Kurdish mafia is a general term for organized criminal gangs that consist of ethnic Kurds. Kurdish crime groups are active worldwide, especially throughout Turkey, Europe, and sometimes in the Middle East.

History

Kurdish organised crime has its roots in banditry during Pre-Islamic times. Kurdish tribes used to rob foreigners who crossed through their land, and raid villages of other nations before returning to their mountains.^[1][2][3] Early Aramaic sources described how Kurds raided churches and monasteries.^[4] Although most Kurds eventually accepted Islam, they continued to attack foreigners who entered their land, and the Kurds enjoyed levels of autonomy from the Rashidun until the Ottoman periods, as they had rule over Kurdistan but were either unwilling to engage in a deeper conflict with Kurdish tribes, or failed to.^[5][6] The Kurds demanded travellers to pay a tax in order to bypass their land unharmed.^[7]Yaqut al-Hamawi, a traveller who interacted with many nations, wrote that "the Kurds remain in the surrounding mountains terrorizing the travellers, stealing, and looting. Intimidations, attacks, and arrests do not stop them by any means, because it is inherent to the nature of the Kurds."^[8] Kurds were associated with violence in historiography.^[9] The Kemalists in Turkey and the Pahlavis in Iran forcefully urbanised or sedentarised Kurdish tribes, putting an end to much of the violence.^[10][11][12]

Kurdish crime groups are operated by Kurds from all around Kurdistan, although the bulk comes from Turkish Kurdistan. Some of the crime groups carry out their activities in accordance to tribal customs. The main source of income for the Kurdish mafia is allegedly drug and weapon trafficking as well as contract killings.^[13][14] The Kurdish mafia also smuggles migrants into Europe in exchange for money, and are known for carrying heavy weapons.^[15] The Kurdish mafia smuggles weapons and hard drugs all across Europe, and Süleyman Soylu accused them of making over 1.5 billion USD per year for the PKK.^[16] A British police report revealed that the Tottenham Boys, a Kurdish gang from London, did funnel their profits to the PKK.^[17] A bulk of the Kurdish mafia is made up of Alevi Zazas.^[14]

Afghanistan was a stronghold of the Kurdish mafia.^[18] Kurdish criminals smuggled opiates from Afghanistan into Iranian Kurdistan, Iraqi Kurdistan, and Syrian Kurdistan, which they would later smuggle into Turkish Kurdistan, and then transport it to Western Europe or Russia through the Balkans.^[19] In 2015, the Kurdish mafia trafficking of Afghan opiates were disrupted by the unrest in Turkish Kurdistan.^[20][21] Turkish police cracked down on the Kurdish mafia in the process.^[22] The Taliban supplied the Kurdish mafia with opiates in exchange for a tax, and as long as the opiates would not be sold to Kurdish civilians, but to Europeans or Russians only.^[23] The Kurdish mafia also paid the PKK a tax in order to pass through their territory.^[24] Despite the Taliban tolerating the opiate trade during their insurgency, they banned it in 2022, as part of their new reforms.^[25]

Rawa Majid is a known mafia leader in Sweden who was linked to numerous shootings, bombings, assaults, and drug trafficking.^[26][27] Majid was in a conflict with several other criminal gangs.^[28] He has been wanted internationally since 2020 for major drug offenses and the planning of murders.^{[29][30][31][26]} Majid was detained by the police in Iran,^[32] near its border with Turkey, on 6 October 2023.^[33]

In Nashville, Tennessee, during the 1990s and 2000s, Kurdish organised criminals began operating in the city. Their main actions were drug distribution and armed burglaries. Jiyayi Suleyman, who was the first Kurdish officer of the Metro Nashville Police Department, was arrested in 2018 for assisting the gang.^[34][35]

Kurdish mafia gangs in Germany were also reported to extort German businessmen, making them pay a tax every month in exchange for protection, and even threatening police saying "we outnumber you." German authorities had avoided targeting Kurdish mafia leaders due to fears of streets being filled with Kurdish protestors who will not allow the police to proceed. Some German municipalities even avoided arresting Kurds due to fears of a riot or retaliation.^[36]

Notable Kurdish mafiosi

• Hüseyin Baybaşin
• Aslan Usoyan
• Rawa Majid

References