988, when the former enjoyed the support of Baghdad, and the latter, Tehran; on this basis, there were armed clashes between detachments of Iraqi and Iranian rebels.

In March of the year, as a result of the defeat of Iraqi troops, a new uprising broke out in Iraqi Kurdistan. In April, it was suppressed by Saddam Hussein, but then NATO forces, acting under a UN mandate, forced the Iraqis to leave part of Iraqi Kurdistan, where the so-called "Free Kurdistan" was created with a government of members of the KDP and PUK. The final liberation of Iraqi Kurdistan took place after the fall of Saddam Hussein. At present, there exists a formally federal, but in fact semi-independent state, whose president is

At this time, the Kurdish Workers' Party appeared in Turkey, headed by Abdullah Ocalan, nicknamed "Apo" ("Uncle"), which is why its adherents are called "apochists". After the military coup, its members fled to Syria, where, having received help from the Syrian government, they began an armed struggle against the Turkish state under the slogan "A united, democratic, independent Kurdistan". The first armed action was committed in the year, by the mid-90s . The PKK has already bombarded several thousand (according to its own claims up to 20 thousand) “guerrillas” (guerrillas) with an army and extensive political structures in the Kurdish diaspora around the world. In total, more than 35 thousand people died as a result of hostilities. In Syria, under pressure from Turkey, she refused to support the PKK and expelled Ocalan, which inflicted the strongest blow on the parties, and as it turned out, an irreparable blow; Ocalan was captured by the Turks in Kenya, tried and sentenced to death; he is currently in prison on about. Imraly.

Currently, the actual center of the Kurdish national movement is Iraqi Kurdistan. There is a widespread hope among Kurds that it will become the basis of a future independent and united "Greater Kurdistan".

Kurds: history, religion, culture

According to the site "New Kurdistan"
http://kurdstory.narod.ru/rfr.html

HISTORICAL OUTLINE

Material prepared by Julia Said
(The essay uses the scientific works of historians:
professors M.S.Lazarev and A.M.Menteshashvili)

Kurdistan (literally - the country of the Kurds) forms a territory in the southwest of the Asian mainland, in which the Kurds make up an absolute or relative majority. This name has not a state-political, but an ethno-geographical meaning. This territory is divided between four states - Turkey, Iran, Iraq and Syria. Therefore, it is difficult to accurately determine its geographical limits.

Located in the very center of the Western Asian region (approximately between 34 and 40 degrees north latitude and 38 and 48 degrees east longitude), Kurdistan stretches from west to east for about 1 thousand km, and from north to south - from 300 to 500 km. Its total area is approximately 450 thousand sq. km. (in Turkey - over 200 thousand sq. km., in Iran - over 160 thousand sq. km., in Iraq - up to 75 thousand sq. km., in Syria - up to 15 thousand sq. km.).

Kurdistan is the historical homeland of the Kurdish people, where the vast majority of them live, but there are also quite a few non-Kurdistan Kurds (several hundred thousand in the Eastern Iranian province of Khorasan, about 200 thousand in the former USSR, over 150 thousand in Israel, about one million in exile, mainly in Western Europe). Among the Kurds, there is a high natural increase - about 3% per year. Therefore, despite the predominantly mountainous terrain, thanks to the fertile valleys, Kurdistan in terms of population density reaches the average for Asia (up to 45 people per sq. km.). According to a very rough estimate, its population by now exceeds 30 million. Thus, the Kurds are the largest national minority in Western Asia and the largest nation in the world deprived of the right to national self-determination.

In the countries where they live, the Kurds are unevenly settled. Most of them are in Turkey (about 47%). There are about 32% Kurds in Iran and about 16% in Iraq. In ethnic Kurdistan itself (with all the conventionality of the borders), Kurds make up the vast majority of the population (according to some data in its various parts from 84 to 94%, according to others - from 72 to 79%).

The main feature of the geopolitical position of Kurdistan was that it has always occupied a border position, being at the junction of two or more states (Roman, Byzantine, Ottoman Empire, Arab Caliphate, Iran). Due to this feature, the ethno-social development of the Kurds has always proceeded under extremely unfavorable conditions of political separation of the ethnic group by state borders. Therefore, the Kurdish nation that has now formed is far from homogeneous. And, above all, it concerns the language.

The Kurdish language belongs to the western group of Iranian languages, it is divided into a number of dialects and adverbs, some of which are still not well understood. Due to the fact that the Kurds failed to create their own state and, as a result, centuries of disunity, as well as prolonged contact with Arabs, Persians, Turks, Armenians and other peoples of the Near and Middle East, left a significant mark on their language. Kurdish literature develops mainly in two dialects - Sorani and Kurmanji. About 60% of the Kurds living in Northern, Northwestern, Western, Southwestern and partly in Central Kurdistan (on the territories of Turkey, Northwestern Iran, Syria, part of Northern Iraq) use the Kurmanji dialect (mainly in Latin script). Up to 30% of the Kurds living in South and Southeast Kurdistan (Western and Southwest Iran, East and Southeast Iraq) speak and write in the Sorani dialect (in Arabic script). In addition, among the Zaza Kurds living in the Tunceli (Dersim) vilayet in Turkish Kurdistan, the Zazai or Dumili dialect (on the Latin script) is common, and among the Kurds of Kermanshah (Bakhteran) in Iran, the Gurani dialect related to it (on the Arabic script).

The writing of the Kurds began to develop on the basis of the Arabic alphabet, which was subsequently adapted to the phonetic features of the Kurdish language. This alphabet was used by the Kurds of Iraq and Iran. In the 30s. 20th century the first steps were taken to create a Kurdish alphabet based on the Latin. Thus, the Kurds of Syria began to use the Turkish Latin alphabet (since 1931), to which some signs were added to convey the specific sounds of the Kurdish language. In 1929 the Kurds of Armenia switched to writing, also created on the basis of Latin graphics, in which all scientific and fiction literature was published. Since 1945, the Kurdish alphabet on the Russian basis has been introduced here.

Kurdistan is distinguished by the diversity of existing religions. The vast majority of Kurds - 75% - profess Sunni Islam, a significant part are Shiite and Alawite Muslims, there are also Christians. A relatively small part of the Kurds profess the pre-Islamic Kurdish religion - Yezidism. But, regardless of religion, the Kurds consider Zoroastrianism to be their original religion.

