Kurds Are NOT Gypsies

Added: 2026-05-25

[00:00:00]You know where is Kurdistan?

[00:00:01]>> Next to Pakistan. [music] Kurdistan? They don't have a even like a land. Yeah, but they live in Turkey or somewhere like a gypsy. No, Armen. Kurds are not gypsies. Gypsies usually refers to the Romani people of Europe.

[00:00:13]>> [music] >> Since Armen is Armenian, he might mean groups like the Dom people of West Asia.

[00:00:17]But either way, Romani and Dom both trace their origins back to northern India. They both picked up Anatolian and Armenian ancestry along the way, and then Romanis picked up large amounts of European ancestry, while Doms picked up West Asian ancestry. [music] Neither of those descriptions fit Kurds at all.

[00:00:33]Kurds are a West Iranian people.

[00:00:35]Genetically, [music] they sit closest to Persians. But there's something in Kurdish DNA that separates them from Persians pretty clearly. Around 60 to 70% [music] of Kurdish ancestry overlaps with Persian ancestry, but that remaining 30 to 40% that makes Kurds distinct, it's a combination of Armenian and Assyrian [music] ancestry. Now, here's the irony.

[00:00:53]Armen Sarukian is Armenian. Armenian ancestry is literally one of the main reasons Kurdish DNA looks different [music] from Persian DNA. The thing that makes Kurds their own distinct group is partially the same ancestry as the [music] guy calling them gypsies. Kurds aren't gypsies. They're actually mostly West Iranic and part the same people Armen himself comes [music] from.