Kurds in Russia (russian: Курды в России, Kurdy v Rossii; ku, Kurdên Rusyayê) form a major part of the historically significant Kurdish population in the post-Soviet space, with close ties to the

Kurdish Kurdish may refer to: *Kurds or Kurdish people *Kurdish languages *Kurdish alphabets *Kurdistan, the land of the Kurdish people which includes: **Southern Kurdistan **Eastern Kurdistan **Northern Kurdistan **Western Kurdistan See also * Kurd (dis ...

communities in the

Caucasus The Caucasus () or Caucasia (), is a region between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, mainly comprising Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia (country), Georgia, and parts of Southern Russia. The Caucasus Mountains, including the Greater Caucasus range ...

and

Central Asia Central Asia, also known as Middle Asia, is a subregion, region of Asia that stretches from the Caspian Sea in the west to western China and Mongolia in the east, and from Afghanistan and Iran in the south to Russia in the north. It includes t ...

History

During the early 19th century, the main goal of the Russian Empire was to ensure the neutrality of the Kurds in the wars against Persia and the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...

. In the beginning of the 19th century, Kurds settled in

Transcaucasia The South Caucasus, also known as Transcaucasia or the Transcaucasus, is a geographical region on the border of Eastern Europe and Western Asia, straddling the southern Caucasus Mountains. The South Caucasus roughly corresponds to modern Arme ...

, at a time when Transcaucasia was incorporated into the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...

. In the 20th century, Kurds were persecuted and exterminated by the Turks and Persians, a situation that led Kurds to move to Russian Transcaucasia. From 1804–1813 and again in 1826–1828, when the Russian Empire and the Persian Empire were at war, the Russian authorities let Kurds settle in Russia and

Armenia Armenia (), , group=pron officially the Republic of Armenia,, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of Western Asia.The UNbr>classification of world regions places Armenia in Western Asia; the CIA World Factbook , , and ' ...

. During the

Crimean War The Crimean War, , was fought from October 1853 to February 1856 between Russia and an ultimately victorious alliance of the Ottoman Empire, France, the United Kingdom and Piedmont-Sardinia. Geopolitical causes of the war included the ...

and the Russo-Turkish War (1877–1878), Kurds moved to Russia and Armenia. According to the Russian Census of 1897, 99,900 Kurds lived in the Russian Empire. In 1937 and 1944 Soviet Kurds experienced forced deportations from Azerbaijan (mostly), Armenia and Georgia. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, one of the most renowned

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nation ...

Kurds was

Samand Siabandov Samand Aliyevich Siabandov (russian: Саманд Алиевич Сиабандов, ku, Semendê Elî Siyabendov; 20 November 1909 – 14 November 1989) was a Soviet writer, military officer and politician of Yezidi-Kurdish origin who was award ...

, a war hero. Abdullah Öcalan sought asylum in Russia in 1998.

Population (1897 - 2021)

Kurdish population in Russia according to census statistics from 1897 to 2021:

Notable Kurds in Russia

* Qanate Kurdo, Kurdish philologist * Zara, Musical Artist *

Mikhail Aloyan Mikhail Surenovich Aloyan (russian: Михаил Суренович Алоян; born 23 August 1988) is a Russian professional boxer who challenged for the WBO bantamweight title in 2018. As an amateur flyweight Aloyan won gold medals at the ...

, Boxer * Guram Adzhoyev, Footballer * Guram Adzhoyev (1995), Footballer *

Aziz Shavershian Aziz Sergeyevich Shavershian (russian: link=no, Ази́з Серге́евич Шавершя́н; 24 March 1989 – 5 August 2011), better known as Zyzz, was a Russian-born Australian bodybuilder, personal trainer and model. He established a ...

, Russian-born Australian bodybuilder and internet celebrity

References

External links

A History of Russia's Relations with the Kurds
from

Ohio State University The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best publ ...

{{Ethnic groups of Russia

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...

Muslim communities of Russia

History

Population (1897 - 2021)

Notable Kurds in Russia

See also

References

Further reading

External links