Articles · Cinema
The Odyssey (2026): The Big Guide to Truly Understanding the Film
A scene-by-scene walk through Nolan’s film, written in plain language for absolutely anyone
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Articles · History and Identity
The Origin of the Name Córdoba
Does the name Córdoba come from the word "Kurd"? What do the pre-Islamic records say?
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Articles · History and Identity
Evliya Çelebi in Kurdistan
Evliya Çelebi toured the Kurdish lands in the 17th century. The name Kurdistan, Abdal Khan's library at Bitlis, Kurdish word lists: one traveller's testimony.
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Articles · History and Identity
Western Travellers Among the Kurds
From missionary Campanile to Rich in Sulaymaniyah, from Soane in disguise to Edmonds: Western travellers' testimony on the Kurds, and the limits of the gaze.
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Articles · History and Identity
Agha, Shaikh, and Mîr: The Old Order of Kurdish Society
Who is the agha, how did the shaikhs rise, why did the mîrs vanish? Bruinessen's classic thesis on the old order of Kurdish society and its traces today.
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Articles · History and Identity
Kurdistan in the First Encyclopedia (1896): 'A Large Country'
In 1896 Şemseddin Sami named Kurdistan 'a large country' in the first Turkish encyclopedia. The story of the entries M. Emin Bozarslan brought to light.
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Articles · History and Identity
Pioneers of Kurdish Studies: The Birth of a Science
From a Kurdish grammar printed in Rome in 1787 to Minorsky, Yerevan, and Dr. Izady: how the science of studying the Kurds was born, pioneer by pioneer.
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Articles · History and Identity
Dimdim Castle: A Resistance That Became a Legend
Dimdim Castle held against the Safavid army in 1609 to 1610. Biradost's mîr Emîr Xan became Xanê Lepzêrîn in folk memory. The record and the epic, side by side.
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Articles · Culture and Memory
Kurdish Cuisine: Geography on a Table
Kurdish cuisine is geography on a table. Mast, dew, savar, and tenûr bread: Ala Barzinji's book on the dairy culture, winter stores, and the Newroz spread.
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Articles · Culture and Memory
Kurdish Folk Epics: From Memê Alan to Siyabend û Xecê
Memê Alan, Siyabend û Xecê, Zembîlfiroş, Kerr û Kulik: Kurdish folk epics carried a people's geography, morality, and memory to today in the dengbêj's voice.
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Articles · Literature and Language
Cegerxwîn: The Poet of Exile
Cegerxwîn (1903-1984): a mele near Gercüş who dropped the robe to write against the agha and ignorance. The exile poet's life, traced in documents.
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Articles · Culture and Memory
Kurdish Proverbs: The Mind of a People
Gotinên pêşiyan, the words of those who came before: a proverb is a people's distilled mind. Twelve Kurmancî proverbs, verified from the Chyet dictionary.
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Articles · Culture and Memory
Hasankeyf: Twelve Thousand Years Underwater
Hasankeyf was a rock city of twelve thousand years. The Artuqid bridge, the Ayyubid meliks, the Ilısu Dam, the moved monuments, and the rising water of 2020.
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Articles · Culture and Memory
Diyarbakır Walls and Hevsel Gardens: The Memory of Stone
From Rome's expansion of 349 to the Hevsel market gardens and the 2015 UNESCO listing: how Diyarbakır's 5.8 km of black basalt became a ledger in stone.
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Articles · Culture and Memory
Sweden: The Cradle of Kurdish Publishing
How Sweden became the place where most Kurdish books were printed: mother-tongue schooling, Uppsala facsimiles, Mehmed Uzun's novels, and the Kurdish Library.
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Articles · Culture and Memory
Kurdish Cinema: From Yılmaz Güney to Today
From the Ugly King of Adana to Cannes: Yılmaz Güney, the Palme d'Or for Yol, the Ghobadi and Saleem generation, the first Kurdish film debate, and Duhok.
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Articles · Culture and Memory
Kurdish Rugs and Kilims: The Woven Language
From Bijar's iron rug to Sanandaj's fine weave: Kurdish rugs and kilims, the mîna xanî pattern, natural dyes, and the language of the women who wove them.
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Articles · History and Identity
The Yazidis: The Most Misunderstood Ancient Faith
Who is Tawûsê Melek, where is Lalish? The history of the devil-worship slander, the memory of 72 fermans, Sinjar 2014 and the UN report: the true Yazidi story.
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Articles · History and Identity
Saladin: The Kurd Behind the Legend
Born in Tikrit, he took Jerusalem and became the West's noble enemy. How do the documents record Saladin's Kurdish origin? A portrait with Izady and McDowall.
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Articles · History and Identity
The Century of Kurdish Language Bans: A Tongue's Fight to Live
From the 1925 Eastern Reform Plan to Law 2932, from village names to the state Kurdish TV channel: the documented chronology of Kurdish's banned century.
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Articles · Culture and Memory
Newroz: The Festival of Fire
Why is Newroz kept on 21 March? Leaping the fire, the legend of Kawa, celebration in four parts, the ban years, and the UNESCO listing: the full story.
