THE FATE OF THE SOVIET KURDS 1

The article examines the fate of Kurds who lived in the USSR and now live in the Russian Federation. The Russian authorities were able to legalize residence in the Krasnodar and Stavropol territories. Tambov region and other regions of the country of Kurd refugees from Armenia, Azerbaijan and Central Asia and create normal conditions for their life and activities. Today, Russian Kurds are one of the most socially and politically active diasporas, they have their own public organizations, media outlets, including in the Kurdish language, and maintain contacts with their fellow tribesmen abroad.

Keywords: Soviet Kurds, Yezidis, Turkey, Iran, Transcaucasia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Nagorno-Karabakh, assimilation, repressed peoples, Central Asia.

The appearance of the first Kurdish tribes in Russia dates back to the XIII-XIV centuries. The well-known Soviet ethnographer T. F. Aristova in her historical and ethnographic essay "Kurds of Transcaucasia" cites interesting evidence from various sources [Aristova, 1966, p. 37] 2. Thus, at the end of 1807, Makhmad Sefi-sultan crossed the Russian-Iranian border with 600 Kurdish families and settled in the Karabakh Khanate (Averyanov, 1900, p. 24). The ancestor of the Chelabias Kurds who lived in Karadag appealed to the Russian authorities with a request to allow about a thousand Kurdish families to settle on the territory of Transcaucasia [ibid., p. 31]. In 1855, several Kurdish tribes crossed the Russian-Turkish border and accepted Russian citizenship [Makhmudov, 1959, p. 214]. Many Kurdish families moved from Iran to Nakhchivan and Surmali counties (Khalfin, 1963, p. 114). With the annexation of Georgia to the Russian Empire (1801) and the predominantly Kurdish khanates of Ganja, Karabakh, and Sheki, "Russia began to have Kurds among its peoples" (Averyanov, 1900, p.24). Separate Kurdish families and tribal groups found themselves on the territory of Transcaucasia during the two Russo-Persian wars (1804-1813 and 1826-1828). They fled from the oppression of the Persian authorities or migrated in search of better pastures [Aristova, 1966, p. 37].

After the conclusion of the Treaties of Gulistan (1813) and Turkmanchay (1828) between Russia and Persia, and the Treaty of Adrianople (1829) between Russia and the Ottoman Empire, new territories inhabited by Kurds were transferred to Russia: the Iranian Salmas, Khoy, Urmia and others, and the Turkish Van, Erzurum, Kare and others. In 1869-1885, Turkmenistan (the Transcaspian region) became part of Russia, where it also historically served as a part of the Caspian Sea.-

1 The article was written within the framework of the Fundamental Research Program of the History Section of the Institute of Physics and Mathematics of the Russian Academy of Sciences "Nations and the State in World History".

2 T. F. Aristova notes that there are references in the historical literature to the appearance of Kurds in Transcaucasia as early as in the XIII-XIV centuries and earlier (see: [Gagsnmsystsr, 1847; Minorsky, 1963], etc.).

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the Kurds lived there. Migration processes did not stop there, and the Kurds continued to move from Persia and Turkey to Russia for a long time. In accordance with articles XIV and XV of the Treaty of Turkmanchay, residents of the border regions of Iran (regardless of their nationality) were granted the right to freely cross the Russian border with their families without any obstacle from the governments of both states and local authorities. According to the first General Population Census of the Russian Empire conducted in 1897, there were 99.9 thousand Muslim Kurds and Yezidis [Aristova, 1990, p.64].

The Kurds showed loyalty to the Russian authorities, because they saw in the Russians their liberators from Turkish and Persian oppression. It is no coincidence that many Kurds joined the Russian military service and showed bravery in numerous battles during the Russo-Persian and Russo-Turkish wars. A significant number of Yezidi Kurds3 fled to Armenia and Georgia during the First World War, fleeing religious and ethnic cleansing and political persecution by the Turkish authorities. In Transcaucasia, Kurds lived in a number of counties of the Erivan, Tiflis and Elisavetpol provinces of the Russian Empire, in Turkmenistan-in the regions bordering Iran.

After the events of 1917, the Soviet republics inherited from the Russian Empire, along with other peoples, the Kurds with their rich culture, language, customs, customs and traditions. Despite the fierce civil war and the new redistribution of state borders, most of the remaining Kurds in Transcaucasia and Turkmenistan were able to adapt to the new socio-political conditions. Kurds were able to live and develop peacefully in their historical homeland, and in 1921 Soviet Russia provided material assistance to the starving Kurds of Transcaucasia. Their way of life gradually improved, and the Kurdish tribes moved from a nomadic to a sedentary way of life; they overcame age-old backwardness and illiteracy; schools, technical schools, paramedic stations, hospitals were opened, textbooks, books, newspapers ("Soviet Kurdistan") were published in the Kurdish language, radio broadcasts were conducted, cultural and educational institutions were created. Attention was paid to working with national cadres, scholarships were allocated for studying Kurds in universities in Moscow, Leningrad, and other Soviet cities, and local authorities and intellectuals were subsequently formed from among their graduates.

