XXXI Международный конгресс ИИСАА. 23–25 июня 2021 г. Т. 2

314 XXXI Международный Конгресс по источниковедению и историографии стран Азии и Африки Секция XX While the Arabs brought “Islam” to these lands, the believers of the Kurd preferred Shafi’i as both a religion, a sect, and an ideological element such asAyyubid and Marwanians state (Peseng, 2011). When we look at the Kurds and their principalities ruled by the Ottoman, who adopted the Sunni-Hanafi school, the ideological aspect of the sect can be revealed by exploiting the Kurds as a buffer zone in most of the wars against the Persians by the Ottomans and imposing their propaganda in most of the Kurd’s lands as an ideological struggle against the ‘deviation.’ (Aytemur, 2020). In the Sheikh Ubeydullah movement, which was the first modern Kurdish uprising, the expression “our sect is different” (Papers, 1880) used by Sheikh in his letter to British Missionary Dr. Cochran shows that the sect does not only have a religious mission but also has an ideological element. As a matter of fact, he continues his letter with, “Let’s regulate our law, let’s punish our criminals.” (Papers, 1880) One of the situations that Sheikh wants to draw attention to here is that the Iranians, who are one of the parties he conflicts with, are Shia, and the other side, the Ottomans, is Sunni-Hanafi (Aytemur, 2020). The distinction of sect among the Kurds can be observed more clearly when we look at the parts of Kurdistan. For instance, one of the most significant distinctions in the Iranian Kurds is the pro-government Shia Kurdish groups and the opposing Sunni Kurds. Discirimination of Iranian policy against Sunni Kurds has been revealed by reports (Hassaniyan, 2019) (Cameron & Danesh, 2008) (Yildiz, 2007). In Turkey, Hanafi ideology, which is the sub-branch of Sunni, is practiced by each institute of the Directorate of Religious Affairs, which the official department of the state. Most of the Kurds are the Shafi’i. The Hanafi-Sunni school, which has become a state discourse, is used not only as a sect but also as a tool of assimilation . To sum up, Shafii is not only a religious tool of the Kurds but also has the potential to represent as a state discourse itself. Konak Ismet (İstanbul, Turkey) Ethnic identity of Zazas As known, Zaza people mostly live in Turkey. There is not only Kurdish question but also Zaza issue. In recent decades, along with the word “Kurdistan”, the word “Zazaistan” began to be used loudly. The people using the term Zazaistan mostly put forward the thesis that Zazas are not Kurds. Thus they dream of an autonomous or independent region seperate fromKurdistan in northern Mezopotamia. However, this idea is not accepted by those who feel themselves Kurdish. This latter, instead of the word Zaza, mainly prefers to use the terms like Kird, Kirmanc and Dimili.