Kurds – A Stateless yet Eminent National Group
The Kurds successfully managed to establish a reputation of themselves as a strong, united and diverse cultural group, but they are undeniably still recognized as a stateless national group within our practically independent globe.
Kurdish – The Official Language of Kurdistan
There are two prominent dialects that are used by a majority of Kurds:
- Kurmanji-Kurdish
This dialect of Kurdish is used for conversing in the Northern Kurdistan regions including Turkey, Syria, Armenia and Northern Iraq. - Sorani-Kurdish
This dialect of Kurdish is spoken in the South Eastern expanses including Central Iraq and Iran.
While there are two other dialects of Kurdish known as Hawrami and Zaza which are rarely spoken in some areas.
Kurdish Demographics
According to the places where the language is spoken, Kurdish is divided into three major demographic regions:
- Approximately 20 million Kurds speak Northern Kurdish in Turkey, Syria, Northern Iraq, North-West and North-East Iran.
- An estimated 7 million Kurds within Iraqi Kurdistan and the Iranian Kurdistan Province speak Central Kurdish.
- Almost 3 million Kurds in the Kermanshah and Ilam provinces of Iran, and also in the Khanaqin district of Eastern Iraq; the Kurds also speak Southern Kurdish.
10 Facts about Kurdish and Kurds Culture
Stateless Nation
Kurdistan, to some extent, is delineated as a “geo-cultural region” of the Middle East because of the exceeding number of Kurds there. At the end of WWI, Turkey refused to honor the Kurdish allies with a separate identity. Later when Turkey set the boundaries, the Kurds were abandoned. Despite all of that, almost 30 million Kurds from one of the world’s largest ethnic groups today, without an independent country.
Kurdish Politics is controlled by Two Major Families
There are two major parties inside Kurdistan, the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK); and each is led by a member of Kurdistan’s two leading families, the Barzanis and the Talabanis.
Kurdish Yazidis Believe the World Is Guarded by a Peacock Angel
One of the prominent religious bodies in Kurdistan is of ‘Yazidis’ who comprise up to 500,000 Kurds. The Yazidis believe that there are seven angels who look over the world which includes an eminent “peacock angel”.
The Kurds Have Their Own Calendar
The Kurds use a calendar of their own which deviates from the western Gregorian calendar format. The Kurdish calendar initiates the year on the first day of spring which is called ‘NewRuz’ or ‘Navroz’ (Persian dialect). The Kurds further added seven years to their calendar on account of “the reincarnation of their deceased leaders’ souls.”
Brutal Historical Suppression of the Kurdish Language
- Armenia – The Kurdish language was prominently surviving there with the extensive use of Kurdish newspapers and radio stations. When the Soviet Union collapsed, the Kurds were deported and the prevalence of their language crumbled.
- Turkey – Kurdish remained illegal until 1991 and Turkey had objections on the use of letters including x, W, and Q as part of Kurdish because they claim it doesn’t exist in the Kurdish dialect.
- Iraqi Kurdistan – Initially, Kurdish journalists and writers were influentially repressed during Saddam Hussein’s regime for popularizing Kurdish.
- Syria – Since 1958, Syria barred printing works in the Kurdish language which has just recently been released.
No Common Descent
The Kurds emerge from a diverse mix of early Indo-European, Turkmen, and Arabic tribes. As ranked by BBC, the Kurds form the fourth-largest cultural group within the Middle East.
Females in the Legislature
Iraqi Kurdistan is a considerably autonomous expanse within northern Iraq. The legislature in this region is constitutionally chosen which by law entail the inclusion of minimum 30% females into the parliament.
Kurds Appear as Allies and Terrorists Simultaneously
The Kurds serve as allies to the US in the war against ISIS. However, the PKK (Kurdistan Workers Party) falls under a group that Washington legitimately declares as an FTO (Foreign Terrorist Organization). The US doesn’t count the Syrian Kurdistan or People’s Protection Unit as terrorist establishments, but when these groups collaborate with PKK to battle ISIS, the undeniably fall under the same category.
Greatest Warriors in History
- The Kurds are assumed to have originated from the Carducci which was a “ferocious generation of bowmen” who even in the harsh winters were able to crumble the Greeks in a week’s time, while Persian’s couldn’t achieve the same through a whole Mesopotamian period.
- 1187 – It was in this era that the Kurdish General ‘Saladin’ re-conquered Palestine from the Crusaders.
- 21st Century – The Kurdish army renowned as Peshmerga is identified as “the most competent ground troops” that could fight the Islamic State terror assembly based in Iraq.
The Kurdistan Army Is Open to All Ethnicities
The People’s Protection Units (YPG) does not just allow both genders to serve in the YPG, but in fact, it accepts people from diverse cultural backgrounds and various religious casts to serve along. The current YPG structure against ISIS is composed of a number of Kurds, Yazidis, Christians, Arabs, and Turkmen too.
Economy
The liberal investment law which was sanctioned in July 2006 in the Kurdistan region offers incentives to foreign shareholders; this enhances their economy by attracting investors. Trade is the most encouraging factor in Kurdistan’s economic growth, and the revenues boost small and medium-sized business. Federal Government claims that trade revenues go up to $9.6 billion in the Kurdistan region.
Market
Copious oil and gas resources are being developed by the Kurdistan Regional Administration. With eleven public universities and 10 private universities, a structured finance sector, the inauguration of two international airports in Erbil and Slemani along with another planned airport in Duhok; the Kurdistan Region offers immense investment opportunities to foreign and local investors with respect to banking, communication, construction, teaching, oil and gas resources, tourism and healthcare too.
The Need for Translating and Localizing into Kurdish
Considering that the region possess a considerable amount of public and private universities that extracts material from books printed in various languages, that internationally running airports need local employees to understand various foreign languages so that they can deal with all passengers, that banking sectors serve clients from all across the globe for investment purposes so they need to be able to comprehend every client’s requirements, complaints and feedback in a language well-known to the banking employees; it is crucial that translations of written and spoken data are localized into Kurdish so that the locals can better engage in business.
Future Trans
It is evident that despite being non-independent, the Kurdistan region has abundant business opportunities and the scope to further grow into international markets. To further enhance the growth after independence, and to reduce language obstructions faced by the local Kurds, it is necessary that the route for Kurdish translation service. Envisaging to carve a business-oriented, prosperous landscape of the Kurdish region, Future Trans profoundly eradicates the language barriers and hitches by their translation services.
