Hey guys. I really want to visit Kurdistan because I like the culture and people (have two friends from Erbil and one from Kahramanmaras, but all in exile). I want to know if there is a better experience in Erbil and Slemani than in "Turkish" part of Kurdistan visiting Van, Mardin, and Diyarbakir. I realize that there is more repression in Northern Kurdistan because of Turkish assholes. Actually, I feel a bit bad to give my money to Turkish Airlines and even pass through Istanbul because I believe we should boycott Turkey... Also I wonder if the legacy of the terrible earthquake is still a factor making life sad in those places. So what would you recommend?

Thanks guys. Cheers.

I want to ask Kurds a bunch of questions if you don’t mind, and make a few clarifications: 1: What do you think of Syrians/Syria? 2:Do you have strong opinions either way about Assad or the Syrian Rebels? 3:Are most Kurds religious? Or is there a good atheist population of Kurds? 4:Is there one country with a Kurdish population that people tend to hate more than other countries with Kurdish population? Now for the clarifications: 1:No, Syrians don’t hate Kurds, far from it 2:However Syrians (including myself)hate Rojava, for a lot of reasons, if you are interested you can ask why (not more than Assad though) 3:Most Syrians support an autonomous region in Syrian Kurdish territory 4:Anti-Assad Syrians don’t like the name: “Syrian ARAB republic” because it doesn’t represent other minorities 5: Syrians don’t hate Nowruz and Kurdish culture in general(btw a little fun fact I always thought Nowruz was a Kurdish holiday exclusively, not an Iranic one in general) And that’s it. Feel free to ask anything.

Remember the Kurdish fighter Asya Ramazan who eliminated dozens of ISIS terrorists in Manbij, northern Syria, before she was martyred.

Glory to the heroines of Kurdistan.

Hello, I would like some help regarding my middle eastern heritage. What even am I?

Hello, I am 18. I am half british, and I have always known my father to be Turkish. I would like to ask some questions. I think somebody who is knowledgeable in middle eastern history could help me out.

Until I was 13 my mum told me I am half Turkish, though she didn't believe it herself. It was just what she said as it was easier to explain. When I got older she told me my father is actually Syrian x kurdish, and was bullied horrendously for it growing up, so our family tells people we are Turkish instead.

At 13 I went to go and live with my family in Turkey.

They all come from the very far south east of Turkey, close to Syria, but a few family members had moved to near Istanbul.

I met my grandmother. She is very dark skinned and, one day when I was alone with her, I asked her where she was from. She doesn't speak a word of Turkish, only Arabic and Kurdish. She said Syria, Syria, Syria. I said Turkey? She laughed at me and shook her head and was adamant she was Syrian.

This shocked me that she was so open about it because my dad actually has an open hatred of Syrian people, telling me they are stupid. In fact he'd make jokes about it a lot. He tells me that 'Stupid Syrian people go to Turkey and they learn turkish in a few months even though they are so stupid. I don't know how.' Even my English mother growing up would tell me I belonged in a 'dirty little Syrian village.'

I asked my father and he finally opened up. He told me her family, from Syria (didn't tell me where from though) crossed the border to Turkey and she was raised in a small village there. She has a Turkish name but doesn't speak, understand or write or even look Turkish.

There, when she was around 13 (we don't know her exact age) she was married off by her brothers to her cousin after her mother died. She had three children with him and then he died of an illness.

Now this is the part that confuses me:

She then got remarried in her late teens to a much older man with a fully Turkish name who, like her, spoke kurdish and not Turkish. She had 5 children with him. He was apparently from a very rich (for the area) family who owned basically the whole land, dealing in gold, land, animals, but his brothers spent all the money and he had a resentment towards them.

My dad said that Arabic was his and his sibling's first language.

My family openly speak Kurdish and Arabic when they are together.

My father told me that his father (my grandma's second husband) also actually had a grandfather with an Armenian surname. wtf lol. it just gets more confusing.

I actually attempted to ask my grandma about this and she said the word 'changed' (using google translate) . I could had been wrong though.

I have an uncle who is a rich investment banker living in the western side of Turkey, speaking Turkish, and then the rest of my family live in the southeast and mostly speak kurdish/arabic.

My dad says they speak kurdish only because they had a lot of kurdish neighbours but my mother told me that one of my cousins told her we are kurdish, and, in his words, 'don't let them tell her we are Turkish.' She told me that my father told her he was horrendously bullied and beaten in school for being darker skinned and not knowing Turkish.

wtf is going on in my family history lol??? Why did my grandma's family go to Turkey? Am I Arab? Kurd? Turkish? wtf? Also a lot of my family have red hair for some reason?

This is confusing me so much. I can't ask my family as they all tell me to be quiet and that we are turks. My grandma is probably the only person who tells the truth here but now she is dying in hospital and i'm in England again. I know they grew up in extreme poverty as well.

Any help appreciated 🙏🙏🙏

I'm a photographer/videographer/structural engineer from the UK thinking of spending some time in Kurdistan. I was particularly interested in doing some event/documentary photography/videography but would like to chip in any way I can. Any recommendations?

I'm 21m and i live in kurdistan, I'm eager to enhance my English skills and would love to connect with someone of Kurdish descent living abroad. In return, I can help you learn Kurdish(sorani) if you want to. and who knows, maybe we'll even become friends! Please only reach out if you're genuinely interested in a meaningful exchange and friendship.

We may have different religions different ideologies and different ways of thinking, how can we put all this to the side and fight for just one thing?

Which includes fighting for our independence our rights, our language and our culture.

What does the name mean and why is it so popular with kurmanci kurds?

Hi, My name is Rawand Shwan, I am a beginner photographer from kurdistan Sulaymaniyah, i really love to take photos and post them at high quality so that everyone can see and get high quality photos of different places of kurdistan, Here is a photo of the "Statue of Ibrahim Pasha in Sulaymaniyah" i just took on 14th November at Sulaymaniyah 240th Anniversary. Hope you like it.

Trump will be taking office in a few months, January. I foresee, Kurds in West Kurdistan/Rojava will soon be faced with having to give in to the Russians and Syrian forces in the country. This being because Trump will almost undoubtably remove American troops protecting major cities in Rojava. He did exactly this in his last presidency. I remember him saying, “these people have been fighting for thousands of years, let ‘em k*ll each other for all I care.”

I think Rojava can hope for some sort of space within the political framework of the country. I think the Arab majority cities that have been incorporated will be taken back by the Syrians. I doubt the same level of autonomy as seen in KRG. I think cultural/language rights will be a key in discussions and negotiations with the Syrians. Turkey will do anything within its power to minimize Rojavan sovereignty. I think a future outline for Rojava within Syria in the future will not be allowed to include Afrin and might stretch from Kobani to Hasakah. If Kurdish can be designated as the second official language of Syria that would also be one more step in the right direction. Additionally, for Kurds to be designated with protected minority status within the country. I don’t think you can expect to see the same level of power sharing as there is constitutionally within Iraq and into the KRG.

This is the best case realistic scenario in my head. Lastly, a potential name change from the official name of Syria. The official name being “the Syrian Arab Republic” possibly seeing change to something like the “the Syrian Levantine Republic” in English, to be more inclusive. I’m sure many alternatives exist that I can’t think of. Anways, would love to hear what others interested in Rojava believe might happen. I think by next summer the region will heat up again. I don’t mean the weather. Share your thoughts.