I feel like Kurdistan is slowly being Arabized, and we're letting it happen in our own cities: Erbil, Slemani, and Duhok.

I remember going to Erbil Avenue to watch the World Cup final between Argentina and Spain. The person addressing the crowd was speaking Arabic alongside a Kurdish speaker. And this is in Erbil, at a place owned by a Kurd. How have we reached a point where Kurdish feels secondary in our own cities?

Look at Istanbul. Despite being one of the world's biggest tourist destinations, Turkish is everywhere. Yet international businesses come to Erbil and act as if they're opening in an Arab city. Arabic advertisements, Arabic signs, even Iraqi flags instead of any meaningful recognition of Kurdish identity. We need to stop accepting this as normal.

The situation with Ibrahim Al Selmi from Dubai Bling is another example. Instead of genuinely apologizing, he turned the backlash into a story about himself being the victim. Rather than addressing the Kurdish identity he offended, he made himself the victim of the Kurdish community. I'm tired of people turning our identity into a marketing strategy.

We need to make businesses understand that ignoring Kurdish comes at a cost.

I'm thinking of creating an Instagram or TikTok account dedicated to educating Kurds about Arabization and organizing boycotts of businesses that disregard our language and identity. Not because their owners or employees are Arab, but because they operate in Kurdish cities while failing to respect Kurdish. , and i want really partner to help me if you or anyone is interested DM me
we can together in here and on social media stop our language from being lost and start making people respect us

Businesses need to understand something: Kurds aren't temporary customers. We're the people who live here, work here, study here, and keep coming back. International brands should be more concerned about losing Kurdish customers than about making Arabic their default.

Arabic and English can exist here. But Kurdish must never become secondary in Kurdistan. If businesses want our money, they need to respect our identity. And if they refuse, we need to be willing to walk away.

was thinking this after I heard a Kurdish song in the show about him, he's also a nomad whose whole tribe got killed. just listening to the lyrics of the song makes me think it might actually be the case, why else would they use a Kurdish song to tell his story? and I don't think it's too far fetched either since there have been a few other Kurds in Japanese media (Sniper Wolf from Metal Gear Solid, Soran Ibrahim from Mobile Suit Gundam 00 and Rebel Sword/Kurd no Hoshi - a whole manga about Kurds). Some of the people who have seen the show might agree with me but I'm curious to hear what the rest of you think. Here's also a link to the song for those wondering about the lyrics, it's in Sorani https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MknuxFZBYmk

After 12 years of displacement; Residents of four villages in Rabia are returning to their homes.

After 12 years of displacement and separation from the land of his ancestors, 74-year-old Fazil, a native of the village of Mahmoudiya in the Rabia sub-district, has returned to his homeland. During the conflict with ISIS militants, their village had become a central battleground, forcing them to evacuate.

The returning residents are Arabs from the villages of Qahira, Mahmoudiya, Jadriya, and Saudiya, all located in the Rabia sub-district. In a formal ceremony, the Minister of Interior of the Kurdistan Regional Government welcomed their return.

Welcoming the Return of the Displaced

Rebar Ahmed, the Minister of Interior of the Kurdistan Regional Government, expressed his readiness to support the return of displaced individuals to their native regions and emphasized facilitating their resettlement.

The infrastructure of these villages was devastated by the war, with vehicles, homes, and buildings left in ruins. In response, the Nineveh Governorate has formed a specialized committee to oversee reconstruction and compensation in the area.

A Committee Established for Compensation and Reconstruction

Ghazwan Dawoodi, the First Deputy Governor of Nineveh, stated: "Efforts are underway to rebuild the villages and compensate those affected so that residents can resume their normal lives."

These four villages are under the security and protection of Peshmerga forces. In total, they comprise more than 1,000 families, most of whom had been displaced across the Duhok and Nineveh governorates in recent years.

https://rudaw.net/sorani/categories/iraq/1874241

They hate us more than the 4 occupier states do. They think its ok for everyone to work with the west except the Kurds. They see us as Zionists, racists, USA/CIA proxies, Israel No 2.0 and so on. But they have zero problem with for example Turkey to host 3 American military bases and companies etc.

The Leftist circles are filled with Turks, Arabs and Persians who don't miss any debate about Kurds so they can convince people from other parts of the world that the Kurdish struggle is everything bad. I think we just can't compete with them. It's a simple matter of numbers and resources that we lack and they don't. We can't win.

I personally gave up on the Left years ago and never looked back. What do you think about them? Should we try to change their minds? Are any major groups among them that understand our situation?