Kurdistan, which occupies an extremely favorable geographical and strategic position, constantly attracted the attention of foreign invaders. From the time of the formation of the Caliphate up to the present day, the Kurds at various times fought against the Arab, Turkish, Mongolian, Turkmen, Persian and other enslavers. Independent Kurdish dynasties (Shedadids, Mervanids, Ravadids, Hasanwayhids, Ayubids) ruled not only individual principalities, but also such large countries as Egypt and Syria. The famous Kurdish commander Salah ad-Din, who ruled Egypt for many years, managed to unite Arabs, Kurds and other peoples under his banners and achieved significant success in the fight against the crusaders. In the era of early feudalism, the Kurdish dynasties enjoyed great political influence in the Middle East and played a significant role in the fate of the peoples of the region.

From the beginning of the XVI century. Kurdistan has become the scene of ongoing wars. Two Muslim powers argued for possession of it - Safavid Iran and the Ottoman Empire. The result of these wars was the Zohab Treaty of 1639, which divided Kurdistan into Turkish and Iranian parts and played a fatal role in the future fate of the Kurdish people. Guided by the Divide and Rule law, the governments of the Ottoman Empire and Iran tried to weaken and then liquidate the Kurdish principalities in order to economically and politically enslave Kurdistan. This division not only did not put an end to civil strife, but, on the contrary, further strengthened the feudal fragmentation of the country. In modern times, the liberation struggle of the Kurds continued. Throughout the 19th century it resulted in great uprisings, which were brutally suppressed by the sultan and shah regimes. Against their will, the Kurds were drawn into the First World War by the government of the Ottoman Empire, after which the devastated region was divided again - now into four parts - between Turkey, Iran, Iraq and Syria.

Kurdish culture is multifaceted. From the depths of centuries, the richest heritage of Kurdish oral folk art has come down to us. Folklore reflects the history of this people, their centuries-old struggle for freedom. The high artistic perfection of the Kurdish epic puts it on a par with the monuments of world folklore. History has preserved the names of many remarkable Kurdish poets and writers. The discovery of written monuments of Kurdish literature and their preliminary studies allow us to assert that the Kurds are the creator people of original national literature. The earliest written monument in the Kurdish language that has come down to us dates back to the 7th century. In it, the author laments the devastation of the land of the Kurds by the Arab conquerors.

The first Kurdish poet, known as Pire Shariar, lived in the 10th century. Some researchers call him the Kurdish Khoja Nasreddin for his numerous quatrains and sayings, which have become proverbs and sayings. An outstanding poet of the Middle Ages was Ali Teremahi (X-XI centuries), the author of the first treatise on grammar in the Kurdish language and such poems as The Only Word, Sons of the Fatherland, Yakhont's Necklace and Truly, life is a dream. Ali Teremahi was one of the first to create his works in the Kurmanji dialect. His great contemporary Ali Hariri (1009-1079) also wrote in the same dialect, whose poems are popular among the people. A handwritten divan (collection) of his lyrical gazelles has come down to us. Between the 12th and 15th centuries created a whole galaxy of Kurdish poets, the most prominent representatives of which were Ahmed Malai Jaziri (Mela Jiziri), Faki Tayran (Mim-Hai) and Mulla Bate. In her lyrical qasidas, Mela Jiziri sings of the beauty of her beloved, the sister of the Jazir ruler Umad ad-Din. Two lines can be traced in his work - folk, characteristic of his predecessors, and court. In Kurdish literature, Jiziri is considered the head of the ghazal school. The work of these poets paved the way for the emergence of one of the most prominent Kurdish poets - Ahmed Khani (1650-1708), whose famous poem Mam and Zin can rightly be called the best monument of Kurdish literature. The poem is the glory of Kurdish classical poetry. According to modern Kurdish literary critics, Ahmed Khani was the first poet who touched upon the national problem of the Kurds in literature. Of the representatives of the Kurdish literature of modern times, Nali, or Mela Khizra (1800-1856), should be singled out. Brought up on the best works of Persian and Arabic poetry, he wrote beautiful ghazals and is rightfully considered the founder of poetry in the southern dialect. The most important milestone in the modern history of Kurdish literature was the work of Haji Kadir Koy (1816-1894). Almost all of his poems have a national-patriotic orientation, the Kurdish national liberation movement of the 19th century. reflected in his poetry.

In the XX century. the best traditions of Kurdish literature were continued by Jigarkhun, Khozhar, Hemen, Faik Bekas and Sherko Bekas.

Omarkhali Khanna Rza

YAZIDISM AND RELIGIOUS REPRESENTATIONS OF YAZIDS

For many centuries, the Yezidis hid their religious beliefs. They continued to adhere to the religion of their ancestors and practiced secret cults, orally passing on the fundamentals of the creed. Oral traditions were passed down from generation to generation in the form of oral traditions, many of them are forgotten, some have been distorted or influenced by other religions, but most of them have survived to this day.

Yezidism - one of the religions found among the Kurds - has attracted special attention since ancient times. Many travelers who passed through the territory inhabited by Yezidi Kurds spoke about the Yezidis, but mainly about their manners and customs. As for the very essence of the Yezidi religion, it almost always remained an inaccessible secret for Europeans. This is explained largely by the fact that most of the adherents of this religion hid their religion from the Gentiles.

Recently, there has been an active study of Yezidism by European and Kurdish scholars. There is a trend towards religious enlightenment of the Yezidis and Yezidi literature is printed in Kurdish. For example, in Iraq, a kind of textbooks on the study of Yezidism are published with descriptions of rituals, prayers, and religious hymns.

Yezidis live mainly in Iraq (especially in the mountains of Sinjar, where Lalesh is located - the shrine of all Yezidis), in Turkey, Syria. A small part of them live in Iran, mainly in the northwest, near the cities of Maku and Khoi, as well as in Georgia, Armenia, Russia, Germany, France, Belgium, Holland and other countries. Yezidis are native speakers of the northern dialect of the Kurdish language, Kurmanji. The adherents of this religion themselves call themselves Ezdi, not Yezidis, in honor of Sultan Ezid, the "forefather" of the Yezidis.

