2 June 2007 | BEJAN MATUR
The University of Kurdistan is the modern face of the Kurdish region, seeking as soon as possible to become the new Dubai and integrate with the world without compromising its traditional side.
Meanwhile Salahaddin University is still in search of a language of instruction. The Kurdish administration requires that Kurdish-based education be introduced in institutions with Arabic as the current language of instruction. However because Kurdish textbooks have not yet been published, the academics give classes based on their own translations of textbooks in Arabic.
There is no such problem at the University of Kurdistan. All the current faculty members are foreigners. The university places special emphasis on the social sciences, although the university administration is also trying to establish a petrochemical institute.
University President Abbas Vali is a respected academic who has published a number of scholarly articles on Kurdish nationalism. He was a visiting professor at İstanbul’s Boğaziçi University a few years ago. Vali notes that the university follows the US style in the discipline of foreign affairs and the British style in politics. What kind of people will this approach train? Vali is very careful about this: “Our goal is to train cadres that will be able to speak a foreign language fluently, grasp the essence of politics and serve in bureaucratic posts. Of course we cannot decide who will govern Kurdistan in the future. However no matter who does, we will train the qualified personnel who will serve them.”
In hope of further clarification, we point out that the university is the only building with no prominent picture of Barzani or Talabani on display and ask what difference there might be between the university’s graduates and the present rulers. He responds: “We aim to teach liberal thinking; therefore, we do not accept any pressure or favor requests. I am trying to train an individual. Individualization is not possible without liberal thinking. Praising a man or a thought is not consistent with scholarly style and tradition.” We infer from these remarks that the university wants its graduates to be liberal, open-minded and well-qualified.
However it remains unclear what role religious references will play in the materialization of this goal. This is especially relevant given that Kurdish people are on the whole fairly religious. Vali is very sensitive about this. He first mentions the culture of tolerance among Kurdish people, but also adds: “With this school we seek British-style secularization. Who can say the British are less secular than the French? But the British are way more progressive than the French in tolerating differences. The Kurdish administration needs the ability to respect differences right now.”
It seems that his goal is well received among the students; almost everyone we spoke to among those studying at the university made similar remarks.
The schools that both Kurds and Turkmens are allowed to attend are also important for their probable role in the future of the Kurdish region.
Atabek and Garibi High School is one of them. Principal Jiyan Rashid is an educationist whose father is Kurdish and mother Turkmen and his building in fact comprises two separate high schools. One offers education in Turkmen only, while the other uses both Turkmen and Kurdish. The former, Atabek Girls’ School, has 140 students, while the latter, Garibi Girls’ School, has 141. Principal Rashid says their goal is to teach in at least two languages. In fact the school is so cosmopolitan that not dealing with the language variations would be near impossible. For instance, there are Kurdish girls who are learning in the Turkmen language. The students and their parents have the freedom to decide which language they will learn at school. Some students take some classes in Kurdish, others in Turkmen.
A male teacher whose class we attended was teaching physics in Turkmen. He said, “Shortly I will teach biology in Kurdish.” So not only the students but also the teachers are at least bilingual. Indeed, almost all the young girls at the schools can also speak Turkish; we attended classes taught in Turkish using textbooks from Turkey. At the entrance of the school is a depiction of a Nevruz -- spring festival -- fire drawn by the students. The picture also includes a Kurdish flag. We wondered why it did not include Barzani’s image.
‘Kurds have learned not to push history’
While we were drinking tea near Arbil Castle, a small group of people who we thought were not locals took seats next to us. They were speaking Farsi and Kurdish. Then we met. Hosrev Behrami is an Iranian Kurd who lives in Austria and serves as the representative of the Kurdistan Democratic Party of Iran in Europe. He came to introduce Kurdistan to his wife and sisters. Behrami is pleased to see a Kurdish administration, and he is happy with the increasing use of the Kurdish language. But he recalls there is still much to be done. He does not hide his admiration for the Kurdish administration, which he says is constantly making progress.
Action within a preset plan is required, he stresses: “We live in a global world, and everybody needs that. Kurdistan is part of the globalized world now. Without the US the Kurdish administration would not have been possible. If we need others we need to keep our doors open. Now is the time for economy and democracy. Our priority is to enhance democracy in the region.”
However Behrami is pessimistic about prospects for Iranian Kurds: “We all are Kurdish, but each Kurdish community has its own reality. For instance we Iranian Kurds have difficulties on our agenda, because there are seven [other] different identities in Iran. We have unique problems that other Kurdish communities do not have, and we have to deal with them. While the Kurds here have to get along with Arabs and Turkmens only, we have to deal with seven different nations.”
So you don’t believe in the “Great Kurdistan ideal,” I ask. He responds after sighing: “The rules of politics may change, but at the moment Great Kurdistan has to wait. It may become a reality in the future. I cannot speak on behalf of future generations. But we learned that we had to use the time appropriately and not take incorrect steps. The leader of the Iran Mahabat Republic, Gazi Muhammad, founded a state. What happened? It lasted only one year. He -- along with 400 of his followers -- were executed in Mahabat Square. We have learnt our lesson from past mistakes, and we have learnt that we should not push history.” the end
A movie star on the streets of Arbil
As we step out of a store in the Arbil Bazaar after immersing ourselves in music there, we find ourselves saturated again, this time with rain. As we wait for our driver a child with both arms amputated passes by. I stop him and ask whether he is the oracle-child in the movie directed by Bahman Gobadi. He smiles and answers “Yes” in Kurdish. A crowd instantly gathers; they even help me by translating the conversation.
Heris was 13 at the time the movie was shot. He is now 18. He never went to school. Asked whether he saw the movie, he says he watched it at home because there is no theater in Arbil. He was invited to Isfahan because of his role in the movie. He has never been anywhere else.
Dr. Denisse Natali: northern Iraq from a foreign academic’s perspective
I don’t think that the Kurds have a clear national project. Aside from the language issue, I do not think the Kurds constitute an integrated entity in political and administrative terms. We are talking about four distinct groups that have been ruled in four different countries under different mentalities for 80 years. Turkish Kurds have almost eliminated feudal leadership; however, it is still strong here. It is true that the Iranian Kurds had an impact on other Kurds, especially through their history, but it was temporary. Their project did not last long.
Dubai model will not work in northern Iraq
The eagerness to adopt the Dubai model is relevant to the long-lasting relationship with the Arabic culture. Creating a modern economy based on a little-known culture is pretty dangerous. This will create a dictatorship, not democracy. It is true there is a business sector; actors in the global economy are waiting for the stabilization of the local market. But the only outcome of this is the creation of a political and bureau-cratic elite. In the West restructuring a city is done only with the existence of well-educated, secular and democratic classes. There is no such thing here, and there is not even an effort to create it. For this reason the gap between the bureaucracy and the public is becoming wider.
Sorman: The goal of working toward a new language
In Kurdistan a serious policy of purifying the language is being pursued. The fundamental goal here is to minimize the differences between the various Kurdish dialects, i.e., Sorani and Kurmanci. In other words the goal is to create a common language. The next step is to purge the Kurdish language of Arabic words.
A comprehensive plan is being devised with the goal of combining Kurmanci and Sorani and creating a new language, “Sorman.” The authorities have agreed to scrap the use of the Arabic alphabet, and the curriculum is already in Latin script in Kurmanci (most commonly spoken in the northern Iraqi city of Duhok). Now Soranis are also preparing curricula using a Latin script.