Newroz piroz be!

HAPPY NEWROZ TO EVERY ONE !

I HAVE TECHNICAL PROBLEMS WITH MY OLD LAP TOP SO I CAN NOT PUT ANY PHOTO HERE.

Newroz 2010 in Sulaymania

Newroz is over. Unfortenately my pictures are late (but better late than never?)

Here in Sulaymania the main event during Newroz was big meeting in Sulaymania down town on 20th March evening where the main street had been turned to a walking street.

It was so different like the newroz days which I have spent in Turkey! It was more like the new year eve in Helsinki. Actually this is a good comparison. Newroz is Kurdish new year. It is not a political celebration any more as this country is liberated from Saddam's rule. New year is neither in Finland a political day, people celebrate the coming year, not demand their rights.

I hope also in Turkey Kurds can soon celebrate Newroz in this normal way!

Reparation in Kirkuk Citadel

Kirkuk is again in top news. There was the 20th June 2009 a massive suicide bomb attack - once again. With my condolences to the families of the victims and my respect to the Kirkuk police, which battles against terrorism, I tell some good news from Kirkuk.
Like so many other Kurdish cities and towns, also Kirkuk has an ancient citadel. I visited it for the first time in May 2008; pictures from that journey are in Sahmaran the 23rd June 2008.
One year later in May 2009, I visited it again. There is at least one good news from Kirkuk: the reparation of the Citadel has started in a small scale.

The destruction done by Saddam Hussein is so huge, that it might be impossible to repair completely the Citadel before there is peace in Kurdistan, but this is good start. This is how the Old Town of Kirkuk still looks, after the visit of Saddam’s caterpillars.



Until the destruction of this area, Kurds and Turkmen lived in the Citadel, both groups in their own streets which had been inhabited for centuries.

To repair these houses is huge work which has not yet even started.

But the reparation of the religious monuments is going on.


See the how the minaret looked one year ago:


Now the minaret has been painted:

The history of Kirkuk is thousands years old and it is holy town for many religions, for example for Jews and Christians. Kirkuk was the home town of Prophet Daniel and his grave is supposed to be in Kirkuk. Well, no one knows where it exactly is, but this old building is built as the grave of Prophet Daniel to honour him.

Prophet Daniel's grave 2008:



Prophet Daniel's grave 2009:



Let’s hope that Kirkuk Citadel will be soon in the UNESCO World Heritage Program!

Who knows Kurdish cooking?

Van cheese otlu peynir is available in shops in Hewlêr. (Who knows the name of otlu peynir in Kurdish?)

I took this picture of otlu peynir some days ago. The same day I received an e-mail from a reader of Sahmaran who wishes to stay anonymous in internet. She is interested about Kurdish cooking and plans to write Kurdish cookbook. Here are parts of her e-mail:


I am particularly interested in Kurdish cooking and have been collecting recipes from my friends, cookbooks, the Internet and even from friendly people I have never met before.

In the interest of preserving this part of the Kurdish cultural heritage I want to collect these recipes into a cookbook.

I came across Sahmaran blog and see that we have a common interest. I was wondering if I can ask you some questions about Kurdish cuisine, especially on the more ancient recipes. Also, are there any Kurdish cookbooks in any of the Kurdish or Turkish dialects? I can't read Kurdish but I know someone who does. My interest lies not only with the recipes but where these recipes originated and the stories.

I am interested in the origins of the recipes and would like to know the differences, if any, that exist between the recipes from various villages and cities in Kurdistan. For example, Northern Kurds use more red pepper flakes in their food.

I am also very much interested in edible plants. My friends use a poisonous wild plant called Arum in their cooking. It contains calcium oxalate crystals which dissolve only after heating in an acid like lemon juice or citric acid. Have you ever eaten it? Today I went to visit my Kurdish friends, they were cooking Arum. Some people eat it but its not as popular with the younger generation. Of course I was given a huge bowlful of Kubba to eat as well.


Well, I can answer only that I enjoy eating the Kurdish food, but I do not know much about making it. I can hardly make dolma, the food which is always given to visitors here in the Iraqi part of Kurdistan.

