The School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) University of London offers Kurdish for beginners.

If you are interested in learning Kurdish Kurmanji, please apply now. SOAS language centre need 5 people to start a Kurdish class. If 5 students cannot be found then SOAS will not be able to offer this course.

Kurdish (Kurmanji) Beginners Course
A one-year course in beginners spoken and written Kurdish, at SOAS Language Centre in London

Duration: This is a one-year course with three 10-week terms

Mode of Attendance: Part Time

Description
The aim of the course is to provide a thorough introduction to contemporary Kurdish. By the end of the course, students will have covered basic grammatical constructions and acquired an essential working vocabulary allowing them to communicate within a limited range of situations in which learners are likely to find themselves. The language is presented together with the cultural context in which it is used so that learners are able to appreciate such things as appropriateness and linguistic etiquette when interaction takes place in the target language.

Method
The course is taught in English and Kurdish with coverage of the four skills of speaking, listening, reading and writing, and a balance between communicative activities, structure practice and grammar. Class size is limited to twelve to allow for close involvement.

Assessment for Course Placement
If you are not a complete beginner, you need to take an assessment in order for SOAS to place you on the course that is the most suitable for your language learning needs.

Fees for this Course
The fee for each ten week term is £255 payable in advance

For further details, including terms and conditions, required materials and how to apply, please visit the following page:

http://www.soas.ac.uk/programmes/prog14152.html

Contacting the SOAS language centre

Visiting address:
22 Russell Square, London WC1 – just around the corner from SOAS main buildings.

Office hours:
Monday to Friday 10am to 6.45pm
Saturday 9.30am to 12.30pm

E-mail: languages@soas.ac.uk
Telephone: UK: 020 7898 4888 World: +44 20 7898 4888
Fax: UK: 020 7898 4889 Int: +44 20 7898 4889
Post: The Courses Secretary, SOAS Language Centre, School of Oriental and African Studies, Thornhaugh Street, Russell Square, London, WC1H 0XG

Talk

Talk: Ms Milena Buyum, Campaigner on Turkey for Amnesty International and Mr Ali Has, Lawyer

Concert

Aygul Erce, singer-song writer

Film Screening

‘Taslanan Vicdanlar/Brutal Consciences’ by Cenk Örtülü & Zeynel Koç Turkish and Kurdish with English subtitles, Running time 50 minutes.

Date and time: 24 June 2010,@ 6:00

Venue: Khalili Lecture Theatre, School of Oriental and African Studies SOAS, Thornhaugh Street, Russell Square, London WC1H 0XG

Organised by Kurdish society at SOAS(KSSOAS), Kurdish Studies and Student Organisation (KSSO) and Britain Peace Council (MECLISA AŞITIYA BRITANYA’YE – BRITANYA BARIŞ MECLISI)

Seminar abstract and program

We are deeply concerned about the routine and systematic beating, ill-treatment and imprisonment of Kurdish children in Turkey. According to Amnesty International’s newly published report, “since 2006, thousands of children in Turkey, some as young as 12, have been prosecuted under anti-terrorism legislation solely for their alleged participation in demonstrations”.

Children aged 10-18 are being detained, interrogated and tried under the same conditions as adults. As a consequence, some are sentenced and jailed for 5  to 10  years under the anti-terror law. The children are accused of participating in street protests, doing the victory sign, shouting slogans, throwing stones at the Turkish police or singing Kurdish songs.

Children have been forced to make statements in adult courts without their lawyers or social workers present. They have been imprisoned in adult prisons and were deprived of their rights to education. Moreover children have been deported to other prisons far from their families so their families have difficulties regularly visiting them.

Reports about this mistreatment of children have caused an outcry amongst Kurdish communities and the international public. Families of the children, Kurdish and Turkish civil organisations, human rights organisations and intellectuals have called on the Turkish government to release children and abandon discriminatory laws against the Kurdish ethnic minority, especially towards Kurdish children. The human rights group Justice for Children Initiative has begun a campaign to force the Turkish government to find a solution for the imprisoned children before the Turkish parliament goes on summer holiday.