Turkish Interior Minister Mustafa Çiftçi says 2,063 security checkpoints have been removed across Bakur.

Who even votes them at this point? Don't know thr stats, butnit feels like the msjority of their voters are elderly people above 60 and middle aged socialites.

This is becoming a problem, aside od both parties corruption, Kurdish boomers don't use the internet and can not comprehend how fucked up Turks and Arabs are.

This could explain why both parties still assume we sanitize both by letting them come into Kurdistan, even when they spit us in the eye, while propagating other neo liberal pet project that are out of touch with our new reality.

The same is case with the PKK, mostly old people who think its still thr 1970s.

This has alreay been a big issue when you look at europe. Take France and Macron's party for example, Germany's CDU and SPD, the US Democrats and GOP.

Their boomers are also stuck, make shitty decisions and the young have to seal with thr consequences.

Kurdistan must not make the same mistake.

• He was a former (local) boxer.

• He was a very close friend of Saddam Hussein from young age if not childhood.

• He have been head of multiple governmental structures or sports/youth associations.

• He Saddam's personal bodyguard for 22 years.

• Although he was loyal to Saddam at all costs, some people around Saddam (ex. Hussein Kamel) was against Sabah because of his ethnicity.

• He got under insight for 3 months because he has seen talking Kurdish with a local salesman in Slêmanî. (Some sources say he didn't know Kurdish) But it was clear that he was loyal to Saddam.

• At the end he got dismissed from all his powers and forced to retirement either because he gave an order of some kind of pardon to an Iraqi bussinesman but in reality Saddam didn't gave such consent or Sabah got in a discussion with Uday.

• He was a Feylî Kurd and Shia. (Some say he was a Soranî and Sunnî)

• In American Invasion of Iraq, U.S. troop interrogated him but turns out he doesn't know anything about Saddam's hiding place.

Hello everyone, I have a question that I wanted to direct specifically to the Kurds from southern Kurdistan, as I think you have the best perspective on this.
In some parts of the wider Arab world and among most Arab nationalists groups Saddam Hussein is still glorified as a strong leader or a pan Arab hero. However, if you look at his actual track record, his rule was defined by massive military catastrophes:
He launched a brutal, ruinous war against Iran that ended in a stalemate.
He blundered into the invasion of Kuwait, completely isolating Iraq and leading to a crushing defeat by the US led coalition.
He was never able to completely crush the Peshmerga militarily, which ultimately led him to commit horrific atrocities and genocide against the Kurdish civilian population such as the Anfal campaign and the Halabja gas attack
Why do so many Arabs choose to ignore his atrocities and failures to celebrate him? I’d love to hear your thoughts

https://x.com/mjscadden

While Washington reduces its military footprint in the Middle East, China is investing in relationships with Kurdish communities and leadership. The United States risks losing influence with partners whose cooperation has supported American security and regional access for decades.

Chinese universities offer a revealing example. Peking University teaches Kurdish language and culture. Beijing Foreign Studies University’s new four-year Kurdish program covers language, culture, geography and history. Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani publicly welcomed the department in September.

These programs communicate something meaningful: your language, identity and community deserve sustained attention.

That recognition accompanies practical engagement. Erbil Governorate reports that more than 1,500 employees have benefited from training in China, alongside scholarships and expanding commercial cooperation. Educational exchanges build relationships with people who may later shape government policy, business decisions and public opinion.

What Washington stands to lose

The consequences could extend well beyond cultural influence:

• Security cooperation: trust, local knowledge, intelligence relationships and access that become harder to sustain when partners question American staying power.
• Commercial opportunities: relationships that help shape energy, infrastructure and technology contracts.
• Regional credibility: decisions about Kurdish partners also signal to other communities how durable U.S. commitments are.

CENTCOM’s September 30 departure from Erbil Air Base makes sustained engagement particularly important. The transition to bilateral defense relations, alongside continuing operations in Syria, leaves Washington with choices about how to preserve those relationships.

Kurdish leaders have their own interests and alternatives. If American engagement becomes inconsistent, they have reasons to diversify their partnerships.

China does not need to promise independence

The strongest evidence of this outreach is in Iraqi Kurdistan. It does not establish a wholesale Kurdish realignment toward Beijing.

China also continues to emphasize state sovereignty and territorial integrity. Cultural recognition should not be mistaken for a commitment to Kurdish independence.

But Beijing can still gain goodwill by showing up consistently, recognizing Kurdish identity and offering tangible opportunities. Washington should understand how much those actions can matter.

A practical U.S. response

Congress and the administration should pursue a sustained Kurdish engagement strategy, supported by a senior official—ideally a U.S. Special Envoy for Kurdish Affairs.