Kurdish cooking culture is very rich. In Turkish part of Kurdistan local variations are very big because people use very much local products and they are very different in mountain areas and in plain lands.

I can answer only one of her question: there is at least one Kurdish cookbook in Turkish language, Cemcid Bender's "Kürt Mutfak Kültürü ve Kürt Yemekleri (Kurdish Kitchen Culture and Kurdish Foods). Look at the third picture in Sahmaran's post the 16th March 2007 ("Shopping in Van"). Because of technical problems I can put here a hyperlink. I do not have the cookbook here in Hewlêr, only thing I remember about it is that is very thick, maybe 300 pages, and everything is text, there are no pictures, only some small drawings.

I hope this idea of Kurdish cookbook will come true and it will translated to many languages, including to English. If some readers of Sahmaran can help this friend, please send your advices as comment to this post or e-mail to me (koivunen.kristiina@gmail.com) so I forward them to her. And please, forward this request further, it is important that this kind of things about Kurdish culture are collected in addition of discussing the political issues.

The charm of traditional Iraqi houses

I am now in Kurdistan. I am happy to stay in a Kurdish families, in addition to hotels. I learn a lot this about the every day life in Kurdistan.

My country Finland is very cold most time of the year. But that is not a problem for us because our houses are good and warm. Finnish people spend much time inside the houses.

For me the most charming thing in the traditional Iraqi houses was the way how people spend lots of time in the open air. They spend evenings in gardens, make food in back yards and sleep on house roofs as well as bake bread there. Also I have slept nights on the roof. It is something I will always remember: the beauty of the sky, the distant voices of the city, warm air and feeling of safety despite of being in the open air. My friends here in Finland are jealous when I tell about it.

Also I admir how few high houses there are Hawler - this is very positive. In most European countries only rich city dwellers have villas and their own gardens. It is so also in Turkey. Most Kurdish people there live in apartments and only dream about gardens. They spend evenings drinking tea in their small balconies. In Turkish cities not even rich people have such one-family-houses where Iraqi Kurds usually live.

Traditional way of house building has developed during many decades, maybe even centuries. Houses fit to the conditions in the best possible because the knowledge is collected during many generations.

This Iraqi Kurdish knowledge should be remembered when building new housing areas instead of importing ideas from totally different environments.

Take only the best foreign ideas!

I am surprised to see that people do not pay attention on saving energy when it is available. In Europe it is popular tendency to save energy because of ecological reasons and the rising prise of petrol. Hopefully the people who make construction plans in Kurdistan study these experiences, for example solar energy.

It surprised me that solar energy is not used in North Iraq. In Turkey it is very common, people heat water with it.

Maybe they think that there is no need to have other energy sources than petrol because there is so much of it. But why not use solar energy when there is plenty of it available? Free of charge!

I could have written about the lack of houses in Hawler. I know it is big and acute problem. There is need to build very many houses. But despite people need them in a hurry the plans should made with long perspective.

The world is preparing itself for changes in energy systems, from dependency of petrol to renewable energy sources. Houses are being built to last for many decades. They should be planned so that they are flexible to adjust new technologies what ever things the climate change and development of renewable energy technologies bring.

Culture Minister Falakaddin Kakeyi in Finland

I (left) and Culture Minister Falakaddin Kakeyi.

Falakaddin Kakeyi, Culture Minister of Kurdistan Regional Government, is now in Finland. I met him on Wednesday the 29th July 2008 in Helsinki.

Pashay Gawra, a music team of sixteen members, is expected to come Finland from Rawanduz, South Kurdistan. They should play on Saturday the 2st August on Faces Etnofestival in Karjaa. But due to problems and delays in getting visa it is not yet sure whether they will come here.

Kirkuk Citadel - 2

March 2007 I wrote about Serhat castles . Also South Kurdistan has rich cultural heritage with castles which are maybe thousands years old. They are not only Kurdish history, as there has been many other civilizations during the history.

These pictures are from Kirkuk Citadel. It is a peaceful oasis in the middle of the war zone. Just look at the pictures, while walking in the Citadel you could not imagine that the war with almost daily bomb attacks is just outside the Citadel walls.

