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103-654: In June 2015, Ayn Issa was taken over by the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) militia, Women's Protection Units (YPJ), and the Raqqa Revolutionaries Brigade in the course of their Tell Abyad offensive . While it was shortly recaptured by ISIL militants, it was reclaimed by the YPG in early July. On 14 October 2019, the Syrian Army entered and established joint control over Ayn Issa after an agreement with

206-407: A cold climate receiving annual precipitation adequate to sustain temperate forests and shrubs . Mountain chains harbor pastures and forested valleys, totaling approximately 16 million hectares (160,000 km ), including firs and countryside is mostly oaks , conifers , platanus , willow , poplar and, to the west of Kurdistan, olive trees . The region north of the mountainous region on

309-675: A military operation wherein the Iraqi government forces attacked the Kurds, defeating them and forcing them to abandon the referendum. A month later, Iraq declared full victory over ISIS and re-established control over all previously occupied territory. Following the Kurds’ failed attempt to achieve independence, the government of Iraq has exacted severe punishment against KRI in a number of punitive measures. Some Kurdish officials in Iraq have described this as evidence of

412-445: A Kurd himself. You've bitten off more than you can chew and you have brought death to yourself. O son of a Kurd, raised in the tents of the Kurds, who gave you permission to put a crown on your head? The usage of the term Kurd during this time period most likely was a social term, designating Northwestern Iranian nomads, rather than a concrete ethnic group. Similarly, in AD 360,

515-406: A Kurdish majority, while others campaign for greater autonomy within the existing national boundaries. The delineation of the region remains disputed and varied, with some maps greatly exaggerating its boundaries. Historically, the word "Kurdistan" is first attested in 11th century Seljuk chronicles. Many disparate Kurdish dynasties, emirates, principalities, and chiefdoms were established from

618-640: A Yezidi rebellion which went on from 1506 to 1510. A century later, the year-long Battle of Dimdim took place, wherein the Safavid king Abbas I (r. 1588–1629) succeeded in putting down the rebellion led by the Kurdish ruler Amir Khan Lepzerin. Thereafter, many Kurds were deported to Khorasan , not only to weaken the Kurds, but also to protect the eastern border from invading Afghan and Turkmen tribes. Other forced movements and deportations of other groups were also implemented by Abbas I and his successors, most notably of

721-669: A battle near Amid and Siverek in 1062 as to have taken place in Kurdistan . The second record occurs in the prayer from the colophon of an Armenian manuscript of the Gospels , written in 1200. A later use of the term Kurdistan is found in Empire of Trebizond documents in 1336 and in Nuzhat al-Qulub , written by Hamdallah Mustawfi in 1340. According to Sharaf al-Din Bitlisi in his Sharafnama ,

824-551: A capital of the same name. The pashalics of Kirkook and Solimania also comprise part of Upper Curdistan. Lower Curdistan comprises all the level tract to the east of the Tigris, and the minor ranges immediately bounding the plains and reaching thence to the foot of the great range, which may justly be denominated the Alps of western Asia. The northern, northwestern and northeastern parts of Kurdistan are referred to as upper Kurdistan, and includes

927-570: A people with a distinct language by Arab geographers such as Al-Masudi since the 10th century. Many Kurds are either bilingual or multilingual , speaking the language of their respective nation of origin, such as Arabic, Persian , and Turkish as a second language alongside their native Kurdish, while those in diaspora communities often speak three or more languages. Turkified and Arabised Kurds often speak little or no Kurdish. According to Mackenzie, there are few linguistic features that all Kurdish dialects have in common and that are not at

1030-701: A population of close to 1.5 million in Western countries, about half of them in Germany . A special case are the Kurdish populations in the Transcaucasus and Central Asia , displaced there mostly in the time of the Russian Empire , who underwent independent developments for more than a century and have developed an ethnic identity in their own right. This groups' population was estimated at close to 0.4 million in 1990. Most Kurds are Sunni Muslims who adhere to

1133-663: A small number of Christian traditions have been preserved. Several Christian prayers in Kurdish have been found from earlier centuries. In recent years some Kurds from Muslim backgrounds have converted to Christianity . Segments of the Bible were first made available in the Kurdish language in 1856 in the Kurmanji dialect. The Gospels were translated by Stepan, an Armenian employee of the American Bible Society and were published in 1857. Prominent historical Kurdish Christians include

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1236-471: A thorough delineation is difficult, the Encyclopaedia of Islam delineated Kurdistan as following: In Turkey, the Kurds inhabit the whole of the eastern region of the country. According to Trotter (1878), the limit of their extent to the north was the line Divriği — Erzurum — Kars ... The Kurds also occupy the western slopes of Ararat, the districts of Kağızman and Tuzluca . On the west they extend in

1339-457: A wide belt beyond the course of the Euphrates, and, in the region of Sivas , in the districts of Kangal and Divriği. Equally, the whole region includes areas to the east and south-east of these limits... Turkish Kurdistan numbers at least 17 of them almost totally: in the north-east, the provinces of Erzincan , Erzurum and Kars ; in the centre, going from west to east and from north to south,

1442-413: A year in the plains, and between 700 and 3,000 mm a year on the high plateau between mountain chains. The mountainous zone along the borders with Iran and Turkey experiences dry summers , rainy and sometimes snowy winters, and damp springs, while to the south the climate progressively transitions toward semi-arid and desert zones. Kurdistan is one of the most mountainous regions in the world with

