The Kurmanji Kurds of Turkmenistan

The Kurmanji Kurds of Turkmenistan, numbering approximately 8,200 people, are Unengaged and Unreached. They are ethnic Kurds who primarily speak Kurmanji (Northern Kurdish), the most widely spoken Kurdish dialect. They mostly adhere to Shia Islam and Northern Kurdish is their primary language.

Photo by Google. (2025). Image generated by Gemini 2.5 Flash: Kurmanji Kurd

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Persian-Median Peoples
Country: Turkmenistan
People Cluster: Kurd
Primary Language(s): Northern Kurdish (kmr)
Primary Religion(s): Shia Islam
Population: 8,200
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Unengaged and Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG046645
View on Joshua Project

Pray for the Kurmanji Kurds of Turkmenistan

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Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Shia Islam
Religious Affiliation: Islam

80%
%
Shia Islam Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Northern Kurdish
Language Family: Indo-European

100%
%
Kurdish, Northern Speakers

Media Resources in Northern Kurdish:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film
JESUSView Film
MagdalenaView Film
MagdalenaView Film

4 films

Bible Resources in Northern Kurdish:

Bible Name (Translation)VideoAudioText
2019 Kurdish Literature Association✓✓✓
2005 United Bible Society✓
Transcaucasia✓✓✓
Transcaucasia✓✓✓

4 entries

Or check out the Northern Kurdish bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

Explore Lostness and Next Steps

Unengaged and Unreached

Strategic Priority Index (SPI): Unengaged and Unreached (SPI: 0), which means there are less than 2% evangelical Christian populations among which there are no known efforts focused on establishing self-sustaining churches consistent with evangelical faith and practice.
Lostness Priority Index (LPI): Frontier Unreached People Group, (LPI: 0), < 0.1% Evangelical.
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity (GSEC: 1), this people group is less than 2% evangelical, some evangelical resources are available, but there has been no active church planting among them within the past two years

Next steps for the Kurmanji Kurds:
Begin signifcant prayer and fasting for this group
Send cross-cultural teams to discover and research this people group
Begin gospel seed sowing and church planting among this group

Pray specifically for the Kurmanji Kurds of Turkmenistan

Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions.
readPsalm 51:1

Give thanks to God that He is able to forgive all the sins people might commit, and pray that many who don't yet know this will hear the good news and turn to Him for mercy.

The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever.
readIsaiah 40:8

Pray that everyone has access to God's Word and that those who hear the good news will turn from their sins and put their faith in Jesus the Messiah.

I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.
readRomans 12:1

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will offer their bodies as living sacrifices, holy and acceptable to God, knowing that this is their spiritual worship.

Come, bless the LORD, all you servants of the LORD, who stand by night in the house of the LORD!
readPsalm 134:1

Pray that God will raise up believers among them who are in awe of Him and that, in service to Him, they will share the gospel with others so that they too may bless the Lord!

Kurd, Northern (Kurmanji) Across Countries (ROP3 - 105458) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

21 people groups

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountryPopulation ▼Strategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion
Kurmanji KurdsKurmanji KurdsTurkiye9,000,000Engaged yet UnreachedNorthern KurdishSunni Islam
Kurmanji KurdsKurmanji KurdsSyria1,620,000Engaged yet UnreachedNorthern KurdishSunni Islam
Kurmanji KurdsKurmanji KurdsIran573,000Unengaged and UnreachedNorthern KurdishSunni Islam
Kurmanji KurdsKurmanji KurdsGermany540,000Engaged yet UnreachedNorthern KurdishSunni Islam
Kurmanji KurdsKurmanji KurdsLebanon152,000Engaged yet UnreachedNorthern KurdishSunni Islam
Kurmanji KurdsKurmanji KurdsUnited Kingdom150,000Engaged yet UnreachedNorthern KurdishSunni Islam
Kurmanji KurdsKurmanji KurdsBahrain92,500Unengaged and UnreachedNorthern KurdishSunni Islam
Kurmanji KurdsKurmanji KurdsFrance85,000Engaged yet UnreachedNorthern KurdishSunni Islam
Kurmanji KurdsKurmanji KurdsNetherlands75,500Engaged yet UnreachedNorthern KurdishSunni Islam
Kurmanji KurdsKurmanji KurdsAustria68,500Engaged yet UnreachedNorthern KurdishSunni Islam
Kurmanji KurdsKurmanji KurdsBelgium67,000Engaged yet UnreachedNorthern KurdishSunni Islam
Kurmanji KurdsKurmanji KurdsKazakhstan51,500Unengaged and UnreachedNorthern KurdishSunni Islam
Kurmanji KurdsKurmanji KurdsGeorgia39,500Engaged yet UnreachedNorthern KurdishShia Islam
Kurmanji KurdsKurmanji KurdsRussian Federation35,000No Longer UnreachedNorthern KurdishShia Islam
Kurmanji KurdsKurmanji KurdsJordan12,000Engaged yet UnreachedNorthern KurdishSunni Islam
Kurmanji KurdsKurmanji KurdsKyrgyzstan10,000Engaged yet UnreachedNorthern KurdishSunni Islam
Kurmanji KurdsKurmanji KurdsTurkmenistan8,200Unengaged and UnreachedNorthern KurdishShia Islam
Kurmanji KurdsKurmanji KurdsCanada7,700Engaged yet UnreachedNorthern KurdishSunni Islam
Kurmanji KurdsKurmanji KurdsAzerbaijan6,400Unengaged and UnreachedNorthern KurdishSunni Islam
Kurmanji KurdsKurmanji KurdsAustralia5,500Engaged yet UnreachedNorthern KurdishSunni Islam
Kurmanji KurdsKurmanji KurdsUzbekistan3,500Unengaged and UnreachedNorthern KurdishSunni Islam

To download a comprehensive people group list in spreadsheet form, visit our Research Data page.

Peoplegroups.org relies on updates from the field and other organizations for much of our data, so if you have any updates, please contact us. We use various international naming standards. For a list of these standards and fields, visit our Data Standards section.

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