Kurds in Turkey#Middle Ages

The Marwanid dynasty, which was of Kurdish origin, ruled a territory from Diyarbakir that included parts of Syria and Iraq from 984 to 1083.{{cite book |last1=Gunter |first1=Michael M. |title=Historical Dictionary of the Kurds |date=2018 |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield Publishers |isbn=978-1-5381-1050-8 |page=226 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=i7hJDwAAQBAJ |language=en}} The Ayyubid dynasty, also of Kurdish origin (but identifying first and foremost as Muslims), ruled parts of Anatolia in the 12th and 13th centuries.{{sfn|Gunter|2018|p=51}}

According to Ahmet Nezihî Turan the first Kurdish settlement in Central Anatolia was named Kürtler ("Kurds"), founded in Yaban Âbâd (present-day Kızılcahamam-Çamlıdere near Ankara) in 1463.Ahmet Nezili Turan, Yaninâbâd Tarihini Ararken, Kızılcahamam Belediye Yayınları, 1999. {{in lang|tr}}{{page needed|date=May 2023}} According to Mark Sykes, the earliest population transfer (or exile) of Kurds to Central Anatolia was carried out during the reign of Selim I (1512–20).Mark Sykes, "The Kurdish Tribes of the Ottoman Empire", The Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland, Vol. XXXVIII, 1908.

The Mahmudi or "Pinyanişi" was an Ottoman-Kurdish tribe in the Lake Van region, who according to Evliya Çelebi had 60,000 warriors.{{cite book|author1=Evliya Çelebi|author2-link=Robert Dankoff|author2=Robert Dankoff|title=The Intimate Life of an Ottoman Statesman, Melek Ahmed Pasha (1588-1662): As Portrayed in Evliya Celebi's Book of Travels (Seyahat-name)|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YiWSuO6fdQYC&pg=PA150|date=1 January 1991|publisher=SUNY Press|isbn=978-0-7914-0640-3|pages=150–}} Their chief, Sarı Süleyman Bey,{{cite book|author=Daniel Farson|title=A Traveller in Turkey|url=https://archive.org/details/travellerinturke00fars|url-access=registration|date=1 January 1985|publisher=Routledge & Kegan Paul|isbn=978-0-7102-0281-9|page=[https://archive.org/details/travellerinturke00fars/page/78 78]}} strengthened the Hoşap Castle{{cite book|author=David Nicolle|title=Ottoman Fortifications 1300-1710|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=C9UVaLyo4UEC&pg=PA18|year=2010|publisher=Osprey Publishing|isbn=978-1-84603-503-6|pages=18–}} in the Lake Van region, in 1643.{{cite book|author=Altan Çilingiroğlu|title=The History of the Kingdom of Van, Urartu|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QcklAQAAMAAJ|year=1988|publisher=Ofis Ticaret Matbaacilik Limited|page=54|isbn=978-975-95515-0-6}}

File:Kurdish Anatolian carpet, early 19th c.jpgn carpet, early 19th century.]]

After ca. 1800, the Cihanbeyli, Reşwan and Şêxbizin tribes migrated into central Anatolia from the east and southeast.{{cite book|author=Jak Yakar|title=Ethnoarchaeology of Anatolia: rural socio-economy in the Bronze and Iron Ages|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kPZtAAAAMAAJ|year=2000|publisher=Emery and Claire Yass Publications in Archaeology|isbn=978-965-266-011-4|quote=In addition to the Turkmen tribes, after ca. 1800, a number of Kurdish tribes such as the Cihanbeyli, Resvan and Sihbizin began to move out of the eastern and southeastern provinces into central Anatolia, considerably increasing the number ...}} The total Kurdish population in Turkey was estimated at 1.5 million in the 1880s, many of whom were nomadic or pastoral.{{cite book|author=Karl Kaser|title=Patriarchy After Patriarchy: Gender Relations in Turkey and in the Balkans, 1500-2000|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_KEW6l-stCUC|year=2008|publisher=LIT Verlag Münster|isbn=978-3-8258-1119-8|page=98}}

{{further|Deportations of Kurds (1916–1934)}}

File:Kurdish mother & child Van 1973.jpg, Turkey. 1973]]

File:Kurdish refugees travel by truck, Turkey, 1991.jpeg fleeing to Turkey in April 1991, during the Gulf War]]

Before the foundation of Turkey, the Kurds were recognized as their own nation.{{Cite journal|last=Yegen|first=Mesut|date=2009|title='Prospective-Turks' or 'Pseudo-Citizens:' Kurds in Turkey |journal= Middle East Journal|volume=63|issue=4|pages=598–599|doi=10.3751/63.4.14|jstor=20622956|s2cid=144559224|language=en|issn = 0026-3141 }} The Turkish leader Mustafa Kemal also recognized the Kurds as a nation at the time and stated that provinces in which the Kurds lived shall be granted autonomy. After the establishment of the Republic of Turkey, which ended the caliphates and sultanate in Turkey, there have been several Kurdish rebellions since the 1920s: Koçkiri Rebellion,Hans-Lukas Kieser, Iskalanmış barış: Doğu Vilayetleri'nde misyonerlik, etnik kimlik ve devlet 1839–1938, {{ISBN|978-975-05-0300-9}}, (original: Der verpasste Friede: Mission, Ethnie und Staat in den Ostprovinzen der Türkei 1839–1938, Chronos, 2000, {{ISBN|3-905313-49-9}}) Beytüşşebab rebellion, Sheikh Said Rebellion,{{Cite book|last=Olson|first=Robert|title=The Emergence of Kurdish Nationalism and the Sheikh Said Rebellion, 1880–1925|date=1989|publisher=University of Texas Press|isbn=0-292-77619-5|page=91|language=en}} Dersim Rebellion,{{cite web|url=http://www.weeklyzaman.com/en/newsDetail_getNewsById.action?newsId=4970|title=the Dersim rebellion, the last Kurdish rebellion|access-date=13 November 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141129011435/http://www.weeklyzaman.com/en/newsDetail_getNewsById.action?newsId=4970|archive-date=29 November 2014|df=dmy-all}} Ararat rebellion. The policy towards the Kurds changed most prominently in 1924, as the new constitution denied the Kurds autonomy. The Kurdish people and their language were soon oppressed by the Turkish Government, as the Turkish Constitution of 1924 prohibited the use of Kurdish in public places, and a law was issued which enabled the expropriation of the Kurdish landowners and the delivery of the land to Turkish speaking people. Through the Turkish History Thesis, Kurds were classified as being of Turanian origin, having migrated from Central Asia 5000 years ago.{{Cite book|last=Poulton|first=Hugh|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WH5cVbX-37wC|title=Top Hat, Grey Wolf and Crescent: Turkish Nationalism and the Turkish Republic|date=1997|publisher=Hurst|isbn=0-8147-6648-X|location=New York|page=121|language=en}} Hence, a Kurdish nation was denied and Kurds were called Mountain Turks. From 1927 on, a General Inspector ruled over the First Inspectorate General through the implementation of emergency decrees and martial law. The areas around Hakkari, Mardin, Siirt, Urfa, Van, Elaziğ and Diyarbakır were under his rule until 1952,{{Cite book|last=Jongerden|first=Joost|title=The Settlement Issue in Turkey and the Kurds: An Analysis of Spatial Policies, Modernity and War|date=2007-05-28|publisher=BRILL|isbn=978-90-474-2011-8|page=53|language=en}} when the government of the Democratic Party brought a new approach towards the Kurds and closed the General Inspectorates.{{Cite book|last=Bozarslan|first=Hamit|title=The Cambridge History of Turkey|date=2008-04-17|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0-521-62096-3|editor-last=Faroqhi|editor-first=Suraiya|page=340|language=en|editor-last2=Kasaba|editor-first2=Reşat|editor-last3=Kunt|editor-first3=I. Metin|editor-last4=Fleet|editor-first4=Kate}}