Some authors use the term “sect” to define Yezidism, but hereinafter the term “religion” and not a sect will be used, since the author of this article adheres to the opinion of Acad. N.Ya. Marra that Yezidism is actually a Kurdish religion, practiced by most of the Kurds before they converted to Islam.

To this day, no consensus has been developed regarding the origin of Yezidism, and this issue remains debatable and needs in-depth scientific research. Some adhere to the theory of the prominent Islamic scholar Michel Angelo Guidi, the author of the hypothesis about the Muslim origin of Yezidism. However, many scholars do not agree with this opinion, arguing that Yezidi Kurds were never Muslims and Yezidism was practiced by most of the Kurds before they were introduced to Islam. A number of researchers believe that Yezidism dates back to the early Christian period, more precisely, its roots extend to the period before 2000 BC. The worship of the sun and fire among the Yezidis gives grounds to talk about the elements of Zoroastrianism in Yezidism. This point of view is shared by many authors. So, for example, S.A. Egiazarov writes in this regard: “It is very likely that the Yezidis in the distant past were followers of the Zoroaster teaching, which subsequently underwent a significant change.” Indeed, the study of sources on these two religions allows us to say that Zoroastrianism seriously influenced Yezidism. It seems to us that Yezidism and other religious movements in Kurdistan are rooted in a single ancient Kurdish religious system, close to folk Zoroastrianism. Until now, the Yezidi religion retains numerous rituals and beliefs associated with ancient Kurdish beliefs.

The religious doctrine of the Yezidis is set forth in two sacred books - "Jilva" ("Book of Revelation") and "Mashafe Rash" ("Black Book"), written in a special script, in the southern dialect of the Kurdish language, close to Mukri. A letter in Yezidi (as well as in Zoroastrian) ideas is a receptacle of hidden wisdom, and the sacrament of faith should be observed from one's laity and non-believers. For this reason, they did not have a general distribution, and it can be said that the religion of the Yezidis is practically unwritten. It lives on as a verbal tradition passed down from generation to generation.

The so-called kavls and beits are of great importance for the study and description of Yezidism. Kavly - hymns, part of religious teachings, bayts - song excerpts from mythological poems. They represent the richest material for studying the religion of the Yezidis. It is quite difficult to characterize the ideas of the Yezidis about God. One thing is clear: Yezidism is a monotheistic religion. Some scholars argue that the Yezidis do not have specific prayers and sacrifices directly to God. In fact, they are, but they are few.

In Yezidism, it is clearly stated that God is only the Creator of the universe. The rule of the world is given to the seven angels created by him. In this religion, the Creator represents the almighty creator of the world, completely removed from it and from its affairs. According to A.A. Semenov, the concept of God among the Yezidis is somewhat similar to Plato's idea of ​​the Absolute.

An important position in Yezidism is occupied by the image of Melek-Tauz. It is associated with the most conflicting information. Some authors believe that Melek-Tauz is the personification of evil, and the Yezidis are worshipers of the devil. However, these fictions have nothing to do with the ideas of the Yezidis themselves about this deity. Melek-Tauz was the first of the seven angels created by God. "And God made Melek-Tauz the ruler over all." He occupies a high position in the Yezidi cosmogony. Other scholars compare him to the Demiurge of the Gnostics, as in the Mashaf Rush God tells him, "I have put all matter into your hands." Among the Yezidis, Melek-Tauz personifies the two sides of fire - fire as light and fire as fire, that is, both Good and Evil. If every person is a mixture of good and bad, then every Yezidi carries a part of the Melek-Tauz. God's displeasure to him is explained in different ways and has several interpretations. According to one version, Melek-Tauz walked away from God out of pride, not wanting to bow to the created man. According to another legend, this disobedience is explained by his special devotion to God.

For Yezidism, the teaching and personality of Sheikh Adi turned out to be the determining factor in its reform and adaptation to new historical and cultural realities. His image occupies an important place in the religious tradition of the Yezidi Kurds. Sharaf ad-Din Abu l-Fadail Adi b. Musafir b. Ismail b. Musa b. Marwan b. al-Hasan b. Marwan was born between 1073 and 1078 at Beit Farah, in the region of Baalbek, in the Beqaa Valley (now Lebanon). In his youth, Sheikh Adi went to Baghdad. He was acquainted with the famous Sufis of that time, al-Ghazali and Abd al-Qadir al-Gilani. Sheikh Adi left behind several treatises and qasidas. Leaving Baghdad, he moved to the Khakyari mountains (the same as Bakhdinan), where Marwan II once ruled.

To date, most researchers are inclined to believe that Sheikh Adi b. Musafir came to the Kurdish mountains from Syria (Sham). This is also evidenced by the Yezidi religious tradition. For example, the religious hymn "Mala bava" says:

"Sheikh Adi came from Sham,
In Lalesh [began] to do deeds.
Sheikh Adi died in Lalesh in 1162 at an advanced age.

In the views of the Yezidis, Sheikh Adi is not just a historical figure and a reformer of Yezidism. He is considered the second most important deity after Melek-Tauz. As the legend says, having neither father nor mother, he was sent by Melek-Tauz to teach the people he had chosen so that they would not go astray. Sheikh Adi is not dead and never will be. The belief of the Yezidis that after his death he ascended to heaven may be explained by the fact that later the Mosul ruler Badr ad-Din Lu'lu', together with his people, dug up the grave of Sheikh Adi and burned his remains.

Some scholars believe that the deity of the third order in Yezidism is Sultan Yezid (Ezid). Many legends are connected with the appearance of this deity. It should be noted that the solution of the question of his origin is very important, since religion itself is named after him. The Yezidis call him "their Lord". For example, the Yezidi creed states:

"Sultan Ezid is my Lord,
Melek-Tauz is my testimony and [my] faith.”

The main distinguishing feature of Yezidism from other religions (except Zoroastrianism) is that one can only be born a Yezidi, one cannot accept this religion. Their entire society is based on the caste-theocratic principle of division. There are three castes, two of which are the clergy (sheikhs and pirs) and one is the laity (murids). The functions and duties of both the clergy and the laity are hereditary. Marriages between the three castes are strictly endogamous. Thanks to their conservatism and isolation, the Yezidi community managed to bring this system to the present day.