1545-517: Is Ahura Mazda . Leading characteristics, such as messianism , the Golden Rule , heaven and hell , and free will influenced other religious systems, including Second Temple Judaism , Gnosticism , Christianity , and Islam . In 2016, the first official Zoroastrian fire temple of Iraqi Kurdistan opened in Sulaymaniyah . Attendees celebrated the occasion by lighting a ritual fire and beating

1648-596: Is a terrorist group and has acted accordingly. According to 2016 estimate Kurdish Institute of Paris , total population of Kurdistan is around 34.5 million, and Kurds making 86% of population of Northern Kurdistan. There are Arab , Turkic , Assyrian (Syriac), Armenian and Azerbaijani minorities in Northern Kurdistan. In Southern Kurdistan there are Christian (Assyrian and Armenian) and Turkish (Turkmen) minorities as well. Iraqi and Syrian Turkmen share close ties with Turkish people and do not identify with

1751-740: Is based on the belief of one God who created the world and entrusted it into the care of seven Holy Beings. The leader of this heptad is Tawûsê Melek , who is symbolized with a peacock . Its adherents number from 700,000 to 1 million worldwide and are indigenous to the Kurdish regions of Iraq , Syria and Turkey , with some significant, more recent communities in Russia , Georgia and Armenia established by refugees fleeing persecution by Muslims in Ottoman Empire . Yazidism shares with Kurdish Alevism and Yarsanism many similar qualities that date back to

1854-573: Is estimated to be between 30 and 45 million. Kurds speak the Kurdish languages and the Zaza–Gorani languages , which belong to the Western Iranian branch of the Iranian languages . Kurds do not comprise a majority in any country, making them a stateless people . After World War I and the defeat of the Ottoman Empire , the victorious Western allies made provision for a Kurdish state in

1957-419: Is given in the text of Sharafnama , written by Prince Sharaf al-Din Bitlisi in 1597. The emirates included Baban , Soran , Badinan and Garmiyan in the south; Bakran, Bohtan (or Botan) and Badlis in the north, and Mukriyan and Ardalan in the east. The earliest medieval attestation of the toponym Kurdistan is found in a 12th-century Armenian historical text by Matteos Urhayeci . He described

2060-458: Is home to an estimated 6 to 8 million Kurds. In A Dictionary of Scripture Geography (published 1846), John Miles describes Upper and Lower Kurdistan as following: Modern Curdistan is of much greater extent than the ancient Assyria, and is composed of two parts the Upper and Lower. In the former is the province of Ardelan, the ancient Arropachatis, now nominally a part of Irak Ajami, and belonging to

2163-485: Is not self-ruled. Kurds fighting in the Syrian Civil War were able to take control of large sections of northern Syria and establish self-governing regions in an Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (commonly called Rojava), where they seek autonomy in a federal Syria after the war. Kurdistan means "Land of the Kurds" and was first attested in 11th-century Seljuk chronicles. The exact origins of

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2266-599: Is nowadays Iran's West Azerbaijan Province , marked the start of the Ottoman-Persian Wars between the Iranian Safavids (and successive Iranian dynasties) and the Ottomans . For the next 300 years, many of the Kurds found themselves living in territories that frequently changed hands between Ottoman Turkey and Iran during the protracted series of Ottoman-Persian Wars. The Safavid king Ismail I (r. 1501–1524) put down

2369-451: Is said to have encountered Mar Abdisho , a deacon and martyr, who, after having been questioned of his origins by Mar Qardagh and his Marzobans , stated that his parents were originally from an Assyrian village called Hazza, but were driven out and subsequently settled in Tamanon, a village in the land of the Kurds , identified as being in the region of Mount Judi . Early Syriac sources use

2472-616: The Financial Times indicating Turkey's readiness to accept an independent Kurdistan in northern Iraq. This became increasingly less likely, however, when in July 2017, the Iraqi government declared victory in the Battle of Mosul against ISIS in the group’s last stronghold in the country. Following this, in September 2017, Iraqi Kurds held a one-sided independence referendum which eventually triggered

2575-523: The Afsharid Empire ruled by Nader Shah at its peak. After Nader's death, Iran fell into civil war, with multiple leaders trying to gain control over the country. Ultimately, it was Karim Khan , a Laki general of the Zand tribe who would come to power. The country would flourish during Karim Khan's reign; a strong resurgence of the arts would take place, and international ties were strengthened. Karim Khan

2678-788: The Armenians , the Georgians , and the Circassians , who were moved en masse to and from other districts within the Persian empire. The Kurds of Khorasan, numbering around 700,000, still use the Kurmanji Kurdish dialect. Several Kurdish noblemen served the Safavids and rose to prominence, such as Shaykh Ali Khan Zanganeh , who served as the grand vizier of the Safavid shah Suleiman I (r. 1666–1694) from 1669 to 1689. Due to his efforts in reforming

2781-555: The Assassins . The Ayyubid dynasty lasted until 1341 when the Ayyubid sultanate fell to Mongolian invasions. The Safavid dynasty, established in 1501, also established its rule over Kurdish-inhabited territories. The paternal line of this family actually had Kurdish roots, tracing back to Firuz-Shah Zarrin-Kolah , a dignitary who moved from Kurdistan to Ardabil in the 11th century. The Battle of Chaldiran in 1514 that culminated in what