Referring to the main policy document in this context, the 1934 law on resettlement, a policy targeting the region of Dersim as one of its first test cases, with disastrous consequences for the local population.{{cite book|last=Andreopoulos|first=George J.|title=Genocide|page=11}} The aim or the law was to spread the population with non-Turkish culture in to different areas than their origin, and to settle people who were willing to adhere to the Turkish culture in the formerly non-Turkish areas. The Fourth Inspectorate General was created in January 1936 in the Dersim region{{Cite book|last=Cagaptay|first=Soner|title=Islam, Secularism and Nationalism in Modern Turkey: Who is a Turk?|date=2 May 2006|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-134-17448-5|pages=108–110|language=en}} and the Kurdish language and culture were forbidden. The Dersim massacre is often confused with the Dersim Rebellion that took place during these events. In 1937–38, approximately 10,000-15,000 Alevis and Kurds{{cite book|last=Bruinessen|first=Martin van|title=Genocide: Conceptual and Historical Dimensions|year=1994|publisher=University of Pennsylvania Press|chapter-url=http://www.let.uu.nl/~martin.vanbruinessen/personal/publications/Bruinessen_Genocide_in_Kurdistan.pdf|editor=Andreopoulos, George J|location=Philadelphia|pages=141–170|chapter=Genocide in Kurdistan? The Suppression of the Dersim Rebellion in Turkey (1937-38) and the Chemical War Against the Iraqi Kurds (1988)}}David McDowall, A modern history of the Kurds, I.B.Tauris, Mayıs 2004, s.209{{cite web|title=Alevi-CHP rift continues to grow after Öymen remarks|url=http://www.todayszaman.com/tz-web/news-193807-alevi-chp-rift-continues-to-grow-after-oymen-remarks.html|work=Today's Zaman|date=24 November 2009|access-date=29 March 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091125110455/http://www.todayszaman.com/tz-web/news-193807-alevi-chp-rift-continues-to-grow-after-oymen-remarks.html|archive-date=25 November 2009}} were killed and thousands went into exile. A key component of the Turkification process was the policy of massive population resettlement.

After the 1960 coup, the State Planning Organization ({{langx|tr|Devlet Planlama Teşkilatı}}, DPT) was established under the Prime Ministry to solve the problem of Kurdish separatism and underdevelopment. In 1961, the DPT prepared a report titled "The principles of the state's development plan for the east and southeast" ({{langx|tr|Devletin Doğu ve Güneydoğu'da uygulayacağı kalkınma programının esasları}}), shortened to "Eastern Report". It proposed to defuse separatism by encouraging ethnic mixing through migration (to and from the Southeast). This was not unlike the policies pursued by the Committee of Union and Progress under the Ottoman Empire. The Minister of Labor of the time, Bülent Ecevit of partial Kurdish ancestry,Ercan Yavuz, [https://web.archive.org/web/20080822133939/http://www.aksam.com.tr/arsiv/aksam/2004/08/04/politika/politika1.html "Kürt kökenli olabilirim"], Akşam, August 4, 2004. {{in lang|tr}}Mahmut Çetin, Çinli Hoca'nın torunu Ecevit, Emre Yayınları, 2006, p. 18. was critical of the report.{{Cite news|url=http://www.milliyet.com.tr/2008/01/22/guncel/agun.html|access-date=2009-01-04|title=Kürtlerle Karadenizliler yer değiştirsinler!|department=Güncel|work=Milliyet|date=2008-01-22|language=tr|first=Can|last=Dündar|author-link=Can Dündar|author2=Akar, Rıdvan }} From the establishment of the Inspectorate Generals until 1965, South East Turkey, was a forbidden area for foreigners.

During the 1970s, the separatist movement coalesced into the Kurdish–Turkish conflict. From 1984 to 1999, the Turkish military was embroiled in a conflict with the PKK. The village guard system was set up and armed by the Turkish state around 1984 to combat the PKK. The militia comprises local Kurds and it has around 58,000 members. Some of the village guards are fiercely loyal to the Turkish state, leading to infighting among Kurdish militants.{{cite news|first=Meriel |last=Beattie |title=Local guards divide Turkish Kurds |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/5246068.stm |work=BBC News |access-date=2007-09-12|date=2006-08-04}}

Due to the clashes between Turkish Army and the PKK the countryside in the southeast was depopulated, with Kurdish civilians moving to local defensible centers such as Diyarbakır, Van, and Şırnak, as well as to the cities of western Turkey and even to western Europe. The causes of the depopulation included the Turkish state's military operations against Kurdish population, some PKK atrocities against Kurdish clans they could not control and the poverty of the southeast.{{Cite journal |doi=10.1016/S0030-4387(00)00057-0 |author=Radu, Michael |journal=Orbis |volume=45 |issue=1 |pages=47–63 |year=2001 |title=The Rise and Fall of the PKK|publisher=Foreign Policy Research Institute|location=Philadelphia|oclc=93642482}} In the 1990s, hope for an end to the conflict emerged, as the PKK has declared several ceasefires and the political society has organized several campaigns to facilitate a reconciliation.{{Cite book|last=Gunes|first=Cengiz|title=The Kurdish National Movement in Turkey: From Protest to Resistance|date=2013-01-11|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-136-58798-6|pages=133–135|language=en}}

"Evacuations were unlawful and violent. Security forces would surround a village using helicopters, armored vehicles, troops, and village guards, and burn stored produce, agricultural equipment, crops, orchards, forests, and livestock. They set fire to houses, often giving the inhabitants no opportunity to retrieve their possessions. During the course of such operations, security forces frequently abused and humiliated villagers, stole their property and cash, and ill-treated or tortured them before herding them onto the roads and away from their former homes. The operations were marked by scores of "disappearances" and extrajudicial executions. By the mid-1990s, more than 3,000 villages had been virtually wiped from the map, and, according to official figures, 378,335 Kurdish villagers had been displaced and left homeless."{{cite periodical |date=March 2005|title=Still critical: Prospects in 2005 for Internally Displaced Kurds in Turkey |url=https://www.hrw.org/reports/2005/turkey0305/3.htm#_Toc97005223|periodical=Human Rights Watch|volume=17|issue=2|page=3|access-date=2007-09-12}}

In 2009, under the lead of Interior Minister Beşir Atalay, a short-lived peace process was started, but was not supported by the Republican Peoples Party (CHP) and Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) over concerns over the ethnic and national unity of the state. It ended in December 2009, following an attack on Turkish soldiers by the Kurdistan Workers' Party on the 7 December and the ban of the Democratic Society Party (DTP) on the 11 December 2009.{{Cite web|last=Yeğen|first=Mesut|date=2015|title=The Kurdish Peace Process in Turkey: Genesis, Evolution and Prospects|url=https://www.files.ethz.ch/isn/191379/gte_wp_11.pdf|access-date=29 January 2021|website=www.files.ethz.ch|pages=6–7}} In 2010, after clashes between the PKK and the government forces in eastern and southeastern Turkey, several locations in Iraqi Kurdistan were attacked by the Turkish Air Force early in June 2010.{{cite web|url=http://www.strategypage.com/qnd/kurdwar/articles/20100606.aspx|title=Kurdish War: The Ceasefire Is Over|access-date=26 July 2015}} The air attack was reported 4 days later in a news article released immediately after the attack.[https://web.archive.org/web/20100611082300/http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5jUvRpIfvrF-5vSpyJOqaYWSgHX8w Turkish air force bombs Kurdish rebels in Iraq: TV report] The tense condition has continued on the border since 2007, with both sides responding to each other's every offensive move.

