Kurdish press…..heritage not overlooked - 2

Kurdish press in the four parts of Kurdistan

The Kurdish press took its first steps with" KURDISTAN"  the first newspaper published by Meqdad Medhat Badirkhan, and continued its march by publishing many newspapers and magazines despite the pressures of the Ottoman Empire until World War I, where the collapse of the Ottoman Empire, during it many Kurdish newspapers and magazines such as Jin, Bangi Kurd and Kurdistan were published. after the war Kurdistan was divided into four parts, increasing the pressure on the Kurdish press. On 28 April 19920, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk sent a telegram to Arzrum asking banning Jin magazine in the city.

The occupiers targeted primarily the press

In the early years of the Turkish Republic foundation, despite a talk of a Turkish-Kurdish agreement, the Kurdish press was banned. After signing Lausanne Agreement, no one could even pronounce Kurdistan word. After 1925, the occupiers of the four parts of Kurdistan, Turkey, Iraq, Iran and Syria, did not recognize the existence of the Kurdish people.

Despite its circumstances, the press did not stand idly by

It was greatly affected by the colonization of Kurdistan. It was somehow able to follow its path and reach the present day under the different regimes in each part of Kurdistan. Press continued to be published even intermittently in Bakûr and Başûr of Kurdistan, in Rojhilat of Kurdistan, the Iranian regime tightened its grip on the press,  while Rojava was no better of other parts of Kurdistan. It was in a state of stagnation due to the repression of the Syrian regime.

However, in Bakûr of Kurdistan, with the escalation of the Kurdish people's freedom movement, a new march of the free press emerged, as well as in Başûr of Kurdistan. It was influenced by the feudal establishment and affiliated with the  political forces and parties.

Nevertheless, dozens of newspapers published and Kurdish TV channels, websites and radio stations broadcast their programmes. in Rojava the western part of Kurdistan in Syria , with 2011 Uprising and Rojava revolution, Kurdish press starred once again, despite what it suffered over the past years.  

In the period from 1920 to 1990, "Kurd" word was a good cause of arrest and torture thus imposing  great status of stagnation on the Kurdish press but it continued in Iraq, Syria, and Beirut at the forefront of Kurdish intellectuals.

Among that period newspapers and magazines were: Jiyan (1926-1936), Hawar (1932-1943), Jin (1930), Gelaweij (1941-1950), Ronahi (1942-1945) and Roja Nu (1943-1946). Many Kurdish intellectuals such as Musa Antar, Adib Karahan, Yashar Kaya and Medt Sarhad have published several magazines such as Dijla Kaynagi (1949), Shark Majmoasi (1950), Ellery Yurt (1958), Dijla Furat (1962), Deng (1963) and Roja Nu (1966), which were published for short periods. Because of repression and persecution, it has contributed significantly to the continuation of the Kurdish press.

In addition to several Marxist-Leninist publications such as Ozgorlok Yulo (1975), Khabat (1976), Rizgari (1976), Roja Welat (1977), Kawa (1978), Ala Rizgari (1979), Serxwebun ( 1980 ). Most of the above-mentioned were published in Turkish or in both Kurdish and Turkish.  Terij was the only one in Kurdish and was published in Amed in 1977 by the Revolutionary Democratic Cultural Society. Because of the repression, only four issues came out of the magazine.

Riya Taza newspaper ( the new way )

It is the first Kurdish newspaper in its long history, founded in 1930 in Yerevan, capital of Armenia by the Soviet Communist Party. Three Armenian people who were fluent in Kurdish, supervised it. After four years of publication the magazine was handed over to Kurdish journalists. In 1937 with banning the Kurdish language, culture and music the magazine was suspended.

In 1955, the magazine resumed its publication, making it as the first Kurdish magazine in history to be published in the Soviet era as the mouthpiece of the Soviet Communist Party. It was distributed in Armenia and in other regions of the Soviet Union, of four pages, twice a week until 1994, but it ceased for economic reasons in 2003. It was initially published in surreal letters, but turned into Latin later.

Jiyan magazine

It was published in Sulaimaniyah, Başûr of Kurdistan between 1926 and 1936 by the Kurdish poet Pireh Merd, and the Kurdish journalist Suleiman Tawfiq later. The magazine was issued for 10 years and stopped by the official administration. After stopping, the poet Perh Merid published on December 22, 1939, Jin Magazine, and continued until June 1950.

A new beginning in the history of the Kurdish press: Hawar magazine

Hawar was published on May 15, 1932 in The Syrian capital Damascus by Gladt Ali Badrkhan. Kurdish Latin characters were used for the first time. It was of 20 pages, 16 pages in Kurdish and 4 pages in French in Latin and Arabic until the 23^rd issue, but it used Kurdish Latin only later.

Hawar magazine was published under the scarcity of possibilities and constant pressures, stopping several times for economic reasons. The Kurmanji dialect dominated the Hawar magazine, in addition to Zazaki and Sorani dialects. Dr. Noureddine Zaza, Qadri Jan, Jagarkhwinn and a number of other intellectuals were the pioneers of Hawar magazine. It  published many articles and topics in poetry, story, articles and translations, in addition to translating many French poems into Kurdish. Many materials and productions translated into French. Prince Jaladat Badirkhan and all the pioneers of Hawar magazine studied and developed Kurdish grammar, and added Latin characters to it.

In 1989, Nu Ddem published all the two volumes of Hawar magazine, that published 57 issues until its suspension on August 15, 1943.

Ronahi magazine

Ronahi was published in 1942 in the Syrian capital Damascus by Jaladat Ali Badirkhan, in the Kurdish language and Kurmanji dialect and on Latin characters. It was was a photo magazine, making it a new event at that time. The magazine published 28 issues, but it ceased to be published in 1945, and many Kurdish writers and intellectuals such as Badirkhan, Osman Sabri, Hassan Hashyar and Jagarkhwin wrote in Roahi magazine..

Ster Magazine

It was founded by Dr. Kamran Badirkhan in 1943 in Beirut and lasted only three months, the first issue of which was published in January 1943, the second issue was published in February 1944, and the fifth issue was published in 1945.

Uncle Musa Antar ignited a new flame by the Kurdish intellectual Musa Antar or (Uncle Musa), who began his career in the Kurdish press in 1950, at a time when the Turkish authorities were denying the existence of the Kurdish people, contributed to the demonstration and highlighting the hidden facts, and laid the foundations for a new phase in the Kurdish press.

After he dropped out of the Faculty of Law at Istanbul University, he began writing for the newspapers Shark Postasi and Dijla Qainaghi. His poem Qimil, which he published in the Newspaper Ellery Yurt, caused sentencing him by the authorities in 1959. After the 1960 military coup, he was released. He wrote in Deng, Parsh Donyasi and Yoon, and sometimes in many other magazines such as Tigris-Frat, Yeni Ulke, Ozkor Kundam, Roshan and Tolui.

Uncle Musa published seven books in addition to a Kurdish-Turkish dictionary

In addition to his journalistic career, Uncle Musa lived a life full of giving in the cultural, political and national struggle. He spent 11 years in the Turkish prisons. On September 20, 1992, uncle Musa was assassinated by the Turkish intelligence while returning from the Festival of Culture and Art in Amed. 28 years after his death, and the Turkish authorities are still covering up his murders. Since the 1990s, the torch of Uncle Musa has turned into a legacy for the free media, and despite repression and persecution, those on Uncle Musa's path still carry the flame of truth in the four parts of Kurdistan.

Tomorrow: The Legacy of Free Media

A.J

ANHA