Kurdistan magazine was published between 1919 and 1920 and was a political, social, literary, and scientific intellectual magazine. The first issue was published on December 30, 1919, and 19 issues were printed. It is nearly 103 years since the first issue was published and it is the first time all of its issues have been published together with their translations and originals in a book.
The owner and manager of Kurdistan magazine was Mohammad Mehri and its editor was Arwasizadeh Mohammad Shafiq. From issue 13 onwards, Sayed Hussein became the editor of the magazine. Mohammad Mehri was a Kurdish intellectual in the 20th century. He was an active member of the organizations and publications of that time and was active in publications such as Roji Kurd, Hetawi Kurd, Jeen, Kurdistan, Hetaw, etc. Many of his articles and writings have been on linguistic, literary, political, philosophical, social, and cultural topics. Therefore, he is known by different names and titles among his contemporaries; He is known as a linguist, poet, writer, politician, journalist, critic, teacher, and lawyer.
Photo: Mohammad Mehri
When we look closely at the pages and issues of Kurdistan magazine, we see that many interesting articles about the language, literature, history, social and political situation of Kurds and Kurdistan have been published by a group of master writers. Mohammad Mehri, the owner of the magazine, has enriched the content of each issue of Kurdistan with many different articles and discourses; his writings on the Kurdish language and literature are very important. Under the title “An Example of Kurdish Literature”, he wrote: “This sentence may come as a surprise to many people and may cause some people to be more surprised. That is why many ask, "Is Kurdish suitable for literature or is there Kurdish literature?" In order to answer these questions, “I will present you some ghazals, verses, songs, songs, lawzhas, Hairanoks, and lawks in Kurdish literature in Kurmanji and songs.” He published some articles entitled "Irfan" and "Base" in the "Mugqaddimatul Irfan" on the Kurdish Language which focused on the phonetics of the Kurdish language and compared the phonetic changes among Kurdish dialects.
In short, when we look at the content of the text and the identity of the writers of Kurdistan magazine, we see two important aspects of the content and general purpose of the publication and the cultural struggle of that time: First; researching the language, literature, history, culture, and social and political situation of the Kurdish nation. Second; raising awareness and developing Kurdistan's national thought by researching and explaining these various topics.
Photo: Saeed Varozh, editor of the book "Kurdistan Magazine"