Following Turkey's electoral board decision to bar prominent Kurdish candidates who had allegedly outstanding warrants or were part of ongoing investigations for PKK-links from standing in upcoming elections,{{cite web|url=http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/mob_n.php?n=ysk-puts-ankara-in-turmoil-exit-strategy-sought-2011-04-19|title=YSK ruling throws Ankara into tumultuous search for exit strategy|work=Hurriyet Daily News|access-date=14 January 2014}} violent Kurdish protests erupted on April 19, 2011, resulting in at least one casualty.{{cite web|url=http://www.france24.com/en/20110420-one-killed-kurdish-protests-turkey-politician |title=One killed in Kurdish protests in Turkey: politician |publisher=France 24 |access-date=2011-04-22 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130325131633/http://www.france24.com/en/20110420-one-killed-kurdish-protests-turkey-politician |archive-date=2013-03-25 }}

On the eve of the 2012 year (28 December), the prime minister of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, said that the government was conducting negotiations with jailed rebel leader Öcalan.{{cite web|url=http://www.ntvmsnbc.com/id/25409952/|title=Yes, we negotiate with Öcalan.|publisher=Ntvmsnbc|date=December 2012|access-date=21 March 2013|language=tr}} On 21 March 2013, after months of negotiations with the Turkish Government, Abdullah Ocalan's letter to people was read both in Turkish and Kurdish during Nowruz celebrations in Diyarbakır. The letter called a cease-fire that included disarmament and withdrawal from Turkish soil and calling an end to armed struggle. The PKK announced that they would obey, stating that the year of 2013 is the year of solution either through war or through peace. On 25 April 2013, the PKK announced that it would be withdrawing all its forces within Turkey to northern Iraq.{{cite web|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424127887324743704578444630691252760?mod=WSJEurope_hpp_LEFTTopStories|title=Kurdish Group to Pull Armed Units from Turkey|work=The Wall Street Journal|date=25 April 2013|access-date=25 April 2013}}

{{multiple image|caption_align=center|header_align=center

| align = right

| total_width = 320

| image1 = Kurds protesting the Siege of Kobanî.jpg

| width1 = 250

| alt1 = A protest

| caption1 = Kurds protesting the Siege of Kobanî, 29 September 2014

| image2 = Turkish general election, 2015 - Peoples' Democratic Party (Turkey) Celebration - Istanbul.jpg

| width2 = 200

| alt2 = A celebration

| caption2 = HDP supporters celebrating election results in Istanbul, 8 June 2015

}}

On 6 and 7 October 2014, riots erupted in various cities in Turkey for protesting the Siege of Kobani. Protesters were met with tear gas and water cannons; 37 people were killed in protests.{{cite web|url=http://www.dailysabah.com/opinion/2014/10/18/anatomy-of-protests-against-the-invasion-of-kobani|title=Anatomy of Protests against the invasion of Kobani|date=18 October 2014|work=DailySabah|access-date=23 January 2015}} Following the July 2015 crisis (after ISIL's 2015 Suruç bombing attack on Kurdish activists), Turkey bombed alleged PKK bases in Iraq, following the PKK's unilateral decision to end the cease-fire (after many months of increasing tensions) and its suspected killing of two policeman in the town of Ceylanpınar (which the group denied carrying out{{Cite web|url=http://www.todayszaman.com/national_kck-official-says-pkk-not-responsible-for-murders-of-2-turkish-policemen_394957.html|title=KCK official says PKK not responsible for murders of 2 Turkish policemen|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150729143815/http://www.todayszaman.com/national_kck-official-says-pkk-not-responsible-for-murders-of-2-turkish-policemen_394957.html|archive-date=29 July 2015}}).{{cite web|url=https://www.foxnews.com/world/turkish-jets-target-kurds-in-iraq-islamic-state-militants-in-syria/|title=Turkish jets target Kurds in Iraq, Islamic State militants in Syria|publisher=Fox News|access-date=3 August 2015}}{{cite web|url=http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/we-really-cant-succeed-against-isil-without-turkey-us.aspx?pageID=238&nID=86993&NewsCatID=510|title=We really can't succeed against ISIL without Turkey: US|work=Hurriyet Daily News|access-date=15 August 2015}} Violence soon spread throughout the country. Many Kurdish businesses were destroyed by mobs.{{cite news|title=The hatred never went away |url=https://www.economist.com/news/europe/21664225-civilians-join-fight-between-soldiers-and-guerrillas-burying-years-calm-hatred-never|work=Economist|date=12 September 2015}} The headquarters and branches of the pro-Kurdish rights Peoples' Democratic Party were also attacked. There are reports of civilians being killed in several Kurdish populated towns and villages.{{cite news|title=Turkey Kurds: Many dead in Cizre violence as MPs' march blocked |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-34206924|agency=BBC|date=10 September 2015}} The Council of Europe raised their concerns over the attacks on civilians and the blockade of Cizre.{{cite web|title=Turkey should ensure immediate access to Cizre by independent observers|url=http://www.coe.int/en/web/commissioner/-/turkey-should-ensure-immediate-access-to-cizre-by-independent-observers?redirect=http://www.coe.int/en/web/commissioner/home?p_p_id=101_INSTANCE_iFWYWFoeqhvQ&p_p_lifecycle=0&p_p_state=normal&p_p_mode=view&p_p_col_id=column-1&p_p_col_count=4|publisher=Council of Europe|date=11 September 2015}} In 2008 and also in the indictment in the Peoples' Democratic Party closure case the demand for education in Kurdish language or the teaching of the Kurdish language was equated of supporting terrorist activities by the PKK.{{Cite web|last=Can|first=Osman|date=17 June 2021|title=The Motion before Turkey's Constitutional Court to Ban the Pro-Kurdish HDP|url=https://www.swp-berlin.org/en/publication/the-motion-before-turkeys-constitutional-court-to-ban-the-pro-kurdish-hdp|website=German Institute for International and Security Affairs}}{{Cite web|last1=Skutnabb-Kangas|first1=Tove|author-link=Tove Skutnabb-Kangas|last2=Fernandes|first2=Desmond|author-link2=Desmond Fernandes|date=2008|title=Kurds in Turkey and in (Iraqi) Kurdistan: A Comparison of Kurdish Educational Language Policy in Two Situations of Occupation|url=https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1182&context=gsp|website=Genocide Studies and Prevention|page=46}} By 2017, measures taken to curtail efforts to promote Kurdish culture within Turkey had included changing street names that honored Kurdish figures, removing statues of Kurdish heroes, and closing down television channels broadcasting in the Kurdish language.{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/29/world/middleeast/amid-turkeys-purge-a-renewed-attack-on-kurdish-culture.html|title=Amid Turkey's Purge, a Renewed Attack on Kurdish Culture|last=Kingsley|first=Patrick|date=2017-06-29|work=The New York Times|page=A10|access-date=2017-06-30|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331}} In July 2020, Turkey's Council of Higher Education banned students studying the Kurdish language and literature at Turkish universities from writing their dissertations in Kurdish.{{cite news |date=31 July 2020|title=Turkey bans writing of university dissertations in Kurdish|url=https://www.arabnews.com/node/1712831/middle-east|newspaper=Arab News}}

{{Main article|Kurdish Political Movement in Turkey}}

File:Hdp2015Kasım.png Party's results at the November 2015 Turkish general election]]

File:MehmetŞimşekDavos.png, minister of Finance, at the World Economic Forum in Davos]]

Kurdish politicians participate in Turkey's mainstream political parties, as well as smaller parties. Mehmet Mehdi Eker (Agriculture), Mehmet Şimşek (Finance) and Bekir Bozdağ (Deputy Prime Minister) are examples of ministers with Kurdish background who worked as ministers in the 61st government of Turkey.{{cite news |last1=Khalidi |first1=Ari |title=Erdogan claims HDP not Kurds' representative |url=https://www.kurdistan24.net/en/news/2b82eef5-4d8a-43d8-9d59-35351cd7e818 |access-date=21 June 2020 |work=www.kurdistan24.net |date=5 August 2017}}

