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One year after sheikh Maashuk al-Khaznawî’s death, the case remains mysterious and still unclarified. But will it be ever cleared up ?
Kurdish-Israeli relations : Barzani sends Ulemas packing
During his last visit in Kuweit, the president of the Region of Kurdistan, Masud Barzani, has answered, when some asked him about Kurds ad Israel ‘s relations :
“It is not a crime to have relationswith Israël. If Bagdad establish diplomatic relations with Israël, we could open a consulate in Erbil (Hewlêr).”
Immediately, he’s provoked the wrath of the “Muslim Ulemas’s Committee” (funny name, should people could believe that they are Buddishts?), composed with Iraqi sunnis anti-Americans (and then anti-sionists, as a consequence) :
“Such statements are very dangerous and harm the feelings of 1,5 milliard of muslims in the world, which had suffered, directly or not because of Hebrew State”, said the Committee in a communiqué. “It does not represent Iraqi people and does not serve the national interest of Iraq, neither today nor in the future. If Barzani is in relation with Israelis, then he should ask them to stop to harm our brother in Palestine”, added the Committee.
Indeed, if Iraqi sunnis are anti-Israelis, we don’t care, but how could they dare to whimper for the “feelings” of 1 millard of people which would have “suffered” because of Israël (everybody knows that all muslims in the world have no problems nor sufferings than by Tel Aviv politics), while Kurds had been massacred in the general indifference of their “brothers” (and especially of their Palestinian “brothers”) ? Promptly Barzani has curtly answered :
“Obviously, the Committee did not read Mr Barzanis’ statement.”
(Indeed ? Could he insinuate that these Ulemas talk a lot but can’t read correctly ?”)
” Concerning Isreal, the Kurdish position is bound with the position of Bagdad, then Bagdad shoudl decide, and this decision will be implemented in Kurdistan”, says the communiqué.
(shortly : You repeat constantly that we should stay within Iraqi borders, that we are only a federal region, then for issues of forein policy, let’s complain to the right persons).
And especially :
“What right has the Committee to pretend speaking in the name of all muslims? Why did it never react to denounce the crime of Halabja and Kurds’ sufferings ?”, wondered Mr Barzani, which has invited also the Committee to stop to publish “takfiri communiqués”.
(in petto : instead of plaguing everybody ?)
Takfiri are the last fashionalbe extremist sunni movement, which condems as heretic, unpious, etc… all the people who don’t belong to their group, in fact, and in Iraq it makes a lot of “kafirs” : Kurds, Christians, Yezidis, Shabaks, Shiites, Communists, atheists, etc.” Indeed, it would be better to find a desert planet for tall these takifiris, where they could kill them each others for issues of purification and ritual.
(source AFP).
Southern Kurdistan jammed between PKK and Turkey
Few days ago, Leyla Zana made a visit in Southern Kurdistan, in the aim to meet Masud Barzani and Jalal Talabani, the presidents of Kurdistan and Iraq, for talking about something that worries her more than the Kurdish question in Turkey : I mean a possible military intervention of Turkish troops in Iraq, to expell the PKK basis. Leyla Zana offers the great advantage to demonstrate clearly for which side she works herself. Astoundingly silenced during the riots of Diyarbakir, she, who likes to take a Kurdish Pasoniaria’s attitude, cares a lot about border incidents in Iraq. And as a very helpful person, then she ran to meet Barzani, for an uncertain mission… Does she want to explain him how he has to do for having a free State without being ataatcked by Turkey ? In any case, Barzani answered patiently by criticising the new bellicist line of the PKK, explaining that ” “Radicalism is over. Toughness just brings blood. Everyone realizes that it is impossible to achieve our aims through weapons. We can succeed if we get together”, in short, everybody (but the PKK) knows here that violent action are useless, and if the PKK stop its attacks from Kandil mountains, incidents would decrease a lot at Iraqi border.
Call for Papers
Annales Islamologiques no 41 (June 2007)
A special issue of Annales Islamologiqueswill be edited in June 2007 dedicated to The Diplomatic Conventions in the Islamic World. The researchers are kindly invited to submit their proposalsfor articles (title and maximum one page summary) by e-mail until June 15th, 2006. They will be informed before June 30th, 2006 whether their paper is accepted (or not). The completed articles should be written in French, Arabic or English and have to be transmitted to the coordinator October 1st, 2006 at the latest. A committee, should the occasion arise, will ask the authors for modifications.
