Opps, I forgot to post it here before I published the article on Global Voices.  Here’s the link.

Here is a link to my recent piece on Torture on my personal blog, it doesn't have much to deal with Kurdistan…but well….can I help it if I wish to have a shameless plug to something that I thought was a good piece of writing?

Also along the lines of Torture, Amnesty International has just released a press announcement about mis-treatment of Kurdish refugees in Jordan.  While this may be true, I had no idea that there was a Kurdish refugee camp there….I am hoping that I am not the only one of the Kurdish bloggers who is surprised by this. 

Normally I try to find a reoccurring theme for my weeklies, however this week turned out to be a bit of a Kurdish hodge-podge.

Sami from Iraqi Thoughts writes some ranting tidbits about Saddam, Al Zarqawi and his new outlook for the future:

I think that I am chaning in the sense I used to believe that everything was going to be solved not knowing how lazy people can be. I wish to write this to the people who still read this,, I am back and better than before, im excited and to be honest I have a lot of projects on the go, including a possible return to kurdistan somewhere in the not too distant future with an eye on a high job since I am related after all to some of the ‘agents and spies’ that call themself the Iraqi government.

the-kurdistani posted an article that he had tried to get published in his school paper but wasn’t accepted, in it he details a political debate that he had with a fellow student who was Turkish (while I disagree with his use of the “Hitler card” in his analysis- my comments on this were once a subject of serious debate on the Kurdish forums- I feel that reading his viewpoints on it are quite informative):

While listening to him, I was preparing some questions to ask him, this way I would see his approach to democracy and human rights clearly. Then I asked, “What do you think of Hitler’s atrocities against humanity, but the Jews in particular?”, “well, that is a totally different topic.” he replied. I made my statement clearer by “well but he was trying to get rid of the Jews, and the ones who he thought were inferior to Great Aryan Race (blonde, tall, and blue-eyed ones, though he was not like that himself), including Gypsies, Homosexuals and even the Polish. His aim was to create a great empire that would “last a thousand years” as he said to is followers. Do you see that he tried to create a cultural unity, too, by destroying and killing anything, or anybody that was different from the form he wanted it to be? So, is that not almost the same thing with what you have just said about “cultural unity”?” he did not have a concrete answer for this, and I asked another question, “what if the people, with all minorities including the Kurds, Arabs, Assyrians, and many others say that we don’t want to be Turkified? What if they say, ok we are citizens of the Republic of Turkey but we are what we are with our identity, it could be the Kurds or any other minority, what are you going to do in that case?” He thought for some time, but did not answer.

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Here is a link to a great article by the Armed Forces Journal advocating a re-drawing of the borders in the Middle East by blood and ethnic lines.

Here is a wonderful link to an interview on Yezidi Kurds in Armenia, check it out!

Today is Wednesday, correct? I just came back from organizing a conference for work and well…my mental faculities are not up to their normal snuff. So today, we will quickly review the top five posts from the Kurdish blogosphere.

#1-Sami from An Iraqi's Thoughts is back writing again after a hiatus of several months. In this comeback post he states that he no longer lives in Iraq and hasn't felt like commenting on the events there because of his chosen exile status:

I have not stopped caring, but I have realised that false hope was what I used to have. The death of Zarqawi, and yes he was a criminal and a terrorist, is not going to solve the militant islamic fundamentalism that leaves tennis players being killed and women being forced into submission.

#2-Miriam from Pearls of Iraq writes that "I hope that I am not the only one that gets detoured on the internet." She also lists a bunch of Kurdish videos clips of various "pick-me-up" subjects available on youtube. Lots of fun.

#3-Vladimir on From Holland to Kurdistan lists Kurdish video clips of a very different type: Kurdish protests in Syria and Turkey (Western and Northern Kurdistan).

#4- the-kurdistani is also writing again after a brief hiatus. This week an impassioned plea for the Kurds in Northern Kurdistan (Southeast Turkey) to stand up to their oppressors:

realize! no one will help you. you are alone in this sacred war of freedom, in this holy cause. no one will help you, unless they have interests in helping you. splash some water to your tired and wrinkled face, come to back life! die, if it is necessary for an ever-living cause! dont hesitate, think and re-think what your enemies have done to you!

#5- and a little bit of lightheartedness from Rasti in comment on a video clip of President Bush sparring with a Kurdish woman at a press conference:

I think Dubya's worst nightmare would be that of being tied to a chair and enclosed with a room full of Kurdish women who are determined to get their message across, and I have the suspicion that if his nightmare ever came to pass, we'd have a free and independent Greater Kurdistan in a New York minute.

Alright, so there is my top five (and yes…I know that three of them deal with video, but sometimes you need to relish in the lighter side). Have a great week!

Here is a link to an interesting article about the Sufi orders of Kurdistan.