Ivanov, S.M. The fortune of the Soviet Kurds.

Abstract: It is well-known, that the Kurds are the people with thousands of years of history, and due to various historical reasons, this people did not form its own state, and by the early XIX century, it dwelled in the territories of the Ottoman and Persian Empires. Most of the Kurdish tribes had nomadic or semi-nomadic way of life. After the Treaty of Turkmenchay was signed in 1828 between Russia and Persia, and in the Adrianople Treaty was signed between Russia and the Ottoman Empire, some Iranian and Turkish territories became Russian, and they were populated with the Armenians, Azerbaijanians and the Kurds. The Iranian regions (Urmia, Salmas, Khoy) and Turkish regions (Van, Erzurum, Kars) with all of their population became part of the Russian Transcaucasia. Therefore, the Kurds living there became fully competent subjects of the Russian Empire. However, it should be noted that some Kurd tribes settled in Georgia (Meskheti) in XVI, and in early XIX they also settled near the Georgian fortress Queli. The Turkish and Iranian Kurds in the new territories were loyal to the Russian government, since they saw the Russians, since they saw Russians as their liberators from the Turkish and Persian oppression. It was no accident, that soon many Kurds joined the Russian military service, and they were known for bravery and courage in numerous battles during the wars between Russia and Turkey.

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