Saddam destroyed the old town of Kirkuk during the 1990s. It is inside the Citadel but I do not have pictures of the centuries old houses which are now in ruins. Let us hope that the war will not cause more damage to Kirkuk Citadel. Instead there should be archaeological surveys and preservation. Kirkuk Citadel should absolutely be in the UNESCO World Heritage Program!

I am sure that in the future Kirkuk Citadel will be a popular target for tourists.

I know very little about Kirkuk Citadel. If some one has information about it, please let me know!

Hawler Textil Museum

I have very many things to tell about my journey to South Kurdistan. Instead of writing long reports I will put here pictures. I start with Hawler Textil Museum which is located in the Citadel and is open every day.

Iraqi Kurds love everything what is new - and made in factories (which are of course in other countries and do not produce things according the Kurdish style).

I do not want to be unpolite towards Iraqi Kurds but they seem to lack such knowledge and respect of their own culture than people in North Kurdistan have. There Kurdish kelims and handicrafts can be seen every where - in South Kurdistan I saw traditional Kurdish carpets during three weeks only in the museum. The long years of isolation and economical hardship have taken its toll also in this sense: 25 000 old Kurdish rugs were exported to Iran during early 90s (also other second hand things are usually sold to Iran).

Now this hundreads years knowledge of carpet weaving is not passed to next generation in the Iraqi part of Kurdistan. I really hope that people there understand what they will lose if this thing does not change quikly. Kilims are the traditional art of Kurdish women.

For the tourists who travel Hawler I recommend to visit the shop of the Textil Museum. There are still some nomad women who know carpet weaving and traditional designs of their tribe. Their carpets can be bought in museum's shop. I did not buy any as my bag was very heavy. I regret it now - it would have been better to pay the over weight cost in the airplane.

Here are some pictures from the museum:

Gulan: Holidays in Kurdistan

The text in Kurdish.

Usva Auer, a young Finnish woman, travelled to Kurdistan last March. Her travel experiences were published some weeks ago in Voima -magazine. This magazine is very popular among young people in Finland. It is published 60 000 copies, which makes it a big magazine in Finland where population is five million. The story has ten pictures. There are pictures of a restaurant, mountain landscapes, Kurdish flag and teenagers playing foot boll.

How did Usva Auer experience Kurdistan? Travel guide books and the internet page of Finnish Foreign Ministry tell people to stay away from Iraq. She did not know what to expect - at least not people who speak Finnish language! Some refugees had returned from Finland back to their home country. Everything was easier than she had expected, no need even to get a visa. She did not feel that she was in Iraq - she did not even see the flags of Iraq.Auer visited Hewler, Lalesh and Sulaymania. The conclusion of her journey is that Kurds are the most friendly people in the world. The places she visited were like any other towns in the Middle East. It was difficult to believe that the war was so near by. She warmly recommends also other people to spend their holidays in Kurdistan.

She believes that Kurdistan will be soon a popular target for young backpackers who want to experience some adventures. Unfortunately the situation has changed in half a year. There has been problems with flights to Hewler. Many people travel to South Kurdistan via Turkey. But this means that they must meet the unfriendly Turkish customs officers who check their luggage at the boarder. But hopefully the problems with flights will be soon over.

Another thing what makes it difficult to travel to South Kurdistan is that ordinary travel insurances are not valid in Iraq. Insurance companies consider Iraq to be in the highest war risk category so the travel insurance costs about 500 euro per month. Despite South Kurdistan is peaceful compared to other parts of Iraq, the price is the same for every part of the country. Usva Auer thinks that the most difficult thing in travelling in Kurdistan is to get information about it. She had found some information in internet and printed it.

I have written a travel guide book about North Kurdistan in Finnish language. It was published last year. I and the publishing company LIKE agree that when this book is sold out and it is time to make a new edition, there will be information also about South Kurdistan. I am sure soon there will be travel guide books also in English.

Malia Group and Rotana Hotels plan to build a five star hotel in Hewler. I hope that also backpackers are welcome to Kurdistan. They do not bring so much money but some of them will help Kurdistan in other ways.I myself visited North Kurdistan with a small budget the first time in newroz 1997 and lost my heart to the country. After that I have written four books about Kurdistan.