The Golden House of Samarkand
In “The Golden House of Samarkand” Corto Maltese goes through Anatolia in 1920s, during the War of Independance between Kurdish-Turkish-Russian-Armenians troops. Like in “Ethiopiques” and “Scorpions of desert”, Hugo Pratt enjoyed to describe the collapses of an empire, and these big messes where different nations and heterodox cults made alliances or fought each others, with the cupidity of treasures hunters, patriotic and idealistic butchers deceived by History, secret political or mystic brotherhoods, dreams, trances and passages in the “Barzakh”… (more…)
Al-Maqamat
Al-Maqamat is one of the most famous books of Arab literature during the Middle-Age. It tales the funny adventures of a tricky traveler, a genius in language, grammar and poetry, Abu Zayd. Moreover, we can see that calling extremist and puritan Islam of nowadays “a return to Middle-Age” is stupid, when we are reading these stories, where people enjoyed to drink wine and fall in love with beautiful and handsome youths, from both genders… No, Middle-Age period was not at all a general Talibanstan… (more…)
Nasr ed-Dîn Hoja taught Kurdish
Nasr ed-Din Hoja’s sayings are one of the best tales’ book in the tradition of crazy saints”. They are also very representative of Turkish humour, always fond of nonsense. I reproduced a short story showing that at this time, Kurdish was a common language in Anatolia, and that even the name of Kurdistan was not a taboo. What is interesting from a historical point of view, is that the tale indicates that man could live by teaching this language, and then that some people wished to learn it. Why ? In the anecdote, it is for trade. So we could guess that the interest for learning a language had always been the same one : economical, buiseness, or for a job. So with the raising of Southern Kurdistan state, perhaps Kurdish courses will increase in Turkey, even for Turks ! 🙂
WORD AND THING”Nasr Eddin Hoja, wanted to gain a few money. He decided to give Kurdish courses, though he knew only few words of this language.
His first pupil is a trader who has to go to Kurdistan for his own buiseness.
– Let me teach at first useful words for my travel. How do you say “hot soup”, for example, for I will stay at inn ?
– Hot soup is “arsh” answered Nasr Eddin without any hesitation.
– What ? replied the pupil, with surprise, only one word for telling “hot soup !” I would be curious to know how you say “cold soup !”
– There is no word for that, answered Nasr Eddîn.
– Why ?
– Because Kurds dislike to eat cold soup.”
(NB : I don’t find any Kurdish word like Ars or Ers, for telling a meal. Perhaps Hoja stole it from another language… or invented it !
Öcalan : Bes,ikçi the bad guy harms Turkish State…
This time, Abdullah Öcalan criticizes Ismaîl Bes,kçi (not surprising, if we think that all the people who made and make REALLY something for Kurdish cause are soon or late a target). But the motive is one of the funniest : Ismaïl Bes,ikçi attacks Turkish State ! Mmm… very bad guy, isn’t it ? In any case, Öcalan could not overlook a such mistake. Then, during his last meeting with his lawyers, on February 28th, he stated fiery critics against the Turkish sociologist, who faced already legal pursuits in Turkey for his academic works about Kurds, while the PKK was not still existed.
EasternTurkey, Anatolia, Kurdistan
It is always interesting to ferret old dictionnaries of History and geography. Thus, the Bouillet (ed. 1880), at the entry “Anatolia” mentionned it as a portion of Minor Asia :
“Anatolia, which had formed during a long time one single pashalik, whith Koutayeh (Kütahya) as capitale, is today divided in 11 eyalets : Trebizond, Kastamuni, Kodavenkiar, Biga, Angora (Ankara), Farukhan, Aïdin, Karaman (Caramania), Adana, Marash, Sivas.”
Baskin Oran’s defence
Both professors Oran and Kaboglu case face trial and 5 years in jail on charges of “inciting hatred and enmity and denigration of the judiciary” for having written a report on minority rights in Turkey, report which had been ordered by Turkish Prime Minister. The crime of this report ? It “urged govt to recognize some Muslim groups, such as Kurds, as minorities, sparking debate in media and calling into question Turkish identity in country where all Muslims, regardless of ethnicity, are considered Turks” (New Anatolian). (more…)