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Have you ever heard of Red Kurdistan?
In 1923, the Soviet Union set up a Kurdish entity in between Armenia and Azerbaijan.
Stalin dissolved it in 1929, and many Kurds were later purged. The remaining Kurds fled in 1992, during an Armenia-Azerbaijan war.
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![Have you ever heard of Red Kurdistan?In 1923, the Soviet Union set up a Kurdish entity in between Armenia and Azerbaijan.Stalin dissolved it in 1929, and many Kurds were later purged. The remaining Kurds fled in 1992, during an Armenia-Azerbaijan war.[1/8]](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Ejs1GbaXgAAHNjo.png "Have you ever heard of Red Kurdistan?In 1923, the Soviet Union set up a Kurdish entity in between Armenia and Azerbaijan.Stalin dissolved it in 1929, and many Kurds were later purged. The remaining Kurds fled in 1992, during an Armenia-Azerbaijan war.[1/8]")
In 1923, the Soviet Union set up a Kurdish entity in between Armenia and Azerbaijan.
Stalin dissolved it in 1929, and many Kurds were later purged. The remaining Kurds fled in 1992, during an Armenia-Azerbaijan war.
[1/8]
The story begins soon after the Communist revolution. There were several thousand Kurds in one corner of Soviet Azerbaijan.
Soviet authorities wanted to be an example for oppressed minorities — including the Kurds in neighboring Iran and Turkey.
https://researchgate.net/publication/264562648_The_Rise_of_Red_Kurdistan
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![The story begins soon after the Communist revolution. There were several thousand Kurds in one corner of Soviet Azerbaijan.Soviet authorities wanted to be an example for oppressed minorities — including the Kurds in neighboring Iran and Turkey. https://researchgate.net/publication/264562648_The_Rise_of_Red_Kurdistan[2/8]](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Ejs113bXsAEF1oP.jpg "The story begins soon after the Communist revolution. There were several thousand Kurds in one corner of Soviet Azerbaijan.Soviet authorities wanted to be an example for oppressed minorities — including the Kurds in neighboring Iran and Turkey. https://researchgate.net/publication/264562648_The_Rise_of_Red_Kurdistan[2/8]")
Soviet authorities wanted to be an example for oppressed minorities — including the Kurds in neighboring Iran and Turkey.
https://researchgate.net/publication/264562648_The_Rise_of_Red_Kurdistan
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The Kurdish areas became Red Kurdistan.
Illiteracy was high in the area, and there was no standard Kurdish alphabet at the time. Some proposed teaching Kurds to read and write in the Armenian script.
I'm curious what Kurdish written in Armenian letters would look like!
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![The Kurdish areas became Red Kurdistan.Illiteracy was high in the area, and there was no standard Kurdish alphabet at the time. Some proposed teaching Kurds to read and write in the Armenian script.I'm curious what Kurdish written in Armenian letters would look like![3/8]](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Ejs7fkBWoAAxWiP.png "The Kurdish areas became Red Kurdistan.Illiteracy was high in the area, and there was no standard Kurdish alphabet at the time. Some proposed teaching Kurds to read and write in the Armenian script.I'm curious what Kurdish written in Armenian letters would look like![3/8]")
Illiteracy was high in the area, and there was no standard Kurdish alphabet at the time. Some proposed teaching Kurds to read and write in the Armenian script.
I'm curious what Kurdish written in Armenian letters would look like!
[3/8]
Red Kurdistan was broken into several different provinces in 1930.
Authorities actually made more progress on Kurdish language education after that, but then Stalin's purges started, and many Kurds were deported to Kazakhstan.
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![Red Kurdistan was broken into several different provinces in 1930.Authorities actually made more progress on Kurdish language education after that, but then Stalin's purges started, and many Kurds were deported to Kazakhstan.[4/8]](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Ejs2Z0xXYAAiV2A.png "Red Kurdistan was broken into several different provinces in 1930.Authorities actually made more progress on Kurdish language education after that, but then Stalin's purges started, and many Kurds were deported to Kazakhstan.[4/8]")
Authorities actually made more progress on Kurdish language education after that, but then Stalin's purges started, and many Kurds were deported to Kazakhstan.
