Nûredîn Zaza

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Nûredîn Zaza
Personal details
Born1919
Maden, Elazığ, Ottoman Empire
Died1988
Bussigny, Lausanne, Switzerland
Political partyKurdistan Democratic Party of Syria (1957–1963)
Alma materLausanne University

Nûredîn Zaza (born 15 February 1919 – 7 October 1988) was a Kurdish politician, writer and poet. He was a co-founder of the Kurdistan Democratic Party of Syria and a founding member of the Kurdish Institute of Paris.[1]

Biography[edit]

Born in 1919 to a middle-class family[2] in Maden, Elazığ in the years preceding the fall of the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire, he saw his father and brother get arrested by the Atatürk regime for having supported the Sheikh Said rebellion and the Ararat rebellion. In 1930, he was sent into exile to Syria together with his brother Ahmed Nafez Zaza.[3] There, the brothers found support from the Bedir Khan family.[4]

After spending a year in jail in British Iraq, he went to Beirut and later Switzerland for his studies. In Switzerland, he also founded an association for Kurdish students in Europe before returning to Syria. He also wrote for the magazine Hawar of the Bedir Khan brothers[3] and contributed to the modernization of the Kurdish language.[5][6] Zaza was also a member of Xoybûn and broadcast a radio program with Kamuran Alî Bedirxan during this period.[7][8] In September 1962, he got briefly arrested by Syrian authorities, accusing him of supporting the Kurdish uprising in neighboring Iraq.[9] After being jailed again in 1965 and the intensified Turkish threats, Zaza fled to Switzerland in July 1970 – the same country he had studied in.

Zaza wrote his dissertation on Emmanuel Mounier in 1955 in at the Lausanne University.[10] Zaza's brother Suphi Ergene was a parliamentarian in the Turkish Parliament representing Elazığ district for the Democrat Party from 1954 to 1957.[11][12]

Zaza spent his final years in Switzerland, where he tied the knot with Gilberte Favre, a Swiss writer and journalist. They were blessed with a son whom they named Chango Valery.

Zaza died on November 7, 1988, due to cancer. His final resting place is in the Bois-de-Vaux cemetery located in Lausanne.[13]

Kurdistan Democratic Party of Syria[edit]

In 1957, Zaza, along with Osman Sabri, Hamza Nuyran, Abdul Hamid Darwish, and a group of Kurdish politicians, founded the Kurdish Democratic Party of Syria. He became its first president in 1958.[14] According to Zaza, the primary objective of the political party in question was to safeguard the distinct identity of the Kurdish community and promote their advancement, with the ultimate goal of achieving national liberation within the Syrian State's boundaries.[15]

According to Abd al-Hamid Darwish, the Party of Syrian Democratic Kurds was established with the support of Jalal Talabani, who sought refuge in Damascus. It is worth noting that the party's original name was "Party of Syrian Democratic Kurds," which was later changed to "Kurdish Democratic Party in Syria" (KDP-S) when it was publicly announced on June 14, 1957.[16]

During the period of unity between Syria and Egypt from 1958 to 1961, the United Arab Republic (UAR) authorities perceived a growing influence and role of the Kurdish party among the Kurds. To curtail the party's activities, Zaza and his associates were arrested in 1960. According to Zaza, the Kurdish party's cadres were detained because of pamphlets that opposed Gamal Abdel Nasser's policies.[17]

During his time in prison, Zaza authored a significant memorandum addressed to the president of the Supreme Military State Security Court in Damascus. This document continues to garner noteworthy attention and warrants further serious study.[18] The significance of this entreaty extends beyond the mere documentation of the unique political circumstances surrounding the Kurdish people in Syria. Rather, it presents an explicit appeal to uphold Syrian citizenship as an indispensable representation of the manifold diversity of nationalities and religions within Syria. This plea has the potential to implicate the state in charges of racial discrimination and offers optimal political alternatives for the construction of a just state in Syria.[19]

Cultural Contributions[edit]

Zaza, while studying in Switzerland, remained in contact with the problems facing his people and made considerable efforts to raise awareness among the European public about the righteous struggle of the Kurdish people. He established the Kurdish Students Society in Europe in 1949 along with some of his colleagues and held the position of its president.[20][21][22] In addition, he issued a publication entitled "Voice of Kurdistan."[11]

Zaza was not only a political activist, but he was also an exceptional intellectual and writer. He penned hundreds of articles that were published in various newspapers and magazines, including "Hawar and Ronahi"[23] and others. He translated Şivanê Kurmanca "The Kurdish Shepherd" book by Erebê Şemo from French to Kurdish, so that Kurds in Turkey could read it.[24] Furthermore, he gave significant attention to the development of the Kurdish language.

