Kurdish Community Research Articles

Kurdish Migration Waves to Rojava (Northern Syria)

This study aims to present the Kurds and the Kurdish migration waves to Rojava (Northern Syria). The accumulation of huge Kurdish masses on the territory of today's Syria is the result of millennial waves of migration caused by the turbulent events in the Middle East. The article analyzes: The Kurdish settlements in Syria; The French colonial authorities; The French colonial policy in the Middle East; The migration flow to Syria. The authors of the in-depth study of modern Syrian Kurdistan, The Question of Syrian Kurdistan – Reality, History, Mythologisation, argue that in the twentieth century there were two main waves of migration to northern Syria. One is expansionist and the other is restrictive. They form the current profile of the Kurdish community in Syria.

Non-Verbal Communication and Respect in Kurdish Social Situations with Reference to English

Communication can have different forms by different people in diverse ages. Communication can be generally verbal and non- verbal. Non- verbal communication is any gesture or action used by people to show many functions of language, being informative, directive, interpersonal, aesthetic, etc. This study is an attempt to investigate this means of communication in terms of politeness both pragmatically and sociolinguistically in the Kurdish social situations. Despite of the scarce pragmatic and sociolinguistic attention to politeness in non- verbal communication in the Kurdish community, this means of communication is of vital importance in this culture due to its inferential influence on politeness and expression of respect. People can show respect to others by some gestures and traditional practices without stating any polite expression verbally. The non- verbal cues like gestures and actions can be socially normalized ones and/or be institutional. After conducting focus group discussions with the Kurdish native speakers and analyzing the data primarily qualitatively, the study revealed that there is a direct relationship between respect and non- verbal communication, the cultural practices and gestures employed by the Kurdish informants are being socially conventional in the Kurdish community. Despite of the great impact of non- verbal cues on communication, the majority of the informants preferred to use verbal communication in terms of sending the message intended, the perception, i.e. understanding of the message got almost similar voices for receiving the message of communication as visualized the bar graphs in the analysis section. Expressive speech acts like, greetings; thanking, congratulating, etc. related to politeness can be saliently conveyed non- verbally. The rituals and gestures practiced by the Kurdish community are almost fixed and used similarly by all individuals.

Language Use and Attitudes among the Kurds of Baghdad

Several studies have dealt with the Kurdish minorities in different regions far and wide, but few studies have focused on the Kurds of Baghdad, Iraq, especially after the 2005 Constitution which supported the Kurdish language. This study aims at investigating the contexts wherein the Kurdish language is used by the Kurds of Baghdad and their attitudes towards their ethnic language (Kurdish) to see if the official status that has been accorded to it is mirrored in society. To do so, a sample of 100 respondents selected from the Kurdish community living in Baghdad took part in a questionnaire and pilot interviews. The study shows that home and family are the most common contexts within which the Kurds use the Kurdish language. Results also show that Arabic and Kurdish are used side by side within the neighborhood, workplace, and education institutions contexts. As for attitudes towards Kurdish, the participants have displayed positive attitudes towards their ethnic language and felt proud of it as a unifying symbol of the Kurdish nation. This study concludes that the new official status that has been given to Kurdish for over fifteen years has not been in force yet and suggests directions for future research on language policy in Iraq. Keywords: Language Use, Language Attitudes, Kurds, Kurdish, Iraq.

Home Health Care Services Delivered by Nurses to the Relatives with COVID-19

Background and objective: Kurdish community have a long-standing history of looking after family members and loved one in times of sickness. Caring for COVID-19 patients at home is a huge responsibility and challenging. Despite fear of losing family members, relatives working in the health care system dedicated their time to care for their relatives affected by COVID-19. No studies have been done to investigate the care provided to the COVID-19 patients at home-setting by nurses. The purpose of this study is to investigate the health care services provided to COVID-19 patients at home-setting by nurses. Methods: This study is a descriptive quantitative study with a sample size of seventy-four nurses. The nurses claimed that they looked after more than 180 patients at the home setting. The data was collected through an online questionnaire format prepared by the researcher after an extensive literature review and discussion with the nurses who provided home care to COVID-19 patients. The researcher also utilized the guide-lines and data published on the World Health Organization (WHO), National Institutes of Health (NIH) and Centers for Disease Control (CDC) websites for constructing the tool. Data was collected through Google Forms from 1st January 2022 to 29th March 2022. Results: Of the seventy-four nurses that completed the questionnaire, half held a bachelor’s degree in nursing. The nurses reported caring for more than 180 patients in total with 37.8% of nurses caring for one patient. More than half (52.7%) of patients were aged 50-64 years. The results of the study showed that the home care included health assessment, nursing intervention, evaluation, reassessment, and practicing preventive measures. Conclusion: Depending on the data received from the nurses, COVID-19 patients in home setting received holistic nursing care and patients were under close and constant monitoring.

