Kurdish Feleknas Uca about the Kurdish situation in Armenia

Kurdish Feleknas Uca about the Kurdish situation in Armenia.

Feleknas Uca is a member of the European Parliament for the The Left. She was at one time the world's only Yazidi parliamentarian until the Iraqi legislature was elected in 2005.

Kurds and Armenians for Obama'08

Kurdish blogger about the Armenian genocide

Author: Zinarê Xemo

Read the article posted by a Kurdish blogger about the Armenian genocide and the Turkish state in his blogg in kurmancî here!

Zare (1927) from Armenia

Zare is a movie about the a kurdish nomad boy and his girlfriend struggle for their right to a happy love. It talked about the life of Kurdish Yazidi nomads on the Soviet Union borders (Turkish Kurdistan at 1915).

Typical nomad enviroment in northern Kurdistan

The movie is a silent, 72-minute, black-and-white film. The movie was produced and recorded in Soviet Armenia (1927) , directed/written by Amo Bek-Nazaryan and produced by Armenkino.

Amo out as a professional athlete, but became one of the major stars of Russian cinema, having begun starring in films in 1914. In 1918 he graduated from the Moscow Commercial Institute. In 1921 he became the head of the film section of Narkompros of Georgia and later a director of Goskinprom of Georgia. He is the founder of Armenian cinema.

Cast:
M. Tadevosian ... Zare (as Tenazi)
Hrachia Nersisyan ... Saydo
Avet Avetisyan ... Slo
Olga Gulazyan ... Lyatif khanum
Manvel Manvelyan ... Msto
Nina Manucharyan ... Nano
Hambartsum Khachanyan ... Khdo
M. Garagash ... Temur-bek
Aram Amirbekyan ... Clerk
Sh. Guramashvili ... Police-officer
Amasi Martirosyan ... Zurba
M. Aghamalov ... Sheikh
N. Barres ... Head of Uezd
N. Aghambekyan ... Zare's girlfriend
S. Gevorgyan ... Zurba's wife

Kurdish literature in the former Soviet Union Republic of Armenia

This article was published in the Kurdish Globe by Ferhad Pirbal.
Read the article here !

Ferhad Pirbal

...

The relationship between Kurds and Armenians involved not only a shared neighborhood in the Soviet Armenian Republic, but also a social and cultural relationship between them dating back to old times, similar to the relationship in parts of Turkish and Iranian Kurdistan.

From the mid 19th century onward, prose style and translation in Kurdish literature began in earnest with assistance from the Armenians.

...

...The first Kurdish-Armenian dictionary (was published in Armenia) . The dictionary contains more than 300 Kurdish-Armenian words.

...


The 1917 Russian October Revolution represented the rise in the life of Kurds in Soviet Armenia, which resulted in strengthening ties between both peace-loving nations. The Armenians gained the freedom to write in the Republic of Armenia. Meanwhile, under the decree of Lenin, Kurds were allowed to read and write in Kurdish and also have their educational curriculum and publications in the Kurdish language. In brief, since that October Revolution, Armenians took great care in developing Kurdish literature and language in the Republic of Armenia.

...

And in 1932-33, there were 40 Kurdish schools with 71 Kurdish teachers and 1,936 pupils. An institution for teachers was opened, and in 1932, a branch for Kurdish authors was founded within the Armenian Authors Union. Their first published work was the novel Shvane Kurd by Arabi Shamo. After that, they published a 664-page book about Kurdish folklore. It is a fact that 1932-38 were the golden-age years in developing Kurdish culture in Soviet Armenia. In 1934, a conference was held for Kurdish authors about writing in Kurdish and Kurdish literature. In 1937, a radio program in Kurdish was broadcast. Several other films were produced in Kurdish.

Read the article here !

Genocides of Armenians and Kurds

( Comparative Essay)
Compare the 1915 genocide of Armenians (a Christian minority within the Ottoman /Muslim Empire) with the massacres of the Kurds under Iraqi leadership.

by Rit Nosotro

What if, instead of slavery, the United States had murdered all of the African Americans? What if, instead of relocating some Native American tribes, they were completely wiped out? This annihilation is essentially what happened with the Armenians in the early 1900's and the Kurds in the 1980's.

