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Kurdish Literature In The Former Soviet Union Republic Of Armenia

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  • Kurdish Literature In The Former Soviet Union Republic Of Armenia

    KURDISH LITERATURE IN THE FORMER SOVIET UNION REPUBLIC OF ARMENIA
    Ferhad Pirbal

    Kurdish Globe
    Aug 7 2008
    Iraq

    Although Kurdish literature and culture in the former Soviet Union
    and especially in Armenia do not have a long history, they do have a
    distinct identity in the first quarter of the last century, and they
    did play a role in the development of Kurdish literature in general.

    The Kurdish population in the former Soviet Union republics of
    Armenia, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, and others numbers about
    one million.

    Most historians believe that Kurds were in Caucasia before the 11th
    century in districts around Armenia and Georgia, which means Kurds
    lived there before the era of Salahadin Aiyobi and before Russia
    conquered Armenia and Turkmenistan. Some Kurds later migrated to
    Armenia from Azerbaijan and Turkey.

    Beginning in 1813, after the agreement of Gulistan, part of Georgia
    and Azerbaijan came under the power of a Russian tsar. In 1921,
    all Caucasian districts came under Russia's power. These events,
    oppression, and the displacement of Kurds were the reasons Kurds
    gathered in Armenia and Georgia. Most of the Kurds living now in
    Georgia and especially in Armenia are Yazidis, and there are 50,000
    Kurds presently living in Azerbaijan who have no right to practice
    their national culture and freedom.

    Kurds in the former Soviet Union had partial freedom and the right
    to write and publish works in the Kurdish language. Only there had
    Kurdish cultural life developed.

    The relationship between Kurds and Armenians involved not only a shared
    neighborhood in the Soviet Armenian Republic, but also a social and
    cultural relationship between them dating back to old times, similar
    to the relationship in parts of Turkish and Iranian Kurdistan.

    >From the mid 19th century onward, prose style and translation in
    Kurdish literature began in earnest with assistance from the Armenians.

    In 1857, the Bible was translated into Kurdish for the first time. It
    was translated from Greek into Kurdish Kirmanji and printed in the
    Armenian alphabet in Istanbul by Armenian missionaries and saints.

    The second edition of the second translated book titled Alpha Be Jeya
    Kirmaniji and Armenian is in the Kirmanji dialect, in the Armenian
    alphabet, and again was published and printed in Istanbul with the
    assistance of Armenian authors and saints. The book is in both Kurdish
    and Armenian.

    This translated book had many firsts: It was the first educational book
    for children; the first book to interpret the Bible; the first book
    to write history in Kurdish; the first book to include illustrations
    in Kurdish; the first Kurdish book in the Armenian alphabet; and the
    first Kurdish-Armenian dictionary. The dictionary contains more than
    300 Kurdish-Armenian words.

    Thus, the Kurdish-Armenian relationship began before 1917 and before
    the founding of the Republic of Armenia in the Soviet Union.

    The 1917 Russian October Revolution represented the rise in the life of
    Kurds in Soviet Armenia, which resulted in strengthening ties between
    both peace-loving nations. The Armenians gained the freedom to write
    in the Republic of Armenia. Meanwhile, under the decree of Lenin,
    Kurds were allowed to read and write in Kurdish and also have their
    educational curriculum and publications in the Kurdish language. In
    brief, since that October Revolution, Armenians took great care in
    developing Kurdish literature and language in the Republic of Armenia.

    Armenians living in the Republic of Armenia and Turkey really wanted
    Kurdistan to become an independent state after World War I.

    The Bulletin Armenian magazine (1920, vols. 19-20), which was published
    in Paris in French, wrote: "Sharing the same religious attitude by
    Kurds and Turks is not an excuse; that to make Sharif Pasha think of
    giving Kurds autonomy, and also he thinks that this autonomy is better
    to be under the attendance of Turkey, because such a kind of autonomy
    is not more than conspiracy (ploy). Religion has a weak relationship
    with national independency and freedom. The struggle of the Armenian
    nation is not religious. The only aim is that the Armenian nation
    achieve their own national independence?we hope the Kurdish nation
    continue in their struggle for independence."

    One of the good deeds of the Soviet Union in Lenin's era was that
    in 1921 onward, a campaign was established to eradicate illiteracy
    among Kurds. So, beginning in 1921, all Kurds sent their children to
    schools. According to historical sources, before 1917, 90% of Kurds
    were illiterate. After the 1930s, all Kurds were literate, and at
    the end of the 1920s, 44 Kurdish schools existed in the Soviet Union.

    Under the order of Lenin in 1923, the Kurdish districts, as a
    political independent center, received autonomous administration and
    self-management in what was called Red Kurdistan; its capital city
    was Lachine, in the district of Nagoron-Karabakh.

