The Kurds are one of the oldest peoples in the Middle East and, at the same time, the largest ethnic group in the world without their own internationally recognised state. With an estimated 40 to 45 million people worldwide, and more than 120,000 in the Netherlands, the Kurds are anything but invisible. Yet their story remains unknown to many.

Rozia Foundation stands in solidarity with the Kurdish people, guided by a deep Christian faith. We believe that every human being, regardless of their background, language or religion, is created in the image of God and deserves dignity. That belief drives us to take action: to share hope, offer help, and amplify Kurdish voices worldwide.

A people with deep roots

The Kurds are an Indo-European people with roots in the fertile mountainous region surrounding the Zagros Mountains. Historical and archaeological sources indicate that Kurdish communities have lived in this area for over three thousand years. Linguistically and culturally, they are related to other Indo-European peoples, not to the Arabs or Turks, as is sometimes mistakenly assumed.

Kurds are not Arabs. Their language belongs to the Indo-Iranian branch, the same family as Persian, and, in a broader sense, is also related to Dutch and German. Arabic belongs to a completely different language family: the Semitic. This distinction is not merely linguistic, but also fundamentally cultural and historical.

What binds the Kurds, despite all their internal diversity in dialect, region and religion, is a shared cultural identity: a shared sense of popular belonging, a shared language in its many dialect forms, and a shared history of resilience in the face of oppression.

How many Kurds are there and where do they live?

Accurate population statistics are lacking because no country where Kurds live registers them as a separate ethnic category. Globally, there are 40 to 45 million people.

Kurdistan: the divided homeland

The word ‘Kurdistan’ literally means ‘land of the Kurds’. Although there is no state by that name on the world map, for tens of millions of people it is their historical, geographical and cultural homeland, spread across four modern states.

The fragmentation of Kurdistan is no historical coincidence. It is the direct result of political decisions taken after the First World War, without the Kurds themselves having any say in the matter.

History: from Zagros to modern times

Ancient roots: the Medes and early peoples

The historical presence of Kurdish peoples in the Middle East dates back thousands of years. According to a widely held view, the earliest ancestors of the Kurds are often linked to the Medes, a powerful Indo-European people who, in the 7th and 6th centuries BC, established a vast empire and brought about the downfall of the famous Assyrian Empire (612 BC). For thousands of years, the Kurds lived more or less autonomously in their mountainous homeland, which both protected them and isolated them from the great empires that rose and fell around them.

Sèvres (1920): the promise unfulfilled

After the First World War, the prospect of an independent state finally seemed within reach. In the Treaty of Sèvres (1920), the Allied powers recognised the possibility of an autonomous Kurdish region. But this promise remained a dead letter. The Treaty of Lausanne (1923) completely superseded the Treaty of Sèvres and made no mention whatsoever of the Kurds. Kurdistan was divided between Turkey, Iraq, Syria and Iran.

It is precisely this ongoing injustice, and the world’s silence on the matter, that drives the Rozia Foundation. Where politics remains silent, the love of Christ speaks out. We believe that the gospel of restoration is intended for every people, including the Kurds.

Oppression, genocides and resistance

Alongside repression, there is also a constant tradition of resistance and construction. The Kurdish Regional Government (KRG) in Iraq was established in 1991 and received constitutional recognition in 2005. Kurdish fighters played an indispensable role in the destruction of the ISIS caliphate (2014-2019).

These words do not sound abstract when we hear the stories of Kurdish families who have lost everything. At the Rozia Foundation, we believe that the comfort of the Gospel is meant for them too – concrete, tangible and full of hope.

Kurdish language: Indo-European and diverse

The Kurdish language belongs to the Indo-European language family, the same major family as Dutch, German and English. This is a fundamental difference from Arabic.

Bible translations: a historic turning point

For the Church, 2017 marks a milestone: for the first time in history, the complete Bible was published in Sorani Kurdish. Bible translations are now also available in Kurmanji, accessible to readers in Turkey, Syria, Iran, Iraq and Armenia. For the first time, God’s Word is being heard in the mother tongue of millions of Kurds.

Kurdistan in the Bible

For many Christians, the Kurdish homeland is less unfamiliar than it might seem. Much of biblical history is set in the mountains and plains inhabited by the Kurds today.

• The rivers of paradise. The Tigris and the Euphrates, mentioned in Genesis 2 in connection with the Garden of Eden, flow right through Kurdish territory.
• The mountains of Ararat. According to Genesis 8, Noah’s ark came to rest on the mountains of Ararat, in the border region of the Kurdish homeland.
• Nineveh. The city to which the prophet Jonah was sent was situated in the heart of what is now northern Iraq, where many Kurds still live today.
• On the Day of Pentecost. In Acts 2:9, the Medes – a people often associated with the ancestors of the Kurds – are specifically mentioned amongst those who heard the Gospel in their own language on the very first day of Pentecost.

The Gospel is therefore not a foreign, Western message to the Kurds. It was already being proclaimed in this region in the earliest days of the Church. That is precisely why the Rozia Foundation believes that the Good News can take root once again amongst the Kurdish people today.

As the Kurdish language was banned or severely restricted in Turkey, Iran and Syria for decades, it survived primarily in private life and through the Dengbêj, the traditional Kurdish storytellers and singers. For the Kurds, language is a symbol of identity and survival.

Kurdish culture and traditions

Religious diversity among Kurds

A widespread misconception is that all Kurds are Muslim. The reality is richer and more diverse. Kurds have traditionally been religiously pluralistic:

These 12,000 to 23,000 brothers and sisters often carry a double burden: pressure for their faith as well as for their Kurdish identity. Many came to faith through Kurdish-language radio, satellite TV and internet transmission in Sorani and Kurmanci. Rozia knows them up close and shares their stories with the Dutch church.

In autonomously governed Kurdish areas, religious minorities are institutionally protected through quota systems and co-chairmanships. This makes Kurdish governance unique in the region.

Persecution today: religious freedom under pressure

Beyond the historical tragedies, the Kurdish people today live under constant pressure. On the Open Doors World Watch List 2025 Iran is in 9th place, Iraq in 17th and Turkey in 45th – precisely the countries where the majority of Kurds live. USCIRF, the US Commission on International Religious Freedom, recommends Iran again in 2025 as a “Country of Particular Concern” For systematic violations.

For the estimated 12,000 to 23,000 Kurdish Christians – and all the Kurds who know them – this means a daily struggle with uncertainty. And yet, wherever the Gospel is preached, churches spring up. That is why Rozia focuses on three pillars: gospel and testimony, help and mercy, and law and justice for the Kurdish people.

The Kurds in the Netherlands & the situation today

The Netherlands is home to more than 120,000 people of Kurdish origin, one of the largest Kurdish diaspora communities in Northern Europe. They arrived in waves:

The Rozia Foundation is at the heart of this community. We know their stories, their pain and their hope, and we are committed to restoration: of body, soul and community. For God knows the Kurds by name.

The situation today

Frequently asked questions about the Kurds