* * * * * *
This is column which I wrote to Gulan . I wanted to add that despite I hope that young backpackers are welcome to South Kurdistan, I also hope that it will not turn to a Middle East version of Goa. But as most of the readers most probably do not know what is Goa and what things are not so good in Goa tourism, I should have explained also this back ground. And the space is limited (little bit more than 500 words). Now the most important thing was to inform Kurds how a Finnish tourist has experienced their country. But this is important topic which needs more attention.

Gulan: Women writers conference

Dalmira Tilepbergenova (left) and Bahtinisa Abdurehim. Dalmira is the chairman of The Central Asian PEN.

The text in Kurdish.

The PEN of Finland arranged one week ago in Helsinki a conference for Central Asian women writers. When I started writing columns to Gulan I decided to write about different topics. But during the summer I have written only about the political situation. When I plan to write something else there is always an acute crisis which needs to be commented immediately. But this time I decided to tell about culture and the Central Asian literature conference.

There were eight women artists from Kyrgystan and Kazakstan. Some other participants told for example about the situation in Tibet and East Turkmenistan. Both Tibetan and Uyghur people suffer under the Chinese rule in a same way as Kurds in Turkey. Even their language is threatened.

Unfortunately there were no Kurdish writers in the conference. It would have been interesting for them to hear the experiences of other writers. There is one thing which connects Central Asia, Kurdistan, Tibet, East Turkmenistan and many other countries: the Silk Road. Lots of items has been transported via it from east to west. But the travellers have transported also stories, legends, oral and written culture. The culture around the Silk Road has been especially rich for centuries. And Silk Road is not only history, there is much traffic even nowadays.

In the films of Dalmira Tilepbergenova from Kyrgystan the traditions are very strong. Traditional culture and history of own nation are sources of strength when the people search new values in the Post Soviet society. Islam and even Islamic extremism replace the communist values after the collapse of Soviet Union. What it means for women writers? They stay at home and tell fairy tales to their children instead of writing for a bigger audience. The strengthening of Islamic values means for many women writers that their husbands do not like that their wives get attention from other people. Not even comments to a written story. Of course telling fairy tales to children is very important. It is the way how the oral traditions have been transformed for the next generation for centuries. But why not do both: tell fairy tales at home and write them down?

After the cultural week-end it was quite a shock for me to open internet and look what is going on Kurdistan: Turkey and Iran plan a joint military attack to South Kurdistan. Turkish Daily News writes that Masoud Barzani accuses Turkey being engaged in intelligence activities via its Consulate in Mosul. And according to The New Anatolian KDP claims that Turkish and Syrian intelligence services were involved in the bomb attacks against Yezidi Kurds in Sinjar. So I was wrong last week when I wondered whether al Qaeda was behind this atrocity. But al Qaeda has been active in Iraq in other places even during last days.

So next week I return to political issues. It takes lots of time to understand what is going on. And when it will be peace in Kurdistan - Kurdish writers will write big epics about this war.

*****

Antology of the seminar Kyltymätön uuni - naiskirjailijat ja sensuuri is published by LIKE and The PEN of Finland. It is both in Finnish and in English, and can be ordered from LIKE also to abroad. The title means An oven which is always hungry - women writers and cencorship.

LIKE is also my publisher. We are now making the lay out of my next book Serhildan.

By the way, the name LIKE has nothing to do the English word like. First the name of publishing house was Lieke, which is old Finnish language and means fire. There happened to be one family whose name is Lieke and for some reason they did not like the publishing house to have same name as they have. So the company took one letter away from the name and became LIKE.

Detention of Haydar Isik

This appeal of Dr. Zaradachet Hajo was published in the internet pages of the Kurdish PEN.

Appeal to the International and German Public to intervene against the Detention in Germany of the Kurdish Writer Mr. Haydar Isik

by Dr. Zaradachet Hajo, the President of the Kurdish PEN Centre

Bremen, Germany, 9th July, 2007


On 5th July, 2007, there have been large-scale search and detention operations in several German federal states aimed at the Kurds allegedly belonging and/or supporting the People’s Congress (Kongra Gel).

