BERÇEM CÛDÎ

Kobanê –The 2nd North and East Syrian Literature Week kicked off in Kobanê on April 29 with the participation of many intellectuals and literary figures from Shahba, Afrin, Kobanê, Tabqa, Raqqa, Manbij, Qamishlo and Amûdê. At the Literature Week organized by the North and East Syrian Literary Commission, many seminars and panels in Kurdish and Arabic have been held. Today is the last day of the NE Syrian Literature Week.

This year, the seminars and panels focus on the lives and poems of Kurdish poet Meleyê Cizîri. NuJINHA spoke to Botan Hoşê, member of the North and East Syrian Literary Commission, about the event.

“The first edition of the North and East Syrian Literature Week was held in Qamishlo last year,” Botan Hoşê said, “This year, we have been holding the event in Kobanê. The seminars and panels at the event focus on the life and poems of Kurdish poet Meleyê Cizîri because the Turkish state has always tried to show the poems of Meleyê Cizîri as Turkish poems. By holding seminars and panels about Kurdish poet Meleyê Cizîri, we aim to both protect the poems of Meleyê Cizîri and draw attention to the war policies of the Turkish state.”

Poems were read in Kurdish and Arabic

On the first and second days of the event, the philosophy in the poems of Meleyê Cizîri and their connection with the Kurdish identity were discussed at the panels and seminars. “In the last two days, the situation and level of Kurdish literature and the importance of criticism were discussed. In addition, poems and stories were read for six days,” Botan Hoxê told us.

‘Women have shown great interest’

Pointing to the participation of women in the event, Botan Hoşê said, “Women writers and poets from all regions of the North and East Syria have participated and shown a great interest in the event. Such activities and events play a role in the development of the literary level of the people of the region. They will pave the way for us to create new writers and strengthen our literary level.”

‘It will lay the foundation for the development of Kurdish literature’

Kurdish writer Evîn Teyfûr participated in the event with one of her stories named “Lekeya Tirsê”. “This story tells a Yazidi woman from Shengal, who was abducted by ISIS and then rescued. It tells how she struggles to survive. This year, the literature week focuses on the life and poems of Kurdish poet Meleyê Cizîri and it is very meaningful for us. For us, Meleyê Cizîri is ‘The father of Kurdish poetry’. Organizing such an event is to respect the heritage of Kurdish literature and is a response to the policy of the Turkish state. Kobanê is a Kurdish region. The North and East Syrian Literature Week will lay the foundation for the development of Kurdish literature.”