According to the results of the All — Union census of 1926, the total number of Soviet Kurds reached 69.1 thousand people, while 66.7 thousand were registered in Transcaucasia and 2.4 thousand in Central Asia [Aristova, 1990, p.64]. The noticeable reduction in the number of Kurds in the USSR compared to the number of Kurds in 1897 is explained by the return of a number of Transcaucasian regions inhabited by Kurds (Van, Erzurum, Kare) to Turkey by the Soviet authorities, and the flight to Turkey and Iran of Kurds who served under the tsarist regime in the army and government bodies, as well as members of their families, they did not accept the new government and were afraid of persecution by the Bolsheviks. Even at that time, some Kurds chose to hide their national identity and were counted as Armenians, Georgians, Azerbaijanis, Turkmens, etc.

In 1923, the Kurdistan Uyezd was created as part of the Azerbaijan SSR on the border with the Armenian SSR, with the administrative center in the village of Abdalyar (later renamed Lachin). The county became widely known as "Red Kurdistan" and contributed to the rise of the national liberation movement of Kurds in Turkey, Iran, in the mandated territories of France (Syria) and Great Britain (Iraq). One of the reasons for the creation of Kurdish autonomy in the area was the desire of the Soviets

3 The Yezidis (Yezidis) are a distinct confessional community within the Kurdish ethnic group. Their beliefs combine elements of Islam, Judaism, Christianity, Zoroastrianism, and paganism. Soviet Yezidis lived mainly in Armenia and Georgia and numbered over 30 thousand people by 1989.

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It is planned to reduce the severity of the Armenian-Azerbaijani territorial confrontation by transferring some disputed areas to a "third" party and creating a "buffer zone" between Armenia and the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Region of Azerbaijan.

The name Kurdistan began to be used as early as 1921, i.e. two years before the official creation of the Kurdistan Uyezd. Mainly Muslim Kurds lived compactly in the Kurdistan uyezd, and the first chairman of the Kurdistan Uyezd Executive Committee was Gusi Huseynali oglu Hajiyev. This county includes the districts (deirs) of Karakyshlak, Kelbajar, Koturlu, Kubatly, Kurd-Haji and Muratkhanli. The population of the county was 51.2 thousand people, of which Kurds - 37,470 thousand (73.1%), Turks - 13,520 (26.3%), Armenians - 256 people (0.5%). In all districts, with the exception of the Turkic-speaking Kubatli region, Kurds formed the majority of the population. According to the data of 1925, Kurdistan County had 6 districts, 330 settlements, united in 63 village councils. The social structure of the population largely retained its tribal character, some Kurds continued to lead a semi-nomadic lifestyle, many lived in caves and tents (Babayan, 2005).

During this period, centers of Kurdish culture and schools with teaching children in dialects of the Kurdish language were also created in other Soviet republics where there were Kurdish communities: in Armenia, Georgia, and Turkmenistan. And if the first years of Soviet power gave a great impetus to the development of the Kurds as an original ethnic group, then by the beginning of the 1930s the picture began to change.

The republican authorities of Transcaucasia began to pursue a policy of assimilation of their small peoples. In the Azerbaijan SSR, a course was taken to Turkify the Kurds. 4 Similar processes, taking into account local specifics, took place in other Soviet republics where Kurdish communities lived. Since that time, many surnames of Kurds began to receive the endings "ogly", "ev", "ov", "yan", "shvili", "dze", etc.

Accordingly, the Kurdistan Uyezd also existed for a relatively short time, being abolished by the decision of the VI All-Azerbaijani Congress of Soviets on April 8, 1929 [ibid.]. The Council of People's Commissars and the Central Election Commission of the USSR approved this decision on July 23, 1930. However, the Kurdish autonomy in the USSR in 1923-1929 entered the annals of the history of the Kurdish national movement and formed an important segment of the historical memory of the Kurds.

In the 1930s, Soviet Kurds shared the fate of other repressed peoples.5 Most of them, mainly Muslims, were evicted from their places of permanent residence in the 1930s and 1940s to uninhabitable areas of Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan. Only Yezidi Kurdish settlements in Armenia and Georgia and Kurdish communities in Turkmenistan have survived.

