At the International PEN Conference in Cambridge, which took place in April 1988, there has been a motion to vote for the foundation of a Kurdish PEN Centre. This process has been initiated by the Kurdish author Hüseyin Erdem and he was supported by a few Kurdish writers and other PEN-centres. All delegates of this international conference voted for the foundation of a Kurdish Centre, there was no vote against and no abstention.

This was the first time in Kurdish history that a national Kurdish organisation becomes a member of an international body having equal rights with others. This achievement was an important step for the Kurdish language and literature enabling them to gather dignity and strength and to gain an international acceptance.

This was followed up by a necessary bureaucratic and legal groundwork. As a result, the Kurdish PEN Centre was officially registered in Spring, 1990, by the District Court and Tax Office in Cologne / Köln, Germany, to be able to do its activities in accordance with the German laws and to acquire the duties and rights of a legal person.

The most important function of Kurdish PEN is to be a platform for Kurdish and Kurdish-speaking authors, journalists and editors, both on national and international levels. This means first of all that Kurdish PEN is open to all Kurdish writers - living in their home countries as well as those in exile - who accept the principles of International PEN as manifested in the PEN Charter.

Since its foundation, the Kurdish PEN Centre has tried to bring all Kurdish writers together, notwithstanding their political opinions or origins. This is a very difficult task regarding the tragic fate of the Kurdish people being divided between the four states, namely, Turkey, Iran, Iraq and Syria. To accomplish this, we organise poetry-readings with Kurdish authors presenting their works and discussing them with others. We also organise literary events for Kurdish and foreign authors with the aim to strengthen a mutual understanding.

Another important function of Kurdish PEN is to make International PEN, other centres and of course the public aware of the oppression, problems and difficulties facing our culture. That means our active participation in the committees of International PEN such as in the Writers for Peace Committee, Writers in Prison Committee, Woman Writers Committee and the Translation and Linguistic Rights Committee. We display our strong support for oppressed writers, journalists and editors in every part of the world. In addition, we co-organise international events, contact with other national PEN centres and governments. Worth mentioning in this context is an international conference organised by Kurdish PEN and the Kurdish Institute in Brussels which took place in December 1999 and endeavoured to inform public opinion world-wide about the situation of the Kurdish language and literature.

Many members of our centre are living in exile in Europe, mostly in Germany. That means that our annual congresses and meetings are taking place in Germany, but our aim is always to insure that our members for example in Turkey could join our meetings. It is still very difficult to set up contacts with our members in Iran, Iraq, and Syria, because we have to care for their safety.

Despite all kinds of oppression, Kurdish authors, journalists and editors together with their Turkish supporters who publish Kurdish literary production in Turkey, believe that Kurdish literature follows a right path. As you may know, Mr. Mehmet Uzun has shown us the way of being a successful author using the Kurdish language on a high level and there are a lot of young Kurdish talents who will follow him. I respect the courage of those people who work under the dreadful circumstances, including constant danger of being arrested or tortured. Regrettably as it is, there is still a discrepancy between what the Turkish Government says and what the authorities and courts in Turkey do.
 

Despite the situation of split of our nation between four so different states, Kurdish literature – written by Kurdish authors from Turkey, Iran, Iraq, Syria as well as those living in the newly independent states of the former Soviet Union - has a common cultural source and origin: the rich heritage of Kurdish songs, poems, ballads, myths and fables. Even in modern Kurdish literature one finds a sensitive reverberation of our roots. At the same time, it is obviously natural that Kurdish literature has been influenced by actual circumstances in those countries where our people live as well as by other literatures and cultures to which we come in contact.

As far as the production of Kurdish national literature concerns, we are still facing a lot of serious difficulties. First of all, as a result of our political division, there is no common Kurdish language which could be understood by all the Kurds. Our language and literature develops in several dialects and two types of letters, that is, Latin (used by the majority) and Arabic (adapted by the Kurds from Iran and Iraq).

Another point is, that in comparative terms, while taking into account our population figures, the number of our readers are relatively small. The reasons of why many Kurds could not read and write in their mother tongue are well known: the Kurdish language has been oppressed for decades especially in Turkey, Syria and Iran and many Kurds have never had an education opportunity in Kurdish.