To avoid confusion, mention should be made of the existence of a complex spiritual hierarchy in Lalesh at the tomb of Sheikh Adi (mir, babasheykh, fakirs, kawvals, kochaks, farrashi, etc.). However, this system requires special consideration and now we will not touch on it.
Lalish is a shrine and place of pilgrimage for all Yazidis. Many authors write that Sheikh Adi settled in the ruins of a Christian monastery. However, the interior of the temple does not contain elements inherent in Christian monasteries. Some scholars believe that the architecture of the Yezidi buildings testifies to their construction in pre-Christian times, and in the Roman era, Christian monks settled in them.

There are many precepts in the Yezidi creed, every orthodox Yezidi must adhere to them and be guided by them in their daily life. This is mainly due to concern for the purity of religion. There are some food restrictions. Wearing blue is strictly prohibited. There are also a number of taboos associated with fire, water and earth. It seems to us that this goes back to the Zoroastrian injunction forbidding the desecration of the above-mentioned elements. Yezidis have many holidays, such as the feast of fasting, in honor of Sultan Yezid, the holiday of Khidir Nabi, New Year and others.

Currently, many Yezidis are forgetting the foundations of their creed - the most ancient religion of the Kurds, whose history goes back more than two thousand years. Now, when Yezidi Kurds do not live compactly, they especially need to maintain the traditions and customs of their ancestors, communicate with each other and strive for the revival, and not the extinction of their religion.

KURDISH TALES

father's lesson

The father, returning from the field with his ten-year-old son, saw an old horseshoe on the road and said to his son:
- Pick up this horseshoe.
Why do I need an old horseshoe? - answered the son.

His father did not say anything to him and, raising the horseshoe, went on.

When they reached the outskirts of the city, where the blacksmiths worked, the father sold this horseshoe. After walking a little more, they saw merchants who were selling cherries.

The father bought a lot of cherries from them for the money that he got for the horseshoe, wrapped them in a scarf, and then, without looking back at his son, continued on his way, occasionally eating one cherry at a time. The son walked behind and looked greedily at the cherries. When they had gone a little way, one cherry fell out of the father's hands. The son quickly bent down, picked it up and ate it. After some time, the father dropped another cherry, and then another, and began to drop one cherry at a time, continuing on his way. The son bent down at least ten times, picked up and ate dropped cherries. Finally, the father stopped and, giving his son a handkerchief with cherries, said:

You see, you were too lazy to bend down once to pick up an old horseshoe, and after that you bent down ten times to pick up the very cherries that were bought for this horseshoe. From now on, remember and do not forget: if you consider easy work hard, you will meet harder work; if you are not satisfied with the little, you will lose the big.

The snake is the judge's stick

They say that once a snake crawled into a haystack, and someone set it on fire.

A nearby man named Sheh Omar held out a stick to the snake to save it. As soon as the snake was safe, it wrapped itself around Sheh Omar's neck and would not come off for anything.

They go and turn to many to be judged. The decision of all is this: the snake must come down from the neck of Sheh Omar. But the snake did not listen to anyone and did not descend.

Finally, they came to the fox to judge them. The fox said to the snake: "Until you get down, I will not judge you." As soon as the snake slid down, they immediately smashed its head with a stick. Therefore, they say: "The snake is the judge's stick."

Wise guest

One day a certain dervish knocked on the door of a Kurd.

The door was opened by an elderly woman, the mother of the owner of the house. She said that her son was not at home, invited the guest to come in, spread a carpet for him and covered the table with a tablecloth. But since there was nothing in the house, she could not bear anything for him and was ashamed to tell the guest about it. The guest waited and, seeing that nothing was being brought to him, closed the doors behind him and went on his way.

Then the owner of the house returned home. The mother said that they had a guest, and she did not bring him anything to eat, since there was nothing at home. The owner of the house thought and said:

Mother, give me a saber, I will ride, catch up and kill this dervish before he disgraces me, my ancestors and my descendants before the whole world.

He grabbed his saber, mounted his horse and rushed after the dervish. He caught up with the dervish, drew his saber, swung at him and said:
The wind blows all over the world...
“But not everywhere where it blows, there is wealth and prosperity,” added the wise dervish.

The Kurd understood that the dervish had entered into his position and would not disgrace him before the whole world. He got off his horse, apologized to the man of God, kissed his hand and invited him to visit on the way back.

Who are the Kurds?

Currently, the Kurds inhabiting Iraq, Turkey and Iran do not have their own independent state, but throughout their history, the Kurds have strived to create one.

Who are the Kurds? Where did they come from in the Middle East. There are many theories about the origin of the Kurds. According to the theory of V. Minorsky, the Kurds are the descendants of the ancient Medes, and since the time when the state of Media was liquidated by the Achaemenids, the Kurds could not create their own state in any way. But under their name, the Kurds (former Medes) became known during the Arab conquests. From the 7th to the 9th centuries, Kurdistan was part of the Arab Caliphate.

But there are other theories about the origin of the Kurds. Some researchers believe that the Kurds already existed during the Sumerian civilization (the end of the 4th millennium BC) and were an integral part of the Hurrian people, numerous in those days (by the way, the Urartians were also part of the Hurrian people). The Hurrians are the southern part of all the ancient peoples of the Caucasus. But the Hurrians spoke the Hurrian language, which belongs to the Caucasian languages ​​(languages ​​of the Caucasian language family of peoples). Therefore, the Kurds acquired their modern language from the Persians, as they lived under their rule for a long time.

According to another theory, the ancestors of the Kurds are the ancient Indo-Europeans, who penetrated the territory of Asia Minor at the beginning of the 2nd millennium BC (together with the Hittites, Luvians and Palaians). If we know the history of the Hittites and Luwians well, we know the history of the Palaians poorly.

According to my version, the Palayans and the eastern groups of the Phrygians became the basis for the formation of the Armenian people at the beginning of the 1st millennium BC. The Armenians occupied the territory of the former state of Urartu and created the state of Greater Armenia there. And the territory of this state was large - from the shores of the Caspian Sea to the shores of the Black and Mediterranean Seas. And I had a question - is not the ancient history of the Armenian and Kurdish people common???

