Kurmanji (Kurdish: کورمانجی, romanized: Kurmancî, lit. 'Kurdish', ), also termed Northern Kurdish, is the northernmost of the Kurdish languages, spoken predominantly in southeast Turkey, northwest and northeast Iran, northern Iraq, northern Syria and the Caucasus and Khorasan regions. It is the most widely spoken form of Kurdish.
Kurmanji is also the common and ceremonial language of Yazidis. Their sacred book Mishefa Reş and all prayers are written and spoken in Kurmanji.
The Sheikh Said rebellion (Kurdish: Serhildana Şêx Seîd; Turkish: Şeyh Said İsyanı) was a Kurdish nationalist and Islamist rebellion in Southeast Anatolia in 1925 led by Sheikh Said and with support of the Azadî movement and local religious and feudal leaders against the newly-founded secular Turkish Republic. The rebellion was mostly led by Zaza speakers, but also gained support among some of the neighboring Kurmanji-speaking Kurds in the region.
The religious and nationalist background of the Sheikh Said rebellion has been debated by the scholars. The rebellion was described as "the first large-scale nationalist rebellion by the Kurds" by Robert W. Olson.
Kurdish (Kurdî, کوردی, pronounced [kʊrdiː] ) is a Northwestern Iranian language or group of languages spoken by Kurds in the region of Kurdistan, namely in southeast Turkey, northern Iraq, northwest Iran, and northern Syria. It is also spoken in northeast Iran, as well as in certain areas of Armenia and Azerbaijan.
Kurdish varieties constitute a dialect continuum, with some mutually unintelligible varieties, and collectively have 26 million native speakers. The main varieties of Kurdish are Kurmanji, Sorani, and Southern Kurdish (Xwarîn). The majority of the Kurds speak Kurmanji, and most Kurdish texts are written in Kurmanji and Sorani. Kurmanji is written in the Hawar alphabet, a derivation of the Latin script, and Sorani is written in the Sorani alphabet, a derivation of the Arabic script.
Kurds are the second largest ethnic group of Iraq. They traditionally speak the Kurdish languages of Sorani, Kurmanji, Feyli and also Gorani.
Historically, Kurds in Iraq have experienced varying degrees of autonomy and marginalization. While the Treaty of Sèvres (1920) proposed Kurdish independence, this was never implemented, and Iraqi Kurds were incorporated into the modern state of Iraq. Following the withdrawal of the Iraqi Army from the Kurdistan Region in 1991, the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) was established, and ultimately recognized by the Iraqi government in 2005, granting the region a degree of self-governance. Iraqi Kurdistan remains a significant political and cultural entity within Iraq.
The Kurdish Institute of Paris (French: Institut kurde de Paris; Kurdish: ئینستیتیوتی کوردیی پاریس), founded in February 1983 by (amongst others) film producer Yılmaz Güney and poet Cigerxwîn, is an organisation focused on the Kurdish language, culture, and history. It is one of the principal academic centers of the Kurdish language in Europe. Its main publications include the linguistic journal Kurmancî, a monthly press review about Kurdish issues titled Bulletin de liaison et d'information (Bulletin of Contact and Information), and Études Kurdes, a research journal in French.
Most of the institute's activities are focused on the Kurmanji dialect of Kurdish. The institute has a library preserving thousands of historical documents, pamphlets and periodicals about Kurds. Two representatives from the French Ministry of Interior and the Ministry of Culture provide the link between the institute and the government of France. The institute is headed by Kendal Nezan as president, with Abbas Vali (Swansea University) and Fuad Hussein (University of Amsterdam) as vice presidents.
The Rezgari Party or Razkari Party (Arabic: حزب رزكاري, romanized: Ḥizb Rizkārī; Kurdish: حزبی ڕزگاری, romanized: Ḧizbî R̄izgarî) is a Lebanese-Kurdish political group that was established on 3 April 1975 by Faysal Fakhru, due to disagreement with the policies of the Kurdish Democratic Party – Lebanon (KDP-L) under Jamil Mihhu. The three main points of disagreement that led to the formation of the Rezgari Party were the KDP-L's failure to appeal to non-Kurmanji-speaking Kurds, its support for the Iraqi government's proposals in the Iraqi–Kurdish conflict, and accusations of nepotism within the party's leadership. The Rezgari Party continued to exist following the end of the Lebanese Civil War, becoming the only political party to represent Lebanon's estimated 100,000 Kurds, and aligning itself with Hezbollah and the March 8 Alliance.