School as an oppressed site: how broader sociopolitical context informs educational processes in Turkish school with Kurdish school mix

ABSTRACT Reproduction theories reveal schools’ critical role in inequalities and instil a sense of pessimism regarding schools’ potential to create a fair society. School effectiveness research (SER) has responded to this pessimism by studying associations between school factors and educational performance to show that schools can make a difference. Despite its optimistic approach, SER fails to analyse the effects of broader social structures on educational processes. This article uses the institutional habitus concept to understand how the Turkish state’s assimilative educational agenda and Kurdish communities’ past experiences inform educational interactions in a public middle school in Istanbul’s inner-city area. The paper argues that institutional habitus provides a more robust framework than SER in explaining schools’ role in academic achievement within the broader sociopolitical context.

Palimpsests of Violence: Ruination and the Afterlives of Genocide in Anatolia

AbstractBefore the 1915 Genocide of Ottoman Armenians, the region of Van, in contemporary southeastern Turkey, held hundreds of active Armenian churches and monasteries. After the destruction of the Armenian community, these ruined structures took on new afterlives as they became part of the evolving environments and communities around them. These ruined spaces play a role in the everyday lives of the people who live among them and shape their historical understandings and relationships with the local history and geography. I interrogate the afterlives of one abandoned monastery and examine how local Kurds imagine, narrate, and enact the politics of the past and the present through that space of material ruin. I demonstrate how the history of the Armenian Genocide and ongoing state violence against the Kurdish community are intricately linked, highlight the continuation of violence over the past century, and deconstruct notions of ahistorical victims and perpetrators. This article builds on a critical approach to ruins as it traces how histories of destruction and spaces of material ruin are revisited and reinterpreted by those whose lives continue to be shaped by processes of ruination. It demonstrates how ruins created through violent histories become spaces for articulating alternative senses of history and crafting possible futures.

Refuge and Resistance: Theater with Kurds and Yezidi Survivors of ISIS

This essay looks at ongoing efforts to revitalize arts and culture among the Yezidi and broader Iraqi Kurdish communities. The Yezidi are survivors of the 2014 genocide perpetrated by the Islamic State (ISIS, also known by its Arabic acronym Da’esh) which resulted in mass killing, captivity and expulsion from their ancestral homeland of Mt. Sinjar in northern Iraq. They are part of the Kurdish people, who have engaged in centuries of struggle to protect their cultural and political identity, establish autonomy and ensure their security in the broader Middle East. After a brief overview of the Yezidi genocide and its aftermath, we trace some theatrical efforts in the 20–21st century and look at two embryonic theater initiatives in Iraqi Kurdistan. The description of cultural projects at Springs of Hope Foundation (Shariya Camp) is followed by personal reflection and analysis of the aims, uses and challenges of Applied Theater. This ‘umbrella term’ refers to a process that uses a theatrical tool-kit in non-theater contexts. The aesthetic, ethical and political challenges inherent in this work are considered: the essay explores questions of ethical care and the implications and pitfalls of working with vulnerable and displaced populations, issues of representation, and creating spaces for healing and expression through participatory theater. Finally, we discuss a new initiative in Iraqi Kurdistan that seeks to address ethnic and political fissures through theater. The essay culminates with a consideration of belonging and re-imagining home.

