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To be unreached in America is to be lost. To be unreached as a Zaza is to be lost without hope. Will you take some time to pray for this unreached people group?

The Zaza language is endangered.

The Zaza of Turkey are relatively unknown to the Western world. They are located in southeastern Turkey near Kurdistan and are often lumped in with the Kurds, even though they have their own culture and history. The Zaza have traditionally passed down their stories and history orally, but they remain largely illiterate, and it is rare for members of their community to attend university. Instead, the Zaza are largely rural, farming and raising livestock. If they do live in town, they tend to stick together and form their own communities within the slums.

In an effort to maintain control, Turkey has tried to assimilate minority groups within its borders, an issue for the Zaza as even within their own ethnic group they find themselves divided: the Zaza-Dimli in the south are Sunni Muslims while the Zaza-Alevi in the north hold to Alevism, a form of Shia Islam. Alevism mixes elements of various religions like Buddhism and Christianity and folk traditions with Islam. Because of this, the Zaza are often persecuted and harassed by Turks and Kurds alike as not just an ethnic and political minority but a religious and heretical minority as well.

As a result, the Zaza often side with extremist politics and antagonistic forces. There is an interest in creating an independent homeland for the Zaza, a response to a rise in Zaza nationalism after a latin alphabet created for the Zaza language in the 1980s saw a renewal in Zaza culture and literature.

With ISIS growing just outside Turkey’s borders, the Zaza are at a risk. If the Turks and Kurds treat the Zaza poorly due to their religious beliefs, ISIS will as well. Yet the world has seen repeatedly how ISIS has drawn in the outcasts and forgotten.

How you can pray

We need to pray that the Zaza will remain physically and spiritually safe from the spread of ISIS.   They are a target not just for brutal persecution but for extremist recruitment.

There are beliefs in Alevism that are similar to Christianity. For instance, while many Sunni Muslims emphasize ritualistic cleansing before prayers, the Zaza-Alevi believe that outward cleanliness is not as important as the condition of a person’s heart and mind. There is no Bible in the Zaza language. Pray that Christians will translate the Bible and for Christian teachers who will serve the Zaza.

Intercede for the Zaza. Remember them in your prayers when you hear about the Kurds in the news.

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