In the booklet "The tragedy and Hope of Kurds in the USSR 1930-1950" Ishkhan Miroev publishes texts of documents that testify to the hardships and hardships of Kurds during the period of forced deportations. Thus, the report to the leadership of the USSR Ministry of Internal Affairs reports that by October 1945 the number of special settlers - Turks, Khemshins, Kurds-amounted to 88.8 thousand people, for the period from March 1944 to January 1946, 599 people were born, and 6902 died [Miroev, 2012, p. 15-16]. From the reference of the USSR Ministry of Internal Affairs dated April 10, 1953, it follows that a total of 14,895 representatives of these peoples (14.6%) died during their stay in the special settlement [ibid., pp. 12, 16, 20].

4 Some of the Kurds who settled in the Kslbajar and Lachin regions of Transcaucasia during the period of settlement of these lands were Turkic-speaking.

5 Repressed peoples, as defined by the Law of the RSFSR "On Rehabilitation of Repressed Peoples" of April 26, 1991, are peoples who were subjected to a state policy of repression and genocide, accompanied by their forced relocation, the abolition of national-state entities, the redrawing of national-territorial borders, the establishment of a regime of terror and violence in the places of special social protection. All acts of union, republican, and local bodies and officials adopted against repressed peoples, with the exception of acts restoring their rights, have been declared unconstitutional and are no longer in force.

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In 1956, with the beginning of the "thaw", the Kurds, like a number of other repressed peoples, were formally rehabilitated (initially without the right to return to their homeland and compensation for property losses), and later a significant part of them were partially restored to their rights. Unfortunately, the Soviet authorities were unable to organize an effective rehabilitation program for the Kurds, moreover, social tensions arose both in the areas of their former special settlements and in the places of their original residence, if they returned to their small homeland. According to the 1979 census, 115,858 Kurds were officially registered in the Soviet Union [Aristova, 1990, p.66], however, according to my estimation, by that time there should have been between 200,000 and 300,000 Kurds.

The situation of the Kurds was aggravated by the fact that in the last years of the Soviet Union, republican elites tried to speculate on national differences, artificially inciting ethnic and religious hostility. During this period, nationalist and extremist groups became noticeably more active, provoking pogroms on the basis of nationality and ethnic cleansing. As it turned out, the rehabilitated Soviet Kurds had nowhere to return to. Initially, the Azerbaijani republican authorities strongly prevented their return to the Azerbaijani SSR, in particular to the regions of Nakhichevan and Lachin, from which they were previously evicted, and later the Armenian-Azerbaijani armed conflict arose over the status of Nagorno-Karabakh, and part of the Kurdish lands was already under the control of the Armenian armed forces.

The Georgian authorities did not welcome the return of Muslim Kurds either. Under these conditions, many Kurds were forced to stay in the Central Asian republics or disperse in small communities throughout the Soviet space, including in a number of territories and regions of the RSFSR. According to the 1989 census, Kurds in the USSR officially numbered about 153 thousand people, but taking into account the forcibly assimilated Kurds and Yezidi Kurds, their number was estimated at 300-500 thousand people [GARF, f. 9654, op. 6, d. 313, l. 40].

Representatives of Kurdish public organizations and intellectuals repeatedly appealed to the highest legislative and executive bodies of the USSR and Azerbaijan SSR with requests to restore Kurdish autonomy or at least ensure the return of Kurds to their places of historical residence. Most of these requests went unanswered, and some of them were followed by formal replies. Since the second half of the 1980s, with the beginning of perestroika, Soviet Kurds have been hoping to achieve the restoration of their legal rights in the Soviet Union. The Kurdish issue was particularly acute due to the harassment and pogroms of Kurds in the republics of Central Asia, threats of forced eviction from certain regions of Armenia, Georgia, the Krasnodar Territory (Adygea) and other places where local authorities refused them registration for a new place of residence and employment.

From the numerous appeals of Kurdish representatives to the leadership of the USSR at that time, I would like to highlight a number of the most typical ones.

Thus, in June 1989, a group of Kurdish public figures (M. S. Babayev, A. A. Mammadov, F. K. Chatuev, Z. A. Sadikhov and others) addressed a statement to the Chairman of the Council of Nationalities of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, R. N. Nishanov. In it, they outlined the specific facts of the expulsion and oppression of the Kurds of Armenia, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and the Krasnodar Territory of the RSFSR. The Kurds asked to be allowed to restore their autonomy in Azerbaijan, expressed their readiness to develop deserted and waterless lands on the Caspian Sea coast and establish irrigation on the terms of self-financing and long-term lease, produce agricultural and livestock products, pay taxes and rent to the state [ibid., d. 114, l. 30].