Genocide Crimes Committed Against the Kurds in Iraq Statistical Study on Anfal Operations 19871988

The crime of genocide is one of the most serious crimes against humanity as it affects the life، freedom، rights or humanity of a group of people، and these crimes collectively constitute what are called humanitarian crimes. The crime of genocide is considered relatively recent at the international level، as it did not appear in its current form until after World War II. Here، the talk about Anfal is a talk about campaigns of executions، mass killings and organized extermination according to all standards. This means that Anfal was the first step to annihilate the Kurdish community. The destruction of villages in Kurdistan and the displacement of the population into the open to get rid of their identity forever. The strategy of the Anfal operations campaigns was to destroy all the defensive capabilities of the Kurdistan community. Anfal، according to international standards of crimes، falls within the framework of genocide (genocide). In this research، some descriptive statistical methods were used، such as graphs، circuit diagrams، graphs، and some statistical analyzes to obtain acceptable and accurate results. In managing affairs and responsibilities، that is، targeting this group to paralyze those minorities of women in general and men in particular proves and embodies the concept of genocide in its true meaning in terms of reproduction and the management of public and private responsibilities. The Anfal community، whose numbers were approximately 182،000، where the number of victims was more than 70،000 victims، and the percentage of them can be observed in the conclusions paragraph. This also indicates the concept of genocide، and this in itself is another evidence of the extermination of a young and active age group in society.

Language change among Kalhuri Kurdish speakers in Iran

Abstract In the multicultural and multiethnic context of Iran, Farsi (Persian) is the only official and the most prestigious language employed by the people. This article investigates sociolinguistic factors fostering a radical language shift from Kurdish to Farsi among Kalhuri Kurdish speakers in Kermanshah, the biggest Kurdish city in Iran – a trend which has raised many social and cultural controversies within the Kurdish community. Data were gathered through a questionnaire focusing on the attitudinal, economic, and social factors affecting the shift. The participants of the study were 1,000 native Kurdish speakers in Kermanshah; the data was analyzed using descriptive statistics and item percentage. The analysis revealed that social, personal, and economic factors contributed to the shift, even though the economic concerns outweighed the others. The article discusses the implication of the findings in detail.

VDR Gene Polymorphisms in Kurdish Population and Its Relation to T1DM in Erbil-Iraq.

This research assessed the relationship among type 1 diabetes VDR gene polymorphisms (ApaI and TaqI) in the Kurdish population in Erbil-Iraq. Forty individuals with type 1 diabetes and thirty healthy people were recruited from the Kurdish population in Erbil, Iraq. Genomic DNA was taken from blood, being genotyped for SNP (single nucleotide polymorphisms). The distribution of VDR polymorphisms in two restriction fragment length polymorphism sites, TaqI and ApaI, was investigated in patients and controlled by a polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) utilizing ApaI and TaqI restriction enzymes. Using SPSS software (V15.0), the genotype dispersal and allelic incidences in patients and controls were compared. VDR polymorphism genotype dispersal and allele incidences vary dramatically among patients and controls. The results confirmed that the genotype GT in SNP ApaI was a risk factor among type 1 diabetes mellitus patients' combination that imparted the strongest susceptibility to T1DM (P=0.00023). Still, the SNP TaqI showed no relevance between cases and controls (P=0.35). Our findings indicate that VDR gene polymorphisms in the combination of genotypes are related to an increased risk of T1DM in the Kurdish community and warrant further investigation as a possible genetic risk marker for T1DM. More research is needed to corroborate this finding, particularly the VDR gene, which was studied for the first time in the Kurdish population.

Intertextuality in the Novel (Koykha Swi) by (Aziz Mullah Rash)

The novel (Kwekha Sewe), which means (Sheikha Siwi), by the creative Kurdish writer and novelist (Aziz Mulla Rash), which was issued and printed in 1986 AD, is considered one of those rare novels at the time that caused gossip and wrote research and articles about it at that time. The reason, as we can see, is due to the fact that it was written and narrated in an easy and simple Kurdish language and an fluent and eloquent Kurdish tongue, which emerged from the depth of its culture and popular heritage which is full of wisdom and sayings of the ancients, in which the Kurdish heritage and folklore were used in a clear and clear way Which is unprecedented in the Kurdish novel, this novel is considered the initiative and the vanguard in this field. The writer (Aziz Mulla Rash), as an original writer with a rich background in the Kurdish folk culture and heritage, benefited greatly in his narration of the novel from the literary elements of folklore, customs and social traditions of the Kurdish community. the novel. With this, the writer was able to accomplish two goals and two aims at the same time, he was able to protect part of the Kurdish folklore and preserve it from damage and loss first, and secondly, he made his narration more coordinated and more tasting. Therefore, in order to reward the writer for his venerable attempts and generous effort in this regard, we consider it necessary to do this research in this field in honor of his generous effort and the protection and preservation of the Kurdish folk culture and heritage.

