You’re quite clearly twisting my words. I explicitly asked for firsthand historical accounts from before the 16th century in which people identified themselves as Kurds. Nowhere did I claim that Kurdish ethnic identity only emerged in the 16th century. Asking for historical evidence is not the same as claiming to know when an ethnic identity first emerged. That’s a distinction you really ought to understand.
On top of that, you’re bringing up claims about ancient Mesopotamian ancestry and the supposed denial of any historical ties to Kurds, neither of which Semir nor I have argued here. Instead of addressing our actual arguments, you’re setting up straw men just to knock them down. That may be rhetorically convenient, but it hardly constitutes a substantive rebuttal. If you want to challenge our position, address what we’ve actually said rather than arguments you’ve put in our mouths.
My wording regarding ��Scandinavian” could have been more precise, as the term can also carry an ethnocultural meaning. However, that doesn’t change my central argument: Shared linguistic, cultural, or historical roots do not necessarily imply a single ethnic identity. A broader ethnocultural affiliation does not erase distinct ethnic identities.
One imprecise formulation doesn’t invalidate my argument or the other examples I provided. Rather than turning a minor point into a distraction, perhaps you should address the actual question: Why should linguistic or historical ties alone be enough to deny a group its distinct ethnic identity?
@mama17078799@iamramanzada You’re really pushing people to the point where they start sympathizing with your enemies. May my homeland always stand strong and victorious and protect us from this barbarism
Your examples don’t refute our argument. If anything, they reinforce it. Ingush and Chechens, just like Croats and Bosniaks, have distinct ethnic identities despite their linguistic and historical ties. Scandinavian is a regional and cultural label, not a single ethnicity. And your Punjabi comparison doesn’t prove that sharing a language means sharing the same ethnic identity. You’re conflating linguistic, regional and ethnic categories and drawing conclusions your own examples don’t support. That’s the fundamental flaw in your argument
Another questionable aspect of Hemdad Arwandi’s argument concerns the Parthian rock relief at Sar-e Pol-e Zahab. Arwandi associates its inscription with a supposed early Kurdish kingdom called Kurdān. However, the distinguished Iranologist Mary Boyce explicitly states in the Encyclopaedia Iranica that the heavily weathered inscription can only be read with certainty as identifying a ruler named G��darz as king. Neither a kingdom called Kurdān nor any Kurdish ethnic affiliation is mentioned in the legible text. Arwandi’s attempt to connect this archaeological evidence to an early Kurdish kingdom therefore remains a historical hypothesis rather than something directly established by the inscription itself. A clear distinction must be made between what a source actually records and the historical reconstruction built upon it.
Source: Mary Boyce, Gōdarz I. Historical Figures, Encyclopaedia Iranica,
“The Rock Carvings”
The archaeologist and Iran scholar Daniel T. Potts also challenges the assumption that early references to “Kurds” necessarily carried a distinct ethnic meaning. Examining the same Middle Persian account of Ardashir and the so-called “King of the Kurds” cited by Hemdad Arwandi, Potts explicitly distinguishes between an ethnolinguistic identity and a broader social category of nomads. He interprets the groups mentioned in connection with the conquest of Media as nomadic pastoralists. Particularly revealing is his discussion of a later account by al-Tabari in which “Kurd” appears to have been used as a derogatory, quasi-occupational term for herders or nomads rather than a genuine ethnic designation. His analysis provides further evidence that the appearance of such terms in early historical sources cannot automatically be treated as proof of a clearly defined ethnic identity.
Source: Daniel T. Potts, Nomadism in Iran: From Antiquity to the Modern Era, Oxford University
Nobody disputes that these men existed. I specifically asked for firsthand written evidence of Kurdish self-identification before the 16th century, not statements attributed to them by chroniclers. Those are two different types of historical evidence. You demand hard facts, so provide the same level of evidence for your own claims
No, I don’t have to identify as Kurdish just because you say so. You don’t get to impose an ethnic identity on anyone. I’m not even from Iraq! Stop blaming everything on the Êzîdîs of Şîngal. Maybe it’s time you looked at your own failings and took a critical look at your own history instead of constantly trying to tell others who they are
“We are not kurds or Arabs. We are Ezidis.”
During a live Nuçe TV discussion, Rîham H. from Sinjar asked Remezan Kerîm to stop calling her a “kurdish-Ezidi.”
This is only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the harassment Ezidis face from kurdish extremists.
#ezidi
I’d rather trust respected scholars like Garnik Asatrian than a clown like Hamdad, whose entire historical argument seems to revolve around clinging to Iranian history just to give himself a historical identity. His level of knowledge probably would have landed him near the bottom of the latest PISA rankings 🤡
@ZGRSchr Yesterday, we were supposedly the foundation of their entire identity. Now that we’re asserting our right to define our own identity, they’re suddenly coming up with absurd, baseless theories. Here’s an excellent piece by @ShamsaniBaedri that’s well worth reading.