The histories of both the Armenians and the Kurds have similarities. Both the Armenians and the Kurds have lived in their homelands for a long time. By the 12th century AD, the land of current Iraq was known as Kurdistan. The Armenians are identified by the 6th century BC. Both groups have been a struggling minority, but the Kurds have always rebelled, while the Armenians have been more passive. The Armenians have been dominated and suppressed from Persians, Muslims in the 7th century, to Seljuk Turks and Turcomens in the 13th and 14th century. This ruined the land and destroyed the state of Armenia. In the 16th century, the Armenians came under the control of the Ottoman Empire Turks. The Kurds in Iraq have also been dominated by the Persian Empire and the Ottoman Empire, and neither of these groups would take in the Kurds.

Another similarity between the two groups is the constant subjugation and terrors they underwent before their specific genocide. Besides being lesser people, not allowed to have weapons for any purpose, the Armenians were forced to leave their homes, so that Armenia could be a more Turkish state. Persians, Kurds, and other peoples moved into the Armenian lands. This mass migration, and re-population of Armenian lands by other people (Persians, Kurds, etc.) before what is considered the genocide corresponds to a similar eradication of Kurds from their homes in 1975. The Kurds had been promised an autonomous state at the Treaty of Sevres, after the Ottoman Empire collapsed. But, Britain wanted the oil in Kurdish lands, so those areas were left out of their promised land. After Saddam Hussein came to power, he promised the Kurds an autonomous state, but once again, the oil fields which were rightful Kurdish lands, were left out of the deal. The main Kurdish revolters, Bzarni and his followers, claimed their land. Iraq, in return, changed the boundaries of countries to give Arabs a majority. This futher supported Saddam and undermine the Kurds. Bazarni and his men, the peshmerga, would not accept these terms.

In 1983, Iraq went to war with Iran. Iraq had claimed a river bank on Iranian soil which led to a decade of fighting and millions killed. The USA reluctantly supported Iraq's secular leader rather than Iran's Islamic extreamist government but they were sympathetic to the plight of the Kurds. The Kurdish Democratic Party along with the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, fought with Iran, against their own country during the Iran/Iraq war. Iran provided the Kurds with weapons, funds, and medical help, in exchange for the PUK's help in destroying the Ba'ath party and Suddam Hussein. Although the PUK had at first been against the KDP and it's siding with Iran, the destruction of their land during the war by the Ba'ath party, forced the PUK to join arms with Iran to protect themselves, and keep the hope and fight of the Kurds alive. The Kurds accrued the help of the United States and Iran to aid in their own revolt against Iraq. When Iraq finally promised Iran partial control of the waterway to end the war, Iran withdrew aid to the peshmerga. The USA, not wanting war with Iraq, also ended its covert assitance of the Kurdish rebellion. Because of Kurdish 'treason' to the country by crawling to foreign powers for help, Saddam gassed the Kurds and forced the survivors to leave their homes. To make Iraq have a more Arab population, the Kurds were sent to houses far away from one another, in the middle of the desert, with no way to provide for themselves. Their old homes were destroyed, and different people were moved into their lands.

Another similarity between these two groups is that they tried to get help from foreign powers. The Armenians took advantage of the fact that European powers were beginning to trade with the Middle East, and they tapped into the trade. This gave them money, rejuvenated them as a people, and sponsored education. Because the Armenians had contacts in Europe, they appealed to fellow Christians for help against the Muslim Turks who were endangering their lives. The Turks blamed their shrinking empire on European powers who had bypassed the dying Ottoman Empire in their global trade. The Turks took their rage out on the Armenians, who were friendly with the Europeans. Like Hilter, who blamed the Jews for Germany's ills, the Muslim Turks blamed the Christian Armenians for their own self imposed destruction. This is why the Turks committed such an appaling genocide.

The largest genocide against the Armenians took place in 1915. It had many similarities with the main genocide against the Kurds in 1987-89, a campaign known as Anfal. One similarity is that both the parties responsible for the genocides, killed off the men. The Turks summoned all the Armenians who were in the army, and had them killed, blaming them for their war troubles. Next, they rounded up the important men in society, the clergy, newspaper editors, and other tradesmen, and had them executed. In Iraq, the men gathered from the prohibited areas the government set up, and those captured after a village was destroyed, were killed if they were between 15 and 70 years old. The main way of annihilation in the Armenian genocide was the Turks forcing the Armenians to leave their homes. The Turks used deportation to do the killing. They forced the Armenians to march for a long way, and allowed Turks and Kurds to rape, abduct, kill, and steal from the many Armenians marching through the countryside. Many died of starvation, murder, and exposure. Those who finally made it to the forced destination, the desert, were put in camps and died or were killed.

