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By Sofia Barbarani: Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) is defined by the Word Health Organization (WHO) as “all procedures that involve partial or total removal of the external female genitalia, or other injury to the female genital organs for non-medical reasons”. It is a practice rooted in flimsy accounts of religious traditions, mythical beliefs, and purely…
By Jim Karygiannis MP: In 2010, I had the pleasure of introducing Motion M-505 in the Canadian House of Commons, which recognized the actions of Saddam Hussein against the Kurds, as a crime against humanity. The time has come for us to ask that these actions, including the Anfal Campaign and gassing of the Kurds…
By Dr Kamal Mirawdeli: Analytical Study of Ahmadi Khani’s Tragedy of Mem û Zîn (‘Love and Existence’), with original translations of the text KT is pleased to announce that, over the coming months, it will exclusively serialise Dr Mirawdeli’s scholarly study of Ahmadi Khani’s Mem û Zîn, the most famous and the most important text…
KT News and Comment: A BDP delegation arrived in Suli yesterday, carrying a message from the jailed PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan. The delegation, which includes BDP co-chairs Selahattin Demirtaş and Gültan Kışanak and Democratic Society Congress (DTK) co-chairs Ahmet Türk and Aysel Tuğluk, is due to meet the PKK army council based in the Qandil….
KT Comment: Turkish prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced this week that he is prepared to drink poison for peace. By his deeds, however, he must be judged. Throughout February the Turkish military has continued to bomb the Qandil valley. This has involved Turkish fighter jets invading Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) air space and terrorising civilians,…
By Scherco R. Baban: A while ago, the Kurdistan Region´s president, Mesûd Barzanî announced measures to found a standard Kurdish (Lingua Franca). This news delighted many of us Kurds who wish to see a unified written system for our language. In my opinion, the use of the Latin-based System as a unified written system for…
KT News: According to media reports – which first appeared in the pro-government Sabah and Star newspapers – the jailed PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan is proposing the withdrawal of PKK fighters from Turkish territory by 15 August This would mark a critical stage in the current peace negotiations. Reuters reports that Ocalan has drafted a…
By Dr M Koohzad: Nearly 940 years ago, a Turkish scholar from eastern Central Asia by the name of Mahmud Kashghari drew a world map to be included in a book that he was writing in Baghdad for the Caliph. Apparently, this is the oldest surviving map that clearly displays Kurdistan as Ardh al-Akrad, or…
KT News and Comment: Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan told a news conference today that he will not allow the creation of another Kurdistan Regional Government in the west of Kurdistan. Erdogan told a journalist that his government would not allow its authority to be undermined, having already spent around $600 million backing and…
Peace in Kurdistan Campaign supported by the Haldane Society of Socialist Lawyers, European Lawyers for Democracy and Human Rights (ELDH) and CAMPACC Date: Thursday, 28 February, 6.30-8pm Venue: Wilson Room, Portcullis House, Westminster, SW1 IMPORTANT Please try and arrive at 6pm to make sure you leave enough time to get through security Hosted by Lord…
By Shwan Dizayee: As night falls on this side of the world, tomorrow begins on the other. Going into the usual deep thought before bed, I realise that the only difference between ‘Us’ and ‘Them’ is Time and Place. With time often comes different intensities of growth, wisdom, maturity, understanding and progression. With place comes…
KT News: Making a short statement after the BDP delegation’s visit to Imrali island today, BDP group deputy chair Pervin Buldan quoted PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan as saying: “This visit is a historic step and all sides must act carefully and sensitively in this ongoing process. The state has PKK prisoners, so does the PKK…
KT News: A delegation of three Kurdish politicians has today been meeting with the long-incarcerated PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan, marking a new stage in the current peace process. BDP deputy Parliamentary Group Chair Pervin Buldan, Istanbul deputy Sırrı Süreyya Önder and Diyarbakır deputy Altan Tan travelled from Istanbul this morning for İmralı island, where Öcalan…
By Sabir Hasan: The relationship between humans, starting from interpersonal relationships up to international relations, is established through communication. And the vehicle of communication is language, whether it is expressed verbally or in writing. Today’s complex Arab-Kurdish relations are mostly addressed and dealt with in Baghdad and, specifically, in the Iraqi Council of Representatives (the…
By Brian Futcher and Judith Kerby: Every Kurd knows that on 16th March 2013 it will be 25 years since the Iraqi regime dropped chemical bombs on the market town of Halabja, killing 5,000 men, women and children and leaving thousands more with life-long injuries. What every Kurd reading this article won’t know is that here in…
