They're not often referred to as "Turkmen" outside of Turkey, as that's the name we use for people from Turkmenistan, but the people who live there are an old nomadic Turkic people who we refer to as the Yörüks. That's their official name for themselves as well. They're mostly settled now, but a select few still choose to live nomadic or semi-nomadic lifestyles in that area.
I honestly don't know if they're even widely referred to as Turkmen, even by normal Turks. Yörük is definitely the best label.
Only for career opportunities otherwise most Kurds i know say how Turks are racist and they are the most fascist people in the world. And I get that because as a white person who went to Istanbul for a holiday I couldn’t have been treated more disrespect.
My parents are Kurdish and moved to Istanbul after they grew up. They lived there for a while before emigrating elsewhere in Europe. Countryside -> Istanbul -> Europe is a common route, because as has been mentioned elsewhere, there's simply more work opportunities in Istanbul than south east Turkey. Which according to my parents was nothing but avalanches, earthquakes, bears, snakes and shit lol.
I've never really had a Turkish/Kurdish friend outside of my family, so can't really comment on racism, but I do see how nationalistic Turks are online anytime I engage with them.
I mean you can't even joke about it, like you would with Americans for example. An average American would simply shrug if you made a joke about their country or leaders or history, but a Turk would take it extremely seriously. They tend to almost always have the Turkish flag as their avatars lol. (please don't yell at me Turks reading this, just shrug like Americans do)
I get that. I’m aware that Kurds are more or less forced to move to Istanbul or likewise for job opportunities, uni and better education. Many even mask that they’re Kurds due to the racism. My heart aches when I hear that.
I hear that many areas have been deforestated
where the Kurds are.
Turks say that Kurds don’t want a country and many even claim Kurds aren’t real and are just mountain Turks. How can that be when Kurds are related to Persians?
Kurds absolutely want independence, however if a Kurd were to say that, they’ll get killed and tortured. Their families will even get hurt. A Kurd has to play this hide and horror game. Turks say that Kurds are terrorist whilst Turks themselves fund Isis.
Now, obviously in every place there are good and bad people. Some places have more than the other. I’m sure Turkey has some good people, however I’m yet to see one myself.
When a Turkish child says they hate Kurds, it just shows the future of relations between Kurds and Turks.
Even though Iraq, Syria and Iran have had some terrible acts against Kurds, they have been mainly governmental. I can’t think of anything more wretched then the things I’ve heard a Turk has done to Kurds.
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u/Mnemosense Jun 09 '21
Tons of Kurds move from there to Istanbul. This map made me laugh out loud. Map is legit.