View source for Kurdistan Uezd

{{short description|Former region of Azerbaijan}}
{{Infobox country
| native_name            = Кӧрдӧйәзд, Kurduyezd<br>Кӧрдьстана Сор, Kurdistana Sor
| conventional_long_name = Kurdistan uezd<br>Red Kurdistan
| era                    = Interwar period
| government_type        = Soviet administrative unit
| year_start             = 1923
| year_end               = 1929
| image_map              = Red kurdistan 1923 1929.png
| image_map_size         = 150px
| capital                = [[Lachin]]
| common_languages       = [[Kurdish language|Kurdish]]<br />[[Azerbaijani language|Azerbaijani]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ethno-kavkaz.narod.ru/kurdistan26.html|title=Курдистанский уезд (1926 г.) Родной язык.|publisher=|accessdate=November 5, 2014}}</ref><br />[[Russian language|Russian]]
| today                  = [[Azerbaijan]]
| ethnic_groups          = [[Kurds]]<br>[[Azerbaijanis|Azeris]]
| religion               = [[Yazidism]]<br>[[Islam]]
| currency               = [[Soviet ruble]] (SUR)
}}
{{Kurds}}
{{Expand Russian}}
'''Kurdistan Uezd''',{{Efn|{{bulleted list|{{lang-ru|Курдистанский уезд}}|{{lang-az|Kürdüstan qəzası}}|{{lang-ku| Кӧрдӧйәзд|Kurduyezd}}}}}} also known colloquially as '''Red Kurdistan''',{{Efn|{{bulleted list|{{lang-ru|Красный Курдистан}}|{{lang-az|Qızıl Kürdüstan}}|{{lang-ku|Кӧрдьстана Сор, Kurdistana Sor}}}}}} was a [[Soviet Union|Soviet]] [[administrative unit]] within the [[Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic|Azerbaijan SSR]] that existed for six years from 1923 to 1929 and included the districts of [[Kalbajar District|Kalbajar]], [[Lachin District|Lachin]], [[Qubadli District|Qubadli]] and part of [[Jabrayil District|Jabrayil]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal |last=Yilmaz |first=Harun |date=2014-09-03 |title=The Rise of Red Kurdistan |url=http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00210862.2014.934153 |journal=Iranian Studies |language=en |volume=47 |issue=5 |pages=799–822 |doi=10.1080/00210862.2014.934153 |issn=0021-0862 |s2cid=163144462}}</ref> It was part of [[Azerbaijan SSR]], with the [[administrative center]] being in [[Lachin]]. It was briefly succeeded by the '''Kurdistan Okrug''' from 30 May to 23 July 1930.

==History==

=== Establishment ===
The ''[[uezd]]'' was established on 7 July 1923, by the order of the government of the Azerbaijani SSR. [[Sergei Kirov]] was appointed as its first head.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Красный Курдистан: геополитические аспекты создания и упразднения |url=http://www.noravank.am/rus/articles/detail.php?ELEMENT_ID=2920 |access-date=2023-10-17 |website=www.noravank.am}}</ref> The majority of Kurds in the region were [[Shia Islam|Shia]], unlike the [[Sunni]] Kurds of the [[Nakhichevan uezd]] and other areas of the Middle East. 

At the [[First All-Union Census of the Soviet Union|1926 Soviet Census]], the ''uezd'' had a total population of 51,426 people, with ethnic Kurds constituting 72.3% or 37,182 people. However, according to the same census, 92.5% of the population of the ''uezd'' cited Turkic (later known as [[Azerbaijani language|Azerbaijani]]) as their native tongue.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ethno-kavkaz.narod.ru/kurdistan26.html|title=Курдистанский уезд (1926 г.) Родной язык.|publisher=|accessdate=November 5, 2014}}</ref>

