How did the Kurds get their name?

Name. There are different theories about the origin of the name Kurd. According to one theory, it originates in Middle Persian as كورت kwrt-, a term for “nomad; tent-dweller”. After the Muslim conquest of Persia, this term was adopted into Arabic as kurd-, and was used specifically for nomadic tribes.

What do Kurds call themselves?

Easterner
Nowadays the Kurds, in Turkey, are still known under the name Easterner (Doğulu). Several large scale Kurdish revolts in 1925, 1930 and 1938 were suppressed by the Turkish government and more than one million Kurds were forcibly relocated between 1925 and 1938.

What is the difference between a Turk and a Kurd?

Kurds are one of the ethnic groups of people living in Turkey and many other parts of the world. Turks speak Turkish; Kurds speak two or more languages and are multilingual people. Kurds are mostly Sunni Muslims, some minorities are Shia Muslims too; Turks are mainly Muslims but the country is a Secular State.

Why is Kurdish banned in Turkey?

Kurds have had a long history of discrimination perpetrated against them by the Turkish government. The words “Kurds”, “Kurdistan”, and “Kurdish” were officially banned by the Turkish government. Following the military coup of 1980, the Kurdish language was officially prohibited in public and private life.

Has Kurdistan been a country?

Historically, the word “Kurdistan” is first attested in 11th century Seljuk chronicles. Iraqi Kurdistan first gained autonomous status in a 1970 agreement with the Iraqi government, and its status was re-confirmed as the autonomous Kurdistan Region within the federal Iraqi republic in 2005.

Is Kurdish a Turk?

The Kurds are the largest ethnic minority in Turkey. The Turkish government categorized Kurds as “Mountain Turks” until 1991, and denied the existence of Kurds. The words “Kurds” or “Kurdistan” were banned in any language by the Turkish government, though “Kurdish” was allowed in census reports.

Do Kurds eat pork?

Traditional dishes of Yezidis and Kurds are simple. They are mostly made from or contain as a main component lamb and milk products (sometimes beef and chicken, but never pork). The main vegetal components of their traditional food are represented by cultivated cereals, grains, and herbs of wild plants.

What language do the Kurds speak?

Kurdish language, a West Iranian language, one of the Indo-Iranian languages, chiefly spoken in Kurdistan. It ranks as the third largest Iranian language, after Persian and Pashto, and has numerous dialects. It is thought to be spoken by some 20–40 million people.

Who are the Kurds and what do they speak?

Who are the Kurds? The Kurds are members of a large, predominantly Muslim ethnic group. They have their own cultural and linguistic traditions, and most speak one of two major dialects of the Kurdish language.

Are Syrian Kurds free to be Kurds in Turkey?

Kurds in Turkey are free to be Kurds, he said, only if they accept that they’re Turkish citizens. “The problem begins when they want a hyphenated identity,” Taspinar said. Why is the United States allied with Syrian Kurds?

What happened to the Kurds after WWI?

After World War I, Western powers promised Kurds their own homeland in the agreement known as the Treaty of Sèvres. But a later agreement instead divided them among Turkey, Iraq, Syria and Iran. Today, there are about 30 million Kurds living across the region, with about half of them in Turkey.

How did the Kurds get their own homeland?

After World War I, Western powers promised Kurds their own homeland in the agreement known as the Treaty of Sèvres. But a later agreement instead divided them among Turkey, Iraq, Syria and Iran.