Hasakah (Hesîçe): Heart of the Jazira in Rojava
Hasakah (Hesîçe), the largest city of the Jazira in north-east Syria — a mixed Kurdish, Arab and Assyrian city at the heart of Rojava and the war against ISIS.
Read article →Kurdish History Journal
Kurdish History and Resilience
Articles filed under Kurdish History and Resilience.
Ağrı (Agirî): Mount Ararat and the Ararat Rebellion
Ağrı (Agirî), the Kurdish province of Mount Ararat — Çiyayê Agirî — home to the 1930 Ararat Rebellion and the tomb of Ehmedê Xanî, poet of Mem û Zîn.
Read article →Hakkari (Colemêrg): The Kurdish Mountain City and Emirate
Hakkari (Colemêrg), the Kurdish mountain city and former emirate in the far south-east of Turkey — its Cilo peaks, its Kurdish and Assyrian past, and its highland identity.
Read article →Cizre (Cizîr): Capital of Bohtan and City of Mem û Zîn
Cizre (Cizîr), the Tigris town that was capital of the Bohtan emirate and the setting of Mem û Zîn — a heartland of Kurdish history and literature.
Read article →Afrin (Efrîn): The Kurdish Olive Country of Rojava
Afrin (Efrîn), the Kurdish city and olive country of north-west Rojava in Syria — its people, the ancient Ain Dara temple, and the 2018 occupation and displacement.
Read article →Kermanshah (Kirmaşan): The Great Kurdish City of Rojhelat
Kermanshah (Kirmaşan), the largest Kurdish city of Rojhelat in western Iran — its Southern Kurdish people, the Taq-e Bostan reliefs, and the Bisotun inscription.
Read article →Khanaqin (Xaneqîn): A Kurdish City in Iraq’s Disputed Territories
Khanaqin (Xaneqîn), a Kurdish-majority city in Iraq’s disputed territories near the Iranian border — its Arabization under Saddam, the Alwand River, and Article 140.
Read article →Duhok (Dihok): Kurdish Capital of the Badinan Region
Duhok (Dihok), capital of Duhok Governorate and heart of the Badinan region in Iraqi Kurdistan — its mountains, peoples, history, and role as a city of refuge.
Read article →Van (Wan): Kurdish City of Lake Van and Ancient Tushpa
Van (Wan), the Kurdish city on Lake Van’s eastern shore in eastern Turkey — ancient Tushpa and Urartu, Van Castle, the Armenian past, and the Van cat.
Read article →Urfa (Riha): The City of Prophets and Ancient Edessa
Urfa (Riha) — ancient Edessa and the “City of Prophets” in southeastern Turkey: its mixed Kurdish, Arab and Turkish people and the Pool of Abraham.
Read article →Tunceli (Dersim): The Kurdish Alevi Region and the 1937–38 Massacre
Tunceli, known as Dersim — the Kurdish Alevi region of eastern Turkey and the site of the 1937–38 Dersim Massacre: its history, disputed death toll, and memory.
Read article →Tatvan: The Kurdish Port Town on the Western Shore of Lake Van
Tatvan, the Kurdish port town on Lake Van’s western shore in Bitlis Province, Turkey — its ferry, railway, the Nemrut volcano, and Kurdish heritage explained.
Read article →Urmia: A Mixed City on the Edge of Rojhelat
Urmia (Wirmê), capital of West Azerbaijan Province in north-west Iran — an Azeri-majority, mixed city within Rojhelat with a significant Kurdish community.
Read article →Marivan: A Kurdish City on the Lake and the Border
Marivan (Meriwan), the Kurdish border city of western Iran beside Lake Zrêbar — a key city of Rojhelat, Kurdish-speaking, Sunni, on the Iraqi-Kurdistan frontier.
Read article →Kobani: The Kurdish City That Stopped ISIS
Kobani (Kobanê), the Kurdish city of northern Syria where YPG and YPJ fighters broke the 2014–15 ISIS siege — a symbol of Kurdish resistance and Rojava.
Read article →Kirkuk: The Disputed Heart of Kurdistan
Kirkuk (Kerkûk), the disputed oil city of northern Iraq — a historically Kurdish city, the heart of Article 140 and the Kurdish struggle against Arabization.
Read article →Chamchamal: A Kurdish Town on the Edge of the Disputed Territories
Chamchamal (Çemçemal), a Kurdish town in Iraq’s Sulaymaniyah Governorate on the Kirkuk road — home of the Hamawand tribe and scarred by the Anfal campaign.
Read article →Zakho: Iraqi Kurdistan’s Gateway to Turkey
Zakho (Zaxo), the border city of Iraqi Kurdistan on the Little Khabur — home of the ancient Delal Bridge and the Ibrahim Khalil gateway to Turkey.
Read article →Halabja: The 1988 Chemical Attack and a Kurdish City Reborn
Halabja (Helebce) in Iraqi Kurdistan — site of the 1988 chemical attack during the Anfal campaign, now Iraq’s 19th governorate and a centre of Kurdish remembrance.
Read article →Sulaymaniyah: Cultural Capital of Iraqi Kurdistan
Sulaymaniyah (Silêmanî), the cultural capital of Iraqi Kurdistan — a city of poets and universities, the old Baban capital and stronghold of the PUK.
Read article →Sinjar: The Yazidi Homeland and the 2014 Genocide
Sinjar (Şingal), the Yazidi heartland in north-west Iraq at the foot of the Sinjar Mountains — site of the 2014 ISIS genocide and still a contested, only partly rebuilt district.
Read article →Sanandaj: Cultural Capital of Iranian Kurdistan
Sanandaj (Sine), capital of Iran’s Kurdistan Province — the cultural heart of Iranian Kurdistan, a UNESCO City of Music and former seat of the Ardalan principality.
Read article →Saqqez: The Kurdish City Behind ‘Woman, Life, Freedom’
Saqqez (Seqiz), a Kurdish city in Iran’s Kurdistan Province — ancient highland town and hometown of Jina (Mahsa) Amini, where the 2022 ‘Woman, Life, Freedom’ protests began.
Read article →Qamishli: Kurdish Capital of North-East Syria
Qamishli (Qamişlo), the Kurdish-majority city of north-east Syria opposite Nusaybin — long the de facto capital of Rojava, now integrating into the new Syrian state.
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