Selected literature[edit]

  • Nûredin Zaza (1955). "Etude critique de la notion d'engagement chez Emmanuel Mounier". Histoire des Idées et Critique Littéraire (in French). 5079. Librairie Droz. ISSN 0073-2397.
  • Nûredin Zaza (1974). Contes et poèmes kurdes (PDF) (in French). Geneva: Éditions Peuples et Création. Retrieved 27 March 2020.
  • Nûredin Zaza (1982). Ma vie de kurde: ou le cri du peuple kurde (in French). Éditions P.M. Favre. Retrieved 26 March 2020.
  • Nûredin Zaza (1995). Keskesor – Kurteçîrok (PDF) (in Kurdish). Stockholm: Nûdem. ISBN 91-88592-065. Retrieved 27 March 2020.
  • Nûredin Zaza, Gulê (Amed: Lîs, 2015). (in Kurdish) ISBN-978-9756179307
  • Nûredin Zaza, Bîranîn (Stembol-Amed: Avesta). (in Kurdish) ISBN-978-9944382441
  • Nûredin Zaza, Memê Alan (Bexda: Çapxaney Korî Zanyarî Kurd, 1977). (in Kurdish)
  • Nûredin Zaza, Destana Memê Alan (Uppsala: Bahoz, 1973). (in Kurdish)

References[edit]

  1. ^ Institut kurde de Paris – bulletin de liaison et d'information (PDF) (in French). Paris. 1988. Retrieved 26 March 2020.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  2. ^ Gérard Chaliand (1994). The Kurdish Tragedy. Zed Books. p. 85. ISBN 978-1856491006.
  3. ^ a b Gorgas, Jordi Tejel (2007), 134
  4. ^ Henning, Barbara (2018). Narratives of the History of the Ottoman-Kurdish Bedirhani Family in Imperial and Post-Imperial Contexts: Continuities and Changes. University of Bamberg Press. pp. 535–536. ISBN 978-386309-551-2.
  5. ^ Brodsky, Joseph, ed. (1997). Ecrivains en prison (in French). Labor et Fides. p. 246. ISBN 9782830908756.
  6. ^ Özlem Belçim Galip (2015). Imagining Kurdistan: Identity, Culture and Society. Bloomsbury Publishing. p. 41.
  7. ^ "Nureddîn Zaza zerrê kurdan de yo". Yeni Özgür Politika (in Kurdish). 7 October 2015. Retrieved 26 March 2020.
  8. ^ Martin Strohmeier (2003). Crucial Images in the Presentation of a Kurdish National Identity: Heroes and Patriots, Traitors and Foes. Brill. p. 175. ISBN 9789004125841.
  9. ^ Michael M. Gunter (2014). Out of Nowhere: The Kurds of Syria in Peace and War. London: Oxford University Press. p. 26. ISBN 9781849044356.
  10. ^ "Zaza 101 yaşında". Yeni Özgür Politika (in Turkish). 15 January 2020. Retrieved 26 March 2020.
  11. ^ Mehmet Ö. Alkan (2018). "1945–1960 Arası 1946, 1950, 1954 ve 1957 Genel Seçimlerinde Doğu'da DP-CHP Rekabeti" (PDF) (in Turkish). Kırklareli University: 5. Retrieved 27 March 2020. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  12. ^ Erol Tuncer; Bülent Tunçer. "Meclis Aritmetiğinde Yaşanan Değişim (1943–1960)" (PDF). TESAV. p. 89. Retrieved 27 March 2020.
  13. ^ ""32yem Salvegera koça dawîn a Nûredin Zaza" [The 32nd Anniversary of the last death of Nûredin Zaza]". Institut Kurde de Paris. 21 October 2020.
  14. ^ Allsop, Harriet (2014). The Kurds of Syria. London: I.B. Tauris. pp. 74+75. ISBN 9781780765631.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)
  15. ^ Zaza, trans. (2008), 177., Nûredin. Ma vie de Kurde [Hayātī ka Kūrdī] (in Arabic). Translated by Butani, Khosrau. Erbil: Dār 'Arās li't-Tibā'a.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  16. ^ Darwish, `, (1st ed. n.p. n.d, 2nd ed. al-Sülaymāniyya, n.p., ), p. 20., Abd al-Hamid (2003). Adwä 'alä al-Harakah al-Kurdiyya fī Süriyyah: Ahdäth Fatrat 1956-1893 (in Arabic). p. 20.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link) CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  17. ^ Zaza, Nûredin (2008). Ma vie de Kurde [Hayātī ka Kūrdī] (in Arabic). Translated by Butani, Khosrau. Erbil: Dār 'Arās li't-Tibā'a. p. 177.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)
  18. ^ Mirani, Ali Saleh (2004). Alharakat Alqawmiat Alkurdiat fi Kurdistan Suria 1946 - 1970 [The Kurdish National Movement in Kurdistan and Syria 1946-1970]. Dohuk: Spiriz. pp. Appendix.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)
  19. ^ Daoud, Sami (11 January 2011). ""Mudhakirat Nûredîn Zaza Kmurafet fi Altamyiz Aleunsurii fi Suria" [Nour al-Din Zaza's Memorandum as a Case for Racial Discrimination in Syria]". Medarat Kurd.
  20. ^ Sheikhmous, Omer (1989). "The Kurds in Exile; To The Nordic Conference Of Middle-East Researchers; Uppsala - Sweden; January 26-29, 1989. Published in the "Yearbook of the Kurdish Academy 1990", pp. 88-114". {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |url= (help)
  21. ^ Ahmed, Nawzad Ali (2008). ""Rojnamegeri Khwindkarany Kurd le Ewropa we Amerika da 1949-1990" [Journalistic Works of Kurdish Students in Europe and America 1949-1990]". Kurdology Centre Publications.
  22. ^ Rehmany, Wirya (2014). Dictionnaire politique et historique des Kurdes. Paris: L'Harmattan. p. 532. ISBN 978-2-343-03282-5.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)
  23. ^ Meseguer, David (19 October 2014). "Kurds de Síria. La vida més enllà del front". Ara Diumenge.
  24. ^ Şemo, Erebê (1935). Şivanê Kurmanca. Neşra.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)

Further reading[edit]

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