Zazas
Total population
4 - 6 million
Regions with significant populations
Primarily in Turkey, and some in Georgia, Germany, Kazakhstan, The Netherlands
Languages
Zazaki (Dimli)
Religions
Islam (Alevi and Sunni)
Related ethnic groups
other Iranian people, particularly Gilakis, Kurds, Mazandaranis, and Persians

The Zazas or more accurately Dimilis are an ethnic group and an ethnic minority in Turkey. Turkey (Türkiye known officially as the Republic of Turkey ( is a Eurasian Country that stretches Georgia ( საქართველო, Sakartvelo) is a Transcontinental country in the Caucasus region situated at the dividing line between Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany ( ˈbʊndəsʁepuˌbliːk ˈdɔʏtʃlant is a Country in Central Europe. Kazakhstan, also Kazakstan ( Қазақстан, Qazaqstan, qɑzɑqˈstɑn Казахстан, Kazakhstán,) officially the The Netherlands ( Dutch:, ˈnedərlɑnt is the European part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, which consists of the Netherlands the Netherlands For other meanings including people named 'Islam' see Islam (disambiguation. Alevis (Aleviler Elewî are a religious sub-ethnic and cultural community in Turkey, numbering in the millions Sunni Islam is the largest denomination of Islam. Sunni Islam is also referred to as Ahl as-Sunnah wa’l-Jamā‘h (Arabic The Iranian people are a collection of Ethnic groups defined along linguistic lines as speaking Iranian languages. The Mazandarani people are an Iranian people living primarily in south-eastern Caspian Sea coast layout and formatting it should ensure no clashes with the top of the infobox Turkey (Türkiye known officially as the Republic of Turkey ( is a Eurasian Country that stretches They primarily live in the eastern Anatolian provinces, such as Adıyaman, Aksaray, Batman, Bingöl, Diyarbakır (Diyarbekır), Elazığ (Xarpêt), Erzurum, Erzincan (Erzıngan), Gumushane, Kars, Malatya, Mus, Sanli Urfa (Rıha), Sivas (Sêvaz), and Tunceli (Dêrsim) provinces. Anatolia (Anadolu Ανατολία Anatolía) or Asia minor, comprising most of modern Turkey, is the geographic region bounded by the Black Adıyaman ( Zazaish: Semsur) (the ancient Perre or Pordonnium) is a city in southeastern Turkey, capital of the Adıyaman Aksaray is a city in the Central Anatolia region of Turkey and the capital district of Aksaray Province. Batman (short for Batı Raman Mountains) is the provincial capital of Batman Province, Turkey, also known as Êlih or Iluh in Bingöl ( Zazaish: Çolig) ( Turkish for a thousand lakes) is a city in Eastern Turkey. Diyarbakır (دیاربکر Diyâr-i Bekr 'land of the Bekr ' (from Persian) Kurdish Amed Zazaki language Dêrbekir Syriac Elazığ (formerly named "Mamuret ül-Aziz" or in strict Arabic transliteration as "Ma'mûrat al-'Aziz" officially in honor Theodosiopolis redirects here it is also a name of the ancient city of Apros, Thrace Erzincan ( Zazaish: Erzıngan) is the capital of Erzincan Province in the eastern Anatolian region of Turkey. Gümüşhane is a city in northeastern Turkey and the seat of Gümüşhane Province. Kars may refer to Kars Turkey Kars Province, Turkey Kars Oblast, Russian Empire Kars Province Malatya ( Hittite: Melid; Greek: Μαλάτεια Malateia; Armenian: Մալաթիա Malatia; Kurdish: Muş is a province in eastern Turkey. It is 8196 km² in area and has a population of 488997 (2006 est Şanlıurfa (often simply known as Urfa in daily language formerly cited as Edessa or in Kurdish; Riha or Urhāy Sivas (the late-Classical and Medieval Sebastia, sometimes spelt Sebastea or Sebasteia, Greek: Σεβάστεια, Armenian Tunceli ( Zazaish: Mamekiye, Kurdish: Dersim) is the provincial capital of Tunceli Province in Turkey. Since Zazas are one of the Iranic ethnic groups, their culture and language show some similarities to those of the Gilakis, Kurds, Mazandaranis, Persians, and other Iranic ethnic groups. The Mazandarani people are an Iranian people living primarily in south-eastern Caspian Sea coast layout and formatting it should ensure no clashes with the top of the infobox ^{[1] [2]}