The Anfal campaign against the Kurds used deportation as well, but in a different way. Anfal considered everyone who was living in the 'prohibited areas' to be peshmerga, whether or not, they were actually in a guerilla rebellion group. The Ba'ath party usually attacked a city first with chemical bombs, then sent in militia to destroy everything and round up the inhabitants of the villages for removal to camps for processing. The men and teenage boys were separated, and most of the men were killed in mass shootings. The women and children were sent to different camps and prisons.

The survivors of both genocides continue to suffer. The Armenian population decreased by over a million, while the Kurdish population had lost 50-100 thousand at least. The Armenian generation and their children were left in poverty. The many Kurds that were exposed to chemical gases, are suffering from many diseases and cancers. The Kurdish population has a huge decrease in its' male population. Widows and children are left alone, and many women can no longer have children because of effects of the chemical attacks. In both cases, the world has largely sat by and watched. Americans sent food, medical, and educational assistance to the Armenians. They also pressured Turkey, her long time ally during the cold war, into reversing the policies toward the Armenians. The world has also done little to help the Kurds. In fact, the when the United States aided Iraq in the war against Iran, it indirectly helped Iraq in it's campaign against the Kurds. When Saddam invaded Kuwait, the Bush administration supported another uprising by the Kurds against Saddam, and did enforce a no-fly zone in northern Iraq as they fought Desert Storm to remove Iraq from Kuwait. The sanctions against Iraq following the US led victory granted the Kurds a protected land. The no-fly zone was only partially effective against Saddam's renewed retailiation against the Kurds. It was not until Saddam's capture that a lawful return of the Kurds was attempted by US coallition forces in spite of Arab opposition.

So, unwanted minorities are murdered. The Kurds and the Armenians genocide are alike in several ways. They were both persecuted long before their genocides, the genocides included the killing off of the male population and deporting the people away from their homes, and the horrors continue to plague the Armenians and Kurds. What must be done to prevent these types of atrocities from being committed? If everyone followed God's commandments, it would be fairly simple: Love your neighbor as yourself (Matt 22:39).

Armenian Patriots: "Kurdistan will bring Peace"

The Armenian Patriots blog recently posted a blog about a independent Kurdistan.

Armenian genocide and the Kurdish involvement

Armenian genocide and the Kurdish involvement

On the 8th July 2008 the solidarity and cooperation which has been prevalent between Kurdish and Armenian groups prompted them to arrange a meeting to outline clearly some of the main points in respect of the Kurdish involvement in Armenian genocide. This meeting took place at Portcullis House in London (which houses the offices of Members of Parliament). The main speaker was Kurdish historian Professor Kamal Mazhar Ahmad and imminent Kurdish expert and writer Dr Rebwar Fatah. The involvement of Professor Ahmad academically on this issue is well known internationally. He is an architect of Kurdish contemporary history who has a firm grasp of wide ranging issues relevant to the Kurdish history of the past, present and future. His contribution to the case of the Armenian genocide of 1915 is one of the most important contributions he has made through his book ‘Kurdistan during the First World War’ with one chapter devoted to this case. This particular chapter has formed the basis of the research conducted by Kurdish scholar Simand Osman in his Masters degree in France Before we go into further detail of what happened in this period of history I would first like to explain the meaning of genocide as defined by the United Nations.

The definition of genocide

The United Nations 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide legally defines genocide as, ‘any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group, as such: killing members of the group; causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group; deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part; imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group; forcibly transferring children of the group to another group.’ (Article 2).

Kurdish involvement

Armenia is one of the nations in the Middle East which has some similarities and solidarities with Kurdish people. The Armenian and Kurdish nations have been living side by side through the centuries with both nations being without any independent state for a long time and who have been under occupation for considerable time. These good relations go back to the time of the Medes around the 6th Century BC. The Kurdish and Armenian land over this time has been partitioned into Iran, Turkey and some parts of Russia. Both had a great deal of suffering under the hands of occupiers and invaders. For example, in the war between the Ottoman Empire and the Russian Caucasus Army at Sarikamis tens of thousands of Armenians were displaced from the land of their fathers and grandfathers.