2884-661: The Encyclopaedia of Islam , Kurdistan covers around 190,000 km (73,000 sq mi) in Turkey, 125,000 km (48,000 sq mi) in Iran, 65,000 km (25,000 sq mi) in Iraq, and 12,000 km (4,600 sq mi) in Syria, with a total area of approximately 392,000 km (151,000 sq mi). Turkish Kurdistan encompasses a large area of Eastern Anatolia Region and southeastern Anatolia of Turkey and it

2987-463: The High Middle Ages , the Kurdish ethnic identity gradually materialized, as one can find clear evidence of the Kurdish ethnic identity and solidarity in texts of the 12th and 13th centuries, though, the term was also still being used in the social sense. Since 10th century, Arabic texts including al-Masudi 's works, have referred to Kurds as a distinct linguistic group. From 11th century onward,

3090-685: The Kurd Dagh ;..., to the east of the Euphrates where the river enters Syria near Jarablus ; and finally, a belt of 250 km. in length by 30 km. in depth in the Jazira . Many of the maps delineating Kurdistan are greatly exaggerated, also incorporating non-Kurdish regions, which has made the subject very controversial. Various groups, among them the Guti , Hurrians , Mannai ( Mannaeans ), and Armenians , lived in this region in antiquity. The original Mannaean homeland

3193-636: The Kurdish culture , languages , and national identity have historically been based. Geographically, Kurdistan roughly encompasses the northwestern Zagros and the eastern Taurus mountain ranges. Kurdistan generally comprises the following four regions: southeastern Turkey ( Northern Kurdistan ), northern Iraq ( Southern Kurdistan ), northwestern Iran ( Eastern Kurdistan ), and northern Syria ( Western Kurdistan ). Some definitions also include parts of southern Transcaucasia . Certain Kurdish nationalist organizations seek to create an independent nation state consisting of some or all of these areas with

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3296-532: The Kurmanj , Kalhur , and Guran . Kurdish (Kurdish: Kurdî or کوردی) is a collection of related dialects spoken by the Kurds. It is mainly spoken in those parts of Iran , Iraq , Syria and Turkey which comprise Kurdistan . Kurdish holds official status in Iraq as a national language alongside Arabic , is recognized in Iran as a regional language, and in Armenia as a minority language. The Kurds are recognized as

3399-633: The Ottoman–Persian War (1775–76) , Karim Khan managed to seize Basra for several years. Kurdistan Kurdistan ( Kurdish : کوردستان , romanized :  Kurdistan , lit.   'land of the Kurds';; [ˌkʊɾdɪˈstɑːn] ), or Greater Kurdistan , is a roughly defined geo- cultural region in West Asia wherein the Kurds form a prominent majority population and

3502-633: The Persian Gulf near Bushehr , and included the Lur inhabited areas of southern Zagros . The historian Jordi Tejel has identified "Greater Kurdistan" as being one of the "Kurdish myths" that the Kurdistan Democratic Party of Syria (KDPS) were involved in promoting to Kurds in Syria. An academic source published by the University of Cambridge has described maps of greater Kurdistan created in

3605-639: The SDF to prevent the Turkish offensive in the area. It became the seat of the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria in September 2018. Since April 2016, the Ayn Issa refugee camp on the outskirts of the town has housed approximately 9,000 refugees by July 2018, mainly Syrian Internally Displaced Persons from the governorates of Deir ez-Zor and Raqqa . On 23 November 2020, clashes broke out between

3708-480: The Safavid and Ottoman empires. A major division of Kurdistan occurred in the aftermath of the Battle of Chaldiran in 1514, and was formalized in the 1639 Treaty of Zuhab . In a geography textbook of late Ottoman military school by Ahmet Cevad Kurdistan span over the cities Erzurum , Van , Urfa , Sulaymanyah , Kirkuk , Mosul and Diyarbakir among others and was one out of six regions of Ottoman Asia. After

3811-564: The Sassanid era , in Kar-Namag i Ardashir i Pabagan , a short prose work written in Middle Persian, Ardashir I is depicted as having battled the Kurds and their leader, Madig . After initially sustaining a heavy defeat, Ardashir I was successful in subjugating the Kurds. In a letter Ardashir I received from his foe, Ardavan V , which is also featured in the same work, he is referred to as being

3914-523: The Shafiʽi school , while a significant minority adhere to the Hanafi school and also Alevism . Moreover, many Shafi'i Kurds adhere to either one of the two Sufi orders Naqshbandi and Qadiriyya . Beside Sunni Islam, Alevism and Shia Islam also have millions of Kurdish followers. Yazidism is a monotheistic ethnic religion with roots in a western branch of an Iranic pre-Zoroastrian religion. It

4017-915: The Turkmen of Turkmenistan and Central Asia . Kurdistan has also significant Caucasian population, Caucasians of Kurdistan included Chechens and Ingushes in Varto , Ossetians in Ahlat and Circassians . From early stage on, these Caucasians went through a process of Kurdification and thereby had Kurdish as their mother tongue. According to the Encyclopædia Britannica , Kurdistan covers about 190,000 km (or 73,000 square miles), and its chief towns are Diyarbakır (Amed), Bitlis (Bedlîs) and Van (Wan) in Turkey, Erbil (Hewlêr) and Sulaymaniyah in Iraq, and Kermanshah (Kirmanşan), Sanandaj (Sine), Ilam and Mahabad (Mehabad) in Iran. According to

