Author: Kurds, Russians origins the same

Russian author and researcher, Vadim Makarenka, says in his latest book searching for ancient Russian History that Russians and Kurds come from the same racial origins. So he concludes that the famous Muslim Kurdish leader Salahadin Ayyubi was also a Russian.

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region (K24) – Russian author and researcher, Vadim Makarenka, says in his latest book Searching for ancient Russian History,  that Russians and Kurds come from the same racial origins. Makarenkao also concludes that the famous Muslim Kurdish leader Salahadin Ayyubi was also Russian, and not Kurdish.

Makarenka told K24 on Monday that though he did not know anything about Kurds two decades ago, through his latest research he discovered that Russians and Kurds are 'relatives,' and that advanced DNA testing proves this.

"We should not forget that Russian orientalism first began from [learning about] Kurds. Russian kings were chosen among those who belonged to the Russian race one hundred percent.... and always attempted to return to their original roots [,] in modern day Kurdistan,” Makarenka stated.

Makarenka pointed out there are many mutual similarities between the two peoples, such as in their folklore, histories, and languages and claims there are more than two thousand related words between Russian and Kurdish. For example, the Kurdish words “jin, bira, and chay” meaning “wife, brother, and tea” are “jena, birat, and chay” in Russian, with a slight difference in pronunciation.

However, Khoshawi Mala Ibrahim, a Kurdish researcher in Russia whose expertise focuses on Kurdish history says, “...parts of his [Makarenka] opinions are controversial, especially his claim that the well-known figure Salahaddin Ayyubi is originally Russian.”

Salahadin Ayyubi's kingdom spanned from Egypt, Syria, Mesopotamia, Hejaz, and Yemen to some parts of North Africa during his lifetime in the 12th century of the Common era. He also led the Muslim opposition to the European Crusaders in the Levant though he was widely respected and known to be tolerant of non-Muslims.

(Reporting by Gulala Xalid; Editing by Benjamin Kweskin; Khoshawi Mohammad from Moscow contributed to this report.)