Let's see what events took place in those days in those places. Around 1100 AD, the Hittite state, which was inhabited by the Hittites and Palais, was destroyed by the “peoples of the sea”. Phrygians (flies) actively participated in the destruction of the state of the Hittites. At the same time, the main territory of the Hittite state became part of the Phrygian state. And it was at the same time that the formation of the Armenian people began (on the basis of the Palaians and the eastern group of Phrygians). Around the same time, the Urartian people formed from the Hurrian tribes in the same places, who created the large state of Urartu in the territory of the South Caucasus. Ancient Armenians (in the west of Urartu) and Urartians (Hurrits), living in the eastern part of Urartu, also lived in this state. South of Urartu in those days there was a powerful Assyrian state, whose people - the Assyrians spoke mainly Aramaic (Semitic). If we consider the Urartians as the ancestors of the Kurds (their language was still Hurrian at that time), we will see that the history of the ancient Armenians and Kurds in those days was common.

In the 7th-beginning of the 6th century BC Urartu suffered a severe defeat from Assyria, and then it was finally destroyed by Media. Soon, Media itself fell under the rule of the Persians and became part of the Achaemenid state. Perhaps it was at this time that the ancient Kurds (Uratts) began to use more and more Median and Persian languages. It was after these times that they retained their modern language (the language of the Western Iranian group of languages). And the ancient Armenians retained their language, as they lived more remotely from the Persians and Medes.

After the disappearance of Urartu, the Armenians created their own state, recognizing dependence on the Achaemenids, then on the Macedonian and on the Seleucids. During this period, it gradually strengthens, and finally, during the period of the weakening of the Seleucids, Great Armenia becomes the largest state in the Middle East. The ancient Kurds and Armenians again began to live in one state. But this period ended when the Roman and Parthian empires appeared on the international stage. And Armenia became a place of struggle between the Roman (then Byzantine) and Parthian (Persian) empires. During these wars, Armenia was constantly divided into spheres of influence. This state finally disappeared when it was conquered by the Arabs in the 7th century AD. At that time, the Kurds already had their modern name, the Armenians also retained their name and their language.

During the weakening of the Caliphate, the Kurds created their own independent principalities of Shahrezur and Mervanids. But these states were defeated by the Seljuk Turks and the Mongols.

Numerous Kurdish feudal states into which Kurdistan was divided in the Middle Ages were only nominally part of despotic monarchies. They maintained their independence. In 1514, after the Battle of Chaldiran, Kurdistan was divided between Turkey and Iran.

But why do such peoples close in history - Armenians and Kurds - have such a different result ?. This happened (in my opinion) because Russia intervened in the events in the Middle East and she was able to take under the protection of the Armenians (and they now have their own state). And the Kurds still do not have their own state

(The territory of Kurdistan is divided between Turkey, Iraq and Iran.).

For reference

Kurds - n A people of Indo-European origin, widespread on the territory of four states. The Kurds are a mountainous and historically nomadic people, numbering between 25 and 35 million.

Kurds live in half a million square kilometers of mountainous territory stretching from southeast Turkey to central Iran, including Iraq and Syria.

The majority of Kurds (12-15 million) live in Turkey, making up one fifth of the country's population. The Kurdish population of Iran is about five million, which is about 10% of the population, in Iraq - 4.6 million (15-20%), and in Syria - about two million (9%).

Despite the lack of statehood, the Kurds have retained their language, traditions and clan form of social organization.

Kurds have a large European diaspora. According to Council of Europe data on the Kurdish diaspora: 800,000 in Germany, 100,000 in Sweden, 90,000 in the UK and 120,000 - 150,000 in France.

Kurds have two distinct dialects. Kurmanji is spoken in Syria, Turkey, in the north of Iraqi Kurdistan and in all countries of the former USSR, Sorani is spoken in Iran and Iraq. Zazaki is common in Turkish Kurdistan and is primarily spoken in the Tunceli province.

Most Kurds are Sunni Muslims. Shia Kurds who lived in Iraq were massacred or deported by Saddam Hussein in 1987-1988. Some of the Shia Kurds who fled Iraq are now living in refugee camps in Iran. In addition, the Shiite Kurdish community lives in southern Iran.

Information taken

Strikes have begun in Turkey: The Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) has been fighting for an independent state in Turkey for decades.

The Kurds have emerged as the West's most effective partner in the war against the Islamic State (IS) group in Syria and Iraq, and in doing so, they have once again brought the Kurdish question to the forefront of the international community.

The fierce battles over Kobane in Syria have become a symbol of anti-resistance, and a symbol of the Kurds' desire for transnational unity.

Kurdish fighters from the three countries fought together for the first time when the Syrian Kurdish militia, the YPG, was joined by a small contingent of heavily armed Peshmerga (the armed forces of the government of Iraq's Kurdistan Region) as well as fighters from the separatist PKK from Turkey. Encouraged by US support for air strikes, they eventually prevailed and expelled the jihadists from Kobane in January 2015.

Turkey's decision on July 24 to bomb the PKK groups showed that Ankara would not miss an opportunity to strike at the Kurdish separatists.

Who are the Kurds?

Kurdish ethnic group in the Middle East with a language and cultural identity. They are culturally and linguistically related to the Iranians. The Kurds inhabit a contiguous area of ​​500,000 square kilometers spanning four countries - southeast Turkey, northern Iraq, northern Syria, and northwest Iran. There are significant Kurdish diasporas in Europe, the USA, Canada and the countries of the former USSR.

Kurds are the world's largest nation without a state

There is no ethnic census of Kurds by country, but calculations show that they form a population of 20 to 40 million people. There are 15 million Kurds in Turkey, 7 to 8 million in Iran, 1 to 2 million in Syria.

The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), a semi-autonomous region in Iraq, claims a Kurdish population of 5.3 million, but Baghdad says there are only 4.3 million.

Largest Kurdish diaspora in Europe. According to the Paris Kurdish Institute, there are 1.5 - 1.7 million Kurds in Western Europe, including 800,000 in Germany. About 80% of the Kurds living in Western Europe originally come from Turkey. Another 50,000 Kurds live in the US and over 25,000 in Canada.

“Kurdish identity is not based on religion, but on language and culture” - Kendal Nezan, head of the Paris Institute of Kurds.