The only other main factors differentiating the Kurdish and Armenian nations at present are:

1. Religion – the majority of Armenians are Christian whereas the majority of Kurds are Sunni Muslims.

2. Advancement of nations – Armenian passed through the slavery stages before the Kurds and as a result is a more advanced civilized nation today.

The control of the Ottoman Empire across the regions covering the north, south, east and west of Kurdistan are the main reasons for all the atrocities taking place in those regions. The Ottoman Empire not only bullied non-Turkish nations in that area but also tried to attack other colonies in the region including the British and French. The most vivid example of this was the Treaty of Sevres of 10th August 1920 between France, England and Turkey which promised an independent state to the Kurds but was soon replaced by the Treaty of Lausanne of 1923 in favour of the Turkish state. To summarise, both the Kurds and Armenians suffered greatly under the rule of the Ottoman Empire.

The atrocities taking place when the Turks discovered that Armenian nationalists were seeking an independent state and separation from the Turkish state resulting in the Turks doing everything possible to demolish and demoralise the meaning of nationalism for the Armenians and therefore they used the Kurds as a tool to deliver and convey such atrocities. Kurdish feudalists were hungry for money, land and assets. The Kurdish feudalists and the backwards sections of the Kurds were involved with these atrocities without any attention to nationalism.

As Professor Ahmad elaborated in his book; ‘The injustices perpetrated by the Kurdish aghas against the Armenian farmers were actually much greater that those suffered by the Kurdish Muslim peasant, and weighed heavily on them. Kurdish aghas were helped greatly in this by circumstances, especially as Sultan Abdul Hamid openly encouraged them, connived at their wrongdoing, and even gave them money and material aid to take over the land of others’ (Ahmad, 1994, p.148). This trend not only destroyed the Armenian nationalists’ hopes and dreams for an independent state but also slandered the Kurdish reputation. Other than this, no other conflicts between the Kurdish nationalists and Armenian parties and groups were evident at that time. However, we are not deterred by such comments which exist with regard to the Kurdish involvement in Armenian atrocities for several reasons;

1. The people involved have not represented Kurdish nationalism or the groups of parties. The people involved in those atrocities are people hungry for money, land and state. We can find it in any nationality anywhere in the world.

2. The past two decades have been characterised by the Anfal campaign against Kurds (Kurdish genocide) which have been carried out by the Iraqi nationalist state against the Kurdish people with almost 182,000 killed. Such operations have been carried out by corrupt people in Iraq and by the Iraqi state which has used traitors to carry out the destroying, killing and massacring of Kurdish villages and civilians of these villages, including children, regardless of their sex, age, etc.

To date, the Kurdish people in the south of Kurdistan hold the authorities and the former regimes responsible for these atrocities, not the Arab people who have been living side by side with them for centuries in this region.

3. Not surprisingly, the Kurds and Armenians view this historical event differently and are willing to put aside any doubts or problems in their previous relationship in order to gain more understanding of what happened in the past with the aim to maintain good relations in the future. As my colleague Dr Ara Nahabedian commented, much of Armenian literature indicates that it was too late to restore the harmonious relationship which existed between many Kurds and Armenians regarding this period in history due to the provocation of this relationship by the Turks and the subsequent blaming of the Kurds by the Turks. However, the evidence we have considered indicates that is never too late for changes to take place. We need a clean and robust integration throughout this issue. How can it be possible for the Kurds to be blamed and to suffer the same fate as the Armenians in the hands of the Turks? I am not trying to undermine any attempt to achieve a coherent and integrated communication.

Finally as Professor Ahmad indicates at the end of his chapter on this issue, ‘the Armenians were merely victims of the short-sightedness of men in authority and of the machinations and designs of the great powers, which emerged more clearly after the First World War had ended’ (Ahmad, 1994, p.175).

References

Ahmad, K.M., (1994) ‘Kurdistan during the First World War’, Saqi Books

United Nations (1948) ‘Convention on the Prevention & Punishment of the Crime of Genocide,’ Article 2

Article from KurdishMedia.com - By Mufid Abdulla

The songs from Yerevan

Stranên Êrîvanê (Kurdish for "The songs from Yerevan") is now avaible on Kurdistanshop

Shehram Nazeriy & Armenian Philharmonic Orchestra

Shehram Nazeriy & Armenian Philharmonic Orchestra

Nazeri He was born in 1950 to a Kurdish family in Kermanshah, Iran. His family was musical. He started to learn Vocal techniques and Setar playing from his father at an early age. He is said to have started singing in public at the age of eight.