On June 4, 1991, the General Director of the Center for Kurdish Culture, T. M. Broev, addressed the President of the USSR, M. S. Gorbachev, and the Chairman of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR

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A. I. Lukyanov with a request to speed up the resolution of the Kurdish issue, in particular to restore Kurdish autonomy and equal representation of Kurds in legislative bodies at all levels [ibid., d. 313, l. 14].

The appeals of the Kurds found understanding among the lawmakers of the public. Thus, the well-known Soviet poet and publicist, deputy of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR B. I. Oleynik, in a letter to M. S. Gorbachev dated April 26, 1990, spoke in support of the Soviet Kurds [ibid., d. 203, l. 7-9].

On October 23, 1990, the Supreme Soviet of the USSR adopted Resolution No. 1738-1 "On the formation of a Commission on the Problems of the Kurdish people" headed by V. P. Sobolev, Deputy Chairman of the State Committee for National Affairs of the RSFSR.

After a series of meetings with representatives of the Kurds and visits to their places of compact residence, on July 4, 1991, the Commission members informed the Supreme Soviet of the USSR that there had been no positive changes in the living conditions of the Kurdish population, tens of thousands of Kurds had found themselves in the situation of refugees as a result of interethnic conflicts, and the main issue - it needs more in-depth study. In addition to specific proposals for the protection of the rights of Kurds in Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, the Krasnodar Territory and Adygea, the Commission proposed to consider the possibility of intensifying scientific research on Kurdish problems in the USSR, organizing training of Kurds in their native language, training specialists in the field of public education, science and culture, and assisting in the development of relevant textbooks, educational programs, etc. manuals and methodological materials [ibid., d. 313, l. 30-31].

The collapse of the USSR at the end of 1991 did not allow the implementation of the plans and intentions of the leaders of the Soviet state to restore historical justice to the Kurdish people. Political instability and regional conflicts in the post-Soviet period forced some Soviet Kurds to migrate to Russia, but a significant number of them remained in Transcaucasia and Central Asia.

KURDS IN TRANSCAUCASIA

Currently, according to the most approximate estimates, more than 15 thousand Kurds and Yezidi Kurds live in Georgia. They do not feel any pressure and are not subject to forced assimilation by the Georgian authorities, but they also do not take an active part in political and public life. The resettlement of Kurds from Georgia to Russia and other post-Soviet states continues mainly for socio-economic reasons.

Much more Kurds, about 150-250 thousand, live in Azerbaijan. Most of them are assimilated, considered Azerbaijanis; there is even a point of view that assimilated Kurds are widely represented in the ranks of the Azerbaijani political elite.

In Azerbaijan, Kurds live in several villages near Ganja, in the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic and in Baku. Allegedly, separate groups of Kurds settled in the areas adjacent to Nagorno-Karabakh from the north. In the case of a hypothetical resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict on Azerbaijani terms, it is not possible to talk about the restoration of Kurdish autonomy in any form: according to the constitution, the country is built on a unitary principle, and only geographically separated Nakhichevan has the status of limited autonomy.

On March 1, 2013, a regular congress of Kurds of Azerbaijan was held at the Ronai Center for Kurdish Culture, where they discussed the pressing problems of Kurds, including the publication of the newspaper " Dange Kurd "("Voice of the Kurd"), the creation of Kurdish language courses in Baku and in areas where Kurds live compactly. Congress delegates

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It was noted that Ronai should establish relations with Iraqi Kurdistan, Kurdish minorities in Turkey, Iran, Syria, and Kurdish communities and diasporas in the CIS and Europe.

Yazidi Kurds mostly live in Armenia (30-40 thousand people). The question of the possible return of rehabilitated Muslim Kurds to the area of the" Lachin corridor " connecting Nagorno-Karabakh with Armenia, and to the territories adjacent to it, is unlikely to be considered until the settlement of the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict. At one time, Armenian scientists made a certain contribution to the development of the Yezidi identity proper [Arakelova, 2006; Genetic Affinity...6, and a little later - in the formation of the identity of the Zaza people. Many Kurds perceive this fact painfully: the Armenian side is accused of trying to prevent the formation of a common Kurdish identity.

KURDS IN CENTRAL ASIA

The formation of Kurdish communities in Central Asia was the result of tragic events related to deportations and forced evictions of Kurds from the South Caucasus. Special settlements of Kurds and commandant's offices were placed in more than a hundred Central Asian regions, so as not to create places for their compact residence. Unfavorable living conditions did not prevent the Kurds from preserving their language, rituals, traditions, and religion. Of course, the inability to get an education and improve their knowledge significantly slowed down the overall development of Kurds-special settlers.

