GILGAMISH – كلكامش
Since 1999, Kurds in Armenia have been publishing the newspaper “Mezopotamya”. The newspaper is not limited just to Armenia and also reaches readers in Georgia and Russia.
By Silan Aras, Mesopotamia News Agency (MHA), Yerevan
The Kurds for decades added flavour to the Armenian capital city of Yerevan with Kurdish music, radio, and the famous ‘dengbej’ (bard) Karapete Xaco. Today, this contribution continues with the newspaper “Mezopotamya”.
“Mezopotamya”, which lets the voice of the Kurds be heard, has reached a significant position within the Armenian press, despite having only starting publication in February 1999.
From “Welate Roje” to “Mezopotamya” the short history of the newspaper is like a synopsis of the history of the Kurdish media. It first began with only two workers, under the name “Welate Roje” (“Country of the Sun”), and came out monthly despite financial difficulties and other problems. For almost a year it was published with 8 pages per issue. In the year 2000, the number of people working for the newspaper had increased to three. Meanwhile, it became necessary to increase the number of pages in the newspaper, which was beginning to have an important place among the Kurds, so the newspaper began to come out with 16 pages per issue.
The paper, printed in Armenian, was further expanded to 24 pages per issue in 2001, as both demand and circulation continued to increase. In May of 2002, the paper took a further step forward: “Welate Roje” was replaced by “Mezopotamya”, which was published every two weeks and had a staff of four.
“Mezopotamya” has brought a number of innovations to the Kurds living in Armenia. For the first time in Armenia, a Kurdish newspaper is being printed in colour; two of its pages are in Kurdish.
It brings Kurdish and Armenian peoples together. Speaking with MHA, Cerkeze Res, who has been translating articles from Kurdish to Armenian for the paper since 1999, said regarding the newspaper’s content, “Our newspaper deals with the historical, social, political, and cultural life of the Kurdish people.
It explains the Kurds’ struggle for freedom to the Armenian people. It also includes reports and documents that provide information about the Armenian people.” Noting that the number of pages in the paper has been down to 16 for a while, Res spoke as follows:
“We devote four pages to women, to convey the problems that Kurdish women living in Armenia and publicize their activities, and develop the consciousness of freedom. Likewise, since most of the Kurds in Armenia are of the Yezidis, we also include a number of articles setting forth the true history of the Yezidi faith so that the Yezidi people are not deceived by the games regarding them that have been played for years.”
Ocalan’s defense covered
“Mezopotamya” also publishes, in every issue, Armenian excerpts from KADEK [Freedom and Democracy Congress of Kurdistan] Chairman Abdullah Ocalan’s analyses and the work entitled “From the Sumerian Priestly State to Democratic Civilization” that he submitted to the ECHR [European Court of Human Rights]. Cerkeze Res says that they try “to struggle in Armenia to be a democratic and peaceful voice on the Kurdish issue.”
“Mezopotamya” is not just limited to Armenia, but reaches readers in Georgia and Russia as well. Res says that they are determined to maintain their position on Armenia’s agenda and to further develop it.
In a country which, due to economic difficulties, newspapers do not get much interest, “Mezopotamya” has even surpassed “Asbarez”, one of the country’s main political newspapers. “Asbarez” has a circulation of 1,000, while “Mezopotamya” sells 1,500. Of the 16-page paper, 14 pages are in Armenian, and 2 in Kurdish. It is estimated that, due to recent migration, 30 thousand Kurds live in a country of 3.1 million people.
Source: Translated from Turkish by KurdishMedia.com; originally published in “Ozgur Politika”, 9 December 2002.