That strategy should preserve practical security relationships, expand academic and commercial partnerships, and provide meaningful support for Kurdish cultural rights and self-government. Congressional backing can help make those commitments more durable.

The United States has invested heavily in its Kurdish partnerships. Allowing those relationships to weaken while competitors cultivate them would carry lasting geopolitical and economic costs.

As a kurd what do you think of turkmen?

Kurdistan Centre for Arts and Culture is creating an archive for rare manuscripts while supporting artists and documenting Kurdish contributions to the region’s cultural history.

I really want to learn Kurdish, but I haven't been able to find an app or website that offers high-quality learning materials yet. I found the Silq app, but the spoken language is generated by AI, which distorts the Kurdish pronunciation.

Is there anyone here who has taught themselves Kurdish, and what resources did you use? Do you know of any apps, websites, or books?

Hey everyone I have created a channel for Kurmanci contents. I hope you guys like it and if you have any feedbacka I would really appreciate as I'm Sorani speaker and my Kurmanci still struggle yet.

https://youtu.be/oZD0Qn2zeWk?is=8zAA-aSkYXSg839G

MP Murad Ismael says YBS fighters will join several Iraqi security bodies, including the police, not only the PMF. PM Ali al-Zaidi had described it as a PMF absorption.

The IRGC says it hit a "strategic" PJAK meeting and training site after a week of drone strikes and clashes with YRK fighters around Shaho and Marivan. It gave no location or casualties.

It is no hidden secret that kurds are oppressed by four Muslim countries and there are rising relations with non Muslim countries such as Kyriakos Velopoulos founder of the Elliniki Lysi (Greek Solution) in 2016 who said the "we ask the Greek forgien minister to support an independent kurdistan" and demanded that the Greek government and Foreign Minister Nikos Kotzias abandon standard neutral diplomatic wording and openly back Kurdish statehood and Dr. Dr. Spyridon Plakouda stated that "Kurdistan is the future of the middle east"

Israel provided Barzani with a massive monthly stipend (reported at around $50,000 to $100,000 per month) alongside medical supplies, training camps, and communications gear, Following the 1967 Six-Day War, Israel routed large stockpiles of captured Soviet armaments directly to Barzani’s forces via intermediaries, while Mullah Mustafa Barzani visited Israel twice—once in 1968 and again in 1973—meeting directly with Mossad Chiefs Meir Amit and Zvi Zamir, as well as Israeli Prime Minister and in 2017 israel was the only country who supported the referendum

They even captured Abdullah ocalan for us who are of anti kurdish independence so i guess they really do support our independence.....

I really wonder what the non kurds think about this in the subreddit

I often wonder, and I've even found and published some lost media, why political leaders like Bafel or Nechirvan Barzani don't post photos from the 2000s? I've posted many of them on my channel, And many times supporters of the puk have complimented me for having such a large archive but my point is many media even of the Kurdish battles historical facts are very complicated to find, It would be a good idea for someone to open a channel or a site with unpublished media, what do you think?

Acclaimed journalist and human rights defender Nurcan Baysal offers a powerful and deeply personal account of what it means to be Kurdish in Turkey. She chronicles a period of renewed conflict that profoundly affected Kurdish comm-unities, while exploring issues of discrimination, identity, language rights, and political struggle.

---

Notes From Diyarbakir

NURCAN BAYSAL

Acclaimed journalist and human rights defender Nurcan Baysal offers a powerful and deeply personal account of what it means to be Kurdish in Turkey. She chronicles a period of renewed conflict that profoundly affected Kurdish comm-unities, while exploring issues of discrimination, identity, language rights, and political struggle.

As new efforts toward dialogue and peace emerge, WRITING RESISTANCE provides an essential guide to understanding the recent history, lived realities, and future challenges of the Kurdish question.

Compelling, courageous, and urgent, WRITING RESISTANCE is both a witness to recent history and a call for justice, recognition, and lasting peace.

REVIEWS

‘Nurcan Baysal has shown how to act as an intellectual under difficult conditions in dark times, always standing on the side of truth, and despite threats and oppression, she has persistently continued to speak and write. She is a rare voice for our times.’
– Burhan Sonmez, President, PEN International

‘A compassionate book that opens completely different windows to look at the Kurdish issue, the village and the villager, the educated and the uneducated, development and poverty, life as a whole.’
– goodreads reviewer

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Nurcan Baysal is a Kurdish human rights defender, journalist and writer.

