An interview with Dr. Kamal Mirawdeli: Interviewed by Aras Ahmed Mhamad AA: What role do the youth of today have, in this technological age, compared to the youth of the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s? KM: They have the entire world on their laptop or iPhone, in which they have lost the whole world, their world….
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Category Archives: History
Kurdistan: a post-war paradise?
By Saladdin Ahmed Kajarvzadî, PhD: On July 17, 2013 the New Yorker published on their website a misleading commentary piece by renowned Middle East correspondent Dexter Filkins (formerly of the New York Times) entitled, “From Kurdistan to New York” . The fundamental problem in Filkins’s account is the frame of mind in which he approached it,…
Three Chains of Mountains
By Yasin Aziz: An extract from Yasin’s forthcoming book, ‘A Few Days Life of Revolution in Halabja’ Hawraman, Ballanbow & Shnrwie When Sajid was in secondary school, he wrote this: When the window of life was wide open before me in Halabja in mid fifties, I found myself on the high ground, standing before three…
Kurdish poetry by Saladin’s brother
Introduced by Yasin Aziz: These two short poems were written in Arabic by Buri Taj al Din Ayyubi (1161 – 1183 AD) who was the youngest brother of Saladin Ayubi and a well-known poet. They were published in the next century by Ibn Khallikan in his ‘The Obituaries of Eminent Men’ – also known as…
The Genocide Calendar
By Beyan Farshi: It’s happened a lot, and in between many reminder notes have been overseen or lost through the centuries. Browsing through the lost reminder notes might reveal the unspoken truth, but the thing that most of us are aware of is the conspiracy of those silent suspicious souls who intended, and still do,…
US concerns and British role during the Barzan revolt, 1943-45
By Karwan Guli: Introduction The Iraqi government wished to keep the Americans informed of Iraqi intentions and of the measures the Iraqi government would adopt against the Barzan uprising. Accordingly, the Iraqi Minister of Foreign Affairs, who was also the Acting Minister of Defense, told the American Minister in Baghdad that the Iraqi government planned…
John Major, Lord Archer and the real story of how British people backed the Kurds in 1991
KT Exclusive Interview with Lorraine Holloway-White: Lorraine Holloway-White is the author of Jeffrey Archer: The Kurds, ‘The Simple Truth’, telling the story of her role in setting up British Aid For The Kurds (BAFK) which raised millions in support of Kurd refugees at the end of the First Gulf War in 1991. Her book also…
Back to 1800
By Rahi Rahber: Yet again, history is repeating itself. Two lifelong friends are once more split apart by politics. Back in 1800, Thomas Jefferson challenged John Adams for the presidential seat. That campaign is labelled as one of the dirtiest presidential campaigns ever. Jefferson, being the former vice-president, used convincing media tactics that led him…
Conspiracy theories implicating Iran and Austria still linger for three assassinations
By Solin Hacador: One of the most difficult types of death to cope with is an assassination. We Kurds have thousands of assassinated people in our history. It is quite difficult for us to have such an enormous list of assassination anniversaries. But it is our reality and we have no choice but to accept…
The Forbidden Book
By Arsalan M.Y.: As a resident of Hewler, and after months of intensive searching, I was able to obtain a copy of an illuminating yet forbidden book by Mr. Ayoub Barzani. The book is titled “The Kurdish Liberation Movement and the Rivalry of Region and International Powers 1958-1975” and it covers the era of Mala…
‘Dum Dum Castle’: Story of an epic 17th century Kurdish battle
Book Review: ‘Dum Dum Castle’ is a novel by Yasin Aziz based on a well-documented account of a long battle in 1609–10 between Kurds and the Safavid Empire. The battle took place around a fortress called Dimdim, located in the Beradost region, near Lake Urmia in north-western Iran. In 1609, the ruined structure was rebuilt by…
When will the Turkish state give Kurds the secret grave of Sheik Said?
By Solin Hacador: It is 88 years since Sheik Said (1860-1925), leader of the 1925 Kurdish Rebellion and his 46 adherents were executed by the Turkish state on 29 June 1925. 88 years have passed but we Kurds still do not know where is Sheik Said and his adherents’ burial place! This is considered a…
Faulty approaches to Orientalism-Determinism explaining Kurdistan’s future: Part 1
By Dr. M. Koohzad Introduction: Nearly a decade ago in November of 2003, the annual meeting of the Middle East Studies Association was held in Anchorage, Alaska. A written version of some of the talks, later called the “Briefs”, were edited by Hakan Yavuz and Michael Gunter, two of the Association’s members and participants. Five…
The Gecekondu: A creative Kurdish concept for self-help housing in Turkey
By Dr. M. Koohzad Until the collapse of the USSR in 1991, the French ‘Third World’ approach to less developed countries fascinated many social scientists. One important feature of being on the list as a Third World country was rapid population growth of the cities due to rural-urban migration. This process was called ‘Ruralization’ of…
Can a Turkish, Armenian and Kurdish picture be taken together?
By Solin Hacador: Today, I have seen a picture of three women from different ethnicities – Kurdish, Armenian and Turkish – taken in the Ottoman times of Turkey. I wonder whether the same kind of photo could be taken in the current Turkish society. Unfortunately, people’s understanding of friendship between different ethnicities in Turkish society…
