Kurds in Turkmenistan

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Turkmen Kurds
Total population
6,097 (0,1%)
(1995 census)[1]
50,000
(estimate)[2]
Regions with significant populations
Ashgabat, Baýramaly, Firjuza, Kara Kala, Mary & near the Atrek River and the Kopet Dag.[3][4][5][6]
Languages
Kurdish, Russian, Turkmen
Religion
Christianity, Sunni Islam, Shia Islam & Yazidism[7][8]

Kurds in Turkmenistan refers to people born in or residing in Turkmenistan who are of Kurdish origin. In the 17th century, Abbas I of Persia and Nader Shah settled Kurdish tribes alongside the Iranian-Turkmen border.[9] More Kurds arrived to Turkmenistan in the 19th century to find unclaimed land and to escape starvation.[3]

After the dissolution of Kurdistan Uyezd, many Kurds were deported to Turkmenistan.[10] Stalin deported many Kurds from Caucasus to Turkmenistan in 1937 and again in 1944.[11] Since the 1980s, The Kurds of Turkmenistan have been subject to government sponsored assimilation programmes.[12][9] Under Soviet Turkmenistan the Kurds had their own newspapers and schools, but since the independence of Turkmenistan, the Turkmen President Saparmurat Niyazov had closed almost all non-Turkmen schools.[9]

The majority of the Turkmen Kurds are followers of Sunni Islam, with a small minority of Shia Islam followers.[7] Christian, Shiite and Yazidi Kurds are unable to practice their religion freely and often face problems regarding their freedom of religion.[8]

Population

Year Population Note
1926[13] 2,308 In the Turkmen SSR
1936[14] 1,954 In the Turkmen SSR
1959[15] 2,263 In the Turkmen SSR
1970[16] 2,933 In the Turkmen SSR
1979[17] 3,521 In the Turkmen SSR
1989[18] 4,387 In the Turkmen SSR
1995[1] 6,097 (0,1%) In Turkmenistan

See also

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Итоги всеобщей переписи населения Туркменистана по национальному составу в 1995 году.". asgabat.net (in Russian). asgabat.net. Retrieved 2 December 2012. 
  2. ↑ Ismet Chériff Vanly, "The Kurds in the Soviet Union", in: Philip G. Kreyenbroek & S. Sperl (eds.), The Kurds: A Contemporary Overview (London: Routledge, 1992). pg 164: Table based on 1990 estimates: Turkmenistan (50,000)
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 "Kurds". Eesti Keele Instituut. Retrieved 2 December 2012. 
  4. ↑ James Stuart Olson (1994). An Ethnohistorical Dictionary of the Russian and Soviet Empires. p. 409. Retrieved 2 December 2012. 
  5. ↑ Philip G. Kreyenbroek,Stefan Sperl (1992). The Kurds: A Contemporary Overview. p. 163. Retrieved 2 December 2012. 
  6. ↑ A Modern History of the Kurds: Third Edition. 1996. p. 491. ISBN 978 1 85043 416 0. Retrieved 3 December 2012. 
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Ronald Wixman (1984). The Peoples of the USSR: An Ethnographic Handbook. p. 117. Retrieved 2 December 2012. 
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 "TURKMENISTAN: Baptists raided and Jehovah's Witnesses reject presidential portraits". Worldwide Religious News. 10 September 2004. Retrieved 3 December 2012. 
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 "Жизнь курдской общины в Туркменистане [The life of the Kurdish community in Turkmenistan]". Gündogar (in Russian). Retrieved 2 December 2012. 
  10. ↑ Leonidas Themistocles Chrysanthopoulos (2002). Caucasus Chronicles: Nation-Building and Diplomacy in Armenia, 1993-1994. Retrieved 2 December 2012. 
  11. ↑ Levon Chorbajian, Patrik Donabedi︠a︡n, Claude Mutafian (1994). The Caucasian Knot: The History & Politics of Nagorno-Karabagh. p. 141. Retrieved 2 December 2012. 
  12. ↑ Mehrdad R. Izady (1992). The Kurds: A Concise History and Fact Book. p. 180. Retrieved 2 December 2012. 
  13. ↑ "Всесоюзная перепись населения 1926 года. Национальный состав населения по республикам СССР" (in Russian). Retrieved 2 December 2012. 
  14. ↑ "Всесоюзная перепись населения 1939 года. Национальный состав населения по республикам СССР" (in Russian). Demoscope.ru. Retrieved 2 December 2012. 
  15. ↑ "Всесоюзная перепись населения 1959 года. Национальный состав населения по республикам СССР" (in Russian). Demoscope.ru. Retrieved 2 December 2012. 
  16. ↑ "Всесоюзная перепись населения 1970 года. Национальный состав населения по республикам СССР" (in Russian). Demoscope.ru. Retrieved 2 December 2012. 
  17. ↑ "Всесоюзная перепись населения 1979 года. Национальный состав населения по республикам СССР" (in Russian). Demoscope.ru. Retrieved 2 December 2012. 
  18. ↑ "Всесоюзная перепись населения 1989 года. Национальный состав населения по республикам СССР" (in Russian). Demoscope.ru. Retrieved 2 December 2012. 
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