Contents 1 Demographics 2 Historic roots of the Zaza people 3 Religion 4 Language 5 Notes 6 References 7 External links

Demographics

The exact number of Zaza people is unknown, due to an absence of recent and extensive census analysis. The fact that some Zazas have mixed into other regional ethnic groups has also contributed to the uncertainty. Many Zazas live outside their homeland. Apart from widespread suppression and wholesale evacuation of villages, the economically miserable situation of the Zaza areas forces the local population to emigrate to Turkish or European cities. There are many Zazas living in major Turkish cities such as Istanbul, Ankara, and İzmir. Istanbul (historically Byzantium and later Constantinople; see the other Names of Istanbul) is the largest city of Turkey Ankara is the capital of Turkey and the country's second largest city after İstanbul. İzmir, historically Smyrna, is the third most populous city of Turkey and the country's largest port after İstanbul. Moreover, the Zaza diaspora is spread across Europe (mainly in Germany) and beyond (U.S., Canada, etc. The term Diaspora (in Greek, διασπορά &ndash " a scattering or sowing of seeds " refers any population sharing common ethnic Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany ( ˈbʊndəsʁepuˌbliːk ˈdɔʏtʃlant is a Country in Central Europe. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the Country to "Dominion of Canada" or "Canadian Federation" or anything else please read the Talk Page ) According to estimated figures, the Zaza population should be somewhere between 3 to 4 million. ^[3]

According to a March 2007 survey published by a Turkish newspaper, whose objectivity is subject to debate, Kurds and Zazas together comprise an estimated 13. 4% of the adult population, and 15. 68% of the whole population in Turkey. ^[4] The ethnic composition of Turkey is highly controversial and often difficult to understand due to Turkification, historic interpretation of the sociological definition of ethnicity (e. Turkification is a term used to describe a process of cultural change in which something or someone who is not a Turk becomes one voluntarily or by force g. the Alevi definition as ethnicity) and the Turkish government's suppression of other ethnicities in the region. Alevis (Aleviler Elewî are a religious sub-ethnic and cultural community in Turkey, numbering in the millions

Historic roots of the Zaza people

Main article: History of the Zaza people

According to Encyclopedia Iranica the Dimilis are apparently remanants of waves of Deylami tribes of northern Iran who about 12th century AD left their homeland and took refuge in Kurdish mountains. The first mention of the word Zaza appears on the Behistun Inscription. The name Zaza which is sometimes used by Kurds and Armenians to refer to Dimilis is a pejorative name, in Kurdish means stutterer and in Armenian dumb. ^[5] Linguistic studies also show that the Zazas may have immigrated to their modern-day homeland from the southern shores of the Caspian Sea. The Caspian Sea is the largest enclosed body of water on Earth by area variously classed as the world's largest lake or a full-fledged Sea. Some Zazas use the word Dimli (Daylami) to describe their ethnic identity. The word Dimli (Daylami) also describes a region of Gilan Province in today’s Iran. For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Iran topics. Some linguists connect the word Dimli with the Daylamites in the Alborz Mountains near the shores of Caspian Sea in Iran and believe that the Zaza have migrated from Daylam towards the west. For the Iranian Frigate Alborz see Iranian frigate Alborz. For Alborz High School (in Persianدبیرستان البرز see Alborz High Today, Iranian languages are still spoken in southern regions of Caspian Sea (also called the Caspian languages), including Sangsarī, Māzandarānī, Tātī (Herzendī), Semnānī, Tāleshī, and they are grammatically and lexically very close to Zazaki; this supports the argument that Zazas immigrated to eastern Anatolia from southern regions of Caspian Sea. The Iranian languages are a branch of the Indo-European language family and its subfamily Indo-Iranian. ^[6] On the other hand, a recent genetic analysis claims that, genetically, Zazas are closer to Kurds. ^[7] Zazas also live in a region close to the Kurds, who are also another Iranic ethnic group.