There are also political parties that supports minority politics,{{cite web|url=http://www.hurriyet.com.tr/gundem/28793336.asp|title=HDP seçim bildirgesini açıkladı|author=Zeynep GÜRCANLI- Aysel ALP|work=HÜRRİYET - TÜRKİYE'NİN AÇILIŞ SAYFASI|date=22 April 2015 |access-date=7 June 2015}} like the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP), which holds 58 out of 600 seats in the Parliament, a multi-ethnic society and friendly Turkish-Kurdish relations.{{cite web|url=http://www.hurriyet.com.tr/gundem/26801626.asp|title=Otoriter lidere alternatifim|author=Cansu Çamlibel|work=HÜRRİYET - TÜRKİYE'NİN AÇILIŞ SAYFASI|date=14 July 2014 |access-date=7 June 2015}} Critics have accused the party of mainly representing the interests of the Kurdish minority in south-eastern Turkey, where the party polls the highest. The Turkish Government under Recep Tayyip Erdogan blames the HDP of holding relations with the armed militia PKK{{Cite news|date=2019-11-16|title=Turkey replaces four more Kurdish mayors over alleged terror links|language=en|work=Reuters|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-turkey-security-kurds-idUSKBN1XQ07P|access-date=2020-05-26}} and has dismissed and arrested dozens of elected Mayors since the 2016{{Cite web|title=The Trustee Regime in Turkey|url=https://www.solidar.org/system/downloads/attachments/000/001/026/original/HDP_EN-TRUSTEE_REGIME_IN_TURKEY.pdf?1575538620|website=Peoples' Democratic Party|access-date=26 May 2020|archive-date=23 June 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200623211957/https://www.solidar.org/system/downloads/attachments/000/001/026/original/HDP_EN-TRUSTEE_REGIME_IN_TURKEY.pdf?1575538620|url-status=dead}}{{Cite web|title=Imprisoned Co-Mayors from Kurdish Region by Turkish Government|url=https://www.initiative-kurdistan.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/ImprisonedKurdishMayors-29-11-161.pdf|last=(GABB)|first=Union of Southeastern Anatolia Region Municipalities|website=Initiative Kurdistan|access-date=2 December 2019}} and since the municipal elections in March 2019 dismissed another 45 Mayors from the 65 Mayorships the party won.{{Cite news|date=2020-03-23|title=Turkey detains five Kurdish mayors as crackdown continues|language=en|work=Reuters|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-turkey-security-kurds-idUSKBN21A1QX|access-date=2020-05-26}} Since 2016 also Selahattin Demirtaş and Figen Yüksekdağ (at the time HDP party leaders) and several other members of Parliament of the HDP are imprisoned as part of the 2016 purges in Turkey.

File:Yüksekdağ and Demirtaş.jpg politicians Selahattin Demirtas and Figen Yüksekdağ had been arrested in 2016]]

Parties in Turkey with a high emphasis on Kurdish nationalism or minority politics include Democratic Regions Party, Rights and Freedoms Party, Communist Party of Kurdistan, Islamic Party of Kurdistan, Peoples' Democratic Party, Peoples' Equality and Democracy Party, Kurdistan Democratic Party/North (illegal), Revolutionary Party of Kurdistan (illegal). Defunct parties include Democracy Party (DEP; 1993–94), Democratic People's Party (1997–2005), Democratic Society Party (DTP; 2005–09), Freedom and Democracy Party (ÖZDEP; 1992–93), Kurdistan Islamic Movement (1993–2004), Peace and Democracy Party (2008–14), People's Democracy Party (HADEP; 1994–2003), People's Labor Party (HEP; 1990–93), Workers Vanguard Party of Kurdistan (1975–92). Banned parties include HEP, ÖZDEP (1993), DEP (1994), HADEP (2003), and DTP (2009).{{cite book|last1=Aslan|first1=Senem|title=Nation-Building in Turkey and Morocco: Governing Kurdish and Berber Dissent|date=2014|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-1-316-19490-4|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8ZMZBQAAQBAJ}}{{page needed|date=January 2018}}

According to a 2020 poll conducted by Kadir Has University, 17.3% of the surveyed people who identify as Kurdish answered the question "Which form of polity do Kurdish people want?" as "an independent Kurdish state". Around 25% of the non-Kurdish participants gave the same answer to the question. Roughly 33% of the Kurdish participants answered "more democratic Turkey", meanwhile those who responded "autonomy" composed 24.5% of the surveyed.{{Cite web|title=Kürtler bağımsız devlet istiyor mu|url=https://odatv4.com/kurtler-bagimsiz-devlet-istiyor-mu-12012121.html|access-date=2021-07-29|website=odatv|date=12 January 2021 |language=TR}}{{Cite web|title=Türkiye'deki Kürtler nasıl bir yönetim şekli istiyor?|url=https://www.rudaw.net/turkish/middleeast/turkey/120120212|access-date=2021-07-29|website=www.rudaw.net}}

12.3% of those surveyed find the government policies concerning Kurdish issues "definitely successful", while those who said "definitely unsuccessful" were 11.7 percent. 31.5 percent of the respondents stated that the "main element connecting the Kurds and the Turks" was Islam, 24% stated that they shared a common history, and the rate of those who said "democratic society" was 4.5 percent. To the question "How do you evaluate the dismissal of some provincial and district mayorships and the appointment of trustees by proxy after the 31 March local elections?" 26.5 percent of the participants answered the question as positive and 38.2 percent as negative.

{{main|Kurdish rebellions in Turkey}}

• Koçkiri Rebellion (1920)
• Sheikh Said rebellion (1925)
• Ararat rebellion (1927–30)
• Dersim Rebellion (1937–1938)
• Kurdish–Turkish conflict (1978–present)

According to human rights organisations, since the beginning of the ongoing Kurdish–Turkish conflict in 1978, there have been over 4,000 Kurdish villages depopulated by Turkey and some 40,000 people have been killed."[http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/babylonbeyond/2010/07/convicted-of-terrorism-a-young-kurdish-girl-is-serving-her-seven-year-and-nine-month-prison-sentence-in-turkeys-prison-e.html TURKEY: Kurdish teenager convicted as terrorist for attending demonstration]". Los Angeles Times. 10 July 2010. The conflict resumed in 2015. In December 2015, Turkish military operations against Kurdish rebels in Turkish Kurdistan have killed hundreds of civilians, displaced hundreds of thousands, and caused massive destruction in residential areas.{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/31/world/europe/turkey-kurds-pkk.html?hpw&rref=world&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&module=well-region®ion=bottom-well&WT.nav=bottom-well&_r=0 |title=Turkey's Campaign Against Kurdish Militants Takes Toll on Civilians |work=The New York Times |date=30 December 2015}}

File:Newroz_Istanbul(4).jpg.]]

Between 1982 and 1991, the performance or recording of songs in the Kurdish language on television and radio was banned in Turkey, affecting singers such as Şivan Perwer, Mahsun Kırmızıgül and İbrahim Tatlıses. However, a black market sprang up, and pirate radio stations and underground recordings became available.Yurdatapan, Şanar. 2004. "Turkey: Censorship past and present." In Shoot the Singer! Music Censorship Today, edited by Marie Korpe. London: Zed Books. {{ISBN|978-1-84277-505-9}}.

Şivan Perwer is a composer, vocalist and tembûr player. He concentrates mainly on political and nationalistic music—of which he is considered the founder in Kurdish music—as well as classical and folk music.