Currently, about 150 thousand Kurds live in the region, more than half of them in Kazakhstan (mainly in the south - in the Alma-Ata, Chimkent and Dzhambul regions). In recent years, they have had the opportunity to develop their national culture, create public organizations, associations, mass media, and publishing activities. So, in Kazakhstan, the Kurds magazine and the Kurdistan newspaper are published, cultural centers operate, there are artistic ensembles, and national cadres are trained. Kurds take an active part in the work of the Assembly of Peoples of Kazakhstan. In 1993, the Kurdish cultural centers merged into the Yakbun (Unity) Association, which was renamed Barbang in 1999.

In 1993, the "Association of Kurds of the Republic of Kyrgyzstan" was established under the name"Nyshtyman" ("Fatherland"), later renamed the "Public Association of Kurds of the Republic of Kyrgyzstan". Under the auspices of the organization, radio broadcasting is carried out in the Kurdish language.

In Uzbekistan, Kurds-special settlers were distributed in seven regions (Tashkent, Samarkand, Ferghana, Bukhara, etc.) and 43 districts. Currently, the number of Kurds in this country is not so large-perhaps only a few thousand.

Turkmenistan, which has a population of about 5 million people, is home to about 4.5 thousand Kurds. Most of them are concentrated in the southern regions bordering Iran and in the capital Ashgabat. By religious affiliation, the majority of local Kurds (as well as Turkmens) are Sunni Muslims, but among them there are representatives of other Islamic movements (Yezidis, Ali - Allahs, Shiites) and Christians. The Turkmen authorities pursue a rather strict policy of assimilation of national and religious minorities, including Kurds: schools, cultural centers and media outlets in the Kurdish language are closed. In other Central Asian states, where Kurdish diasporas were already established under Soviet rule, Kurds enjoy greater rights and freedoms and preserve their national identity, language, and culture. "Only in

6 It is interesting that among Kurds, for example in Russia and Georgia, there is a certain interest in Christianity and Orthodoxy (see, for example, [Maamdi]).

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In Turkmenistan, where Kurds have lived for four centuries, the authorities still do not recognize our existence, " an elderly Kurdish woman says bitterly. Many of our relatives, in search of a better life for themselves and their families, move to new places of residence, but even there, in fact, they turn out to be strangers."

Tensions between the Kurds and the indigenous population of the Central Asian republics have recently significantly decreased, and there are almost no open conflicts.

KURDS IN RUSSIA

The first Kurdish communities on the territory of the Russian Federation were formed in the second half of the XX century. According to the 1979 census, there was at least one compact Kurdish group on the territory of the RSFSR in the village of Pshekhskaya in the Belorechensky district of Krasnodar Krai. A total of 546 Kurds lived in this province: 446 Muslims and 100 Yezidis.

The first families of Muslim Kurds arrived in Krasnodar Krai in 1968-1969 from Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, where they had previously been deported from Georgia. The reason for their migration from Central Asia to the Kuban was the availability of conditions for farming here. In turn, the Yezidi Kurds moved to the Kuban from Armenia, to which they had been moving for a long time from the Turkish and Iranian Kurdistan regions and Azerbaijan [Kurds in Krasnodarsky..., 2007].

Kurds of Adygea have their own public organization "Agry", the main office of which is located in the village of Bely, Krasnogvardeysky district. The villages of Beloe and Sadovoe, inhabited by Kurdish settlers, are located near the R253 highway (Maykop - Ust-Labinsk - Korenovsk).

Another place of compact settlement of Kurds is the Tambov region (more than 5 thousand people), where immigrants from Kazakhstan and Armenia settled, engaged in agriculture, animal husbandry and road construction. On the territory of one of the Kurdish villages there is a smaller copy of the Yezidi Lalesh temple (the original is located in northern Iraq). Kurdish businessman Jamal Shamoyan enjoys great influence and authority, whose companies, united in the Union of Diversified Economic Enterprises "Dijla", have repeatedly won tenders for road repairs and construction.

According to the 2010 Russian Census, the number of people who identified themselves as Kurds at that time was 23,232 (0.002% of the Russian population). Of these, 4,095 people lived in cities and 19,137 in rural areas. The number of Yezidis reached 40,586 (0.003% of the Russian population), including 22,452 urban residents and 18,134 rural residents. Kurds and Yezidis were settled mainly in the Astrakhan, Yaroslavl, Rostov, Saratov, Tambov, Novosibirsk, Kursk, Moscow, Leningrad and other regions, Krasnodar and Stavropol Territories. Many Kurds live in Moscow and St. Petersburg [All-Russian Population Census..., 2010].

