Kurds are an ancient people of the Middle East living in Iran, Iraq, Turkey and Syria - in Kurdistan, their historical homeland. Kurds are called a nation without a state. They speak their own languages, have preserved their original culture and traditions. Attempts to assimilate them in the countries of their residence have never succeeded.
Resettlement of Kurds
The largest Kurdish ethnic territory occupies the southeast of Turkey in the area of the city of Diyarbakir and Lake Van. The number of Turkish Kurds, according to rough estimates, is 15-20 million people. About 7 million Kurds live in Iran, slightly less in Iraq and Syria, small Kurdish diasporas live in Germany, Sweden, Great Britain and France. In Russia, there are about 20 thousand Kurds living in Adygea, Stavropol and Krasnodar regions, Novosibirsk and Saratov regions. In general, the number of this people is estimated at 40 million people.
The main problem of the Kurds is that they do not have their own state. The Kurds living in Syria and Turkey are oppressed in their rights: in Syria they are not recognized as citizens of the country, in Turkey the Kurds cannot speak their own language, propagate their culture. The problem is compounded by the oil-rich territories of Kurdistan, in connection with which the major world states want to control this serious source of energy. The political disunity of the Kurds also plays a role. The majority of the population strives for independence and believes that their people meet all the criteria necessary for this (language, territorial continuity, culture, history).
Religion and culture
The overwhelming majority of Kurds profess Sunni Islam, a significant part are Shiite Muslims, there are also Christians and Jews. A small part of the Kurds are adherents of the pre-Islamic Kurdish religion - Yezidism. But all Kurds consider Zoroastrianism to be their original religion.
The Kurdish nation is not homogeneous in terms of language. There are two independent, very different, Kurdish languages - Sorani and Kurmanji. There are no genera in Sorani, in Kurmanji they are, so it is impossible to combine them.
Most of this people have to live in difficult economic conditions, many consider them wild and uneducated. In fact, the culture of the Kurds is very rich and ancient. Kurdish folklore is distinguished by great originality and diversity. Many national fairy tales, songs, legends, wedding and burial rites are known. The first monuments of Kurdish writing date back to the 7th century. Literature has been developing since the XI century, reaching its peak in the XIV-XVIII centuries, in the work of such poets as Faki Teiran, Ahmed Hani, Haris Bitlisi. The main occupation of the Kurds since ancient times is semi-nomadic cattle breeding and agriculture, and crafts are also developed.