Second Kurdish Book Fair launched in Qamishli city
QAMISHLI, Syria (North Press) – On Monday, the second edition of the Kurdish Book Fair was launched in the city of Qamishli, northeast Syria.
The event, which is organized by the Culture Board of the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES), will continue until May 17. The fair contains 12,140 books of dozens of different genres, including culture, literature, history, and women, among other things.
May 15, the Kurdish Language Day, coincides with the publication of the first Kurdish magazine, named ‘Hawar’, in Damascus in 1932. It was published by Kurdish researcher and writer Jaladat Ali Baderkhan.
Elias Selo, co-chair of the AANES Culture Board, told North Press, “The Autonomous Administration gave writers the opportunity to express themselves in their own language [Kurdish] and publish books in the Kurdish language. It was previously marginalized, and writers were unable to write or print their work.”
Thirty-two publishing houses, cultural institutions, and unions from North and East Syria are participating in the event. In addition, the fair is exhibiting books from the Kurdish regions of Turkey, Iraq and Iran, but publishing houses in these areas were unable to participate because of obstacles at the border, according to Selo.
Kurdish researcher and poet Saleh Haido, who is participating in the event, told North Press, “It is time for Kurds and the new generation to take pride in living their lives in their own culture and to read books in their own language,” stressing that Kurds do not enjoy their rights as they should.
He said, “We are not poor; we are rich in our language. However, cultural assimilation campaigns have hindered us from keeping up. Today, the situation is different because we are now writing in our language, studying in our schools, and learning our Kurdish history.”