4120-562: The ethnonym Kurd might be derived from a term kwrt- used in Middle Persian as a common noun to refer to ' nomads ' or 'tent-dwellers', which could be applied as an attribute to any Iranian group with such a lifestyle. The term gained the characteristic of an ethnonym following the Muslim conquest of Persia , as it was adopted into Arabic and gradually became associated with an amalgamation of Iranian and Iranianized tribes and groups in

4223-731: The frame drum or 'daf'. Awat Tayib, the chief of followers of Zoroastrianism in the Kurdistan region, claimed that many were returning to Zoroastrianism but some kept it secret out of fear of reprisals from Islamists. Although historically there have been various accounts of Kurdish Christians , most often these were in the form of individuals, and not as communities. However, in the 19th and 20th century various travel logs tell of Kurdish Christian tribes, as well as Kurdish Muslim tribes who had substantial Christian populations living amongst them. A significant number of these were allegedly originally Armenian or Assyrian , and it has been recorded that

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4326-428: The military coup of 1980 , the Kurdish language was officially prohibited in public and private life. Many people who spoke, published, or sang in Kurdish were arrested and imprisoned. Throughout the 1990s and early 2000s, political parties that represented Kurdish interests were banned. In 1983, the Kurdish provinces were included in the state of emergency region , which was placed under martial law in response to

4429-502: The red fox , goitered gazelle , Eurasian otter , striped hyena , Persian fallow deer , long-eared hedgehog , onager , mangar and the Euphrates softshell turtle . Birds include, the hooded crow , common starling , Eurasian magpie , European robin , water pipit , spotted flycatcher , namaqua dove , saker falcon , griffon vulture , little crake and collared pratincole , among others. Mountains are important geographical and symbolic features of Kurdish life, as evidenced by

4532-749: The 11th-century Kurdish dynasties crumbled and became incorporated into the Seljuk dynasty. Kurds would hereafter be used in great numbers in the armies of the Zengids . The Ayyubid dynasty was founded by Kurdish ruler Saladin , as succeeding the Zengids, the Ayyubids established themselves in 1171. Saladin led the Muslims to recapture the city of Jerusalem from the Crusaders at the Battle of Hattin ; also frequently clashing with

4635-689: The 1920 Treaty of Sèvres . However, that treaty was not ratified. When the Treaty of Lausanne set the boundaries of modern Turkey three years later, no such provision was made, leaving Kurds with minority status in all of the new countries of Turkey, Iraq, and Syria . Recent history of the Kurds includes numerous genocides and rebellions , along with ongoing armed conflicts in Turkish , Iranian , Syrian , and Iraqi Kurdistan . Kurds in Iraq and Syria have autonomous regions, while Kurdish movements continue to pursue greater cultural rights , autonomy , and independence throughout Kurdistan . The exact origins of

4738-509: The 1937 Dersim rebellion . All were forcefully put down by the authorities. The region was declared a closed military area from which foreigners were banned between 1925 and 1965. In an attempt to deny their existence , the Turkish government categorized Kurds as " Mountain Turks " until 1991. The words "Kurds", "Kurdistan", or "Kurdish" were officially banned by the Turkish government. Following

4841-474: The 1940s and forward as: "These maps have become some of the most influential propaganda tools for the Kurdish nationalist discourse. They depict a territorially exaggerated version of the territory of Kurdistan, extending into areas with no majority Kurdish populations. Despite their production with political aims related to specific claims on the demographic and ethnographic structure of the region, and their questionable methodologies, they have become 'Kurdistan in

4944-467: The 8th to 19th centuries. Administratively, the 20th century saw the establishment of the short-lived areas of the Kurdish state (1918–1919), Kingdom of Kurdistan (1921–1924), Kurdistansky Uyezd i.e. "Red Kurdistan" (1923–1929), Republic of Ararat (1927–1930), and Republic of Mahabad (1946). In Iraq, following the Aylūl Revolt , the government entered into an agreement with the rebellious Kurds, granting Kurds local self-rule. Soon after, however,

5047-408: The Caliph Al-Mu'tasim who sent the commander Itakh to combat him. Itakh won this war and executed many of the Kurds. Eventually, Arabs conquered the Kurdish regions and gradually converted the majority of Kurds to Islam, often incorporating them into the military, such as the Hamdanids whose dynastic family members also frequently intermarried with Kurds. In 934, the Daylamite Buyid dynasty

5150-427: The Iraqi government to punish Kurdistan Region has resulted in the latter losing authorities it had previously possessed, and the future of Kurdish autonomy in Iraq has been called into question. Iraqi Kurdish officials have also complained of efforts by the Iraqi government to return to the pre-2003 centralized government and dismantle Kurdistan Region altogether. There is also a Kurdistan Province in Iran, which

5253-562: The Iraqi government’s aim to return to a centralised political system and abandon the federal system it adopted in 2005. In a leaked letter published by Al-Monitor in September 2023, Masrour Barzani , the prime minister of KRG warned about an imminent collapse of the federal model in Iraq (i.e. a return to centralism ) and urged the United States to intervene, saying: "I write to you now at another critical juncture in our history, one that I fear we may have difficulty overcoming. …[W]e are bleeding economically and hemorrhaging politically. For

