Tuesday, November 18, 2003
[posted by jaed at 9:38 AM]Return to Kurdistan
Here's a series of articles by Sivan Ahmedi. A few tidbits:
...I asked my friend if it was truly advisable that I speak Kurdish in public. He told me, �It is not like the last time you were here. Now, because of the EU, the Turks cannot give us as much trouble.� I hesitantly trusted him and spoke Kurdish everywhere we went, and I indeed encountered no real trouble.Gives a picture of a region that's not discussed much in the conventional media.
[...]
They then asked me what the American people think of KADEK. I told them that perhaps some think that KADEK is a terrorist group, while others, primarily Kurds and leftists, do not share this view. What I said next shocked them; I said that most people in the US probably don�t know about KADEK or simply don�t care about Turkey and the Kurdish question within Turkey�s borders. They asked me about US media perceptions of KADEK and I informed them that, while the media sometimes views KADEK in a negative light, there is very, very little reporting done whatsoever on these issues. Again, they were shocked, and with good reason. The issues that affected these people�s everyday lives were ignored by the media in the world�s most powerful nation.
[...]
We left Mardin and drove through the deserted landscape that leads to Cizre on a road that is just a few steps from the barbed wire fence separating Turkish-administered territory from the portion of Kurdistan occupied by the Syrian dictatorship. I looked into Syria and yelled, �Watch out, President Bush may want you next!�
[...]
I had just entered an area with a visa to Iraqi Kurdistan. I saw only Kurds and heard only Kurdish. I heard and saw the word Kurdistan� and never once heard anyone mention Iraq. Kurdish colors were ubiquitous, as was the beautiful flag of Kurdistan. It was as if I were in an independent state of Kurdistan. I asked myself, �How could this ever be reintegrated into Iraq?�
(via Ideofact)