Unofficial expert estimates of the total number of Kurds on the territory of the Russian Federation - about 200 thousand people [Kurds of Tambov...]. Some characteristics of the Kurdish ethnic community are as follows: according to the author, men are numerically predominant (58%), the level of urbanization is quite low (59% of citizens), the share of native language speakers is high (82.5%). The absence of mixed marriages allows Kurds to resist attempts to assimilate them.

Russian Kurds are quite active in socio-political terms: they come up with public initiatives, cooperate with Russian state and public organizations at the federal, regional and local levels, and create their own public structures united in the "Kurdish House" (International Union of Kurdish Public Associations). In Moscow kontsen-

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A significant part of the Kurdish intelligentsia is registered, and scientific conferences, seminars, round tables on topical issues of the Kurdish community are regularly held at the Kurdish House, the President Hotel, the Diplomatic Academy of the Russian Foreign Ministry, the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences, RIA-Novosti, and other venues with the participation of politicians, scientists, public figures, and media representatives from Russia, Iraq, and Turkey Russia, Syria, and guests from the CIS and EU countries.

The Russian authorities take the Kurdish factor into account in their social and national policies. Currently, the problem of "positive" recognition of Kurds, the creation of appropriate communication channels, which are primarily the media, is quite acute. A bilingual monthly newspaper "Free Kurdistan" is published (circulation-2 thousand copies). Information resources of the Kurdish diaspora are represented by Russian-language websites (news, information and analytical, entertainment, dating, etc.). The state radio Company "Voice of Russia" broadcasts in several dialects of the Kurdish language, but only to a foreign audience.

The issue of providing state support to Russian Kurds and Kurdish non-governmental organizations, as well as assistance from non-governmental and non-governmental organizations of the Russian Federation, is being considered. At the same time, there are no obstacles to the Kurds ' adaptation in Russia: they can fully enjoy the rights granted by the law "On National and Cultural Autonomies". In general, the position of the Russian authorities is that the Kurdish diaspora in our country has the right to preserve and develop their cultural characteristics, provided that they strictly follow the laws of the Russian Federation.

list of literature

Averyanov P. I. Kurds in the wars of Russia with Persia and Turkey during the XIX century. Tiflis, 1900.

V. Arakslova K istorii formirovaniya yezidskoy obshchestva [On the history of the formation of the Yezidi community]. Yerevan. 2006. № 40.

Aristova T. F. Kurdy Zakavkazya [Kurds of Transcaucasia], Moscow, 1966.

Aristova T. F. Materialnaya kul'tura kurdov XIX - pervoi poloviny XX v. Material culture of the Kurds of the XIX-first half of the XX century.

Babayan D. Krasny Kurdistan: Geopolitical aspects of creation and abolition. http://www. noravank.am/?1=2&d=19&f=245.

All-Russian Population Census of 2010 // http://www.gks.ru/frcc_doc/new_site/pcrcpis2010/croc / Documcnts/Vol4/pub-04-19. pdf.

Gagsnmsystsr N. A. Khozyaistvennyi ocherk Zakavkazskogo kraya [Economic essay of the Transcaucasian region].
State Archive of the Russian Federation (GARF). F. 9654. Op. 6.

The Life of the Kurdish community in Turkmenistan / / RCA Issue 413, 2005, Nov 05. http://iwpr.net/ru/report-news/.

Kurds in the Krasnodar Territory. Sbornik informatsionno-metodicheskikh materialov [Collection of information and methodological materials]. Krasnodar: YURRC. 2007.

Kurds of Tambov land // http://www.youtubc.com/watch?v=Mcab-EEmxkU.

Makhmudov N. H. The Kurdish people. Yerevan, 1959 (in Armenian).

Minorsky V. F. Istoriya Shirvan i Derbent [History of Shirvan and Derbent]. Moscow, 1963.

Mirosv I. Tragediya i nadezhda kurdov v SSSR 1930-1950 gg. [The tragedy and Hope of Kurds in the USSR in 1930-1950].

Maamdi S. Why Kurds accept Orthodoxy - http://www.pravmir.ru/scrafim-maamdi-pochcmu-kurdy-prinimayut-pravoslavic/.

Khalfin N. A. The struggle for Kurdistan (the Kurdish question in International relations of the XIX century). Moscow, 1963.

Genetic Affinity between the Armenian Yezidis and the Iraqi Kurds // http://www.rau.am/downloads/publ. afedr/cpiskoposyan_mcdbiolog/Ycpiskoposyan_2010_Iran%20&%20Caucasus.pdf.