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5356-431: The Kurdish-inhabited regions of eastern Anatolia was opposed by many Kurds, and has resulted in a long-running separatist conflict in which tens of thousands of lives have been lost. The region saw several major Kurdish rebellions, including the Koçgiri rebellion of 1920 under the Ottomans, then successive insurrections under the Turkish state, including the 1924 Sheikh Said rebellion , the Republic of Ararat in 1927, and

5459-472: The SNA and SDF near Ayn Issa. On December 1, Lebanon 's al-Akhbar newspaper reported that the SDF managed to ambush Turkish-backed forces, killing 30 fighters. This article about a location in Raqqa Governorate , Syria is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Kurds Ancient Medieval Modern Kurds or Kurdish people ( Kurdish : کورد , romanized :  Kurd ) are an Iranic ethnic group native to

5562-540: The Sassanid king Shapur II marched into the Roman province Zabdicene , to conquer its chief city, Bezabde, present-day Cizre . He found it heavily fortified, and guarded by three legions and a large body of Kurdish archers. After a long and hard-fought siege, Shapur II breached the walls, conquered the city and massacred all its defenders. Thereafter he had the strategically located city repaired, provisioned and garrisoned with his best troops. Qadishaye, settled by Kavad in Singara , were probably Kurds and worshiped

5665-407: The Syrian and Bar Hebraeus . They mention the mountains of Qardu, city of Qardu and country of Qardawaye. In the tenth and eleventh centuries, several Kurdish principalities emerged in the region: in the north the Shaddadids (951–1174) (in east Transcaucasia between the Kur and Araxes rivers) and the Rawadids (955–1221) (centered on Tabriz and which controlled all of Azerbaijan ), in

5768-404: The Syrian considered them as pagan , followers of mahdi and adepts of Magianism . Their mahdi called himself Christ and the Holy Ghost . In the early Middle Ages , the Kurds sporadically appear in Arabic sources, though the term was still not being used for a specific people; instead it referred to an amalgam of nomadic western Iranian tribes, who were distinct from Persians . However, in

5871-412: The Yarsani lack political rights in both countries. The Iranian religion of Zoroastrianism has had a major influence on the Iranian culture, which Kurds are a part of, and has maintained some effect since the demise of the religion in the Middle Ages. The Iranian philosopher Sohrevardi drew heavily from Zoroastrian teachings. Ascribed to the teachings of the prophet Zoroaster , the faith's Supreme Being

5974-427: The activities of the militant separatist organization the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK). A guerrilla war took place through the 1980s and 1990s in which much of the countryside was evacuated, thousands of Kurdish villages were destroyed by the government , and numerous summary executions were carried out by both sides. Food embargoes were placed on Kurdish villages and towns. Tens of thousands were killed in

6077-429: The agreement collapsed . Later, during the Iraqi no-fly zones conflict , which followed the Gulf War , the Iraqi military withdrew from parts of northern Iraq, allowing the Kurds to fill the vacuum and regain lost control in those areas. After the invasion of Iraq , and since the creation of the new Iraqi federal state , the new constitution issued in 2005 recognises Kurdistan Region as a federal region; even though

6180-407: The areas from west of Amed to Lake Urmia. The lowlands of southern Kurdistan are called lower Kurdistan. The main cities in this area are Kirkuk and Arbil. Much of the region is typified by a continental climate – hot in the summer, cold in the winter. Despite this, much of the region is fertile and has historically exported grain and livestock . Precipitation varies between 200 and 400 mm

6283-434: The autonomous Kurdistan Regional Government . The word 'Kurdistan', whether written or spoken, can still lead to detention and prosecution in Turkey. Kurdistan has been characterized as an "international colony" by the scholar Ismail Besikci . The successful 2014 Northern Iraq offensive by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS), and the resultant weakening of the ability of the Iraqi state to project power at

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6386-676: The border with Iran and Turkey features meadow grasses and such wild trees as, Abies cilicica , Fagus sylvatica , Quercus calliprinos , Quercus brantii , Quercus infectoria , Quercus ithaburensis , Quercus macranthera , Cupressus sempervirens , Platanus orientalis , Pinus brutia , Juniperus foetidissima , Juniperus excelsa , Juniperus oxycedrus , Prunus cerasus , Salix alba , Fraxinus excelsior , Paliurus spina-christi , Olea europaea , Ficus carica , Populus euphratica , Populus nigra , Crataegus monogyna , Crataegus azarolus , Prunus cerasifera , rose hips , Cercis siliquastrum , pistachio trees , pear and Sorbus graeca . The desert in

6489-480: The boundaries of the Kurdish land begin at the Strait of Hormuz in the Persian Gulf and stretch on an even line to the end of Malatya and Marash . Evliya Çelebi , who traveled in the region between 1640 and 1655, mentioned that Kurdistan includes Erzurum , Van , Hakkari , Cizre , Imaddiya , Mosul , Shahrizor , Harir , Ardalan , Baghdad , Derne, Derteng, until Basra . In the 16th century, after prolonged wars, Kurdish-inhabited areas were split between