Ethnopharmacological study of medicinal plants in Sarvabad, Kurdistan province, Iran

Ethnopharmacological relevanceTraditional medicine has a long history and plays an important role in the Kurdish community in Sarvabad county, Kurdistan province, Iran. Despite the great diversity of medicinal plants, cultural history, and variety of herbal medicine uses among Kurdish tribes, very few cohesive ethnopharmacological studies of this unique region are available in the scientific literature. Our study tried to gather medicinal plant species and document the associated indigenous knowledge of the ethnic groups in the Sarvabad district for the first time. Materials and methodsEthnobotanical data were collected from 92 local informants through semi-structured questionnaires, open interviews, and field surveys during a period of two years (2018–2020). The statistical analysis included use reports (UR) for each species, and informant consensus factor (FIC) to evaluate the data. ResultsIn the present study a total of 156 plant species belonging to 58 botanical families, were recorded for the treatment of 16 diseases categories. The most represented families were Lamiaceae, followed by Asteraceae, and Apiaceae. The most frequently cited plant species with the highest use report (UR) were Pistacia atlantica (161), Hymenocrater longiflorus (128), Melissa officinalis (124), Cyperus rotundus (114), Thymus transcaspicus (112), and Quercus brantii (109).Psychological (ICF = 0.96), musculoskeletal (ICF = 0.94), and digestive (ICF = 0.93), followed by respiratory problems (ICF = 0.92) showed the highest informant consensus factors among all ailment categories. Most herbal remedies were consumed as decoction. Leaves (28.5%) were the most widely used plant parts, followed by flowers (18.7%), aerial parts (14.5%), seeds (13.2%), and terrestrial parts (8.41%). Some interesting new medicinal uses for native and common species were reported. Species such as Cyperus rotundus, Hymenocrater longiflorus, Anthriscus nemorosa, Pistacia atlantica and Quercus brantii would be interesting targets for drug discovery and are suggested for further investigations. ConclusionThe plant use reports, and quantitative data analyzed demonstrate that the relative importance of plant species and shared knowledge of herbal therapies among Kurdish communities of the Sarvabad county is still rich. A systematic study and evaluation of the biological activity of highly consumed plants, could identify the possible mechanism of action.

ИНКОРПОРАЦИЯ КУРДСКОГО МЕНЬШИНСТВА В ИРАКСКОЕ ГОСУДАРСТВО И ИМПЕРСКОЕ ИНСТИТУЦИОНАЛЬНОЕ НАСЛЕДИЕ

The article focuses on the impact of the Ottoman institutional legacy on ethno-confessional minorities incorporation into the post-imperial national states. Iraqi Kurdistan was selected as a relevant case for analysis. The tested hypothesis is that informal rules and practices exercise a significant influence on the political process in post-imperial societies, which, in case of compatibility of goals between informal and new formal institutions, can contribute positively to the formation of a stable structure of government. In this context, the author analyzes the interaction between the Kurdish communities and the centre in the Ottoman period, identifies the specificities of the Kurdish segment incorporation into the newly formed state of Iraq, and weighs the performance of consociational mechanisms established in Iraq's political system after Saddam Hussein's ouster. The application of such methodological approaches as neo-institutionalism and historical institutionalism makes it possible to define the institutional parameters of the Kurdish minority incorporation into Iraq and, through this lens, to assess the political performance in the Iraqi Kurdistan Region. It is stated that the historical informal institutions of the Kurdish community remain functional and substitutive for the formal ones. At this point, the consociational pattern is assessed as the only possible solution that reduces transaction costs in the centre-periphery interaction.

