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Kurds
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The Kurds are an ethnic group indigenous to a region often referred to as Kurdistan, an area that includes adjacent parts of Iran, Iraq, Syria, and Turkey. Kurdish communities can ... be found in Lebanon, Armenia, Azerbaijan (Kalbajar and Lachin, to the west of Nagorno Karabakh) and, in recent decades, some European countries and the United States (see Kurdish diaspora). They speak Kurdish, an Indo-European language of the Iranian branch. There are many different and diverging views on the origin of the Kurds. While Encyclopaedia Britannica considers the Kurds' ethnic origins as uncertain[13] and Encarta relates them to other Iranian peoples,[14] according to Encyclopedia Columbia, Kurds are commonly identified with the ancient Corduene which was in turn inhabited by the Carduchi.[15]
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Kurds are people living in Kurdistan. About half of the world’s 25 to 30 million Kurds live in Turkey. Six million live in Iran; 3.5 million live in Iraq; and 1.5 million live in Syria. Others are distributed through the countries of Armenia, Germany, Sweden, France, and the United States. A few Kurdish settlements remain in the countries of the former Soviet Union. Kurds speak Kurdish, a language of the western Iranian branch of the Indo-European languages.
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Geographically, the area of Asia in which the Kurds live is predominantly mountainous, and the terrain has had a strong impact on the Kurdish economy and culture. The entire area is in an active seismic zone, with frequent earthquake activity. Mountain ranges include the Taurus Mountains, the Zagros Mountains, and the Elburz Mountains. These mountains are interspersed with plateaus and hills, most notably the eastern Anatolian Plateau. Mount Ararat is the region’s highest peak, reaching 5,137 m (16,854 ft). The region contains the watershed of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers.
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The historic enmity between the Kurds and the central Arab government has contributed to the tenacious survival of Kurdish culture. The Kurds' most distinguishing characteristic and the one that binds them to one another is their language. There are several Kurdish dialects, of which Kirmanji tends to be the standard written form. Kurdish is not a mere dialect of Farsi or Persian, as many Iranian nationalists maintain. And it is certainly not a variant of the Semitic or Turkic tongues. It is a separate language, part of the Indo-European family.
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In Iran, Kurds express their cultural identity freely, but are denied the right of self-government or administration. Similar to other parts of Iran, membership of any non-governmental political party in Kurdistan could be punishable by persecution, imprisonment and even death. Kurdish human rights activists in Iran have been threatened by Iranian authorities in connection with their work.[67][68] Following the killing of Kurdish opposition activist Shivan Qaderi and two other Kurdish men by Iranian security forces in Mahabad on July 9, 2005, six weeks of riots and protests erupted in Kurdish towns and villages throughout Eastern Kurdistan. Scores were killed and injured, and an untold number arrested without charge. The Iranian authorities have ... shut down several major Kurdish newspapers and arrested editors and reporters. Among those was Roya Toloui, a womens' rights activist and head of the Rasan ("Rising") newspaper in Sine, who was tortured for two months for alleged involvement in the organization of peaceful protests throughout Kurdistan province.[69] According to the International Crisis Group, Kurds, who live in the least developed part of Iran, pose the most serious internal problem for Iran to resolve, and their apparent success in self-rule fuels their demands for greater autonomy.[70]
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Kurds love freedom, but they love checkpoints too; in general, they see them as the barrier that holds back the horrors from the south. People don’t merely trust and appreciate the security. They feel it. A detached garden restaurant on the grounds of the “Sheraton” has all-glass walls on three sides. The only wall made of metal and stone is the one behind the well-stocked bar. Suburban Suleimaniya is a wonderland of brand-new modern shiny glass buildings. No one in their right mind in Baghdad would build brand-new structures like these.
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Kurds