Amongst other detainees there is Mr. Haydar Isik, a prominent writer, one of the founding members and former President of the Kurdish PEN Centre. On the same day, i.e. 5th July, 2007, 69-years-old Haydar Isik, who is married and has three children, appeared in front of the investigating lawyer and was imprisoned on remand.

In order to realise Mr. Haydar Isik’s critical approach towards social and political situation in Turkey, which is a major topic of his numerous literary books, one would be advised to look into his biography. Mr. Haydar Isik’s homeland, a region called Dersim (Tunceli), that is populated by the Alevite Kurds, is one of the main centres of Kurdish resistance and as such has been subjected to the Turkish military aggression for dozens of years. Indeed, the Turkish state has continuously been exercising extremely brutal oppression of the local Kurdish population in Dersim.

In spite of repressions against his home region and its language and culture, Mr. Haydar Isik has never chosen the means of violence, not even in his young years. After having settled down in Munich, Germany, Mr. Isik started to work as a school-teacher in a junior high school and free-lance writer and journalist. It has to be pointed out that Mr. Haydar Isik had been teaching Turkish to the pupils and working as a columnist for several Turkish daily newspapers.
His first novel in Turkish entitled The Agha from Dersim would be banned in Turkey only three weeks after its publication. His next book The Destruction of Dersim has been published by late Mrs. Ayse Nur Zarakolu in Istanbul and won the 1998 Publishers’ Prize in the International Frankfurt Book-Fair. Yet, this book was also banned in Turkey. Mr. Isik’s other books have been created in Turkish and German. Remarkably, in a clear violation of the established freedom of opinion in Germany, one of his books would also be seized here.

Mr. Haydar Isik, who lives near Munich, has been often subjected to anonymous threats, blackmails and slander. Even the Turkish officials found it appropriate to take actions against one of his articles. We know Mr. Haydar Isik as a person with active vocabulary who has always been denouncing violence in all its forms. Neither in Turkey, nor in Germany has Mr. Isik ever used force. His only legitimate weapon of self-defence is writing. Therefore we are extremely surprised to learn about the alleged reasoning behind his arrest at the age of 69, as if Mr. Isik in any form supported violent actions of a banned Kurdish organisation. We suspect that by punishing Mr. Haydar Isik, a thorn in the eyes of the Turkish right-wing political circles, the German law and order institutions serve anew the Turkish state interests in the Federal Republic of Germany. As a result, Mr. Isik himself becomes a victim of the Turkish political attempts to show him as an offender.

It is rather conspicuous that it is the Federal Republic of Germany that more than any other European state tries to take measures against Kurdish organisations. This happens place against the background of a generally peaceful co-existence between Kurds, Turks and Germans in the country. It is worthy to note that for many years there have been no serious facts proving Kurdish violence against the German state and society. At the same time, around 800,000 Kurds living in Germany are not recognised as a distinct ethnic group, despite the 1991 decision of the Bundestag, the lower chamber of German Parliament.

We appeal to the International PEN Congress in Dakar, Senegal, as well as to German and international public opinion to intervene against the detention of the Kurdish writer Mr. Haydar Isik. We call on the German government not to privilege the Turkish interests on the costs of the freedom of opinion and immediately release Mr. Haydar Isik from custody.

Dr. Zaradachet Hajo

New Kurdish blogger Hevallo

There is in blogspot new, very active Kurdish blogger Hevallo. He is very productive: in June he made 84 posts. In July there is nineteen of them until now (the 7th July at 16.15 GMT). In addition to information in almost real time there are interesting pictures and lots of links. So I warmly recommend to follow Hevallo’s blog.

I add him to my blog list on the right side.

Mala Dengbejan

There is a new association in my links on the right side:
Mala Dengbejan is an association in Van. It works with dengbej music and other traditional Kurdish culture.

Gulan and Serhat Castles

This week my column in Gulan tells about the Serhat castles. I put it in this blog in English already last week, but it was in Gulan only the 2nd April. Last week Gulan was not published due to Newroz. Here is a link to the column in Kurdish:

http://www.gulan-media.com/h628/g45.pdf

Serhat castles and UNESCO World Heritage Program

Hosap Castle 60 km east from Wan.

