Kurdish culture is a group of distinctive cultural traits practiced by Kurdish people. The Kurdish culture is a legacy from ancient peoples who shaped modern Kurds and their society. Kurds are an ethnic group mainly in Turkey, Iraq, and Iran. They live in the north of the Middle East along the Zagros Mountains and the Taurus Mountains in the region that the Kurds call Greater Kurdistan. Today they are parts of north-eastern Iraq, north-west of Iran and North East of Syria and southeast Turkey. Miscellaneous There is a lot of controversy about the Kurdish people from their origins, their history, and even their political future. Kurds are one of the largest ethnic groups that do not have an independent state recognized universally. Language Kurdish (Kurdî) is part of the North-Western division of the Iranian branch of the Indo-European language family. Basic languages are: Sorani and Kurmanji in various forms: Sorani, Armenian, Vile, Southern Kurdish, Royal, Zacakian, Bajalān, and Gorani. There are more than 30 million speakers of Kurdish in the Kurdistan region. Kurdish is written in the Arabic alphabet in Iraq and Syria, the adapted Arabic alphabet in Iran and the Latin script in Turkey. There are three main dialects: Kurmanji, Soriani and Pehlewani. Folklore The Kurds have a rich folkloric tradition which is increasingly endangered as a result of modernization, urbanization, and cultural repression. Kurds celebrate the new year on Newroz, and its celebration was often banned by authorities in Turkey and Syria. A well known Kurdish tale is Mem û Zîn. Zembilfrosh Zembilfrosh (Kurdish for "basket seller") is a folktale popular in Turkish Kurdistan and Iraqi Kurdistan. Zembilfrosh was the son of a powerful Kurdish ruler who left his home and life behind to seek a spiritual life as a dervish. He wanders the countryside with his faithful wife, surviving by making and selling baskets. One day they arrive in the capital of a Kurdish emirate, where the prince's wife sees Zembilfrosh and falls in love with him. She summons him to the castle, where she declares her love for him and tries to seduce him. Zembilfrosh declines, but she presses, promising him many riches. Zembilfrosh is not persuaded and she locks him in a castle tower, from which he eventually escapes. The prince's wife then disguises herself and starts searching for Zembilfrosh, and eventually finds him. She then deceives Zembilfrosh's wife, convincing her to lend her her