Another important Kurdish musician from Turkey is Nizamettin Arıç (Feqiyê Teyra). He began with singing in Turkish, and made his directorial debut and also stars in Klamek ji bo Beko (A Song for Beko), one of the first films in Kurdish. Arıç rejected musical stardom at the cost of debasing his language and culture. As a result of singing in Kurdish, he was imprisoned, and then obliged to flee to Syria and eventually to Germany.{{cite web|url=http://www.creativeworkfund.org/modern/bios/chingiz_sadikhov.html|access-date=2008-08-23|title=Chingiz Sadykhov|publisher=Creative Work Fund|date=2005-10-02|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090205152137/http://www.creativeworkfund.org/modern/bios/chingiz_sadikhov.html|archive-date=5 February 2009}}{{Cite web |url=http://www.filmlinc.com/archive/wrt/programs/6-97/hrw/hrw.htm |title=1997 human rights watch international film festival |access-date=23 January 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081007202458/http://filmlinc.com/archive/wrt/programs/6-97/hrw/hrw.htm |archive-date=7 October 2008 }}

File:Ji Qinzêrîb Zarokek.JPG, Mardin (2009)]]Some sources consider Ali Hariri (1425–1495) as the first well-known poet who wrote in Kurdish. He was from the Hakkari region.{{cite web|url=http://www.institutkurde.org/en/language/|title=Institut Kurde de Paris|access-date=13 November 2014}} Other well known are Sharafkhan Bidlisi the author of Sharafname and Ahmad Khani who wrote the Kurdish national epic Mem û Zin.{{Cite web|title=Mem u Zîn – A Classic Kurdish Epic from the 17th-Century|url=http://ifkurds.de/en/publications/item/66-mem-u-zîn-–-a-classical-17th-century-epic.html|website=ifkurds.de|language=en-gb|access-date=2020-05-26}} During decades, the letters X, Q, and W which are part of the Kurdish alphabet were prohibited to be used{{Cite web|title=Letters Q, W, And X Were Once Illegal in Turkey|url=https://www.amusingplanet.com/2019/08/letters-q-w-and-x-were-once-illegal-in.html|access-date=2020-12-21|website=www.amusingplanet.com|language=en}} and only in 2013, the ban was lifted.{{Cite book|last=Silverman|first=Reuben|title=Turkey's ever present past: Stories from Turkish Republican History|publisher=Libra|year=2015|isbn=978-605-9022-47-7|page=140}}

In 2011, Kanal D, Turkey's largest television station, began filming Ayrılık Olmasaydı: ben-u sen in majority-Kurdish Diyarbakir. The show, written by a Kurdish screenwriter, professed to be the first in the popular genre to portray the Kurds in a positive light. The show was set to debut in early 2012, but suffered numerous delays, some say because of the controversial subject.{{cite web|last=Krajeski|first=Jenna|title=Days of Their Lives|url=http://www.caravanmagazine.in/Story/1346/Days-of-Their-Lives.html|publisher=The Caravan|access-date=2012-04-04|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120411213358/http://www.caravanmagazine.in/Story/1346/Days-of-Their-Lives.html|archive-date=11 April 2012}}

{{further|Demographics of the Kurdish people}}

The majority of Kurds live in Turkey. Estimations on the Kurdish population in Turkey varies considerably according to sources. A professor of political science, Michael Gunter wrote that Kurdish sources tend to exaggerate numbers, while the states that Kurds live in often undercount the Kurdish population.{{cite book |last1=Gunter |first1=Michael M. |title=Historical Dictionary of the Kurds |date=4 November 2010 |publisher=Scarecrow Press |page=3 |isbn=978-0-8108-7507-4 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DoNSXwb8D9EC&pg=PA3 |access-date=6 December 2022}}

Their numbers are estimated at 14,000,000 people by the CIA world factbook (18% of population).{{cite web|title=The CIA World Factbook: Turkey (18% of a total population of 79.7 million gives a figure of about 14 million)|url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/turkey/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210110073821/https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/turkey|archive-date=10 January 2021|access-date=13 November 2014|publisher=CIA}} A report commissioned by the National Security Council (Turkey) in 2000 puts the number at 12,600,000 people, or 15.7% of the population. One Western source estimates that up to 25% of the Turkish population is Kurdish (approximately 18-19 million people). Kurdish nationalists put the figure at 20,000,000{{cite web|title=Kurdish PKK chief Murat Karayilan says will spread to Turkish cities if we were attacked by Turkey|url=http://www.ekurd.net/mismas/articles/misc2007/10/turkeykurdistan1420.htm|access-date=13 November 2014}} to 25,000,000.{{cite web|title=Kurdish political rights and its impact on the Middle East economy and Stability. By Hiwa Nezhadian|url=http://www.ekurd.net/mismas/articles/misc2011/9/state5445.htm|access-date=14 January 2014|publisher=ekurd.net}} All of the above figures are for the number of people who identify as Kurds, not the number who speak a Kurdish language, but include both Kurds and Zazas.[http://www.ethnologue.com/show_country.asp?name=TRA Ethnologue census of languages in Asian portion of Turkey] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111018235156/http://www.ethnologue.com/show_country.asp?name=TRA|date=2011-10-18}} Estimates based on native languages place the Kurdish population at 6% to 23%; Ibrahim Sirkeci claims the closest figure should be above 17.8%, taking into account political context and the potential biases in responses recorded in surveys and censuses.{{Cite book|last=Sirkeci|first=Ibrahim|url=http://www.mellenpress.com/mellenpress.cfm?bookid=6794&pc=9|title=The Environment of Insecurity in Turkey and the Emigration of Turkish Kurds to Germany|publisher=Edwin Mellen Press|year=2006|isbn=978-0-7734-5739-3|location=New York|pages=117–118|author-link=Ibrahim Sirkeci|access-date=2006-08-11}} The population growth rate of Kurds in the 1970s was given as 3.27%.G. Chaliand, A.R. Ghassemlou, M. Pallis, A People Without A Country, 256 pp., Zed Books, 1992, {{ISBN|978-1-85649-194-5}}, p.39 According to two studies (2006 and 2008) study by KONDA, people who self-identify as Kurdish or Zaza and/or speaks Kurmanji or Zazaki as a mother tongue correspond to 13.4% of the population. Based on higher birth rates among Kurdish people, and using 2000 Census results, KONDA suggested that this figure rises to 15.7% when children are included, at the end of 2007.{{cite web|title=Kürtlerin nüfusu 11 milyonda İstanbul"da 2 milyon Kürt yaşıyor - Dizi Haberleri|url=http://www.radikal.com.tr/dizi/kurtlerin_nufusu_11_milyonda_istanbulda_2_milyon_kurt_yasiyor-913650|access-date=14 January 2014|work=Radikal}}

Since the immigration to the big cities in the west of Turkey, interethnic marriage has become more common. A 2013 study estimates that there are 2,708,000 marriages between Turks and Kurds/Zaza.Kurdish Life in Contemporary Turkey: Migration, Gender and Ethnic Identity, Anna Grabolle Celiker, p. 160, I.B.Tauris, 2013 A 2002 report showed that most mixed marriages happened in large cities and areas where their own group formed a minority. In most mixed marriages, the men were Kurds while the women were Turks. Turks with lower level education were more open to marrying Kurds, while Kurds with higher level education were more open to marrying Turks.European Sociological Review. Vol. 18, No. 4, (December 2002), pp. 417

File:Kurdish population by region (KONDA 2010).png

Turkish government statistics show that Kurdish women in Turkey give birth to about four children, more than double the rate for the rest of the Turkish population. The Kurdish population is growing, while the rest of the country has birth rates below replacement level.{{Cite news|last1=Kálnoky|first1=Boris|date=8 November 2012|title=Bevölkerung: Die Kurden und das Geburtenproblem in der Türkei|website=Die Welt|url=https://www.welt.de/politik/deutschland/article110793334/Die-Kurden-und-das-Geburtenproblem-in-der-Tuerkei.html|access-date=2016-10-01}}{{Cite web|last=Berman|first=Ilan|title=Turkey's Kurdish Arithmetic|website=Forbes|url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/ilanberman/2013/05/29/turkeys-kurdish-arithmetic/#7bfaa83350db|access-date=2016-10-01}} In some Kurdish dominated provinces women give birth to 7.1 children on average.{{Cite news|last=Martens|first=Michael|date=2010-10-20|title=Bevölkerungsentwicklung: Schafft auch die Türkei sich ab?|newspaper=Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung|url=https://www.faz.net/aktuell/politik/ausland/bevoelkerungsentwicklung-schafft-auch-die-tuerkei-sich-ab-11055955.html?printPagedArticle=true#pageIndex_2|access-date=2016-10-01|issn=0174-4909}} Women in Kurdish dominated provinces of eastern Turkey also have an illiteracy rate about three times higher than men, which correlates with higher birth rates. In 2000 66% of 15-year-old girls from Şırnak Province could not read or write.{{Update inline|date=January 2023}}

