Kurds in Germany


Kurds in Germany refers to Germans of full or partial Kurdish origin.
There is a large Kurdish population in Germany, usually estimated at around one million. The majority of the Kurds have roots in Turkish Kurdistan, but there is also a significant amount of Kurds with roots in Iraqi Kurdistan, Rojava, and Iranian Kurdistan.

Immigration history

In Germany, Kurdish immigrant workers from Turkey first arrived in the second half of the 1960s. They immigrated to Germany as "Gastarbeiter". Since the 1970s and especially since the 1980s, the number of Kurds in Germany has increased rapidly. Reasons for migration include the better living standards and jobs in Germany, and the political unrest, discrimination, persecution, and war in Kurdistan.
Since the beginning of the Syrian Civil War in 2011, many of the Syrian refugees who've come to Germany are Kurds.

Cities

German Kurds live spread throughout Germany, especially in cities with a large proportion of Turkish people. Examples are Berlin, Hamburg, Munich, Frankfurt, Stuttgart and Essen.
Kurdish immigrants usually come from the different parts of Kurdistan. Examples are Iraqi Kurdistan, Rojava in Syria, Iranian Kurdistan, and Turkish Kurdistan. Others come from Kurdish enclaves outside Kurdistan, e.g. Istanbul.

Political activism

In 2014, Kurds in Germany marched in protest over the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant's siege of Kobani.
In 2015, thousands of Kurds in Germany marched against Turkish Air Force air strikes on Kurdish civilians.
In October 2019, thousands of German Kurds protested against the 2019 Turkish offensive into north-eastern Syria.

Gangs

Kurdish motorcycle club and gangs include Median Empire and Red Legion. fought against islamic state

Women's rights

Some cases of honour killing have been reported among the Kurdish diaspora in the West. In Germany in March 2009, a Kurdish immigrant from Turkey, Gülsüm S., was killed for a relationship not in keeping with her family's plan for an arranged marriage. In 2016 a Kurdish woman was shot dead at her wedding in Hannover for refusing to marry her cousin in a forced marriage.

Notable people

German Kurds have a strong presence in German hip-hop. Since the beginning of the 2000s, many German rap artists of Kurdish origin have influenced the rap scene and these days, many of the most successful artists are of Kurdish origin, too. Other popular German-Kurdish rappers include Eno, Veysel and Azzi Memo.
Kurds also play a role in other sectors, for example in German politics.