Gaziantep is not considered a purely Kurdish city, but rather a diverse, predominantly Turkish metropolitan city with a significant, well-established Kurdish minority and a large population of Syrian refugees. While it acts as a regional hub near Southeastern Anatolia, the city center itself is ethnically diverse, with varying estimates for the Kurdish population.
The Kurdish population has traditionally been concentrated in southeastern Anatolia, where they form the majority ethnic group, and northeastern Anatolia, where they constitute a significant minority. Significant Kurdish populations also live in Istanbul and other major cities.
Gaziantep is a diverse city inhabited mostly by ethnic Turks and a significant minority of Kurds and Syrian refugees. It was historically populated by Turkomans, Armenians, Jews, and a plethora of other ethnic groups. In February 2023, the city was significantly damaged by the 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquake.
Diyarbakır is the largest Kurdish-majority city in Turkey. It is the administrative center of Diyarbakır Province. Clockwise from top: A pond park in Diyarbakir, Hasan Pasha Han, historic city walls, Gazi Pavilion, A park in Diyarbakir, Ongözlü Bridge (The Dicle Bridge), Great Mosque of Diyarbakır.
There are an estimated 40-45 million Kurds, and about half of them live in Turkey. Iran and Iraq have roughly six to seven million and it is estimated that there are approximately 2.5 million Kurds in Syria.
KURDISTAN’S CRAZIEST Street Food Festival! Slemani Tour
What ethnicity is closest to Kurds?
In the overall sense, the Kurds share some genetic ties to other speakers of Iranian languages, as well as with various peoples from the Caucasus such as the Armenians, which suggests that the Kurds have ancient ethnic ties that connect them to both the early inhabitants, including the Hurrians, as well as various ...
Only a few hundred Jewish families remain in Kurdistan today, while the vast majority of Kurdish Jews – now around 200,000 – live in Israel where they established some of the earliest moshavim (farming villages) in the country. Today, the Kurdish Jewish community of Israel displays cultural links.
Nicknamed Turkey's culinary capital and designated a UNESCO City of Gastronomy in 2015, Gaziantep—also known as Antep—is one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world, with a history stretching back nearly 10,000 years.
White Turks (Turkish: Beyaz Türkler) is a term used in Turkey for the urban population that embraced or directly benefited from Turkey's modernization. They are often generalized as embracing values such as secularism, Western enlightenment, positivism and republicanism.
A 2001 study that looked at HLA alleles suggested that "Turks, Kurds, Armenians, Iranians, Jews, Lebanese and other (Eastern and Western) Mediterranean groups seem to share a common ancestry" and that historical populations such as Anatolian Hittite and Hurrian groups (older than 2000 B.C.) "may have given rise to ...
Kurds (Kurdish: کورد, romanized: Kurd), or the Kurdish people, are an Iranic ethnic group from West Asia. They are indigenous to Kurdistan, which is a geographic region spanning southeastern Turkey, northwestern Iran, northern Iraq, and northeastern Syria.
Diyarbakır (also known as Diyarbakir, or Amed in Kurdish) is one of the largest cities in the Kurdish region of Turkey. Situated on the banks of the Tigris River, it is the administrative capital of the Diyarbakır Province and is home to a population of over 1.6 million people.
From 1978 until 2025, the Republic of Turkey was in an armed conflict with the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) (Kurdish: Partiya Karkerên Kurdistanê) as well as its allied insurgent groups, both Kurdish and non-Kurdish. The initial core demand of the PKK was its separation from Turkey to create an independent Kurdistan.
Israel. Nationals of Israel are banned from entering and transiting in Iraq, even if not leaving the aircraft and proceeding by the same flight, except Iraqi Kurdistan where Israeli nationals are allowed to travel.
Kurds are genetically closest to other populations in West Asia, particularly those from the Caucasus (like Georgians, Armenians), Anatolia (like Turks), and the Near East (like Assyrians, some Jewish groups), sharing ancient Mediterranean, Near Eastern, and Caucasian ancestry, with genetic links also to neighboring Iranian peoples but distinct from East Asians or Europeans, indicating a unique ancient substratum rather than recent migrations.
The Kurds are of heterogeneous origins. Some scholars believe they are descended from Indo-European tribes that migrated to the region around 2000 BCE. Kurdish ethnicity likely developed as a blend of these tribes and the local populations, possibly including the descendants of the Lullubi and the Guti.
Most Turkish citizens in Istanbul are ethnic Turks, while ethnic Kurds are the largest ethnic minority. Arts festivals were established at the end of the 20th century, while infrastructure improvements have produced a complex transportation network.
The Azerbaijanis or Azeris are a Turkic ethnic group of mixed ethnic origins, primarily the indigenous peoples of eastern Transcaucasia, the Medians, an ancient Iranian people, and the Oghuz Turkic tribes that began migrating to Azerbaijan in the 11th century CE.
Kurds in Palestine (Kurdish: Kurdên Filistînê; Arabic: اكراد فلسطين: Akrad Filisteen) refers to Palestinians of Kurdish ancestry. These individuals trace their heritage to the Kurdish people, who have historically lived in the region, especially in areas such as Hebron and Gaza.
Kurds in Iran (Kurdish: کورد لە ئێران, romanized: Kurdên Îranê, Persian: کردها در ایران) constitute a large minority in the country with a population of around 9 and 10 million people. Most Iranian Kurds are bilingual in Kurdish and Persian.
