The subject of Kurdistan (be it in a political or idealist setting) has always been a controversial one. While no political entity of Kurdistan exists, the topic of establishing a homeland for the Kurds (the largest single ethnic group in the world without their own state) is still a primary political aim of the majority of Kurdish peoples. Kurdish history, culture and language is decidedly rich; and many of the Kurdish bloggers have made it their mission to disseminate as much information as possible about the Kurds to a wider audience. Countries with large populations of Kurdish peoples and/or have regions referred to as Kurdistan are: Iran, Iraq, Syria and Turkey. The majority of bloggers who blog from Kurdistan are located in Northern Iraq, however the Diaspora movement has been gaining more and more ground in the blogosphere. The goal of this weekly posting is to introduce readers to the world of the Kurdish Blogosphere and provide updates onto the current issues being discussed and debated within their blogs.
Perhaps the best site for an introduction into the Kurdish Blogosphere is the Kurdistan Bloggers Union, which has done an excellent job of bringing many diverse voices together in support of the Kurdish peoples. Recently celebrating its one year anniversary, the Kurdistan Bloggers Union has tackled topics ranging from the history of the Kurds, current events in the region, to more whimsical subjects such as combining popular culture with Kurdish culture. Reader support has even lead to the creation of a KBU Forum, used to discuss everything Kurdish, and a News-site. The links on this blog are highly recommended as they have one of the most comprehensive lists of Kurdish Blogs that are written in English. Recent activity on this blog has been focused on the activities of the various members. Vladimir, a Dutch journalist, was recently highlighted for his efforts in the Kurdish cause and an intro was given to his new blog From Holland to Kurdistan, which focuses on the history of the Kurdish people. Piling, another member of the Kurdistan Bloggers Union, gave a photo tour of the Library in the Kurdish Institute of Paris where she is employed as a librarian.
Thematically, the Kurdish Blogs can be divided into 3 main areas of content: Culture, History and Political Commentary. A more detailed explanation of these areas will be given in next week’s installment. However, within the Kurdish Blogosphere it is important to note that in times of crisis the Kurdish Bloggers have proven themselves to be surprisingly quick to respond to issues and, in some cases, fill in the gaps left by media coverage. An example would be of the July 2005 violence against the Kurds within the borders of Iran, most notably in the province of Mahabad. When little or no news was to be found on the events taking place, Kurdish Bloggers formed a site dedicated strictly to giving news about the happenings in Mahabad. This ability (while still in its infancy) to form grassroots activism in the blogosphere is a sign of strength within the Kurdish bloggers and should prove to be interesting to monitor the political development that will generate in the days, months and years to come.
9 comments
Thanks for writing about Kurdistan Bloggers , but it is not true that most of the bloggers are from South Kurdistan [northern iraq]
there is a balance. between Easternand Southern Kurds and Kurds in Diaspora. [Eastern Kurd = Iranian Kurds , South Kurd = Iraqi Kurds]
we would like to inform you, Kurdistan Bloggers Union has made a google bomb . and has made handreds of kurdish sites to link to it so it have a higher rank in google.
if you search for “northern iraq” in google you would find .
http://www.northerniraq.info which in its first page http://www.northerniraq.info/index.html , it tells you ‘not’ to use Northern Iraq word . [there is compaign by occupier governmets – turkey – syria-iran to rename Kurdistan name to Northern Iraq – Eastern Trukey -Western Iran- Eastern Syria]
I would also like to inform you that there are handreds of Kurdish blogs who blog in Kurdish .
Thanks
Kurdistan of Iran has alway been part of Iran and the majority of the Krds in Iran would like it to stay with Iran but we have to distinguish the hatriod that Iranians which the kurds in Iran are and will be part of it has alway hated the terorrist regime of Islamic Republic for killing many ethnic groups such as Kurd, Pars, and ETC
no one will ever dare to seperate Kurdistan from Iran and Kurds would not let that happen cause they love Iran but hate the government jst like the majority of Iranians.
Thank you,Korosh
Thank you both for your comments. They have both been wonderful illustrations of some of the political senitments that surround the topic of Kurdistan. I would like to make it clear that my posts support NO one political viewpoint. I merely seek to report what the bloggers who claim that region of the world have to say.
Very nice post indeed. I loved it from The subject to the last word of “to come” !!
I will post it in this Kurdish foruk http://www.thekurdistani.com/forum/ so that everyone sees it !
Best regards
hello, nice blog