The valleys of Euphrat and Tigris are the cradle of humankind. When our nomad ancestors thousands years ago settled down and learned to cultivate land it happened here. The history of the civilizations which existed in this area is heritage of the whole world.

There is a program to protect the most valuable historical monuments in the world. It is UNESCO World Heritage Program. UNESCO is the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization.

Guess whether such places where the Kurds live nowadays are on the list of World Heritage Program! Correct - there is almost none of them. I found one: Nemrut Dag which is in Turkey. Seven years ago Harran and Sanliurfa were accepted on the proposal list of World Heritage Program. From Iraq there is in the program for example the fortified city Hatra which is near Ninawa.

Instead of one column I would like to write a book about the historical places in Kurdistan which should be in the UNESCO World Heritage Program. And it would be a thick book!

But here is space to present only one topic so I tell about the castles in Serhat area. For me they have been very impressive but they are not well known even among the Kurds. Serhat is one the Kurdish districts in Turkey. It is located around Wan lake, west from Zagros mountains.

In Wan there is the castle of Wan. The castle area is huge, it covers almost two kilometres long mountain. Once whole the mountain was surrounded by walls but now only parts of them remain. Wan castle is three thousand years old, it has its origin in the Urartuan civilization. Castle mountain dominates the landscape in Wan. It is so huge that I almost did not believe my eyes when I saw it for the first time.

But even bigger surprise was to see how many castles there are in Serhat. Only 25 kilometres east from Wan by the Hakkari road is the next castle, Cavustepe castle. And 35 km east from Cavustepe is the huge Hosap castle. No one knows how old Hosap castle is but it was renovated 1643 by Süleyman Bey. Serhat is an area for ancient castles. I do not know whether there is dozens or hundreds of them.

The castles are creatures of many civilizations. Ani is famous for being the ancient capital of Armenians. But Ani has its roots also in many other civilizations, like the Urartuan, Bysant, Selchuk and Georgian cultures.

I do not know whether the decision makers in the UNESCO World Heritage Program have ever heard about the castles in Serhat. Each castle is unique but even more important aspect to them is the entity what they constitute. This historical heritage must be protected and there must be archaeological research in every castle! Also Kurds and other people who live in Serhat must learn to respect the value of the castles and other historical monuments. Now peasants take their sheep and goats even to most valuable places. They spoil ancient ruins by burning fires to make tea and taking stones to build houses.

Protection of Serhat castles is not a threat to the Republic of Turkey. Rather the opposite, the multicultural history of the country is a richness to all Turkish citizens.

Newroz in Helsinki

Kurds from whole Finland gathered in Helsinki to celebrate newroz

But not for one newroz party. Like earlier, Kurds from Turkey had one party and Kurds from Iran and Iraq had another party.

I went to both of them. Also some young Kurdish people enjoyed the possibility to listen good music and dance and went to both newroz celebrations.

These pictures are taken yesterday (the 24th March 2007) in the South Kurdish newroz party. Left on my side is Weeja who makes Kurdish programs in Helsinki local radio.

Adventure traveller’s guide to Southeast Turkey

Road from Cizre to Midyat. This picture is taken by me like pictures in this blog usually are.

In many international news about my deportation from Turkey it was told that I have written PhD thesis and two books about the Kurds. My doctoral dissertation (The Invisible War in North Kurdistan) is in internet: http://ethesis.helsinki.fi/julkaisut/val/sospo/vk/koivunen

But as the two other books are in Finnish language, there is no information about them. So I better explain a little bit. The names of the books are Sankarimatkalijan Kaakkois-Turkki (Adventure traveller’s guide to Southeast Turkey) and Teetä Kurdistanissa (Tea in Kurdistan).
I present now the travel guide and then some other time “Tea in Kurdistan” which is a collection of travel stories.

I tried to paste here the cover page of the book but as I am a beginner in using blogger I don't know how to do it. I will add it later.

