Kurds in Germany

Kurds in Germany
Regions with significant populations

650,000-800,000[1][2][3][4]

~1.4% of the population
Languages
Kurdish, German, (some knowledge of Turkish, Arabic and Persian)
Religion

Majority Sunni Islam

Minority Alevism
Related ethnic groups
Iranian people

Kurds in Germany may refer to people born in or residing in Germany of full or partial Kurdish origin.

There is a large Kurdish community in Germany, numbering around 650,000-800,000[5][6][7] people. This makes the Kurdish community in Germany the largest Kurdish community in the Kurdish diaspora. In addition, the Kurdish community in Germany is expanding as a result of the turmoil in Syria and many of the refugees of the Syrian Civil War are Syrian Kurds and also Iraqi Kurds applying for asylum in Germany.[8][9]

Immigration history

In Germany, Kurdish immigrant workers from Turkey first arrived in the second half of the 1960s.[10] Thousands of Kurdish refugees and political refugees fled from Turkey during the 1970s and onward, from Iraq and Iran during the 1980s and 1990s, and from Syria especially during the Syrian Civil War.[11]

Hatun Sürücü was murdered at the age of 23 in Berlin, by her own youngest brother, in an honour killing.[12] The incident was widely debated and led to demonstrations against gender violence across Germany.[13]

Political activism

In October 2014, Kurds in Germany marched in protest over the ISIS offensive on the Syrian town of Ayn al-Arab, known in Kurdish as Kobani.[14][15]

On 8 August 2015, thousands of Kurds in Germany marched against Turkish Army air strikes on the Kurdish PKK.[16]

According to the German authorities, there were 8 Russian, 57 Turkish, 11 Lithuanian and 4 Kurdish gangs in 2013. The Blick and Nzz claimed that the Kurdish gang/motorcycle club "Sondame", allegedly "fighting" for a free Kurdistan, was formed in Stuttgart, and in 2015, it had about 1,000 members in Germany and Switzerland.[17][18] The group is not well known and its existence is controversial. Other Kurdish motorcycle club and gangs include Median Empire[19] and Red Legion.[20][21][22]

Issues

Honour killings are also prevalent among the Kurdish diaspora in the West [23] In Germany in March 2009, a Kurdish immigrant from Turkey, Gülsüm S., was killed for a relationship not in keeping with her family's plan for an arranged marriage.[24] Hatun Sürücü was murdered at the age of 23 in Berlin, by her own youngest brother, in an honor killing.[25] In a well-known case, Eren T. killed his pregnant girlfriend in Berlin and burned her alive. [26] In 2016 a Kurdish woman was shot dead at her wedding in Hannover for refusing to marry her cousin in a forced marriage.[27]

Notable Kurds in Germany

See also

References

  1. ↑ Kleinschmidt, Harald. Migration, Regional Integration and Human Security: The Formation and Maintenance of Transnational Spaces. Ashgate Publishing, Ltd. ISBN 9780754646464. Retrieved 12 August 2016.
  2. ↑ "Camps built in Germany, Austria to win new members for PKK, reports reveal". TodaysZaman. Retrieved 13 November 2014.
  3. ↑ http://www.welt.de/politik/deutschland/article133154325/Diese-Gruppen-leben-ihren-Hass-in-Deutschland-aus.html
  4. ↑ https://kurdische-gemeinde.de/zahl-der-kurden-in-deutschland-sprunghaft-angestiegen/ This source says that the Kurdish population in Germany increased to 1.15 million in 2015.
  5. ↑ "Camps built in Germany, Austria to win new members for PKK, reports reveal". TodaysZaman. Retrieved 13 November 2014.
  6. ↑ http://www.welt.de/politik/deutschland/article133154325/Diese-Gruppen-leben-ihren-Hass-in-Deutschland-aus.html
  7. ↑ https://kurdische-gemeinde.de/zahl-der-kurden-in-deutschland-sprunghaft-angestiegen/ This source says that the Kurdish population in Germany increased to 1.15 million in 2015.
  8. ↑ Hundreds of Syrian Kurdish migrants seek shelter in Serbia
  9. ↑ For Iraqi, Syrian Kurdish refugees, fantastic dreams and silent deaths
  10. ↑
  11. ↑
  12. ↑ http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4345459.stm
  13. ↑ http://www.faz.net/aktuell/feuilleton/ehrenmorde-tatmotiv-kultur-1213953.html
  14. ↑ "Kurds protested in Germany over 'IS' attacks on the Syrian town of Kobani". DW.DE. Retrieved 13 November 2014.
  15. ↑ "Thousands march in France, Germany, Austria to support Kobane Kurds". RFI. Retrieved 13 November 2014.
  16. ↑ Thousands of Kurds in Germany march against Turkish air strikes
  17. ↑ http://www.blick.ch/news/schweiz/zuerich/der-auftritt-ist-sehr-aggressiv-wie-gefaehrlich-sind-die-kurden-rocker-sondame-id3722772.html
  18. ↑ http://www.nzz.ch/zuerich/machtkampf-zwischen-kurdischen-bruedern-und-rockern-1.18543192
  19. ↑ http://www.express.de/koeln/-median-empire--kurden-rocker-drohen-den-hells-angels-3671464
  20. ↑ https://www.rocker-info.net/stuttgarter-kurden-drohen-weiter-den-united-tribuns/
  21. ↑ http://www.stuttgarter-zeitung.de/thema/Red_Legion
  22. ↑ http://www.nzz.ch/zuerich/machtkampf-zwischen-kurdischen-bruedern-und-rockern-1.18543192
  23. ↑ Palash R. Ghosh. "Honor Crimes in Britain Far More Prevalent than Formerly Thought". International Business Times. Retrieved 2 December 2011.
  24. ↑ "Erschlagen, weil sie schwanger war? – Killed, because she was pregnant?". Der Bild.
  25. ↑ http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4345459.stm
  26. ↑ http://www.zeit.de/gesellschaft/zeitgeschehen/2016-02/prozess-mord-junge-frau-migrantenmilieus/komplettansicht
  27. ↑ http://www.telegraph.co.uk/women/life/kurdish-woman-shot-dead-at-wedding-for-refusing-to-marry-her-cou/
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