Reflecting all these difficulties it is to understand that the literary communication and production exchanges between the different Kurdish communities are not easy. However, there are many Kurdish organisations, magazines, broadcasts and other projects dealing with our language and literature which cover all parts of Kurdistan. The Kurdish PEN-Centre is one among them, because we open the door to our authors and communities to work together in favour of bewaring the cultural heritage of all Kurds.

I think first of all we have to support the Kurdish movement in Turkey claiming their rights for Kurdish language education and to strengthen the international pressure upon the Turkish government to change their attitude towards the Kurdish language, literature and mass media. The political circles of the European Union as well as the international media should use all the possible influence to persuade the Turkish government and public that freedom for the Kurdish language and literature is not a threat to the "national unity" of Turkey. On the contrary, it would enrich the society as a whole.

Independently of the fact whether the Turkish policy with respect to the Kurdish matters will change or not, namely, whether violence is to be repeated against the peaceful and democratic demands to accept our cultural identity, nothing can prevent the Kurdish people in Turkey from claiming their rights. The power of information concerning Kurdish literature and language by new virtual media, including Kurdish broadcasts, newspapers and magazines will overcome all the barriers built before. A Kurdish proverb says: "When it is spring time, the grass will even grow under a big stone". Some weeks ago I met a young man who writes stories in perfect Kurdish although he never had a chance to be educated in his mother-tongue. This is the best proof for Kurdish literary awareness in Turkey.

Kurdish writers are working more then ten years together with writers all over the world. In addition to in Kurdish PEN, there are also Kurdish members in other national centres and of course other associations of writers.

Concerning PEN International, I can say that there is a lot of international solidarity with the Kurds. We tried to join all international conferences and to establish contacts with other centres. We have always enjoyed support while working on the resolutions concerning Kurdish authors, editors and journalists and organising meetings and other projects on an international level.

It is very difficult to give a short overview of Kurdish literary production, because there are so many activities world-wide. The Kurdish literature in exile is the most important part of a real Renaissance of Kurdish literature. In this context, Sweden plays an important role in the production of Kurdish literature, because Swedish authorities allocate the Kurds a relatively large publication budget. The creation of Kurdish Library and other institutions have been encouraged and in Sweden hundreds of titles have appeared in the last years so it was the biggest Kurdish literary production outside South-Kurdistan / Iraq.

Many important Kurdish poets and writers have published a number of better-known pieces of Kurdish literature in the former Soviet Union where they were given an elementary and advanced education in Kurdish for many decades. Upon the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 and the emergence of newly independent states in the Caucasus area, the situation has completely changed and many well-known Kurdish writers were compelled to leave these areas and to settle in West Europe.

In many other countries of Europe - in Germany, France, Belgium, to name just a few – as well as in many countries all over the world, the Kurds have founded organisations with the aim to protect and develop Kurdish culture and literature. The world net helps us to spread pieces of Kurdish literature and inform about our literary activities.

Therefore I might dare to say that all over the world, primarily in the countries with democratic governments, you can hear the voice of Kurdish literature. The new blossoming of Kurdish poets and writers illustrates the striking parallelism between the right of free expression and development of Kurdish literature.

Kurdish PEN plans to establish branches in South-Kurdistan / Iraq and, if possible, in Turkey, because we want a better integration of those writers and their valuable activities in our centre. In Syria and Iran such a project is still not possible without putting our members in danger.

Another long term project is a meeting with the members of Turkish PEN under the patronage of and in collaboration with International PEN somewhere in Europe, perhaps in Norway or Sweden. I think at least Turkish and Kurdish writers and intellectuals should be able to discuss the essential questions of freedom, the right of free expression and human rights for all people living in Turkey.

Our short time projects include literary meetings with writers coming from the parts of Kurdistan and foreigners. The next meeting is to be held in Dresden, Germany, on November, 22- 24, 2002.

Yours,

Dr. Zaradachet Hajo

President of Kurdish PEN