Religion

Approximately half of the Zazas are Alevis, while the remainder are Sunni Muslims. Alevis (Aleviler Elewî are a religious sub-ethnic and cultural community in Turkey, numbering in the millions Sunni Islam is the largest denomination of Islam. Sunni Islam is also referred to as Ahl as-Sunnah wa’l-Jamā‘h (Arabic The Alevi-Zazas live in the northern part of the Zaza region, whereas the Sunni Zazas inhabit the southern Zaza region. The ancient religion of Zazas is believed to have been Zoroastrianism.

Language

Main article: Zazaki language

The first written statements in the Zaza language were compiled by the linguist Peter Lerch in 1850. Two other important documents are the religious writings (Mewlıd) of Ehmedê Xasi of 1899, and of Usman Efendiyo Babıc (published in Damascus in 1933); both of these works were written in the Arabic alphabet.

Zazaki written in Latin letters only became popular in the diaspora after meager efforts in Sweden, France and Germany at the beginning of the 1980s. "Sverige" redirects here For other uses see Sweden (disambiguation and Sverige (disambiguation. This article is about the country For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic France topics. Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany ( ˈbʊndəsʁepuˌbliːk ˈdɔʏtʃlant is a Country in Central Europe. This was followed by the publication of magazines and books in Turkey, particularly in Istanbul. Turkey (Türkiye known officially as the Republic of Turkey ( is a Eurasian Country that stretches Istanbul (historically Byzantium and later Constantinople; see the other Names of Istanbul) is the largest city of Turkey The efforts of Zaza intellectuals to advance the comprehensibility of their native language by alphabetizing were not fruitless: the number of publications in Zaza increased many times. The rediscovery of the native culture by Zaza intellectuals not only caused a renaissance of Zaza language and culture, it also triggered feelings among younger generations of Zazas (who rarely speak Zaza as a mother tongue anymore) in favor of modern western in the Zaza language, and thus their interest in the most important inheritance of their ancestors. In diaspora, a limited amount of Zaza-language broadcasts are realized. Moreover, after restrictions are removed on local languages in Turkey due requirements for the European Union membership, the state owned TRT television launched a Zazaki TV program and a radio program on Fridays. The European Union ( EU) is a political and economic union of twenty-seven member states, located primarily in The Turkish Radio and Television Corporation also known as TRT, ( Türkiye Radyo ve Televizyon Kurumu) was founded in 1964, it is the national

Notes

References

• Raymond Gordon, Jr. , Editor. Ethnologue: Languages of the World. Fifteenth Edition. (Classification of Zazaki Language. )
• Bozdağ, Cem and Üngör, Uğur. Zazas and Zazaki. (Religion and the recent situation of Zaza People. )
• Paul, Ladwig. (1998) The Position of Zazaki Among West Iranian languages. (Classification of Zazaki Language. )
• Blau, Gurani et Zaza in R. Schmitt, ed. , Compendium Linguarum Iranicarum, Wiesbaden, 1989, ISBN 3-88226-413-6, pp. 336-40 (About Daylamite origin of Zaza-Guranis)
• Extra, Guus. and Gorter Durk. The Other Languages of Europe. (About Demography of Zazas. )

External links

• zazaki.de - Zazas and Zazaki
• zazaki-institut.de - Zazaki Language Institute (In German, Zazaki, and Turkish)
• ZazaPress: journal of zaza language and culture (In Zazaki, Swedish, English and Turkish)
• Iremet Publishing (iremet publishing was created in order to principally protect, develop and promote the Zaza language. )
• zazaistan
• ethnologue
• Ethnic Differentiation among the Kurds: Kurmancî, Kizilbash and Zaza
• "Next: Free Zazaistan?" from World War 4 Report

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