    For five years, the autonomous region of Red Kurdistan released a
    newspaper called Red Kurdistan (Sovetskia Kurdistan). After 1929, when
    the dictator Stalin took power, Kurds lost their autonomous region;
    he did not recognize the rights of ethnic minorities, and Kurds'
    cultural rights were violated. Stalin ordered that the region of Red
    Kurdistan be administered by Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan. Thus,
    the displacement and torture of Kurds began again, especially in
    Azerbaijan.

    In 1921, Armenian author Hagob Gazarian Lazo, in Echmiadzin city (near
    Yerevan) in the Soviet Union, formulated the Armenian alphabet into the
    Kurdish language and published it in an illustrated book titled Shamis;
    special Kurdish phonetics were added to the Armenian alphabet in the
    book. From 1921 onward, Shamis became a basic source for the Armenian
    alphabet in Soviet Armenia. Many schools were inaugurated, like Lazo
    School and the Kurdish Club. In these schools, the Kurdish language
    in the Armenian alphabet was practiced. In 1928, with the assistance
    of Armenian author Orbeli, the Latin alphabet replaced the Armenian
    alphabet in writing in Kurdish. The Latin alphabet was formulated by
    Arabi Shamo and Mara Golif. On January 1, 1930, the Latin alphabet was
    officially practiced and used in Armenia and Georgia, but the practice
    of Kurdish culture, language, and writing was forbidden in the Republic
    of Azerbaijan. In Baku, the first Kurdish book was printed in 1930. In
    the years 1933-36, only six Kurdish books were printed in Turkmenistan.

    Kurds were very comforted in Armenia, more than in any other Soviet
    republic. From 1929 onward, the number of printed books increased in
    Armenia. What played an effective role in spurring Kurdish journalism,
    translation, and literature was a weekly newspaper titled Reya Taza
    (1930-38 and 1955-93), which was released by the Armenian Communist
    Party.

    Before that date, in 1927 in the Soviet Union Republic of Armenia,
    a Kurdish film titled Zare was produced. The silent, 72-minute,
    black-and-white film was directed by Beg Nazarov and produced by
    Armenkino. It talked about the life of Kurdish Yazidi nomads on the
    Soviet Union borders (Turkish Kurdistan at 1915). In the years 1931-32,
    in the Republic of Armenia, more than nine books were translated
    from Armenian and Russian into Kurdish. And in 1932-33, there were
    40 Kurdish schools with 71 Kurdish teachers and 1,936 pupils. An
    institution for teachers was opened, and in 1932, a branch for Kurdish
    authors was founded within the Armenian Authors Union. Their first
    published work was the novel Shvane Kurd by Arabi Shamo. After that,
    they published a 664-page book about Kurdish folklore. It is a fact
    that 1932-38 were the golden-age years in developing Kurdish culture
    in Soviet Armenia. In 1934, a conference was held for Kurdish authors
    about writing in Kurdish and Kurdish literature. In 1937, a radio
    program in Kurdish was broadcast. Several other films were produced
    in Kurdish.

    >From 1938 on, at the beginning of World War II, caring about Kurdish
    culture and language gradually dissolved; Reya Taza was shut down,
    and printing Kurdish books no longer occurred. Above all, during the
    years 1944-45, the new policy of dissolving the Kurdish culture and
    language was practiced in the Soviet Union. At that time, we see
    the Latin alphabet was no longer used and instead replaced by the
    Cyrillic alphabetic (the Russian alphabet), and authors like Arabi
    Shamo were sent into exile by Stalin.

    After the death of Stalin in 1956, the process of printing Kurdish
    books began anew. The Kurdish radio program and Reya Taza reactivated
    their programs and printing. Music, painting, and especially theatrical
    activities were revived in Armenia and Georgia. In 1961, more than
    130 Soviet Kurds were studying at Moscow, Yerevan, Leningrad, and
    Baku universities.

    During this short period of time, dozens of Kurdish academics,
    journalists, authors, and artists in Soviet Union republics,
    especially in the Republic of Armenia, appeared and became famous in
    all four parts of Kurdistan. Michael Rashid published his poems in
    1925 and onward. Appearing were Karlini Chachan in 1929, Amini Avdal
    in 1932, and then in 1934 on, storywriter Jasme Jalil and novelist
    Arabi Shamo. Others like Haji Jundi, Waziri Nadri, Qachaghe Murad,
    Lady Jamilay Jalil, Shakroy Khido, Ordikhani Jalil, Tosin Rashid,
    Askari Buik, and Dr. Jalili Jalil also appeared.
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