6592-416: The brothers Zakare and Ivane Mkhargrdzeli. "The land of Karda" is mentioned on a Sumerian clay tablet dated to the 3rd millennium BC. This land was inhabited by "the people of Su" who dwelt in the southern regions of Lake Van ; the philological connection between "Kurd" and "Karda" is uncertain, but the relationship is considered possible. Other Sumerian clay tablets referred to the people, who lived in

6695-399: The collapse of the Ottoman Empire, the Allies contrived to split Kurdistan (as detailed in the ultimately unratified Treaty of Sèvres ) among several countries, including Kurdistan, Armenia and others. However, the reconquest of these areas by the forces of Kemal Atatürk (and other pressing issues) caused the Allies to accept the renegotiated Treaty of Lausanne (1923) and the borders of

6798-417: The constitution does not include the term “autonomy”, it emphasises decentralisation and devolution , allowing regions and governorates to administer local affairs. In practice, however, only Kurdistan Region has exercised this authority granted by the constitution. In September 2017, Iraqi Kurds held a one-sided independence referendum , which eventually failed and was abandoned. The subsequent effort by

6901-409: The declining Iranian economy, he has been called the "Safavid Amir Kabir " in modern historiography. His son, Shahqoli Khan Zanganeh , also served as a grand vizier from 1707 to 1716. Another Kurdish statesman, Ganj Ali Khan , was close friends with Abbas I, and served as governor in various provinces and was known for his loyal service. After the fall of the Safavids, Iran fell under the control of

7004-520: The east the Hasanwayhids (959–1015) (in Zagros between Shahrizor and Khuzistan ) and the Annazids (990–1116) (centered in Hulwan ) and in the west the Marwanids (990–1096) to the south of Diyarbakır and north of Jazira . Kurdistan in the Middle Ages was a collection of semi-independent and independent states called emirates . It was nominally under indirect political or religious influence of Khalifs or Shahs . A comprehensive history of these states and their relationship with their neighbors

7107-403: The end of 3rd millennium BC and distinguished them as the Guti , speakers of a pre-Iranic language isolate . They conquered Mesopotamia in 2150 BC and ruled with 21 kings until defeated by the Sumerian king Utu-hengal . Many Kurds consider themselves descended from the Medes , an ancient Iranian people, and even use a calendar dating from 612 BC, when the Assyrian capital of Nineveh

7210-440: The first time in my tenure as prime minister, I hold grave concerns that this dishonorable campaign against us may cause the collapse of … the very model of a Federal Iraq that the United States sponsored in 2003 and purported to stand by since." According to a report published in 2024 by the Washington Institute for Near East Policy , Kurdistan Region's autonomy "hangs in the balance" due to several punitive measures imposed against

7313-479: The former by the government of Iraq in an effort to punish it and ultimately strip it completely of its autonomy. Various sources have reported that Al-Nusra has issued a fatwā calling for Kurdish women and children in Syria to be killed, and the fighting in Syria has led tens of thousands of refugees to flee to Iraq's Kurdistan region . As of 2015, Turkey was actively supporting Al-Nusra, but as of January 2017, Turkey's foreign ministry has said that Al-Nusra

7416-635: The independent Kardouchoi as the ancestors of the Kurds, while others prefer Cyrtians . The term Kurd , however, is first encountered in Arabic sources of the seventh century. Books from the early Islamic era, including those containing legends such as the Shahnameh and the Middle Persian Kar-Namag i Ardashir i Pabagan , and other early Islamic sources provide early attestation of the name Kurd . The Kurds have ethnically diverse origins. During

7519-573: The instability in Syria and Iraq that exists as of 2014, attested that "Kurdistan may exist by 2030". The weakening of the Iraqi state following the 2014 Northern Iraq offensive by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant has also presented an opportunity for independence for Iraqi Kurdistan, augmented by Turkey's move towards acceptance of such a state although it opposes moves toward Kurdish autonomy in Turkey and Syria. The incorporation into Turkey of

7622-728: The land of Karda, as the Qarduchi (Karduchi, Karduchoi) and the Qurti. Karda/Qardu is etymologically related to the Assyrian term Urartu and the Hebrew term Ararat. However, some modern scholars do not believe that the Qarduchi are connected to Kurds. Qarti or Qartas, who were originally settled on the mountains north of Mesopotamia , are considered as a probable ancestor of the Kurds. The Akkadians were attacked by nomads coming through Qartas territory at

7725-456: The liwaʾs of Kirkuk , Arbil and Sulaymaniyah (entirely Kurdish) and, in the... nahiyas of Khanaqin and Mandali , where they are neighbours of the Kurds of Iran to the west of the Zagros. In Syria, they constitute three distinct belts, in the north of the country and to the south of the highway which forms a frontier and where they are in direct contact with their compatriots in Turkey... [I]n

7828-524: The martyr Abd al-Masih. They revolted against the Sassanids and were raiding the whole Persian territory. Later they, along with Arabs and Armenians, joined the Sassanids in their war against the Byzantines. There is also a 7th-century text by an unidentified author, written about the legendary Christian martyr Mar Qardagh . He lived in the 4th century, during the reign of Shapur II, and during his travels

7931-556: The minds of Kurds' and the boundaries they indicate have been readily accepted." At the end of the 1991 Gulf War , the Coalition established a no-fly zone over northern Iraq to provide humanitarian relief to and safeguard the Kurds who would be subjected to Iraqi air attacks. Amid the withdrawal of Iraqi forces from three northern provinces, Kurdistan Region emerged in 1992 as an autonomous entity inside Iraq with its own local government and parliament. A 2010 US report, written before

