ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Kurdish communities from several former Soviet states met in Kyrgyzstan on Thursday to join forces in a bid to preserve their mother tongue, which some fear the diaspora is at risk of losing. Representatives of Kurdish communities from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Armenia and Georgia held a congress in the Kyrgyz capital Bishkek. They touched on several Kurdish issues in these countries, primarily their mother tongue. “The issues include culture and language. We forget our language and cannot speak it,” Aladdin Mustafayev, deputy head of Berbang Federation, a Kurdish group in Kazakhstan, told Rudaw’s Kamiz Shadadi on the sidelines of the one day-congress. “Another problem is that we are not united. Kurds need to be united so that we can resolve our issues. This congress can make this happen,” he added. The congress decided it will focus its efforts on the youth, said Ramazan Seyidov, head of the International Federation of Kurdish Communities. The group will prepare a book for Kurdish children to learn the language. The meeting was dominated by men. Madine Mirzoyeva was one of the few Kurdish women in attendance. “Kurdish families should send their daughters to school… and mothers should speak in Kurdish with their children at home,” she said, highlighting how Kurdish mothers can boost nationalism abroad. Without a country of their own, there is a large Kurdish diaspora many of whom fled conflict or persecution at home. There are an estimated half a million Kurds living in former Soviet nations. Kurds in Azerbaijan celebrated Newroz (New Year) for the first time this month. Seyidov said this has encouraged his organization to further support the Kurdish community in Azerbaijan.