Turkey is a signatory to the Convention of the Rights of the Child and has a duty to protect the rights of all children. Article 2 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child bans discrimination against children. It states that “Within the jurisdictions and authorities bestowed upon them, Signatory States of this convention recognise and guarantee the rights defined in this Convention to all children without any discrimination based on the children’s, their parents’ or guardians’ race, colour, gender, language, political or otherwise opinions, national, ethnic or social background, property, disability, birthright or any other status.”

We have invited Ms Milena Buyum, campaigner on Turkey for Amnesty International to talk about Amnesty International research and report on imprisoned Kurdish children. Ms Fatma Unsal, of from ‘Justice for Children Initiative’ (ÇİAÇ) will talk about ‘Justice for Children Initiative’ newly announced campaign to force the Turkish government to stop these policies towards Kurdish children.

Aygul Erge, singer-song writer who has composed a song titled “Dayê Min Bifiltîne/ My mum rescue me” on imprisoned Kurdish children will sing before starting the seminar.

We will screen the film ‘Taslanan Vicdanlar/Brutal Consciences’ by Cenk Örtülü & Zeynel Koç (running time 50 minutes). The film focuses on imprisoned Kurdish children who are subjected to the Turkish state’s physical and psychological violence.

Further information on www.ksso.org.uk , mc@ksso.org.uk or www.barismeclisi.com • britainpeacecouncil@googlemail.com

The concert is being held in order to raise funds for the Halkevi Centre’s new building at 31-33 Dalston Lane, E8 1HE. Halkevi is one of the largest community centre’s in the UK serving the needs of Kurdish communities.

Tickets are available for £20 per person and the event will start at 6pm. For ticket sales and further information call on 07876146557.

Please see bottom of the page for a map of the venue.

For this special issue, contributors are invited to reflect on the present condition of the Kurds in Iranian Kurdistan in light of recent political developments domestically in Iran as well as in neighbouring Iraq. Whereas Iranians in the major cities of the country engaged in prolonged protests following the presidential elec-tion of 2009, the inhabitants of Iranian Kurdistan did take part in the protests. How is this phenomenon to be interpreted? Iraqi Kurdistan and the rest of Iraq are in the midst of a restructuring along federal lines, the outcome of which is still uncertain, however. At the same time, the United States has declared that it will withdraw its forces from Iraq by the end of 2011. How and in which way are the trends and future develop-ments in Iraq going to affect the Kurds in Iranian Kurdistan?

You are kindly invited to submit your proposal with title and a short summary (approximately 1000 characters with breaks) until 30th of September 2009. The summaries can be sent to the following addresses: kurdishis-sue.iran@gmail.com

Submitting Papers
Abstract Deadline: Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Full Paper Deadline: Saturday, October 31, 2009

INSTRUCTIONS FOR AUTHORS
Submission
Manuscripts in English should be submitted electronically to The Journal of Iranian-Kurdish (K I 3) at
kurdishissue.iran@gmail.com . You will normally receive an acknowledgement within a few days.

Papers are accepted in electronic format, with Microsoft Word being preferred but other formats are accept-able, by prior arrangement. The editors reserve the right to make the style of presentation uniform prior to publication, whilst making every effort not to alter the content of an article. Paper submission will be
acknowledged via email.

Kamal Rauf the editor in cheif of Hawlati newspaper will highlight the main issues in the recent elections which were held on July 25th, 2009.

Established in 2000, Hawlati is the leading independent newspaper in the Kurdistan region of Iraq, with a circulation of 150,000. In April 2009 Hawlati launched a London edition and became the first Kurdish newspaper to be published both in Kurdistan and the UK.

The seminar is in Kurdish (Sorani) language and there will be an open debate at the end of the seminar. English translation will be provided for those that request it.

Date and time:

Friday 31st July 2009 from 7.00 PM to 9.00 PM

Location:

Room G51
School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS)
University of London
Thornhaugh Street
Russell Square
London WC1H 0XG

Click here for map

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The UK Kurdish Studies & Student Organisation is a non-political body that strives to promote greater awareness of the Kurds, their political and cultural situation in the Middle East, and as a significant minority community in the UK.