Ruins, Ruination, and Counter-Memory in Kurdish Women’s Art

This article focuses on the contemporary visual art practices by Kurdish female artists as strategies of counter-memory. The Kurdish community in Turkey has been facing ongoing violence, with its (cultural) heritage, memory, and archives constantly under threat. In this article, I use the archaeological metaphors of “ruins” and “ruination” by Ann Laura Stoler to examine the destruction, and discuss a selection of contemporary artworks by Kurdish women artists who represent such forces of destruction symbolically to build a counter-archive. Consulting research from other disciplines to explain the colonial dynamics in the region, I trace the decolonial feminist discourse within the Kurdish women’s movement. Finally, I explain how the female body and the city are recurrent themes in these artworks to challenge the colonialist, heteronormative, and nationalistic paradigms. Such artistic expressions of ruination, I argue, animate politics, disturb common sense, and mobilize counter-memory, one that is decolonial and feminist.

КУРДСКИЙ СЛЕД В ПАКИСТАНЕ

Noting the polyethnicity of the Pakistani state, the author tried to trace the «Kurdish trace in Pakistan». It was noted that representatives of various peoples and nationalities live on the territory of Pakistan, who speak more than 60 languages. And one of the small communities among them are the Iraqi Kurds, whose number, according to some estimates, reaches 250 people. In 1659, the Kurdish historian Akhund Mohmmad Saleh Zangana wrote the book «Kurd Talk Letter». It examines the history of the origin of the Baluch, originally from the Kurdish race. In recent decades, the Baluchs, like the Kurds, have been actively developing a movement for national self-determination demanding independence from Shiite Iran, as well as Pakistan. The main reason for the confrontation in Iran is related to the religious component, since the Baluchis are Sunnis. The examples of twice Prime Minister of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan Benazir Bhutto (1988–1990; 1993–1996), as well as Minister for Education (2002–2007) and for Defense Production of Pakistan Zubaida Jalal Khan (2018–2022) were cited as the most famous Kurds of Pakistan in the world Kurdish community. It was noted that the first in recent history the female head of government in a country with a predominantly Muslim population, Benazir Bhutto, was a Kurdish woman by her mother Begum Nusrat Bhutto (Nusrat Isfahani (1929–2011)). Despite the small number of Kurds in Pakistan, some of them, who have Kurdish roots, manage to occupy high positions in government structures and achieve a certain degree of self-realization during historical assimilation.

The Failed Ba'thification of Iraqi Kurdistan: The Ideological and Organizational Strategies of the Ba'th Party in Northern Iraq, 1968–2003

Drawing on internal party documents, this article analyzes the history of Ba'thification efforts in Iraqi Kurdistan. Despite a growing literature on the Ba'th Party's ruling strategy, the often-overlooked Arabization of Kurdish communities constituted a significant ideological component of Ba'thification. From an organizational perspective, the cultivation of internal intelligence networks was used to compensate for the challenges associated with robust party recruitment in northern Iraq's Kurdish-majority governorates and among Kurdish communities in mixed areas.

Underage Marriage in Islamic Jurisprudence -A Comparative Jurisprudential Study

The marriage contract of a young girl who has not yet reached adulthood is a type of marriage contract that used to be practice and is still working with this kind of marriage , in semi-tribal societies - including the Kurdish community - and they invoked many reasons and reasons, and it is known that it may be harmed as a result of this type of marriage. Marrying spouses, then the two families, then the consensus, and looking for an answer:: What is the ruling on this type of marriage? What are the solutions to what has happened and is happening in terms of problems ?, And to find out these questions, and the answer to what is likely in Islamic jurisprudence from the ruling on this type of marriage? This research was completed which deals with extrapolating the legal texts, the doctrines of the jurists, their opinions, and the fatwas of the most senior Kurdish scholars on the ruling on marrying a young girl. The research, the introduction, and the study of the subject deals with an objective, comparative jurisprudential study, through the following axes and paragraphs: 1- Small language and idiomatically. 2- The doctrines of the jurists in the marriage of a young woman. 3- Public evidence of the validity marriage of young girls. 4- Evidence for those who say that her marriage is not valid. 5- Discussing the evidence: A: Discussing the evidence of those who are entitled, who are the public. B: Discussing the evidence of the referees. 6- The jurisprudence of the issue and the preponderance of the doctrine of those who deny that it is not valid to marry a young girl. 7 - Supporting the preponderance of the doctrine that is favored by the fatwas of the most senior Kurdish scholars regarding the issue. 8 - The conclusion, in which it confirms the opinion of those who say that the marriage of the young woman is not valid, first, and the recommendation to raise awareness in order to urge to avoid this heinous act, secondly.