File:Kurdish in Turkey (1965).png]]

The Kurdish language in Turkey, primarily Kurmanji and Zazaki, has faced systemic marginalization, leading to significant language shift. According to a 2020 survey, while 80% of Kurdish parents of children aged 3–13 claimed proficiency in Kurdish, only 24% used it as the primary language of communication at home.{{cite journal |last1=Leinonen |first1=Anu |title=Struggling against Language Shift: Kurdish Language Education in Turkey [Têkoşîna li hember guhastina ziman: Perwerdehiya zimanê kurdî li Tirkiyeyê] [تێکۆشان لە دژی زمان گۆرین: پەروەردەی زمانی کوردی لە تورکیا] [Duştê ravurîyayîşê ziwanî de lebitîyayîş: Tirkîya de perwerdeyê kurdkî] |journal=Kurdish Studies Archive |date=2025 |volume=10 |issue=1 |page=32 |doi=10.1163/9789004726239_004}} Among urban Kurdish youth (aged 18–30), less than half reported regular use of Kurdish, and only 18% could read and write in their mother tongue. Efforts to promote Kurdish include introducing it as an elective subject in schools in 2012. Initial participation was 18,847 students, which grew to 77,931 by the 2015–2016 academic year.{{cite journal |last1=Leinonen |first1=Anu |title=Struggling against Language Shift: Kurdish Language Education in Turkey [Têkoşîna li hember guhastina ziman: Perwerdehiya zimanê kurdî li Tirkiyeyê] [تێکۆشان لە دژی زمان گۆرین: پەروەردەی زمانی کوردی لە تورکیا] [Duştê ravurîyayîşê ziwanî de lebitîyayîş: Tirkîya de perwerdeyê kurdkî] |journal=Kurdish Studies Archive |date=2025 |volume=10 |issue=1 |pages=40-41 |doi=10.1163/9789004726239_004}} However, participation stagnated, with approximately 60,000 students studying Kurdish as of 2019 based on textbook data.{{cite journal |last1=Leinonen |first1=Anu |title=Struggling against Language Shift: Kurdish Language Education in Turkey [Têkoşîna li hember guhastina ziman: Perwerdehiya zimanê kurdî li Tirkiyeyê] [تێکۆشان لە دژی زمان گۆرین: پەروەردەی زمانی کوردی لە تورکیا] [Duştê ravurîyayîşê ziwanî de lebitîyayîş: Tirkîya de perwerdeyê kurdkî] |journal=Kurdish Studies Archive |date=2025 |volume=10 |issue=1 |page=41 |doi=10.1163/9789004726239_004}} University-level Kurdish studies began in 2011, with Mardin Artuklu University receiving 2,500 applications for its master's program in 2012–2013, though the program has faced challenges, including declining enrollment due to poor employment prospects for graduates.{{cite journal |last1=Leinonen |first1=Anu |title=Struggling against Language Shift: Kurdish Language Education in Turkey [Têkoşîna li hember guhastina ziman: Perwerdehiya zimanê kurdî li Tirkiyeyê] [تێکۆشان لە دژی زمان گۆرین: پەروەردەی زمانی کوردی لە تورکیا] [Duştê ravurîyayîşê ziwanî de lebitîyayîş: Tirkîya de perwerdeyê kurdkî] |journal=Kurdish Studies Archive |date=2025 |volume=10 |issue=1 |pages=38-39 |doi=10.1163/9789004726239_004}} Despite these efforts, the broader language shift continues, exacerbated by limited intergenerational transmission and restrictions on mother-tongue education under Article 42 of Turkey’s 1982 Constitution, which prohibits non-Turkish languages from being taught as mother tongues in schools.{{cite journal |last1=Leinonen |first1=Anu |title=Struggling against Language Shift: Kurdish Language Education in Turkey [Têkoşîna li hember guhastina ziman: Perwerdehiya zimanê kurdî li Tirkiyeyê] [تێکۆشان لە دژی زمان گۆرین: پەروەردەی زمانی کوردی لە تورکیا] [Duştê ravurîyayîşê ziwanî de lebitîyayîş: Tirkîya de perwerdeyê kurdkî] |journal=Kurdish Studies Archive |date=2025 |volume=10 |issue=1 |page=35 |doi=10.1163/9789004726239_004}}

The majority of people who identify as Kurds speak Kurmanji, meanwhile a minority of them speak Turkish or Zazaki as their mother language. A study published in 2015 that demographically analysed the Kurdish inhabited regions of Turkey (excluding diaspora) concluded that c. 92% people belonging to Kurdish ethnic identity spoke Kurdish languages, 6.4% spoke Turkish, and 1.4% spoke Zaza as their mother language. Around 2% of the surveyed people who identified as Zaza, but not Kurd expressed that their mother tongue was Kurdish. 3.1% of the Turks and 4.6% of Arabs also stated that they spoke Kurdish. Concerning Alevi people, c. 70% spoke Zaza, 20% Kurdish and 10% Turkish.{{Cite web |last=Yeğen |first=Mesut |date=January 2015 |title=Kürt Seçmenlerin Oy Verme Dinamikleri: Kuzeydoğu-Ortadoğu ve Güneydoğu Anadolu Alt Bölgelerinde Seçmenin Siyasal Tercihlerinin Sosyolojik Analizi |trans-title=Voting Dynamics of Kurdish Voters: A Sociological Analysis of Voters' Political Preferences in Northeast-Middle East and Southeast Anatolia Sub-regions |url=https://yada.org.tr/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/14-Kürt-Seçmenlerin-Oy-Verme-Dinamikleri-Kuzeydoğu-Ortadoğu-ve-Güneydoğu-Anadolu-Alt-Bölgelerinde-Seçmenlerin-Siyasal-Tercihlerinin-Sosyolojik-Analizi.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210624200352/https://yada.org.tr/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/14-K%C3%BCrt-Se%C3%A7menlerin-Oy-Verme-Dinamikleri-Kuzeydo%C4%9Fu-Ortado%C4%9Fu-ve-G%C3%BCneydo%C4%9Fu-Anadolu-Alt-B%C3%B6lgelerinde-Se%C3%A7menlerin-Siyasal-Tercihlerinin-Sosyolojik-Analizi.pdf |archive-date=24 June 2021 |website=yada.org.tr |pages=36–52 |language=tr}}

Around 75% of the Kurds stated that they either had "very good" or "good" proficiency in their respective mother languages. 55% of those who had "very good" or "good" proficiency in their mother language stated that their children were also proficient. Around 75% of the Kurds and 2% of the Zazas (58.4% for Zazaki) declared that they spoke Kurdish at home. Turkish was spoken by 22.4% and 38.3% at home, respectively. Turkish (70%) was the dominant household language for Alevi population.

Most of the Kurdish people living in Turkey are Sunni Muslims, though Alevism comprises a sizable minority of about 30%.{{cite encyclopedia |last=Houston |first=Christopher |title=Creating a Diaspora within a Country: Kurds in Turkey |entry=Creating a Diaspora within a Country: Kurds in Turkey |date=2005 |encyclopedia=Encyclopedia of Diasporas: Immigrant and Refugee Cultures Around the World |page=405 |editor-last=Ember |editor-first=Melvin |place=Boston, MA |publisher=Springer US |language=en |doi=10.1007/978-0-387-29904-4_40 |isbn=978-0-387-29904-4 |editor2-last=Ember |editor2-first=Carol R. |editor3-last=Skoggard |editor3-first=Ian}} 24.4% of the Kurds and 9.8% of Zazas declared that they were belonging to Hanafi school, meanwhile the vast majority of them were of the Shafiʽi school, which contrasted the local Turkish and Arab population, both of whom were overwhelmingly Hanafi. 3.1% of the Kurds and 14.8% of Zazas were Alevi, compared to 5.4 percent of Turks and 1.1 percent of Arabs.