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Articles · Literature and Language
Melayê Cizîrî and Feqiyê Teyran: Poets of the Medrese Age
Melayê Cizîrî's divan, Feqiyê Teyran's bird-language legend, and the medreses of Cizre: two founders of classical Kurdish poetry and the road to Ehmedê Xanî.
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Articles · Literature and Language
The Hawar Journal and Celadet Alî Bedirxan: The Birth of an Alphabet
On 15 May 1932 in Damascus, the journal Hawar was born and gave Kurdish its modern alphabet. The life of Celadet Alî Bedirxan and the legacy of 31 letters.
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Articles · History and Identity
The Sharafnama (1597): The First Kurdish History, From the Pen of a Mîr
In 1597 the Bitlis ruler Şerefxan completed the Sharafnama, the first comprehensive history of the Kurds written by a Kurd. Its birth and long journey.
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Articles · Culture and Memory
Radio Yerevan: The Sound Memory of Kurdish Music
Yerevan is speaking! Radio Yerevan's Kurdish broadcasts, from Meryem Xan to Eyşe Şan: the voices of the recording age and a stateless people's sound archive.
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Articles · History and Identity
Kurdistan (1898): The Kurdish Press Born in Exile
The first Kurdish newspaper, Kurdistan, appeared in Cairo in 1898: the Bedirxan family's exile press, a serialized Mem u Zin, and a people's first paper.
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Articles · History and Identity
Kurdish Women in History: Pen, Throne, and Resistance
From Mestûre Erdelan, who wrote history, to Adela Khanum, who ruled Halabja, to Leyla Qasim, hanged at twenty-two: seven Kurdish women the records name.
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Articles · Literature and Language
Is Kurdish a Language or a Dialect? The Clear Answer of Linguistics
Is Kurdish a language in its own right, or only a dialect? Its family, branches, grammar, and three centuries of writing: the answer that linguistics gives.
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Articles · Culture and Memory
Dengbêj: The Living Archive of an Age Without Writing
Who is the dengbêj, what is a kilam? The keepers of Kurdish oral memory, from Evdalê Zeynikê to Karapetê Xaço, and an archive a people carried by voice.
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Articles · Literature and Language
Ehmedê Xanî and Mem û Zîn: A Nation's Awareness in a Love Epic
Completed in 1694, Mem û Zîn is no ordinary love story. Ehmedê Xanî's life, the poem's hidden layers, and the great question he asked three centuries ago.
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Articles · Music
Mome — Colemerg Collective: Lyrics & English Translation
Mome — a tragic Kurdish folk song by Colemerg Collective. The story of Mome with lyrics and English translation.
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Articles · Music
Hey Dot Mame — Kerime Jirki: Lyrics & English Translation
Hey Dot Mame — a beloved Kurdish love song by Kerime Jirki. Lyrics with English translation.
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Articles · Music
Hatin Xwezgini — Abdulla Herki: Lyrics & English Translation
Hatin Xwezgini — a classic Kurdish wedding song by Abdulla Herki. Lyrics with English translation.
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Articles · Analysis
Small Nations, Chip Empires: A Roadmap for Kurdistan
How do 17-million Netherlands and 24-million Taiwan hold the world hostage? The story of ASML, TSMC, and chip technology. What should Kurds learn from this?
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Articles · Health
Geographic Structure and Air Quality Lab Results of Qilaban (Uludere)
Qilaban (Uludere) is a district of Şırnak, situated in a narrow V-shaped valley between two high mountains.
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Articles · History
Afrin's Olive Trees: Where the Ottoman Horse Steps, No Grass Grows!
The Turkish state, heir to the Ottoman Empire, demonstrates how true the saying 'Where the Ottoman horse steps, no grass grows!' really is.
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Articles · Kurdistan
Bedel Boseli | Kurdish Researcher, Digital Media Expert & Author
Bedel Boseli is a Kurdish researcher, writer, Management Information Systems and digital media specialist.
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Articles · Kurdistan
From Which Publisher Should One Read the Risale-i Nur Collection
Many followers ask which publisher to buy the Risale-i Nur Collection from. The answer is: Zehra Publications and Tenvir Publishing.
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Articles · History
Kurdish Origins of Shah Ismail Safavid: Medieval Manuscripts Prove Founder's Kurdish Ancestry
The fascinating relationship between Shah Ismail Safavi and the Kurdish kingdoms represents a pivotal chapter in medieval Middle Eastern history.
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Articles · Kurdistan
What is the Kurdish Issue? A Struggle for Rights and Recognition
After briefly introducing the Kurds, we will explore the Kurdish issue.
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Articles · Kurdistan
Kurdistan National Flag Drawing Guide: Measurements, Colors, Standards
A clear, step-by-step guide on how to draw the Kurdistan National Flag in two sizes.
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Articles · Kurdistan
Kurdistan National Flag: Its Meaning and Thousands of Years of Roots
The Kurdistan National Flag, also known as Ala Rengin, is a symbol that carries the thousands-year-old story of the Kurdish people to the skies.
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Articles · Kurdistan
Who is Mehrdad R. Izady? A Closer Look at the Expert on Kurdish History and Culture
Prof. Dr. Mehrdad R. Izady is a distinguished scholar renowned for his multidisciplinary approach to the history, culture, and identity of the Kurds and Kurdistan.
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