As I have been many times in Southeast Turkey I wrote down my experiences and practical information so that people can read the book instead of asking me. The book has 301 pages, and as I know there is until now there is only one other travel guide book about Southeast Turkey, it has two parts. (Azer Bortaçina: Doğu Anadolu, Yayınlayn Ekin Grupu 2005; Güneydoğu Anadolu 2005). Lonely Planet and other guide books which present whole Turkey tell very little about the Southeast despite it is the most rich area in Turkey in culture and history.

My book was published August 2006. When I was arrested in Van December 2006 the police claimed me that the Turkish Ministry of Internal Affairs had done in August 2006 the decision that I am not permitted to enter Turkey due to the security of the state.

Adventure traveller's guide to Southeast Turkey has tree parts, they are:

1. Common travel information, like how to find a hotel and travel by bus etc (91 pages)

2. Kurdish districts and towns (124 pages):
Amed: Diyarbakır, Kahta
Botan: Mardin, Batman, Siirt, Hasankeyf, Cizre, Sırnak, Midyat
Dersim: Tunceli
Serhat: Van, Doğubayazit, Kars, Hakkari, Yüksekova, Semdinli

3. Information about Kurdish culture and the Kurdish question (79 pages):
Culture: History, Kurdish language, newroz, Mem û Zin, yezidis, ramazan, Kurdish festivals, Kurdish women

The Kurdish question: The history of the Republic of Turkey from Kurdish perspective, Military coup 1980, Human Rights, Turkey vs. European Union, USA and its neighbour countries, Kurdish nationalism, Kurdish civil society

(Also the two other sections are written with special attention to the Kurdish culture and human rights.)

With this book also people who can speak neither Kurdish or Turkish and have no previous knowledge about Turkey can travel to these Kurdish towns. In addition to practical information (like hotel telephone numbers and web pages where is information about Kurdish festivals) there are also lots of tips and links for those who want to find further information.

My two books are published by LIKE and it will also publish my third book next autumn. It tells about life in Van, my favourite city in Turkey. LIKE and I haven’t yet agreed the name of the book.

LIKE has a serie of travel guide books for courageous travellers: Southeast Turkey, Tallinn, St Petersburg, Warzaw, Krakow, Sofia, Vilna, Far Island, Arkangel. Next year is coming also guide book to Bosnia and Herzegovina.

LIKE is preparing a brochure in English about the travel guide books. They will participate both London Book Fair this spring and Frankfurt Book Fair next autumn. If someone is interested in publishing in English (or other language) the guide to Southeast Turkey, please contact me or LIKE.

http://www.like.fi/kauppa/index.php?v=5&sid=3

Newroz

Van 21.3. 2006


Newroz piroz be!

Shopping in Van

Those readers who are so lucky that they do not have a ban to enter Turkey (like I have) travel there maybe for newroz or for summer holidays.

Because women do shopping where ever they go I give here some tips to Van, my favourite city in Turkey.
Dolls in Kurdish dresses are available in Kesrevan, the restaurant of Van Women’s Association (Van Kadin Dernegi, VAKAD)
Kesrevan, Milli Egemenlik Cad. Sanat Sitesi (just behind vali’s office)

Locally made ceramic by Mavi Kent Kilim Atölye from their souvenir shop which is in the Municipality House in Cumhuriyet Caddesi.

Dünyada Van is an interesting magazine about Van. It is in Turkish but even non-Turkish speakers can enjoy it’s lovely pictures. Ask for it from the bookshops, for example Star 2000. This shop has also a bookshell for Kurdology.
Star 2000, Sanat Sok. 2

Kurdish music (both CDs and cassettes) is available in
Serhat Kültür ve Sanat Merkezi, Hastanhane 2. Cad. Belediye Is Merkezi, Kat 5

Mala Dengbejan, Cumhuriyet Cad. Özgür Center Kat. 3

Who is Sahmaran?

Sahmaran is Kurdish mytology. She is a creature who has body of a woman and a snake. Also she is the Kurdish counterpart for mermaid.

But when mermaids have nasty characters, Sahmaran is the opposite. She wants positive things.

This is all what I know about Sahmaran. The readers who have more information about her please tell me.