8034-617: The modern Iraq-Turkey border, while Hazza is 12 km southwest of modern Erbil . In another passage in the same document, the region of the Khabur River is also identified as land of the Kurds . According to Al-Muqaddasi and Yaqut al-Hamawi , Tamanon was located on the south-western or southern slopes of Mount Judi and south of Cizre . Other geographical references to the Kurds in Syriac sources appear in Zuqnin chronicle, writings of Michael

8137-539: The modern Republic of Turkey, leaving the Kurds without a self-ruled region. Other Kurdish areas were assigned to the new British and French mandated states of Iraq and Syria . At the San Francisco Peace Conference of 1945, the Kurdish delegation proposed consideration of territory claimed by the Kurds, which encompassed an area extending from the Mediterranean shores near Adana to the shores of

8240-489: The modern names of Kurds and Kurdistan; T. A. Sinclair and other scholars have dismissed this identification as false, while a common association is asserted in the Columbia Encyclopedia . Some of the ancient districts of Kurdistan and their corresponding modern names: One of the earliest records of the phrase land of the Kurds is found in an Assyrian Christian document of late antiquity , describing

8343-580: The mountainous region of Kurdistan in Western Asia , which spans southeastern Turkey , northwestern Iran , northern Iraq , and northern Syria . There are exclaves of Kurds in Central Anatolia , Khorasan , and the Caucasus , as well as significant Kurdish diaspora communities in the cities of western Turkey (in particular Istanbul) and Western Europe (primarily in Germany ). The Kurdish population

8446-525: The name Kurd are unclear. The underlying toponym is recorded in Assyrian as Qardu and in Middle Bronze Age Sumerian as Kar-da . Assyrian Qardu refers to an area in the upper Tigris basin, and it is presumably reflected in corrupted form in Classical Arabic Ǧūdī ( جودي ), re-adopted in Kurdish as Cûdî . The name would be continued as the first element in

8549-430: The name Kurd are unclear. The suffix -stan ( Persian : ـستان, translit. stân ) is Persian for land. "Kurdistan" was also formerly spelled Curdistan . One of the ancient names of this region was Corduene . The 19th-century Kurdistan Eyalet was the first time that the Ottoman Empire used the term 'Kurdistan' to refer to an administrative unit rather than a geographical region. Albeit admitting

8652-419: The north west division called Al Jobal. It contains five others namely, Betlis, the ancient Carduchia, lying to the south and south west of the lake Van. East and south east of Betlis is the principality of Julamerick, south west of it is the principality of Amadia. the fourth is Jeezera ul Omar, a city on an island in the Tigris, and corresponding to the ancient Bezabde. the fifth and largest is Kara Djiolan, with

8755-832: The population in Turkey , 15 to 20% in Iraq ; 10% in Iran ; and 9% in Syria . Kurds form regional majorities in all four of these countries, viz. in Turkish Kurdistan , Iraqi Kurdistan , Iranian Kurdistan and Syrian Kurdistan . The Kurds are the fourth-largest ethnic group in West Asia after Arabs , Persians , and Turks . The total number of Kurds in 1991 was placed at 22.5 million, with 48% of this number living in Turkey, 24% in Iran, 18% in Iraq, and 4% in Syria. Recent emigration accounts for

8858-622: The pre-Islamic era. Yarsanism (also known as Ahl-I-Haqq, Ahl-e-Hagh or Kakai) is also one of the religions that are associated with Kurdistan. Although most of the sacred Yarsan texts are in the Gorani and all of the Yarsan holy places are located in Kurdistan , followers of this religion are also found in other regions. For example, while there are more than 300,000 Yarsani in Iraqi Kurdistan, there are more than 2 million Yarsani in Iran. However,

8961-407: The provinces of Malatya , Tunceli , Elazığ , Bingöl , Muş , Karaköse ( Ağrı ), then Adıyaman , Diyarbakır , Siirt , Bitlis and Van ; Finally, the southern provinces of Şanlıurfa , Mardin and Çölamerik ( Hakkarî )... [Kurds] inhabit the north-west of Iran. Firstly in the provinces of West Azerbaijan , to the east of Lake Rida'iyya ..., the districts of Maku , Kotur , Shahpur , and to

9064-426: The region. Sharafkhan Bidlisi in the 16th century states that there are four division of Kurds: Kurmanj , Lur , Kalhor , and Guran , each of which speak a different dialect or language variation. Paul (2008) notes that the 16th-century usage of the term Kurd as recorded by Bidlisi, regardless of linguistic grouping, might still reflect an incipient Northwestern Iranian "Kurdish" ethnic identity uniting

9167-477: The same time found in other Iranian languages . The Kurdish dialects according to Mackenzie are classified as: The Zaza and Gorani are ethnic Kurds, but the Zaza–Gorani languages are not classified as Kurdish. The number of Kurds living in Southwest Asia is estimated at between 30 and 45 million, with another one or two million living in the Kurdish diaspora . Kurds comprise anywhere from 18 to 25% of