[4/8]
Mutlu Civiroglu @mutludc recently posted some footage from Red Kurdistan.
It was taken in 1937, which must have been at the height of the purges.
Unfortunately I do not speak Azeri or Russian — the languages of the film — but I wish I did!
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It was taken in 1937, which must have been at the height of the purges.
Unfortunately I do not speak Azeri or Russian — the languages of the film — but I wish I did!
[5/8]
The remaining Kurds were reclassified as Azeris, and Kurdish education ceased.
Activists led by Mehmet Babayev pushed for the Kurds' right of return in the 1960s, but to no avail.
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![The remaining Kurds were reclassified as Azeris, and Kurdish education ceased.Activists led by Mehmet Babayev pushed for the Kurds' right of return in the 1960s, but to no avail.[4/8]](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Ejs4fZ6WkAEakAX.jpg "The remaining Kurds were reclassified as Azeris, and Kurdish education ceased.Activists led by Mehmet Babayev pushed for the Kurds' right of return in the 1960s, but to no avail.[4/8]")
Activists led by Mehmet Babayev pushed for the Kurds' right of return in the 1960s, but to no avail.
[4/8]
Here is a personal account from Nizameddin Rzayev, born long after the purges.
He grew up a citizen of Soviet Azerbaijan — speaking Azeri and Russian with some Kurdish mixed in — but always understood he was different from other Azerbaijanis.
http://armeniapedia.org/wiki/Red_Kurdistan
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He grew up a citizen of Soviet Azerbaijan — speaking Azeri and Russian with some Kurdish mixed in — but always understood he was different from other Azerbaijanis.
http://armeniapedia.org/wiki/Red_Kurdistan
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After the Soviet collapse, a devastating war came to the region.
Soviet authorities had assigned the Armenian-majority region of Karabakh as an autonomous province to Azerbaijan.
Armenia and Azerbaijan went to war over it after independence.
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![After the Soviet collapse, a devastating war came to the region.Soviet authorities had assigned the Armenian-majority region of Karabakh as an autonomous province to Azerbaijan.Armenia and Azerbaijan went to war over it after independence.[7/8]](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Ejs6WQuXcAEUWC3.jpg "After the Soviet collapse, a devastating war came to the region.Soviet authorities had assigned the Armenian-majority region of Karabakh as an autonomous province to Azerbaijan.Armenia and Azerbaijan went to war over it after independence.[7/8]")
Soviet authorities had assigned the Armenian-majority region of Karabakh as an autonomous province to Azerbaijan.
Armenia and Azerbaijan went to war over it after independence.
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Kurds tried to revive Red Kurdistan amidst the bloodshed.
Armenian forces captured the area in 1992, and a Kurd named Wekîl Mustafayev tried to declare a new Kurdish republic.
But most Kurds had fled the Armenian forces along with Azeris.
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![Kurds tried to revive Red Kurdistan amidst the bloodshed.Armenian forces captured the area in 1992, and a Kurd named Wekîl Mustafayev tried to declare a new Kurdish republic.But most Kurds had fled the Armenian forces along with Azeris.[7/8]](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Ejs6Em4XkAEWct-.jpg "Kurds tried to revive Red Kurdistan amidst the bloodshed.Armenian forces captured the area in 1992, and a Kurd named Wekîl Mustafayev tried to declare a new Kurdish republic.But most Kurds had fled the Armenian forces along with Azeris.[7/8]")
Armenian forces captured the area in 1992, and a Kurd named Wekîl Mustafayev tried to declare a new Kurdish republic.
But most Kurds had fled the Armenian forces along with Azeris.
[7/8]
The dream of Kurdish autonomy did not totally die, however. Kurds across the region rose up over the next few decades, and won autonomy in Syria and Iraq.
Mustafayev was eventually in Erbil, the capital of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq.
[8/8] https://www.kurdistan24.net/en/news/91e34779-c523-41ae-bf17-fde1340d4b9f
Mustafayev was eventually in Erbil, the capital of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq.
[8/8] https://www.kurdistan24.net/en/news/91e34779-c523-41ae-bf17-fde1340d4b9f