The Dehgolan Prospective Cohort Study (DehPCS) on non-communicable diseases in a Kurdish community in the west of Iran.

The Dehgolan Prospective Cohort Study (DehPCS) was conducted to examine and identify risk factors for the most prevalent non-communicable diseases (NCDs). In addition, in order to examine participants’ health status, socioeconomic status, behavioral factors, nutritional status, and environmental exposures, the DehPCS collected, analyzed, and stored blood, urine, nail, and hair samples to conduct genetic studies and identify biomarkers and other biological determinants of NCDs. In total, 3,996 adults aged 35 to 70 from the general population participated in the study from February 2018 to March 2019. Of them, 43.7% were women. The first follow-up wave was conducted with 3,995 participants. Information on a wide range of variables was collected, including on socioeconomic status, lifestyle, nutritional status, habits, physical examination findings, medication use, and medical history. Proxy variables such as body mass index, metabolic equivalent task score, wealth index, and macronutrients and micronutrients were calculated. The most common self-reported diseases in descending order were kidney stones, hypertension, and fatty liver. The prevalence of diabetes and hypertension was 9.3% and 33.4%, respectively. All data, samples, and measurements will be collected again at 5-year intervals. Thus, it will be possible to examine time-dependent changes in the risk factors of NCDs. The DehPCS can be used to study the relationships among genetics, lifestyle, socioeconomic status, and environmental risk factors and the most prevalent NCDs in case-cohort studies using a nested case-control design that will be applied to the cohort infrastructure. Researchers can also submit pre-proposals via the following web address: http://c.ddrc.ac.ir/persianaccess/Account/Login.

Ji Zimanê Dayîkê Wêdetir: Kurdî Wekî Zimanekî Herêmî û Xwecih

The association between language and territory is particularly significant in terms of indigenousness. Therefore, the argument of this paper is to examine this aspect of the Kurdish language through the interpretation of the Kurdish political movement in Turkey based on self-identification, an essential component of indigeneity. Since the 1990s, the Kurdish political movement has been demanding mother-tongue rights with the growing grassroots support. This study examines pro-Kurdish political party programs, statements/press releases, and interviews with deputies of the HDP, current parliamentary party. The article explores acquiring Kurdish as a native language by Kurds and non-Kurds in the region, mainly through mothers, homes, and the community environment. The process of acquiring the Kurdish language varies according to how individuals interact with the local Kurdish community, such as marrying into Kurdish families, systematic settlement, and growing up in the region. Whilst Kurdish is regarded as the mother language of the Kurds by Kurds and non-Kurds members of the Kurdish political movement in Turkey, this article draws further attention to the regional and local aspects of Kurdish, including its natural learning process of non-Kurds within the region.

The Kurdish Community from the Abbasids to Safavids; Sharafkhan Bedlisi’s Perspective

Sharafkhan Bedlisi began writing Kurdish historiography in the late sixteenth century by writing Sharafnama. Sharafnama includes the history of the Kurdish emirates from the Abbasid caliphates to the end of the years (1596-1597), i.e. until the Safavid era. Sharafnama is basically a continuation of the same method of traditional Islamic historiography, i.e. political, military and family event writing. However, the introduction of Sharafnama regarding the characteristics of Kurdish people and the Kurdish society from the Abbasid to Safavid eras can differentiate this historical work from the contemporary and earlier historical works. In this regard, Sharafnama can be considered as a work different from the tradition of Islamic historiography. Sharafkhan Bedlisi maintains that religionism, irrationality, chaos (lack of concentration), lack of unity thoughts, fratricidal desires, lack of foresight, importance of warrior-ship and unwillingness to establish a local government are the most important characteristics of Kurdish people and Kurdish society from the Abbasid to Safavid eras. The present study attempts to discuss the aforementioned characteristics in a descriptive-analytical manner.