Most people of conscience feel a frightful crime of unspeakable brutality was executed against more than a million Armenians when they were horrifically slaughtered by the old Turkish Ottoman Empire beginning especially in 1915. We weren’t around then, of course, but some of our ancestors—it pains me to admit—unfortunately embraced the Turkish butchering orders, and… Continue reading
Tag Archives: Turkey
The War in Gaza and the Kurds
By KANI XULAM 8/3/2014 Tons of printer’s ink—as well as barrels of precious blood—have been shed over the bitter war raging in Gaza between Israeli Defense Forces and Al-Qassam Brigades. Although Kurds don’t have a dog in the fight, the combat has been a hot topic among Kurds in and outside of Kurdistan. Kurds in… Continue reading
Of Kurds and Those Who Observe Them
By KANI XULAM 6/7/2014 June was a good month for the Kurds. That is if you subscribe to the Hollywood adage: “There’s no such thing as bad publicity.” Kurds have had some bad news, for sure, but some good news too. First the good news: “The Kurds and Iraq: A Winning Hand,” ran a headline… Continue reading
An Open Letter to the President of the United States
March 17, 2013 “We are the ones we have been waiting for.” Barack Hussein Obama Dear President Obama, Like the sudden fall of Berlin Wall you showed up unannounced in my life. Like most Americans, I was not prepared for your spectacular entrance— exploding upon the national scene as the star-studded keynote speaker at the… Continue reading
A Cry For Freedom
They viciously snatched his body from the hospital and cruelly dumped it in the dirt road of the village where he was born—as if he were a filthy bag of rotten potatoes. Continue reading
‘Innocence’ or ‘Schadenfreude’
In its reports, don’t expect to find a reference to Ismail Besikci who first “discovered” Kurds in Turkey and was awarded 17 years behind bars for his “treasonous” efforts nor a mention of Giuseppe Mazzini who had the likes of Kurds in mind when he said, “without [a] country … you are the bastards of humanity,” nor an acknowledgement of Tacitus who had the likes of Turks in mind when he said, “Master race and liberty do not go together.”
Instead bigoted Turks define the Kurds and turncoat Kurds act as exhibits of why Kurds should never enjoy a place of their own under the sun.
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Kurds Sue Turkish Government over Massacre of Their Compatriots
For the crimes of encouraging and instigating the mass murder: Fethullah Gülen, Cult Leader, 1857 Mt. Eaton Road, Saylorsburg, PA 18353, USA; For the crimes of creating the conditions and environment for the crimes of mass murder and mass injury by abusing their power and recklessly ignoring their public responsibilities: Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Turkish Prime Minister… Continue reading
When a Kurdish Boy Meets a German Girl
“They get together again and often, but Selim is uneasy.” Continue reading
Arab Spring — The Kurdish Version Is In the Offing
The people of Gaza speak Arabic with impunity; the people of Diyarbakir, unless they want to be hermits, are forced to speak Turkish. But that is not how the Turkish prime minister sees the situation. Diyarbakir he dismisses out of hand. Gaza he wants to grab with ten fingers. Continue reading
Should There be an Independent Kurdistan?
U. S. Naval Academy Annapolis, Maryland (An older version of this statement was also delivered at Johns Hopkins University on March 21, 2005) Kani Xulam April 4, 2005 Imagine I were an American and lived some sixty plus years ago and said I am for the Japanese invasion of America, or a Russian who concurred… Continue reading