Interview with Mehmet Bayrak: Mehmet Bayrak, the veteran Alevi Kurdish writer and publisher, has been prosecuted many times by the Turkish authorities. He was interviewed last year in New York by Ahmet Abidin Ozbek. AO: As we know you are very sensitive about ethnic and religious identities. Why are our identities so essential? MB: Each person has multiple identities. As mentioned…
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Category Archives: Culture
The power of words
By Ashna Shareff: Writing is my listener when there is no ear to hear me, my companion who doesn’t complain when I am down. We may close our eyes and hearts to many things in the world if we want to, but the one thing we can’t flee from is pain. We have all been…
Haitham Hussein: the continuing story of a Syrian Kurd novelist
By Abdullah Mezar Hussein: Haitham Hussein is a Syrian Kurd novelist, an acclaimed critique writer and reviewer. Born on November 16, 1978, as one of eight siblings from a minority Kurdish family in the city of Amoudah in the province of Hasaka, Syria, Hussein attended senior secondary education in his hometown, before moving to the…
Kurdish literary genius and giant, Shokrollah Baban: An obituary
By Dr Amir Sharifi: On November 18, 2012, Shokrollah Baban, the great Kurdish poet, author, mythologist, radio programmer, and lexicographer passed away. He had been afflicted by Alzheimer’s disease. Born to an influential Kurdish family in Sanandaj, Baban was heir to a great deal of wealth and land. However, so powerful was his artistic sensibility…
A short conversation about Kurdistan
By Sofia Barbarani: I am Kurdish, he said to me a year ago. I am afraid I cannot quite pinpoint Kurdistan on a map, I replied. Fast forward to twelve months later, and you will find me pointing out the Kurdish region every chance that I get. I was raised stateless, and when Kurdistan became…
Kurdistan needs summer camps
By Michael Rubin: Kurdish achievements over the past two decades have been incredible. Kurds have risen from being victims of attempted genocide to become models of recovery. Iraqi Kurdistan has its problems, but the region is nevertheless a shining example to unrepresented peoples everywhere. The issue for pride is not Kurdistan’s money and it certainly…
I have a friend from Kurdistan
By Meer Ako Ali: When I hear any non-Kurd declare, “I have a friend from Kurdistan,” I get a tingling in my stomach. This sentence – or assertion, if you wish – embodies most of what I envision for my people, for the people of my flag. It does not only discharge all slights of…
‘Echo Gods and Silent Mountains’ by Patrick Woodcock – a review
By Ava Homa: Rather than standing at a distance and putting Kurds under a Western microscope, Woodcock becomes a Kurd when he writes, as if he has lost loved ones in genocides too, as if his hometown, school and hospital have been smashed too, as if he has unearthed the ground and has tried to…
The man who bit Ataturk’s nose – a fairy tale
By Pervin Bilgin: Introduction: This article was written by Mrs. Pervin Bilgin, a retired teacher from the Turkish education system who has many memories. She is a granddaughter of Shekh Saeed, which makes her message even more significant. With her permission, I have translated into English a beautiful article from her book, ‘Firket Babamın Kasidesi’….
Nawshirwan Mustafa Amin: ‘Along the Way Picking Flowers’ – book review
By Mufid Abdulla: Over the course of his political life, beginning at an early age, Nawshirwan Mustafa has made a major contribution to our understanding of Kurdish politics and its historical basis. ‘Along the Way Picking Flowers’ is his latest book which, as he explains, accords with his original ambition. It is also a reflection…
Minorities of the World, Unite!
By Ava Homa: David Hoffman, the American Film Producer, Calls for Solidarity between the Kurds and Baha’is A stigmatized Jewish child who is bullied for a religion he has only inherited and has not chosen and/or understood, David Hoffman turns into an atheist at age 12. “A God who lets people be violent towards each…
The Jews of Kurdistan: ‘My Father’s Paradise’
London Talk and Book Signing with award-winning author Ariel Sabar and his father Professor Yona Sabar, one of the world’s most sought-after experts on Aramaic. Thursday 28th June, 7pm (doors open 6pm) Royal Geographical Society, Exhibition Road, London SW7 2AR There will be an exhibition of outstanding historic images of Kurdistan in the 1940s from the archive…
An insight into an Artist’s world
By Ashna Shareff: What if you wake up, after hours of unconsciousness, to see nothing but darkness everywhere and to discover that everyone around you is silent? During my journey in life, I have met many of those who have made differences, big and small, to many lives. Some have directed others by taking their…
Where did Kurdistan come from? The ultimate Kurdish Question
By Memed Xaznedar: As a British born and raised Kurd I have come to realise the greatest struggle, especially for those in the Diaspora, is the one within ourselves. The greatest battle we fight in our quest for freedom is the war inside ourselves about who we are and where we come from. ‘The Kurdish Question’…
‘Hell of Truth’ banned by the KRG
By Kamal Chomani: Hell of Truth, Aso Jabar’s new book, has been banned by the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), the writer told The Kurdistan Tribune. Aso Jabar is a Kurdish intellectual and writer who was sacked from his job with the Ministry of Culture in 2008 due to a critical article about then minister Falakadin…