Applications:

1. Copy of the statement of the representatives of the Kurds to R. N. Nishanov

2. Copy of T. M. Broev's letter to the leadership of the USSR

3. Copy of B. I. Oleynik's letter to the President of the USSR Mikhail S. Gorbachev

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Appendix # 1

Chairman of the Chamber

Council of Nationalities

Supreme Soviet of the USSR

tov. To R.N. Nishanov

from representatives of the Kurdish people

statement

On May 31, June 3, June 10, and June 15 of this year, we appealed to com. M. S. Gorbachev, also after your election to the post of Chairman of the Chamber of the Council of Nationalities to you, with a request to accept us, representatives of the Kurdish people scattered in 9 union republics of the Union (attached is a copy of the letters on 6 pages). However, so far we have been waiting for more than a month, and no one is accepting us. However, some of our comrades left.

Since we attach copies of the letters and you also have our 14-page letter with the signatures of 9005 people, we are summarizing this letter.

On June 17-20, 200 Kurdish families left the territory of Uzbekistan against their will. From November 1988 to May 1989, 18,000 Muslim Kurds fled Armenia to the Krasnodar Region, where most of them are still unemployed, without a residence permit.

The Soviet authorities of the Krasnodar Region warned them about the expulsion, despite the fact that they even bought apartments and live there. In the Chimkent region of Kazakhstan, as well as in the Kirghiz SSR, our Kurds were given a one-month deadline to leave these territories, so we sent you a telegram about our reception a day later.

As you know, on July 7, 1923, the Kurdish autonomy was established.

Stalin took revenge on us and liquidated the autonomy. We were exiled in 1937 to the Central Asian Republics and Kazakhstan. The Azerbaijani people are an international, benevolent and humane people. At least, we have not found in any historical literature that there were ever wars between us and Azerbaijanis during our era. On the contrary, our sons gave their heads for the Azerbaijani people, their sons for us. We are an inseparable part of the Azerbaijani people, the Azerbaijani people are the heart of our people.

Given the above, Azerbaijan will not oppose the restoration of our autonomy.

If there are peoples living on the territory of the former Kurdish autonomy, we do not mind forming an autonomous republic for us on unpopulated, waterless, free lands, such as the lands that emerged from the Caspian Sea. Here it is necessary to clean sea water, water land or similar lands, the so-called Jeyran people. The Kura River flows through this territory, where you can build a pumping station and provide the land with irrigation water.

These lands are still not used. Many agricultural and livestock products can be produced on these lands, both for the residents of the autonomous region and for the population of the entire republic.

From the very first days of the formation of the autonomous republic, we will switch to self-financing. We are ready to rent land from the state for a long-term period. Once for 1 ha of irrigated land to pay 1000 rubles, conditional irrigation land 500 rubles, rainfed-200 rubles.

According to our expert economists, the autonomous republic can operate continuously with profit.

Given the above:

In view of the fact that no nation is in such a difficult situation as our people, and a tragedy awaits us, we ask you to urgently resolve our issue and restore our autonomous republic within the borders of Azerbaijan.

List of people who came to the reception:

1. Babayev Mammad Suleymanovich-Candidate of Sciences, Chairman of the Organizing Committee for the Restoration of Autonomy, from Azerbaijan;

2. Mamsdov Ali Abdulrakhmanovich-member of the Union of Writers of the USSR, from Armenia;

3. Chatusv Farzanda Karimovich-chief zootechnician from the Kirghiz SSR;

4. Sadikhov Zahir Abdullayevich-a refugee from Armenia in the Kazakh SSR; and others.

The letter is registered with the Secretariat of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR

29.06.89 for No. 229919, there is a handwritten inscription " tov. Nishanov R.N. familiarized".

The document is kept in the State Archive of the Russian Federation: f. 9654, op. 6, d. 114, l. 30.

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Appendix # 2

Center for Kurdish Culture

6 B. Bronnaya Str., Moscow, USSR, 103104

Ext. No. 150 of June 4, 1991

To the President of the USSR, com. To M. S. Gorbachev.

To the Chairman of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, com. To A. I. Lukyanov.