Kurds and Zazas in Eastern Turkey are found to be more religious compared to both general population of Turkey and the Turkish population in the same region. Religious observance rates such as fasting during Ramadan, praying 5 times a day or going to Jumu'ah regularly show similar patterns. On the other hand, people who are Alevis show the least amount of religiosity and lowest observance rates, both regionally and nationally. 96 to 97 percent of the surveyed Kurd and Zaza groups in Eastern Turkey had someone in their household who wears headscarf, which was higher compared to Turkish population of the region. Only around 11% of Alevis declared that there were someone with headscarf in their household. 4.3% of both Kurd and Zaza groups were members of a specific religious sect, which was roughly double the rate of regional Turkish and Alevi population.

{{main|Kurdish tribes}}

33.4% of the Kurds and 21.2% of the Zaza from Eastern Turkey declared that they had tribal affiliations (Kurdish: eşîr, Turkish: aşiret), compared to c. 3% of the Turks in the same region. Tribal affiliation was highest (73%) among the people who declared that they were Alevis. 18.5% of those who were a member of a tribe stated that their tribe was an important factor for their political decisions. Around 10% of the surveyed tribal members claimed it was economically important to be in a tribe.

File:Kurds of Central Anatolia.jpg

The Kurds of Central AnatoliaIngvar Svanberg, Kazak Refugees in Turkey: A Study of Cultural Persistence and Social Change, Academiae Ubsaliensis, 1989, {{ISBN|978-91-554-2438-1}}, p. 28. {{in lang|en}} (Kurdish: Kurdên Anatolyayê/Anatolê, Turkish: Orta Anadolu KürtleriRohat Alakom, Orta Anadolu Kürtleri, Evrensel Basım Yayım, 2004, {{ISBN|975-6525-77-0}}. {{in lang|tr}} or İç Anadolu KürtleriNuh Ateş, İç Anadolu Kürtleri-Konya, Ankara, Kırlşehir, Komkar Yayınları, Köln, 1992, {{ISBN|3-927213-07-1}}. {{in lang|tr}} are the Kurdish people who have immigrated and been in Central Anatolia (present day Aksaray, Ankara, Çankırı, Çorum, Eskişehir, Karaman, Kayseri, Kırıkkale, Kırşehir, Konya, Nevşehir, Niğde, Sivas, Yozgat provinces) since about 16th century.Rohat Alakom, ibid, [https://books.google.com/books?id=LOkpAQAAIAAJ&q=%22Orta+Anadolu+K%C3%BCrtleri+%22 p. 14.] {{in lang|tr}}Ayşe Yıldırım, Ç. Ceyhan Suvari, İlker M. İşoğlu, Tülin Bozkurt, Artakalanlar: Anadolu'dan etnik manzaralar, E Yayınları, {{ISBN|975-390-205-0}}, [https://books.google.com/books?id=0IppAAAAMAAJ&q=%22Orta+Anadolu+K%C3%BCrtleri+%22 p. 166.] {{in lang|tr}} They number between 50,000 and 100,000 people. The core of the Kurds of Central Anatolia is formed by Tuz Gölü Kürtleri (Kurds of Lake Tuz) who live in the provinces Ankara, Konya and Aksaray.Müslüm Yücel, "Tuz Gölü Kürtleri", I-VIII, Yeni Gündem gazetesi, 2000, İstanbul. {{in lang|tr}} Mustafa Kemal (Atatürk) mentioned them as "Konya çöllerindeki Kürtler" (Kurds in the Konya deserts) in the interview with Ahmet Emin (Yalman) dated January 16/17, 1923.Atatürk'ün Bütün Eserleri, Kaynak Yayınları, Cilt: 14, {{ISBN|975-343-400-6}}, pp. 273–274. {{in lang|tr}}

According to Hermann Wenzel, the original breeders of the Angora goat were the Kurds of Inner Anatolia.Hermann Wenzel, Sultan-Dagh und Akschehir-Ova, Kiel, 1932. {{in lang|de}}Hermann Wenzel, Forschungen in Inneranatolien II: Die Steppe als Lebensraum, Schriften des Geographische institut Kiel, VII, 3, Kiel, 1937. {{in lang|de}}

The largest tribes of the Kurds of Central Anatolia are the Bazaini or Shaikh Bazaini, Judikan, Saifkan, Chelebi, Janbeki, Jehanbegli, Khallikan, Mutikan, Hajibani, Barakati, Badeli, Ukhchizhemi, Rashvan, Sherdi, Urukchi, Milan, Zirikan, Atmanikan, and Tirikan. Formerly, some of the Janbegli, Rashvan and Milan tribes were of Alevi origin and followed Alevism.Rohat Alkom, ibid, p. 63. {{in lang|tr}}

Two or the four primary dialects of Kurdish are used by the Central Anatolian Kurds. These are Kurmanji and Dimili/Zaza. Generally, their mother language is Kurmanji Kurdish who have difficulty understanding the dialect spoken in Haymana where the Şêxbizin tribe live.Peter Alford Andrews, Türkiye'de Etnik Gruplar, ANT Yayınları, Aralık 1992, {{ISBN|975-7350-03-6}}, s. 155. It is said that the new generation of Kurdish people in some settlements no longer speak Kurdish.[http://www.birnebun.com/hejmar/PDF/birnebunweb45.pdf Dr. Mikaili, "Devlet Kürtçe'ye Kapıları Açtı, Ya Biz Orta Anadolu Kürtleri ?"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110312111624/http://www.birnebun.com/hejmar/PDF/birnebunweb45.pdf |date=12 March 2011 }}, Bîrnebûn, Sayı: 45, Bahar 2010, {{ISSN|1402-7488}}

{{See also|Human rights of Kurdish people in Turkey}}

File:Zana.jpg; Kurdish politician who was awarded the 1995 Sakharov Prize]]

