Do Kurds speak Turkish?

Question

I know this may sound like sooooooooooo stupid question!!!!

But when I was in Turkey (maybe because I look kinda Turkish) people kept speaking to me in Turkish and were very surprised when I couldn't speak Turkish back..

And some would then ask me if I was Kurdish.

I always thought that Kurds (from Turkey) knew Turkish.. or maybe those people were joking with me :p

Answer 1

they all know turkish. and can speak turkish. but one kurd dont understand what other kurd is saying cuz there are so many kurdish dialects. they speak turkish between them. not kurdish  

Answer 2

Not a stupid question at all. Kurds who have been educated in Turkey are fluent in Turkish, obviously those who dont have the opportunity of education are not so fluent and tend to reside in the more rural areas where they are not so much in contact with the mainstream turkish population.

There are actually only 2 Kurdish dialects within the turkish borders with a large majority speaking one dialect and the smaller 2nd dialect (which some consider to be a language in itself - basically the minority within a minority is not really open for debate until the wider Kurdish identity is recognised by the government of Turkey and its people)

And just to clarify the Kurdish people are original inhabitants of what was known as mesopotamia - as you may have studied in junior high when studying ancient civilisations? In modern terms it stretches from eastern turkey to iraq, iran, syria & there are a small population in the former USSR too. The Kurdish language is entirely different with several dialects of its own (which is quite normal for a population so widely spread)  Kurdish and Turkish are as different as English and Swedish, with very few words shared but certainly incomprehensible.



In addition to their own language, Kurds are often fluent in the language of their oppressors too which means Kurds speak their mother tongue plus for example Turkish. So it is easy to understand why you feel confused, as it is the very purpose of assimilation after all.

A nationalist Turkish guy told me that :

50% of the Turkish language is its own

10%  Arabic

10% Farsi

10% French

10% Italian

10% English

So based on these details alone, you can see that there are a lot of complex underlying issues within the Turkish identity itself, hence the campaign to discredit their so called  "siblings" (a term used as a pacifier)  the Kurds aka "Mountain Turks" <----a blatant refusal of including us in the nation and a denial of our own national identity.

Do you see the double standard?

Well I Hope this helps - granted it is confusing !!

Answer 3

the kurds in the west of turkey speak turkish mostly,but the  more east you go the poorer it gets and the turkish elements dilute into kurdish ones.

its not stupid whatsoever,its a very important question.for instance when kurds come from turkey to germany under the banner of being 'turkish' they arent really turks atall,they r kurds and cant function in a turkish community.thats why there is a big ongoing kurdish problem in turkey.turks have always tried to 'turkify' kurds into becomming turks,but kurds reject it (which they have a right to),but that doesnt mean they can form thier own country on thier terms.(went off topic sorry,but i feel strongly about this).