The vast majority of Kurds, between 70% and 90%, are Sunni Muslims. But there is also a minority of Kurds who are Shiite Muslims in Iran and southern Iraq, where an estimated 20,000 have returned since the fall of Saddam Hussein's regime. In Turkey, Kurds, who are Alawites, are considered members of a branch of Shiite Islam with elements of Sufism.

Other religions among the Kurdish communities include Christianity (Catholics, Assyrians, Chaldeans, and Syrians), Judaism (some 25,000 Jewish Kurds migrated to the US and Israel in the 1950s), and Yezidism in Iraq.

Is there a real Kurdistan?

Kurdistan, which literally means "Country of the Kurds", often appears on world maps used by Kurdish militants. However, there is no such state recognized by international law.

Closest among the Kurds to an independent state is the KRG, which governs the semi-autonomy of Iraqi Kurdistan. The President of the Kyrgyz Republic, Masoud Barzani, is the commander-in-chief of the Peshmerga armed forces, which number 190,000 fighters.

Iraqi Kurdistan serves as a model for Syrian Kurds who hope to create a similar autonomous province of Rojava, including the Kurdish enclaves of Afrin, Kobane and Qamishli.

Kurds have never lived under centralized Kurdish state control and there are dozens of political factions divided between Iraq, Iran, Syria and Turkey.

There are 17 Kurdish parties in Syria. The main one is the Union of Democratic Parties (PYD), which is the PKK affiliate in Turkey. Founded by Abdullah Öcalan in 1978, the PKK took up arms against Ankara in 1984 to demand an independent state and have had a rocky relationship with Turkey ever since. The group is characterized by Marxist ideology and has been listed as a terrorist organization by the US and the European Union.

Two Kurdish parties compete in Iraqi Kurdistan. The Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), led by Barzani, controls the northern part of Iraqi Kurdistan and its capital, Erbil. The Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), based in the city of Sulaymaniyah, is dominant in the southern part.

Turkey at war with the Kurds?

Ankara considers the PKK militants of Turkey as an adversary. And although Erdogan claims that he does not consider the Kurdish people as an enemy, if you carefully follow the actions of the Turkish president, it is easy to find out: he would gladly arrange genocide against the Kurds, as they did the Armenians in the old days, but only times have changed. In times of an open information world, genocide cannot be arranged.

Are all Kurds fighting against the IS group?

Kurdish forces such as the PKK and the Syrian YPG have been on the front lines in the fight against the group in Syria and Iraq. However, Nasr said that there are also prominent Kurdish fighters within the ranks of the jihadist group, most of them in the Kurdish areas of Turkey, Iraq (particularly Halabja) or Iran. Several Syrian Kurds who joined the group came from Amouda and Kahtania, two cities located near the Turkish-Syrian border.

The jihadist Kurdish militant group is keen to show that its war is a religious struggle. The military commander during the Battle of Kobane was a Kurd from Halabju.

"Their goal is to say that their fight is not against the Kurds as an ethnic group, but against secular and democratic principles," Nasr said.

What monster did Erdogan raise

- about 4-6 million and Syria - about 1-2 million. Almost 2 million Kurds are scattered throughout Europe and America, where they have created powerful and organized communities. There are 200-400 thousand Kurds in the countries of the former USSR, mainly in Azerbaijan and Armenia.

Kurds are an Iranian-speaking people living in the territories of Turkey, Iran, Syria, Iraq, and also partially in the Transcaucasus. The Kurdish people speak two dialects - Kurmanji and Sorani.
Kurds are one of the oldest peoples in the Middle East. Ancient Egyptian, Sumerian, Assyrian-Babylonian, Hittite, Urartian sources began to report on the ancestors of the Kurds quite early. The well-known orientalist, doctor of historical sciences M. S. Lazarev, wrote that “it is very difficult to find a people who would have lived on their national territory for so long…”. From the point of view of N. Ya. Marr, “the Kurds retain elements of the ancient culture of the Near East because they are descendants of the autochthonous population…” wrote O. Vilchevsky (1-70). Scientists - Academicians N. Ya. Marr, I. M. Dyakonov, V. F. Minorsky, G. A. Melikishvili, I. Chopin, P. Lerkh, Professor Egon von Elktedt, Amin Zaki, Gurdal Aksoy and others among the ancestors the Kurds are called the ancient tribes of the Gutians, Lullubis, Hurrians, Kassites, Mads (Medes), Kardukhs, Urartians, Khalds, Mares, Kirti and other inhabitants of the gray-haired Middle East. Kurds, as descendants of these tribes, have their roots in the distant historical past.

The Kurds are the largest people without their own state. Kurdish autonomy exists only in Iraq (Kurdish Regional Government of Iraq).

This people has been fighting for the creation of Kurdistan for more than twenty years. It is worth noting that all world powers are playing the Kurdish card. For example, Israel and the United States, which are allies of Turkey, encourage its fight against the Kurdish movement. Russia, Greece and Syria support the PKK.

Such interest of other states in Kurdistan can be explained by their interest in the rich natural resources of the territory inhabited by Kurds. Oil is one of the most important resources.

Due to the rather favorable geographical and strategic position of Kurdistan, foreign conquerors have paid special attention to these lands since ancient times. Therefore, from the time of the formation of the Caliph to the present, the Kurds were forced to fight against the enslavers. It is worth noting that the Kurdish dynasties during the early feudal period had significant political influence in the Middle East and ruled not only in individual principalities, but also in such large countries as Syria and Egypt.

In the 16th century, a series of ongoing wars began in Kurdistan, the cause of which was Iran and the Ottoman Empire, arguing over the possession of its lands.

According to the Zohab Treaty (1639), which was the result of these wars, Kurdistan was divided into two parts - Turkish and Iranian. Subsequently, this event played a fatal role in the fate of the peoples of Kurdistan.

The Ottoman and Iranian governments gradually weakened and then liquidated the Kurdish principalities in order to enslave Kurdistan economically and politically. This led to the strengthening of the feudal fragmentation of the country.

The government of the Ottoman Empire dragged the Kurds against their will into the First World War, which subsequently led to the ruin of the region and its division into four parts: Turkish, Iranian, Iraqi and Syrian.

Origin of the Kurds

The origin of the Kurds is currently a subject of debate and controversy. According to several hypotheses, this people has:

• Scythian-Median origin.


