Why do non-Persian ethnic groups such Azeris and Kurds, refer to themselves as Persian when they are out of Iran? Is there a political reason behind it?
Both are from the middle east, but none are Arabs, they don’t like to be called Arabs, in their culture Arab means “Lowly Educated”, the same way Jesus’s occupation was the 3rd lowest job and was considered to be an insult word in the Roman Empire by Romans, he wasn’t a carpenter, that is lost in translation.Many people don’t know much about Kurds and Azeris, so they need to specify..Kurds are Persian, and Azeris are TurksThe majority of Persian Kurds live with Ottoman Turks in the republic of Turkey, and the majority of Azeri Turks live with Persians in the Republic of Iran.They are whatever countries citizenship they hold, not every country is multicultural, they have a togetherness policy that overcomes difficulties involving national unity..
What do Kurds think of Azeris?
The majority of Kurds don’t know them well.TurkeyThe Kurds of Turkey see Azeris as a people who are are related to the Turks and those whose language sounds like the Turkish language. There is no war, conflict or even any disputes between Azeris and Kurds in Turkey. At least, I don’t know.In June 2015, Azeri feminist Kıznaz Türkeli was very popular among the Kurds in Igdir city. She became a first Azeri MP of pro-minority Kurdish HDP party.IraqIraqi Kurds know Azeris much better than Turkish Kurds. They make a lot of business with Azeris of Iran. I’ve personally heard Azeris are a warm-blooded people and good business partners.IranThe Kurds of Iran don’t see much difference between Azeris, Persians and themselves. They think like this: “We are all Iranians in the same train going to the same direction, except we Kurds are always in first carriage.” The truth is that the Kurds are oppressed much more than Azeris and other minorities in Iran. The difference between the situation of Azeris and Kurds is that the Azeris have their own country, Azerbaijan, which could bring their issues to the UN if Iran doesn’t calm down.[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9] [10][11] [12] [13] [14] [15][16]In case of the Kurds, they don’t have their own country and thus they are oppressed and hanged with “no one will ask”-mentality. Here, some Kurdish nationalists believe conspiracy theories that since the Azeris are not oppressed like us, they probably cooperate with the Islamist Iranian government.SyriaMost of the Syrian Kurds have probably no idea who they are.Footnotes[1] Damning report on an ignored issue: Discrimination against ethnic and religious minorities in Iran[2] Rage against Iran over ‘inherent' racism toward Azeris[3] THE MINORITY RIGHTS OF AZERBAIJANI TURKS IN IRAN[4] Iran's Ethnic Azeris And The Language Question[5] Iran: Azeri Turks protest against discrimination[6] Damning report on an ignored issue: Discrimination against ethnic and religious minorities in Iran[7] U.N.: Azerbaijanis face arrest, discrimination in Iran[8] http://english.alarabiya.net/en/...[9] http://www.aipac.org/news-hub?id...[10] http://www.crin.org/en/docs/mde1...[11] http://rudaw.net/english/kurdist...[12] http://2m1wji4fi7mw252rpnmo25u6....[13] Kurds - Minority Rights Group[14] Enough is Enough: Iranian Kurds Running Out of Patience - Democracy Digest Democracy Digest[15] Iranian Kurds Fight Discrimination, Hope for Change[16] https://www.ft.com/content/3a246...
Are Azeris and Kurds the same people?
Not really. There is some overlap between the two groups along the Zagros, but I’d say only as much as there is between, say, Hungarians in Romania and native Romanians. Azeri peoples are a Turkic people, while in contrast Kurds are western Iranians.Genetically, Azeri peoples have several identifiable autosomal groups, and are closely linked to northern Iranians as well as Azeri peoples in Azerbaijan. As a side note, a similar genetic result was found in a small Siberian tribe, and a small part of the Azeri genome was traced to Eastern central Asia, as opposed to the Kurds, which have a vastly different result. The Kurds are typically a mix of Indo-Europeans and West Asians, similar to Iranian types. The same R1 haplogroup and J2 found in Iranian populations of actual Iran are also found in Kurds, with a higher J2 frequency, as opposed to the majority R1 frequency found in Tehran and Mashhad populations.Culturally there is a lot of difference, almost as much as I’d say between Austria and Spain. I believe (though I may be wrong here) a majority of Kurds are Sunni, as opposed to almost half of Azerbaijan and a significant population of Iranian Azeris being Shia or even Christian.Linguistically they aren’t close at all. The Azeri people speak a Turkic language, located in areas from Central Asia and Eastern Anatolia, while the Kurds speak an Iranian language, similar to Iranian populations of Iran and the western part of Pakistan and a small part of Afghanistan, Ossetia, etc. They have different origins, which is evident both in genetic results as well as modern day linguistics.In terms of Arabs, there is very little relation. You’ll find the occasional individual descended from an Arab group, but otherwise they have probably remained very distinct from Arab populations due to mountains which inhabit both regions. On the other hand, there is a lot of overlap with Persians, specifically the closer you get to Persian populations and along the Zagros. This depends on distance however. A Tajiki is not very close to a Kurd, in some circumstances, while in others they may be.
Is Azerbaijani an ethnicity? Are they more Kurdish or Persian?
Neither. Azerbaijanis are Turks of the Caucasus and Caspian region, closely related to both other Caucasians (and related populations like Iranians or Turkmen), but SPECIFICALLY Turks. Azeris share a close genetic and somewhat cultural relationship with Anatolian Turks, and also share some similarity with other minor Caucasus Turks like Kalmyk, Nogai, Meskhetian, Karachays, and others. More distantly, they share a very distant (but still present) connection with Tatars of Russia and to Turks of Northern Central Asia.So the short answer is yes. They are an ethnicity, with a distinct national identity and their own linguistic division, and no, they are not Kurdish or Persian.
Why would Kurds and Azeris from Iran refer to themselves as "Persian" in the US and Canada? Aren't they different from Persian people?
Interesting observation.Actually, this is not a uniform response which you may get from everyone. The ones who do though, are really trying to differentiate themselves from Kurds or Azeris from other countries. Plus, most people in America cannot understand a double ethnic concept; if you tell them you are kurdish iranian, or Iranian Turk, they are not sure how that really works. Be careful here; there is a difference between having a mixed heritage and nationalities versus double ethnicity.But, a lot of Kurds I met in America with a few exceptions, consider themselves just Kurd and deny any connection to Iran or Persians. Interesting is that for the most part, Kurdish languages are derivatives of Persian and hereditarily, we share many customs and traditions.Turks are more quick to tell you that they are Persians. You must understand, this response has roots in history. Being Persian meant and still for those with a bit of knowledge, means nobility and granduer no one was ever to climb up to. If you spoke Persian in Asia minor, or surrounding regions, you got a better treatment and suddenly high respect.To answer the second part, Ethnically, Turks, Kurds, and Persians are different. The language, culture, customs, are different though share many similarities in a national identity framework.As usual, a quick note؛ to the eyes of Greeks and Westerners, men from Iranian mainland were simply known as Persians. The name was changed in 1936 to Iran. So, while an Iranian citizen maybe clear to tell you that 1. He is Iranian and 2. He may belong to a sub ethnic group, others still are not sure what you talking about it.