To the Chairman of the Council of Nationalities, com. To R.N. Nishanov

Chairman of the National Policy Commission

and interethnic relations, com. To G. S. Tarazevich

Despite our repeated official and unofficial appeals to various Soviet authorities, the Kurdish problem, which is becoming more and more acute both abroad and in the USSR (for example, in the Krasnodar Territory, Armenia, and Central Asia), has not received any positive consideration to this day, but often has not been addressed in any way. it is simply ignored, which undoubtedly affects the mood and thoughts of Kurds, scattered by history in different countries, and first of all Soviet ones, causing them pain and indignation. The events of recent days in the Republic of Armenia, specifically in the Etchmiadzin and Oktomberyan districts, where, despite the meeting of representatives of the Kurdish community with the Chairman of the Council of Ministers of Armenia Manukyan, the forcible deportation and humiliation of Kurds begins under the guise of the need to accommodate Armenian refugees from Nagorno-Karabakh, again forces Kurds to decide whether to cross the border in person or by any other means to Turkey, or to appeal to the UN Secretary-General and the international community, since our state is not able to ensure the basic civil rights of Kurds, or to respond with violence to violence in order to ensure their own and their children's survival.

The Kurdish problem, in our opinion, requires immediate, most thorough and interested consideration at the governmental and legislative levels in the Center and republics, up to the restoration of Kurdish autonomy and equal representation of Kurds in parliaments of all levels, if you, like us, do not want it to escalate into another practically unmanageable long and bloody conflict. conflict.

We look forward to your early constructive intervention.

General Director signed T. M. Broev

The document is kept in the State Archive of the Russian Federation: f. 9654, op. 6, d. 313, l. 14.

Appendix # 3

To the President of the USSR

General Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee

to Comrade Mikhail S. Gorbachev

Dear Mikhail Sergeyevich,

The other day I met with a group of representatives of the Kurdish people. In this regard, I would like to share with you some thoughts on this problem. I think that the fact that I have repeatedly touched on this acute topic in my speeches and publications gives me some moral right to touch on the Kurdish issue.

The fact is that this courageous people found themselves in a special, almost dead-end situation. If the persecuted Armenians, Azerbaijanis, Russian - speaking people and other refugees, despite all the tragic circumstances, still have their ancestral homeland, then the fate of the Kurds was truly cruel. After the elimination of autonomy, they were essentially scattered across nine republics, forcing them to assimilate. They are essentially losing their native language and traditions, and the formation of the national intelligentsia has almost stopped.

Recently, when ethnic conflicts have escalated, the situation of the Kurds has worsened even more. They found themselves in the position of the third stage, in which two warring nations drive out their bitterness. Thus, at the height of the Osh events, the Kurds were equally affected by both Kyrgyz and Uzbeks. Even representatives of local authorities who are tolerant of Kurds recommend that they leave the city of Osh.

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A similar situation has developed in other republics where Kurds are settled. So, at the mentioned meeting, I was warned, with the facts in my hands, that hostile attacks against the Kurds are possible, for example, in Kazakhstan. In short, a chain reaction of Kurdish survival has begun.

But where can they run when a whole nation is caught between heaven and earth? And they, like others, cannot protest, because any action can cause a barely contained explosion of indignation of the people on whose land they live.

"Live" is too conditional. They are constantly stocking up on food and water, anxiously waiting for the next pogrom. Is this life?

But there is a final edge to patience. Constant stress has brought people to the limit, beyond which you can expect any, the most tragic outcome.

It would seem that since the Kurds themselves are deprived, for the reasons mentioned above, of the opportunity to protest, at least the media should have taken on the role of defender of the fraternal people. However, the press, radio and television diligently cover up even the cu, very correct and restrained actions that the Kurds are trying to carry out. So, in essence, there was a silence about the recent, sanctioned rally in Moscow, about the scientific and practical conference "Kurds of the USSR: history and modernity" was informed only by Komsomolskaya Pravda.

This vacuum of silence creates a sense of loneliness, abandonment, and hopelessness in people.

What is the way out of this impasse? Ideally, restoring autonomy. I realize that pressing from above will not solve this issue. All that is needed here is good will, first of all from Azerbaijan and Armenia, where Kurdistan once existed. As far as I know, glimpses of this goodwill can be seen in the policy of the new leadership of Azerbaijan.

But while this most difficult issue is being resolved, the Kurds should be given some hope today. Dear Mikhail Sergeyevich, Both at the meeting with the deputation and at the aforementioned conference, the Kurds asked me to convey to you an urgent request to meet with their representatives for at least a few minutes. This request, according to them, they have repeatedly addressed to you.

Realizing all your incredible work, I still dare to support the request of representatives of a courageous, patient people. I am sure that the very fact of this meeting would have greatly relieved the tension that has reached a critical point.

Sincerely signed Boris Oleynik

Handwritten note: "sent 26 IV 90" The document is stored in the State Archive of the Russian Federation: f. 9654, op. 6, d. 203, l. 7-9.

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