• Japhetic.


• Northern Mesopotamia.


• Iranian plateau.


• Persia.

Obviously, many of the representatives of these areas took part in the formation of the Kurdish people.

Religion of the Kurds

There are several religions in Kurdistan. The bulk of the Kurdish population (75%) professes Sunni Islam, there are also Alawite and Shia Muslims. A small proportion of the population professes Christianity. In addition, 2 million adhere to the pre-Islamic religion of "Yazidism" who call themselves Yezidis. However, regardless of religion, every Kurd considers Zoroastrianism to be his original religion.

Speaking of the Yezidis, one should always remember:

• Yezidis are one of the ancient peoples of Mesopotamia, they speak the Kurmanji dialect of the Kurdish language - the culture is identical to Kurdish, the religion is Yezidism.

• A Yazid is born from a Yezidi Kurdish father, and any decent woman can be a mother.


• YAZIDISM is practiced not only by Yezidi Kurds, but also by other representatives of the Kurdish people.


• Yezidis are ethnic Kurds who profess the ancient Kurdish religion Yezidism.

Sunnism is the dominant branch of Islam. Who are Sunni Kurds? Their religion is based on the "Sunnah", which is a set of rules and principles that were based on the example of the life of the Prophet Muhammad.

The Kurdish people are the largest in number, having the status of a "national minority". The number of Kurds in the world does not have accurate data. Depending on the sources, these figures vary greatly: from 13 to 40 million people.

Representatives of this nationality live in Turkey, Iraq, Syria, Iran, Russia, Turkmenistan, Germany, France, Sweden, the Netherlands, Germany, Britain, Austria and many other countries of the world.

Kurds in Turkey today

Currently, there are about 1.5 million Kurds living in Turkey who speak the Kurdish language.

In 1984, the Kurdistan Workers' Party entered into a war (which continues to this day) with the Turkish authorities. Kurds in Turkey today demand the proclamation of a single and independent state - Kurdistan, which will unite all the territories inhabited by Kurds.

Today, the Kurdish issue is one of the key issues in discussions on the further path of Turkey's European integration. European demands to grant the Kurdish people autonomy and rights in line with European standards remain unfulfilled. These circumstances largely explain the reason why the Turks do not like the Kurds.

Traditions and customs of the Kurds

Due to the fact that the Kurds do not have their own official state, a certain political status in the world, not many people know who the Kurds are. The history and culture of this people, meanwhile, is distinguished by its richness and versatility.

• With the consent of the girl, the groom can kidnap her. If this happens against the will of the parents, he has to take her to the sheikh's house, and, if the relatives overtake the fugitives, they can kill them. If the young people have time to take refuge in the sheikh's house, then the latter gives the bride's parents a ransom, and the parties reconcile.


• A Kurdish woman has the right to choose the man she loves as her husband. As a rule, the choice of the daughter and parents coincides, however, otherwise, the father or brother can forcibly marry the girl to the person who is considered a worthy candidate for husbands. At the same time, the refusal of the girl to this candidate is considered a terrible shame. It is also considered shameful to divorce your wife, and such cases are extremely rare.


• A Kurdish wedding can last up to seven days, and its duration depends on the financial situation of the owners. This is very reminiscent of Turkish wedding traditions.


• If the groom's relatives live far from the bride's relatives, then two weddings are played, and in cases where the young people live at a short distance from each other, they celebrate one big wedding.


• Kurdish wedding celebrations are lavish and expensive, so the son's parents have been saving money for the wedding for a long time. However, the expenses are paid off by the gifts of the guests, which, as a rule, are sheep or money.


• Treats for weddings or other celebrations consist of rice and meat. Men and women celebrate holidays separately in different tents.


• Blood feud is relevant among the Kurds to this day. The reasons for quarrels can be the lack of water, pastures, etc. However, modern Kurds are increasingly resolving conflicts with the help of payment. There are also known cases when a woman or a girl who was given in marriage to the enemy acted as a payment, and the parties were reconciled.

• Many Kurdish women and girls wear trousers, which is explained by the convenience of riding horses. Jewelry for women are gold and silver coins.


• In marital relations, the Kurds are monogamous, with the exception of the beks, who may remarry in order to strengthen family ties.


• This people is also distinguished by its respectful attitude towards representatives of other religions, regardless of what faith the Kurds have, they can participate in religious ceremonies of other faiths.


• Kurds are also distinguished by their friendliness towards other nationalities, but they do not tolerate situations related to the oppression of their languages, customs and orders.

Kurdish struggle for independence

The first attempt to create an independent Kurdish state was made in the 1840s by Badrkhan-bek, the emir of the Bokhtan region (with the capital Jazire). In the year he began to mint a coin on his own behalf and completely ceased to recognize the power of the Sultan. However, in the summer, the city of Bokhtan was occupied by Turkish troops, the emirate was liquidated, Badrkhan-bek himself was taken prisoner and exiled (he died in 1868 in Damascus).

A new attempt to create an independent Kurdistan was made by Badrkhan's nephew Yezdanshir. He raised an uprising at the end of the year, taking advantage of the Crimean War; he soon managed to take Bitlis, followed by Mosul. After that, Yezdanshir began to prepare an attack on Erzurum and Van. However, the attempt to connect with the Russians failed: all his messengers to General Muravyov were intercepted, and Yezdanshir himself was lured to meet with Turkish representatives, captured and sent to Istanbul (March). After that, the uprising came to naught.

The next attempt to create a Kurdish state was made by Sheikh Oyidullah in the city of Oyidullah, the supreme leader of the Naqshbandi Sufi order, who was highly respected in Kurdistan both for his position and for his personal qualities, convened in July 1880 in his residence Nehri a congress of Kurdish leaders, at in which he put forward a plan: to create an independent state, and in order to first attack Persia (as a weaker enemy), seize Iranian Kurdistan and Azerbaijan and, relying on the resources of these provinces, fight against Turkey. The plan was accepted, and in August of the same year, the Kurdish invasion of Iranian Azerbaijan began. It was accompanied by an uprising of local Kurdish tribes; detachments of the rebels approached Tabriz itself. However, Obeidullah with his main forces slowed down during the siege of Urmia, was eventually defeated and forced to return to Turkey. There he was arrested and exiled to Mecca, where he died.

