Kurds in Turkey

The Kurds are the largest ethnic minority in Turkey. According to various estimates, they compose between 15% and 20% of the population of Turkey. There are Kurds living in various provinces of Turkey, but they are primarily concentrated in the east and southeast of the country within the region viewed by Kurds as Turkish Kurdistan. Massacres, such as the brutal suppression of the Sheikh Said Rebellion, the Dersim ethnocide, and the Zilan massacre, have periodically been committed against the Kurds since the establishment of the Republic of Turkey in 1923. 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. Following the military coup of 1980, the Kurdish languages were officially prohibited in public and private life. Many people who spoke, published, or sang in Kurdish were arrested and imprisoned. In Turkey, it is illegal to use Kurdish as a language of instruction in both public and private schools. The Kurdish language is only allowed as a subject in some schools. Since the 1980s, Kurdish movements have included both peaceful political activities for basic civil rights for Kurds in Turkey as well as armed rebellion and guerrilla warfare, including military attacks aimed mainly at Turkish military bases, demanding first a separate Kurdish state and later self-determination for the Kurds. According to a state-sponsored Turkish opinion poll, 59% of self-identified Kurds in Turkey think that Kurds in Turkey do not seek a separate state (while 71.3% of self-identified Turks think they do). During the Kurdish–Turkish conflict, food embargoes were placed on Kurdish villages and towns. There were many instances of Kurds being forcibly expelled from their villages by Turkish security forces. Many villages were reportedly set on fire or destroyed. Throughout the 1990s and early 2000s, political parties that represented Kurdish interests were banned.

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Concepts associés (17)

Turquie

La Turquie, en forme longue la république de Turquie, Türkiye et Türkiye Cumhuriyeti , est un pays transcontinental situé aux confins de l'Asie et de l'Europe. Elle a des frontières avec la Grèce et la Bulgarie à l'ouest-nord-ouest, la Géorgie et l'Arménie à l'est-nord-est, l'Azerbaïdjan (Nakhitchevan) et l'Iran à l'est, l'Irak (Gouvernement régional du Kurdistan) et la Syrie à l'est-sud-est. Il s'agit d'une république à régime présidentiel dont la langue officielle est le turc.

Histoire du peuple kurde

vignette|Carte des régions peuplées par les Kurdes. vignette|Drapeau kurde. Lhistoire du peuple kurde en tant que groupe ethnolinguistique débute dans les régions montagneuses du sud du Caucase (Zagros et Taurus) ; cette aire géographique est dénommée Kurdistan. Il y a différentes hypothèses quant à l’identité des ancêtres des Kurdes, entre autres les Kardouques ou Carduchoi de l’Antiquité classique. Les plus anciennes dynasties kurdes connues sous autorité musulmane (du au ) sont les Hasanwayhides, les Marwanides et les Shaddadides, suivies de la dynastie des Ayyoubides fondée par Saladin.

Newroz as celebrated by Kurds

Newroz or Nawroz (نەورۆز, Newroz) is the Kurdish celebration of Nowruz; the arrival of spring and new year in Kurdish culture. The lighting of the fires at the beginning of the evening of March 20 is the main symbol of Newroz among the Kurds. In Zoroastrianism, fire is a symbol of light, goodness and purification. Angra Mainyu, the demonic anti-thesis of Ahura Mazda, was defied by Zoroastrians with a big fire every year, which symbolized their defiance of and hatred for evil and the arch-demon.