By Nagham Haidar: Life with the Bombs is a photographic project about places and people after war and it aims to show the physical and psychological effects of the destruction of war and chemical bombs in the Kurdistan Region. The photographer Zardasht Osman has been working on the project for a year, researching places of…
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Category Archives: History
Qadi Al Fadil, first minister of Saladin
By Yasin Aziz: Abu Ali Jamil Abd al Rahim Leqmy Ascallani, from the tribe of Laqm and the town of Ascallon, became known as Qadi al Fadil. He was known as Qadi, ‘the head judge of Egypt.’ He lived there, worked under the Fatimid dynasty and then became the first minister of Sultan Saladin Aiyubi. …
‘Kulajo: My Heart is Darkened’ on Al Jazeera English, 12th March
KT News: ‘Kulajo: My Heart is Darkened’, a film about the Garmyan Anfal campaign, is showing on Al Jazeera English next week, as follows: Wednesday, 12th March GMT: Wednesday: 2200; Thursday: 1200; Friday: 0100; Saturday: 0600 This documentary tells the story of a national tragedy, the Kurdish genocide, as seen through the eyes of the…
Leyla Qasim: symbol of freedom, and Independence
By Leyla Pekoz Caliskan: Leyla Qasım was born in 1952 into a very patriotic family. She was the third of five children born to a farmer, Dalaho Qasim, and his wife Kanî. Leyla was born in Xaneqîn but relocated to Irbil when she was four years old. She and her brothers – Sebih, Selam, Sefa and…
A Summer Afternoon Music Concert in Gulan
By Yasin Aziz: This is an extract from Yasin’s forthcoming novel, ‘A Few Days Life of Revolution in Halabja’ Sajid and his friends had to change from one area to another around Halabja according to what was happening. So many times, they tried to avoid being caught up in a fight or being hit by…
The Bahdinan Anfal Campaign
Translated by Yasin Aziz: Kamal Umar Raheed, a Kurdish Iraqi soldier from the Battalion Commando 72 infantry, told his story of the Bahdinan Anfal campaign to the Kurdish Magazine ‘Eighty Eight’ in 2006. It is an important record of the atrocities. When we were in our army barracks in Mosul, we kept hearing in everyday communications…
History of Sunni political Islam in Eastern Kurdistan (Iran)
KT Report: The emergence of Sunni political Islam in Eastern Kurdistan (Western Iran) began in 1964 with the release from prison of Ahmed Mufti-zade (1933-1993) of Sine, who was a religious leader of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (Iran). Mufti-zade in 1978 established a Sunni educational organisation called the Quran School (Maktabi Quran). Soon after its…
Taimoor: sole survivor of the Garmyan Anfal campaign (part 2)
By Taimoor Ahmad & translated by Yasin Aziz: Taimoor Ahmad was 12 in 1988 when Saddam’s Anfal campaign began in Garmyan/Calar. This is part 2 of a translated summary of his interview with the Kurdish journalist Aref Qurbani, which appeared in Kurdish in the book, ‘Taimoor, Only Survivor of the Anfal Campaign’. You can read…
Taimoor: sole survivor of the Garmyan Anfal campaign (part 1)
Translated by Yasin Aziz: Taimoor Ahmad was 12 in 1988 when Saddam’s Anfal campaign began in Garmyan/Calar. This is a translated summary of his interview with the Kurdish journalist Aref Qurbani which appeared in Kurdish in the book, ‘Taimoor, Only Survivor of the Anfal Campaign’. My name is Taimoor Ahmad. I was born on 1st January 1976. My mother’s…
A Few Days Life of Revolution in Halabja: Introduction
By Yasin Aziz: Preface When Iraq was founded by the British Empire in the 1920s and handed to the Saudi tribal Arabs, it was promised that Kurds’ cultural rights would be respected, that they would enjoy a kind of autonomy and their local rulers would come from among themselves to administer their affairs. As the…
Some memories and differences between now and then
By Adil Sallih: Translated by Muhammad Fatih Ghareeb There were problems before I got employed. But our employment was the first generation in the Kurdistan Regional Government. It was in the beginning of Kurdistan liberation. The villages were being re-inhabited. The compound residences were being evacuated and people were going back to the villages. This…
On the Kurdish Question
Interview with Muhammad Waladbagi, PhD Candidate: Interviewed by Aras Ahmed Mhamad AAM: How do you look at the Kurdish Question both historically and politically? What do you think is the roadmap to independence? MW: Well, this is a broad topic to cover in a single question. It is not easy to cover Kurdish history, politics…
Christianity in Kurdistan Today
Press Release by Gulan: Event at the UK Royal Geographical Society (on 31st October – details below) sheds light on the culture, history and day to day life of this overlooked minority. Kurdistan is home to many ancient churches, including the Syrian Orthodox Church, the Church of the East, the Chaldean Catholic Church and the…
Poems by Middle Ages Erbil Historian: Ibn Mstawfi
Introduced By Yasin Aziz: Ibn Fateh Ahmad Mubarak Mauhub Ibn Ghunaim Al Laqmi (known as Ibn Mstawfi ‘Erbilli’) was born in Erbil in 1169 AD. He was one of the high-ranking officials of the city and therefore called ‘Raies’ or ‘Leader’. He often looked after well-known visitors to the city who came on official visits, especially scientists, poets…
French Revolution
By Issa Chomani: If we want to understand about the French revolution, we may go to the libraries or access Kurdish websites. But we will be disappointed by the lack of books and reliable sources: there are fewer texts written in Kurdish or translated into Kurdish about the French revolution than the fingers of your…