At this time, the ideology of nationalism is increasingly penetrating into Kurdistan from Europe; its propaganda was conducted by the first Kurdish newspaper, Kurdistan, which was issued from the city of Cairo by the descendants of Badrkhan.

A new upsurge of the national movement in Kurdistan came after the Young Turk Revolution of the year. The nationalist society “Revival and Progress of Kurdistan” arises and immediately gains popularity, the head of which was Sheikh Abdel-Kader, the son of Obeidullah, who returned from exile; after that, the “Kurdistan League” arises, which aimed to create a “Kurdistan beylik” (Kurdish principality) either as part of Turkey, or under the protectorate of Russia or England - there were disagreements in this regard. The sheikh of the Barzan tribe Abdel-Salam, who raised a number of uprisings in 1909-1914, and especially Molla Selim, who became the leader of the uprising in Bitlis in March 1914, was associated with her.

As for Turkish Kurdistan, the Kurds, who were afraid to fall under the rule of Armenians and Western powers, succumbed to the agitation of Mustafa Kemal, who promised them complete autonomy in a joint Kurdish-Turkish Muslim state, and supported him during the Greco-Turkish war. As a result, in 1923, the Lausanne Peace Treaty was concluded, in which the Kurds were not mentioned at all. This treaty defined the modern borders between Iraq, Syria and Turkey, cutting through the former Ottoman Kurdistan.

After that, the Kemalist government began to pursue a policy of "Turkization" of the Kurds. The answer was an uprising raised in early 1925 by Sheikh Said Piran. The rebels captured the city of Gench, which Sheikh Said proclaimed the temporary capital of Kurdistan; further, he intended to capture Diyarbekir and proclaim an independent Kurdish state in it. However, the assault on Diyarbekir was repulsed; after that, the rebels were defeated near Gench, the leaders of the uprising (including Sheikh Abdul-Qadir, son of Obaidullah) were taken prisoner and hanged.

A new uprising of Turkish Kurds began in the city of Ararat mountains. It was organized by the Khoibun (Independence) society; the rebels tried to form a regular army under the command of the former colonel of the Turkish army, Ihsan Nuri Pasha; A civil administration was also created under the leadership of Ibrahim Pasha. The uprising was crushed in the city. The last mass movement of the Turkish Kurds was the movement of the Zaza Kurds (a tribe speaking a special dialect, professing Alavism and hating Muslims) in Dersim. Before the city of Dersim enjoyed de facto autonomy. The transformation of this area into the Tunceli vilayet with a special regime of government caused an uprising under the leadership of the Dersim sheikh Seyid Reza. The army corps sent against the rebels was not successful. However, the commander of the corps, General Alpdogan, lured Seyid Reza to Erzurum for negotiations, where the Kurdish leader was arrested and soon hanged. The uprising was suppressed only in the city. As a result of the regime of military-police terror established in Turkish Kurdistan, the ban on the Kurdish language, Kurdish national clothes and the very name "Kurds" (Kemalist scholars declared the Kurds "mountain Turks", allegedly running wild and forgetting the original Turkish language) , as well as mass deportations of Kurds to Western and Central Anatolia, the Kurdish movement in Turkey was destroyed for many years, and the Kurdish society was destructured.

The center of the Kurdish movement at that time was Iraqi and Iranian Kurdistan. In the city of Suleymaniye, Mahmud Barzanji again raises an uprising. The uprising was crushed, but immediately after that, the uprising of Sheikh Ahmed broke out in Barzan (1931-1932). In 1943-1945, a new uprising led by 1975 took place in Barzan. During the uprising, Barzani managed to achieve formal recognition of the right to autonomy for the Kurds of Iraq; however, in the end he was defeated. The defeat of the uprising provoked a split in the movement of the Iraqi Kurds: a number of left-wing parties broke away from the Democratic Party of Kurdistan, in the summer of 1975 they took shape in the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan under the leadership of Jalal Talabani.

At the beginning of the year, in connection with the Islamic revolution in Iran, power in Iranian Kurdistan was practically in the hands of the Kurds. However, already in March, armed clashes began between the detachments of the Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan and the Guardians of the Islamic Revolution sent from Tehran. In early September, the Iranians launched a massive offensive, accompanied by mass executions of residents of the captured villages from 12-13 years old. As a result, government forces managed to take control of the main part of Iranian Kurdistan.

The Iranian and Iraqi Kurds found themselves in a tragic situation during the Iran-Iraq war of 1980-1988, when the former enjoyed the support of Baghdad, and the latter, Tehran; on this basis, there were armed clashes between detachments of Iraqi and Iranian rebels.

In March of the year, as a result of the defeat of Iraqi troops, a new uprising broke out in Iraqi Kurdistan. In April, it was suppressed by Saddam Hussein, but then NATO forces, acting under a UN mandate, forced the Iraqis to leave part of Iraqi Kurdistan, where the so-called "Free Kurdistan" was created with a government of members of the KDP and PUK. The final liberation of Iraqi Kurdistan took place after the fall of Saddam Hussein. At present, there exists a formally federal, but in fact semi-independent state, whose president is

At this time, the Kurdish Workers' Party appeared in Turkey, headed by Abdullah Ocalan, nicknamed "Apo" ("Uncle"), which is why its adherents are called "apochists". After the military coup, its members fled to Syria, where, having received help from the Syrian government, they began an armed struggle against the Turkish state under the slogan "A united, democratic, independent Kurdistan". The first armed action was committed in the year, by the mid-90s . The PKK has already bombarded several thousand (according to its own claims up to 20 thousand) “guerrillas” (guerrillas) with an army and extensive political structures in the Kurdish diaspora around the world. In total, more than 35 thousand people died as a result of hostilities. In Syria, under pressure from Turkey, she refused to support the PKK and expelled Ocalan, which inflicted the strongest blow on the parties, and as it turned out, an irreparable blow; Ocalan was captured by the Turks in Kenya, tried and sentenced to death; he is currently in prison on about. Imraly.

Currently, the actual center of the Kurdish national movement is Iraqi Kurdistan. There is a widespread hope among Kurds that it will become the basis of a future independent and united "Greater Kurdistan".