=== Dissolution and persecution of Kurds ===
On 8 April 1929, the Sixth Azerbaijani Congress of Soviets approved a reform of the administrative structure, abolishing all uezds, including the Kurdistan uezd.<ref name=":0" /> On 30 May 1930, the short-lived '''Kurdistan Okrug''' was founded in its place. The okrug was created by the Soviet authorities in order to attract the sympathies of Kurds in neighboring [[Iran]] and [[Turkey]] and take advantage of Kurdish nationalist movements in those countries. The [[Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Soviet Union)|Soviet Ministry of Foreign Affairs]], not wanting to damage relations with [[Turkey]] and [[Iran]], protested strongly, leading to a sharp change in policy regarding Kurdish nationalism. Hence, Kurdistan okrug was disbanded on 23 July 1930.<ref>{{in lang|ru}} [http://www.hist.ru/kurdy.html Партизаны на поводке.]</ref>

After the dissolution, Kurds continued to assimilate into the dominant culture of the neighbouring Azeris,<ref>David McDowall Современная история курдов = A modern history of the Kurds. — 3, illustrated, revised. — I.B.Tauris, 2004. — С. 192. — {{ISBN|1850434166}}, 9781850434160</ref> but some religious [[Yazidis|Yazidi]] tribes mostly stayed the same. Historically, mixed Azeri-Kurdish marriages were commonplace; however the Kurdish language was rarely passed on to the children in such marriages.<ref>Н. Г. Волкова, Этнические процессы в Закавказье в XIX-XX вв., "Кавказский этнографический сборник", IV, М., 1969.</ref>

In the late 1930s, Soviet authorities deported most of the Kurdish population of [[Kurds in Azerbaijan|Azerbaijan]] and [[Kurds in Armenia|Armenia]] to [[Kurds in Kazakhstan|Kazakhstan]], [[Kurds in Turkmenistan|Turkmenistan]], [[Kyrgyzstan]], and [[Uzbekistan]].<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":0" /> The [[Kurds in Georgia|Kurds of Georgia]] also became victims of [[Joseph Stalin|Joseph Stalin's]] [[Great Purge]] in 1944.<ref>{{in lang|ru}} [http://www.rau.su/observer/N21_93/21_09.HTM Russia and the problem of Kurds] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120212203207/http://www.rau.su/observer/N21_93/21_09.HTM|date=February 12, 2012}}</ref> Years later, Kurds immigrated to [[Kurds in Kazakhstan|Kazakhstan]] from the neighbouring countries, [[Uzbekistan]] and [[Kyrgyzstan]].<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |title=Kazakhstan: A paradise for ethnic minorities |url=http://www.kurdmedia.com/article.aspx?id=7861 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120325002104/http://www.kurdmedia.com/article.aspx?id=7861 |archive-date=25 March 2012 |access-date=2 December 2012}}</ref>

==See also==
*[[Kurds in Azerbaijan]]
*[[Kurdish Republic of Lachin]]
*[[Yekbûn]]
*[[Kurds in Russia]]
*[[List of Kurdish dynasties and countries]]
*[[Kurdish alphabets]]

==References==
===Notes===
{{notelist}}
{{Reflist}}

===Sources===
{{Portal|Kurdistan|Soviet Union|Genocide}}
*Müller, Daniel "The Kurds and the Kurdish Language in Soviet Azerbaijan According to the All-Union Census of December 17, 1926". ''The [[Journal of Kurdish Studies]]'', vol.&nbsp;3, pp.&nbsp;61–84.
*Müller, Daniel. "The Kurds of Soviet Azerbaijan 1920-91". ''[[Central Asian Survey]]'', vol.&nbsp;19 i.&nbsp;1 (2000), pp.&nbsp;41–77.
*Yilmaz, Harun. “The Rise of Red Kurdistan.” ''[[Iranian Studies (journal)|Iranian Studies]], vol.'' 47 i. 5 (2014), pp. 799–822.

{{Use mdy dates|date=October 2013}}

{{coord missing|Azerbaijan}}

[[Category:History of Nagorno-Karabakh]]
[[Category:Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic]]
[[Category:Forced migration in the Soviet Union]]
[[Category:Uezds of the Soviet Union]]
[[Category:Former Kurdish states in Azerbaijan]]
[[Category:Former countries of the interwar period]]