Armenian Kurdish newspaper near closure
Rya Teze (New Way) newspaper, which has been published in Armenia in Kurdish-language using Latin letters for more than 82 years, has called out to Erbil and cultural institutions to help with its money troubles.
Hissou Horme, a representative from the newspaper in Kurdistan Region is spreading word of the history and importance of the newspaper, which was issued for the first time on March 29, 1930 in Erevan, Armenia's capital city.
"In 1929 the Kurdish intellectuals Arab al-Shammo and Margolov al-Assuri began teaching the Latin alphabet in the schools of Kurdish villages in Armenia, where there was a difference between their alphabet and the Geladt Badrakan alphanumeric," he said.
"The Kurdish teaching rate was low and a Kurd publication was needed so the Rya Teze was issued with the support of the Soviet Union state.
"Due to the lack of an efficient Kurdish staff to oversee the newspaper at the beginning, three of the Armenians who were fluent in Kurdish managed it."
By 1934, the management of the newspaper was finally taken over by Kurds. Jerdo al-Kengo was the first and his tenure lasted three years, and was ended abruptly after Stalin became president.
Under Stalin's rule the suffering of the Kurdish people in the republics of the Soviet Union began. All Kurdish publications, including the Rya Teze, were closed in 1937 along with many other Kurdish cultural institutions like the teachers' institute.
The situation remained the same until a few years after Stalin's death. In 1955 the Kurdish radio station, Yerevan, began broadcasting programs and the teachers' center and Rya Teze returned to work.
"When the late Kurdish leader Mustafa Barzani was in the former Soviet Union he visited the newspaper's headquarters and when he met Khrushchev, one of his demands was Moscow's financial support for the newspaper," said Horme.
"And this is what happened at that time, and Nechirvan Barzani also provided support for the newspaper in 1994 when it was about to close for financial reasons too."
The Ministry of Culture of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) also covered the expenses of the newspaper in 2011, with $24,000 a year with its staff working for free.
Now, Hormes is calling on the KRG to once again, to save the newspaper. He called on "Kurdistan Regional Government, its President Nechirvan Barzani, cultural institutions and all who are keen on Kurdish culture and heritage to provide support to ensure the continuation of the newspaper.
"Cultural festivals under the name of this newspaper should be held instead of allowing its closure.
"All Kurdish intellectuals in the Soviet Union countries have graduated from the Rya Teze school, which is a school of literature and the Kurdish language. Thanks to Rya Teze the percentage of Kurdish readers and writers increased."
During its hey day, 4,000 copies of Rya Teze were distributed in the form of subscriptions. But after the collapse of the Soviet Union the number dwindled to around 500 and copies were distributed mostly for free.
Writer Mirazay Jamal, who has written for the newspaper for around 50 years, still wanders the Kurdish villages to distribute the newspaper for free among the villagers.
AKnews