He specializes in the rich tradition of Sufi music, which turns to song the mystical poetry of Rumi, Hafiz, Attar, and others. Nazeri is known particularly for several decades of works on Rumi poetry. He is also working on symphonies made on Firdowsi's masterpieces.Nazeri is Called "the Persian nightingale" and usually holds deeply soulful performances. He is also referred to as "the Pavarotti of Iran

Part 1


Part 2

Fernandes new book about several genocides and the politics of denialism

A Discussion of the central themes and findings of

Desmond Fernandes' new book

'The Armenian, Assyrian, Greek, Kurdish and Greek Cypriot Genocides and the Politics of Denialism'.

Venue: The Grand Committee Room, The House of Commons, Westminster.

Monday 21st July 2008.

Time: 6-7.30 pm.

Free Entry.

CHAK: "KRG SHOULD OFFICIAL RECOGNIZE THE ARMENIAN/ASSYRIAN GENOCIDE"

Adnan Kochar, the head of CHAK (Centre of Helebce against the Anfalisation and Genocide of Kurdish People) suggested something interesting in a Armeno-Kurdish conference held in the UK parliament.

Adnan said that they should write a letter to the KRG government (Kurdistan Regional Government in south Kurdistan) to ask for official recognition of the Armenia/Assyrian genocide that took place in 1915 and also a letter to the Armenian government to ask for official recognition of the Kurdish genocide (Anfal-campaign) in 1988.
Several Kurdish associations around Europe has already showned interest to support the suggestion that Adnan made.

Meeting on Armenian and Kurdish genocide to be held in London

Source: Kurdmedia

The meeting is organsied by Armenian, Assyrian and Kurdish organisations, including:

Armenian Solidarity with the victims of all genocides

Centre for Halabja against the Anfalisation of Kurdistan (CHAK)

Nor Serount Cultural Association

Seyfo Centre

Evidence from Kurdish sources on the 1915 Genocide to be presented in the UK Parliament

The new co-operation between Armenian, Assyrian and Kurdish groups has facilitated this event:

Where: Room P of Portcullis House (which houses the offices of Members of Parliament)

When: 2.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 8th July

The speakers will be eminent Kurdish historian Prof Kamal Mazhar Ahmad and eminent Kurdish expert and writer Dr Rebwar Fatah.

Seating is limited, and an early reply to this invitation is advised.

Portcullis House is on Victoria Embankment/Bridge Street corner next to Westminster tube station (facing parliament)

If you are planning to attend, RSVP to eilian@nant.wanadoo.co.uk

Telephone Rizgar Kocher: 07709435998

Three new Genocide Motions in the UK parliament

This new collaboration has resulted in three new motions in Parliament. We urge Armenians, Assyrians and Kurds to contact their MPs, asking them to sign all three Motions

GENOCIDE AGAINST THE ASSYRIAN AND ARMENIAN PEOPLE 1806

Spink, Bob

That this House urges the Government to recognise formally the genocide of Assyrians and Armenians under the Young Turk regime in Ottoman Turkey during 1915 to 1923; and welcomes the co-operation between groups representing the Armenian and Assyrian peoples, joined also by groups representing the Kurdish people who have also suffered genocide, in jointly working to encourage the whole international community to recognise the atrocities perpetrated against their respective peoples as genocide.

GENOCIDE AGAINST THE KURDISH PEOPLE 1805

Spink, Bob

That this House notes that the Supreme Criminal Court of Iraq has reached its verdict on the Anfal Campaign, declaring it to be a mass killing, a genocide, against the Kurdish people; and calls on the international community to respect the Court's decision and recognise the mass killing of Kurds as genocide.

IMPERIAL WAR MUSEUM GENOCIDE EXHIBITION 1807

Spink, Bob

That this House welcomes the current exhibition by Kurdish artist Mr Osman Amed on the Anfal genocide at the Imperial War Museum; and urges the Government to recognise Saddam Hussein's killing of Kurdish people in Iraq during the period 1987 to 1988, including the Anfal campaign and the Halabja chemical attack, as an act of genocide

Aram Tîgran in Amêd

Pictures from Netkurd.org

Aram Tîgran in Amêd (Diyarbakir) !

Read the full article about Aram Tîgran and his invitation to Amêd - NetKurd.org