9270-404: The saying "Kurds have no friends but the mountains." Mountains are regarded as sacred by the Kurds . Included in the region are Mount Judi and Ararat (both prominent in Kurdish folklore), Zagros , Qandil , Shingal , Mount Abdulaziz , Kurd Mountains , Jabal al-Akrad , Shaho, Gabar, Hamrin , and Nisir . Iraqi Kurdistan is a region relatively rich in water, especially for countries in

9373-455: The south is mostly steppe and would feature xeric plants such as palm trees , tamarix , date palm , fraxinus , poa , white wormwood and chenopodiaceae . The steppe and desert in the south, by contrast, have such species as palm trees and date palm . Animals found in the region include the Syrian brown bear , wild boar , gray wolf , the golden jackal , Indian crested porcupine ,

9476-455: The south of the lake, Mahabad (ex-Sabla); in the province of Ardalan, called the province of Kurdistan , whose capital is Senna or Sanandaj , Hawraman ; in the province of Kermanshah , Qasr-e Shirin ... In Iraq, the Kurds occupy the north and northeast of the country in the liwaʾs or provinces of Duhok ... Left outside their administration are Sinjar and Shekhan , peopled by the Yazidis ;

9579-626: The stories of Assyrian saints of the Middle East , such as Abdisho . When the Sasanian Marzban asked Mar Abdisho about his place of origin, he replied that according to his parents, they were originally from Hazza, a village in Assyria . However, they were later driven out of Hazza by pagans , and settled in Tamanon, which according to Abdisho was in the land of the Kurds. Tamanon lies just north of

9682-614: The term Kurd is explicitly defined as an ethnonym and this does not suggest synonymity with the ethnographic category nomad. Al-Tabari wrote that in 639, Hormuzan , a Sasanian general originating from a noble family, battled against the Islamic invaders in Khuzestan , and called upon the Kurds to aid him in battle. However, they were defeated and brought under Islamic rule. In 838, a Kurdish leader based in Mosul, named Mir Jafar , revolted against

9785-690: The terms Hurdanaye, Kurdanaye, Kurdaye to refer to the Kurds. According to Michael the Syrian , Hurdanaye separated from Tayaye Arabs and sought refuge with the Byzantine Emperor Theophilus . He also mentions the Persian troops who fought against Musa chief of Hurdanaye in the region of Qardu in 841. According to Barhebreaus , a king appeared to the Kurdanaye and they rebelled against the Arabs in 829. Michael

9888-460: The time, also presented a "golden opportunity" for the Kurds to increase their independence and possibly declare an independent Kurdish state. The Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant , who took more than 80 Turkish persons captive in Mosul during their offensive, is an enemy of Turkey, making Kurdistan useful for Turkey as a buffer state. On 28 June 2014 Hüseyin Çelik , a spokesman for the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), made comments to

9991-468: The toponym Corduene , mentioned by Xenophon as the tribe who opposed the retreat of the Ten Thousand through the mountains north of Mesopotamia in the 4th century BC . There are, however, dissenting views, which do not derive the name of the Kurds from Qardu and Corduene but opt for derivation from Cyrtii ( Cyrtaei ) instead. Regardless of its possible roots in ancient toponymy,

10094-506: The violence and hundreds of thousands were forced to leave their homes. Turkey has historically feared that a Kurdish state in Northern Iraq would encourage and support Kurdish separatists in the adjacent Turkish provinces, and have therefore historically strongly opposed Kurdish independence in Iraq. However, following the chaos in Iraq after the US invasion , Turkey has increasingly worked with

10197-534: The vying Parthian and Roman empires. Corduene became a vassal state of the Roman Republic in 66 BC and remained allied with the Romans until AD 384. After 66 BC, it passed another 5 times between Rome and Persia. Corduene was situated to the east of Tigranocerta , that is, to the east and south of present-day Diyarbakır in south-eastern Turkey. Some historians have correlated a connection between Corduene with

10300-565: Was conquered by the Medes. The claimed Median descent is reflected in the words of the Kurdish national anthem : "We are the children of the Medes and Kai Khosrow ." However, MacKenzie and Asatrian challenge the relation of the Median language to Kurdish. The Kurdish languages , on the other hand, form a subgroup of the Northwestern Iranian languages like Median . Some researchers consider

10403-468: Was founded, and subsequently conquered most of present-day Iran and Iraq. During the time of rule of this dynasty, Kurdish chief and ruler, Badr ibn Hasanwaih, established himself as one of the most important emirs of the time. In the 10th–12th centuries, a number of Kurdish principalities and dynasties were founded, ruling Kurdistan and neighbouring areas: Due to the Turkic invasion of Anatolia and Armenia,

10506-532: Was portrayed as being a ruler who truly cared about his subjects, thereby gaining the title Vakil e-Ra'aayaa (meaning Representative of the People in Persian ). Though not as powerful in its geo-political and military reach as the preceding Safavids and Afsharids or even the early Qajars, he managed to reassert Iranian hegemony over its integral territories in the Caucasus , and presided over an era of relative peace, prosperity, and tranquility. In Ottoman Iraq , following

10609-547: Was situated east and south of the Lake Urmia , roughly centered around modern-day Mahabad . The region came under Persian rule during the reign of Cyrus the Great and Darius I . The Kingdom of Corduene , which emerged from the declining Seleucid Empire , was located to the south and south-east of Lake Van between Persia and Mesopotamia and ruled northern Mesopotamia and southeastern Anatolia from 189 BC to AD 384 as vassals of

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