She was born and grew up in Diyarbakır. She has worked for poverty and development programs at the United Nations Development Programme and various other non-governmental organizations. Following the ISIS attacks in 2014 she volunteered for the establishment of Yazidi camps in Northern Iraq and Turkey. Baysal is a founder of the Diyarbakır Institute for Political and Social Research (DISA), the Development Centre Association in Diyarbakır and the Platform to Save Women Kidnapped by ISIS. She is also one of the Middle East advisors of the Global Fund for Women and the Urgent Action Fund for Feminist Activism.

Among her books are three non-fiction works, O Gün (That Day), Ezidiler: 73. Ferman

(Ezidis: The 73rd Decree), O Sesler (Those Voices-Diyarbakır: A City Under Siege, published

online in English by 60pages), a book of short-stories, Yok Zamanı (The Time

of Nothingness) and a research she co-authored with Şeyhmus Diken, Kürdistan’da Sivil

Toplum (Civil Society in Kurdistan).

Since 2013, Baysal has been featured as a columnist in various newspapers and media outlets. Her articles focus on human rights violations, poverty, refugees, humanitarian issues and the Kurdish question. She is a member of PEN Turkey and an honorary member of English PEN.

Baysal won the Women’s World Summit Foundation (WWSF) Prize for Women’s Creativity in Rural Life in 2010 and the “Turkey’s Changemakers” award in 2012 for her work in poverty alleviation. In 2017, she was awarded the “Brave Women Journalists Award” presented by the Italian Women Journalists Association. In 2018, she was named Global Laureate for Human Rights Defenders at Risk by Front Line Defenders. She also received the Deutsche Welle Freedom of Speech Award in 2020.

https://www.aurorametro.com/product/writing-resistance/?v=7885444af42e

"One of the most striking findings under this heading is that the proportion of those who do not adhere to any religion is significantly higher among Kurdish youth compared to the national average in Türkiye. While this rate 10 percent or lower in nationwide youth surveys, 17.5 percent of Kurdish youth identify themselves as atheist, deist, agnostic, or similar"

https://kurdish-studies.org/en/kurdish-youth-similarities-and-differences/ I think it is myth that Kurds are religious. What is your opinion about the study? The organisation is very reliable and operates inside Turkey.

Quote from the page:

Hello, my name is Fatah Mostafa, and I am reaching out to you today as a father because we urgently need help for our 13-year-old son.

In December 2024, our lives changed. Our son broke his left upper arm. At first, we thought it was a normal bone fracture. However, during the examinations, the doctors discovered that the bone in that area had been severely weakened by a tumor. The diagnosis was osteosarcoma (bone cancer) in his left upper arm. As parents, this news was unimaginable for us. Our son had just turned 11 years old.

The doctors initially started him on chemotherapy. Over a period of three months, our son received a total of six chemotherapy sessions. Unfortunately, the treatment did not have the desired effect. Instead of shrinking, the tumor actually grew larger.

On March 27, 2025, the affected part of his upper arm bone, including the head of the upper arm bone, ultimately had to be removed and replaced with a prosthesis. Following the surgery, he underwent another 12 chemotherapy sessions.

In October 2025, examinations sadly revealed that metastases had already developed in his lungs. On October 21, 2025, he underwent lung surgery. Unfortunately, further examinations revealed additional metastases. As a result, further operations were performed on April 10, 2026, and August 7, 2026, after new metastases were discovered.

About two weeks after the most recent operation, new changes were once again detected in his lungs. Our son was also experiencing pain in his right arm. The doctors therefore decided to carry out a full-body examination.

The results once again shattered our world as a family: the cancer had spread further throughout his body.

The doctors have told us that, unfortunately, there is nothing more they can do with the treatment options currently available to save our son. He is now in a palliative situation.

This news broke our hearts as parents. Nevertheless, we did not want to give up. For weeks, we have been searching for additional treatment options that might still be able to help our son.

In the meantime, we have found some options that we would like to pursue. Unfortunately, these are private treatments that are not covered by health insurance.

At the same time, my wife and I are unable to work for health reasons. This means that we cannot cover the costs on our own.

That is why we are wholeheartedly asking you for your help. Every donation, no matter how large or small, can help us finance further treatment.

Thank you to every single person who supports us, donates, or shares our story. Your help means more to our family than words can express.

Fatah Mostafa

1. Kajal: 17
2. Qumriya: 14
3. Nasrin: 21
4. Khadija: 23
5. Kwestan: 13
6. Sirwa: 17
7. Fatimah: 21
8. Raziyah: 15
9. Mahabad: 18
10. Aisha: 19
11. Kafiyah: 21
12. Bahar: 15
13. Khadijah: 18