Since the 1970s, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has condemned Turkey for thousands of human rights abuses.{{cite news|title=EUROPEAN COURT OF HUMAN RIGHTS: Turkey Ranks First in Violations in between 1959-2011|url=http://bianet.org/english/human-rights/138337-turkey-ranks-first-in-violations-in-between-1959-2011|access-date=29 December 2015|work=Bianet - Bagimsiz Iletisim Agi}}{{cite report |title=Annual Report 2014 |date=2015 |website=The European Court of Human Rights |location=Strasbourg |url=http://echr.coe.int/Documents/Annual_Report_2014_ENG.pdf|access-date=29 December 2015}} The judgments are related to executions of Kurdish civilians,{{cite report |title=The European Court of Human Rights: Case of Benzer and others v. Turkey|date=24 March 2014 |page=57 |url=http://hudoc.echr.coe.int/app/conversion/pdf/?library=ECHR&id=001-128036&filename=001-128036.pdf|access-date=29 December 2015}} torturing,{{cite web |author=Aisling Reidy |title=The prohibition of torture: A guide to the implementation of Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights |website=European Court of Human Rights |series=Human rights handbooks, No. 6 |date=2003 |pages=11, 13|url=http://www.echr.coe.int/LibraryDocs/HR%20handbooks/handbook06_en.pdf|access-date=29 December 2015}} forced displacements,{{cite book|publisher=Human Rights Watch|date=2002|title=World Report 2002|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=blm_4gIcaZoC&pg=PA7|page=7}} destroyed villages,{{cite book|last1=Abdulla|first1=Jamal Jalal|title=The Kurds: A Nation on the Way to Statehood|publisher=AuthorHouse|isbn=978-1-4678-7972-9|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=usQ2i-P7oPIC&pg=PA36|access-date=29 December 2015|page=36|date=7 February 2012}} arbitrary arrests,{{cite web |title=Police arrest and assistance of a lawyer |website=European Court of Human Rights |date=2015|page=1|url=http://www.echr.coe.int/Documents/FS_Police_arrest_ENG.pdf}} murdered and disappeared Kurdish journalists.{{cite news|title=Justice Comes from European Court for a Kurdish Journalist |url=http://www.khrp.org/khrp-news/news-archive/2000-news/189-justice-comes-from-european-court-for-a-murdered-kurdish-journalist.html|access-date=29 December 2015|publisher=Kurdish Human Rights Project}} To cite a recent case, in 2018 and 2020, the ECHR ruled that the arrest and ongoing imprisonment of Selahattin Demirtaş was contrary to five articles in the European Convention on Human Rights and had the "ulterior purpose of stifling pluralism and limiting freedom of political debate"{{cite news |last1=Kucukgocmen |first1=Ali |title=European Court of Human Rights says Turkey must free Demirtas |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-turkey-echr-demirtas/european-court-of-human-rights-says-turkey-must-free-demirtas-idUSKBN28W1PJ |access-date=9 January 2021 |work=Reuters |date=22 December 2020 |language=en}}{{Cite news|date=2018-11-20|title=Turkey ordered to release opposition leader|language=en-GB|work=BBC News|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-46274330|access-date=2020-05-26}} and ordered Turkey to pay him 25,000 Euros in compensation.{{Cite web|title=CASE OF SELAHATTİN DEMİRTAŞ v. TURKEY (No. 2)|url=https://hudoc.echr.coe.int/spa#{"itemid":["001-187961"]}|website=European Court of Human Rights|access-date=26 May 2020}} Turkey refused to release him.{{Cite web|title=Turkish court keeps Selahattin Demirtas in jail despite ECHR|url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2018/11/turkish-court-selahattin-demirtas-jail-echr-181130140610828.html|website=www.aljazeera.com|access-date=2020-05-26}}

The European Commission Against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI) reports that (as of April 2010): "The public use by officials of the Kurdish language lays them open to prosecution, and public defence by individuals of Kurdish or minority interests also frequently leads to prosecutions under the Criminal Code."{{cite web|title=ECRI report on Turkey (4th cycle)|url=http://www.coe.int/t/dghl/monitoring/ecri/Country-by-country/Turkey/TUR-CBC-IV-2011-005-ENG.pdf}} From the 1994 briefing at the International Human Rights Law Group: "the problem in Turkey is the Constitution is against the Kurds and the apartheid constitution is very similar to it."[http://csce.gov/index.cfm?FuseAction=Files.Download&FileStore_id=189 "Implementation of the Helsinki Accords Criminalizing Parliamentary Speech in Turkey. Briefing by the International Human Rights Law Group." May 1994. Before the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe, Washington DC.] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120624015920/http://csce.gov/index.cfm?FuseAction=Files.Download&FileStore_id=189 |date=24 June 2012}}

In 1998 Leyla Zana received a jail sentence.{{Cite periodical |url=https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/CREC-1998-10-09/html/CREC-1998-10-09-pt1-PgE2007-2.htm|title=Ankara's Decision to Sentence Leyla Zana: A Blatant Violation of Freedom of Expression |periodical=Congressional Record |volume=144 |issue=141 |date=October 9, 1998 |access-date=2019-08-28}} This prompted one member of the U.S. House of Representative, Elizabeth Furse, to accuse Turkey of being a racist state and continuing to deny the Kurds a voice in the state". Abbas Manafy from New Mexico Highlands University claims "The Kurdish deprivation of their own culture, language, and tradition is incompatible with democratic norms. It reflects an apartheid system that victimizes minorities like Armenians, Kurds, and Alevis."{{cite book|author=A. Manafy|title=The Kurdish Political Struggles in Iran, Iraq, and Turkey: A Critical Analysis|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=M6gsAQAAIAAJ|date=1 January 2005|publisher=University Press of America|isbn=978-0-7618-3003-0|page=99}}

{{Kurds}}

• Kurds of Khorasan
• Minorities in Turkey
• Armenians in Turkey
• Human rights in Turkey
• List of Kurdish people
• Turkification
• A Modern History of the Kurds by David McDowall

{{Reflist|2}}

• {{cite book|author=Michael M. Gunter|title=The A to Z of the Kurds|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pHB5F_Y02_gC|year=2009|publisher=Scarecrow Press|isbn=978-0-8108-6334-7}}
• {{cite book|author=Michael M. Gunter|title=Historical Dictionary of the Kurds|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=i7hJDwAAQBAJ|year=2018|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield Publishers|isbn=978-1-5381-1050-8}}
• {{cite book|author=Hakan Ozoglu|title=Kurdish Notables and the Ottoman State: Evolving Identities, Competing Loyalties, and Shifting Boundaries|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vEAu4L1oz_4C|year=2012|publisher=SUNY Press|isbn=978-0-7914-8556-9}}
• {{cite book|author=Denise Natali|title=The Kurds And the State: Evolving National Identity in Iraq, Turkey, And Iran|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=G62NSVhprsQC|year=2005|publisher=Syracuse University Press|isbn=978-0-8156-3084-5}}
• {{cite book|author=Ferhad Ibrahim|title=The Kurdish Conflict in Turkey: Obstacles and Chances for Peace and Democracy|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3kgierPu_7EC|year=2000|publisher=LIT Verlag Münster|isbn=978-3-8258-4744-9}}
• {{cite book|author1=Lois Whitman|author2=Helsinki Watch (Organization : U.S.)|title=The Kurds of Turkey: Killings, Disappearances and Torture|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Pyz9fz6il38C|date=1 January 1993|publisher=Human Rights Watch|isbn=978-1-56432-096-4}}
• {{cite book|author=Metin Heper|title=The State and Kurds in Turkey: The Question of Assimilation|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3ZYPAQAAMAAJ|year=2007|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan|isbn=978-0-333-64628-1}}
• {{cite book|author=Michael M. Gunter|title=The Kurds in Turkey: A Political Dilemma|url=https://archive.org/details/kurdsinturkeyp00gunt|url-access=registration|year=1990|publisher=Westview Press|isbn=978-0-8133-8120-6}}
• {{cite book|author=Henri J. Barkey|title=Turkey's Kurdish Question|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XSw2AAAAQBAJ&pg=PA1|date=1 January 2000|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield Publishers|isbn=978-0-585-17773-1}}
• {{cite book|author=Nicole F. Watts|title=Activists in Office: Kurdish Politics and Protest in Turkey|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yXWl40KJfKEC|date=8 November 2010|publisher=University of Washington Press|isbn=978-0-295-99050-7}}
• {{cite book|author=Stavroula Chrisdoulaki|title=The Kurdish Issue in Turkey|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gc1SnD9blsAC|date=1 December 2010|publisher=GRIN Verlag|isbn=978-3-640-76659-8}}
• [http://www.birnebun.com/ Bîrnebûn]
• [http://www.vegernu.com/ Veger] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080210090514/http://www.vegernu.com/ |date=10 February 2008 }}
• [http://www.kurdenkirsehire.com/ Kurdên Kirşehîrê] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060614125910/http://kurdenkirsehire.com/ |date=14 June 2006 }} (Kurdish / Turkish)
• [https://books.google.com/books?id=Kn55oiJb8swC&dq=kurdes+d%27anatolie+centrale&pg=PA46 Asemblee Parlementaire, Documents De Seance: Session Ordinaire D'octobre 2006]

• {{cite web |author=Martin van Bruinessen |title=The Ethnic Identity of the Kurds in Turkey |website=Academia |date=January 1989 |url=https://www.academia.edu/707655}}

{{Commons category|Kurdish people in Turkey}}

{{Kurdish diaspora}}

{{Demographics of Turkey}}

{{Portalbar|Kurdistan|Turkey}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kurds In Turkey}}

*

Category:History of the Kurdish people

Category:Kurdish people by country of citizenship