Into Kurdistan

Sheri Laizer is a writer, poet, and film researcher as well as a respected authority on Kurdistan and the Kurdish struggle. Her other works include Martyrs, Traitors and Patriots (Zed Books, 1996).

Into Kurdistan is a journey through the lives of a people without a country. Part travelogue and part political commentary, it portrays both the pride and the oppression of the Kurdish people.Sheri Laizer recounts the drama of a family living close to the border, hearing gunshots and wondering if a favoured son will make it home at night. She shares the companionship of Kurdish women in the mountains, washing in the melted snow. She captures the ambiguity of Kurdish intellectuals entwined in the cultural life of Turkey, a country which refuses to acknowledge the very existence of Kurdish identity. And she paints a vivid picture of the centuries of tradition behind the people who have given the Middle East some of its greatest heroes, from Saladin onwards.Into Kurdistan uncovers the recent atrocities in Iraq, and the systematic persecution suffered by the Kurds in Turkey. In a marvellous blend of political commentary, folktale and sympathetic observation, Sheri Laizer helps us understand the people behind the headlines.

A journey into Kurdistan which gives voice to a people without a country.

List of AbbreviationsForeword - Peter GabrielIntroduction: The Kurds, Cinderella of Liberation Movements - Helga GrahamPart I1. Turkish Kurdistan: Feudal Provinces and Prohibition Zones2. Headlines: Brigands, Troubadours and the Secret Police3. Tales of the Djinn and the Dangers of the Evil Eye4. The Southeast Road to Kurdistan: Rituals of State5. 'Yol': The Way6. Village Rhythms and Women's Work7. Fidelity, Honour and Death: The Cross of Kurdish Women8. Kars: A Citadel at the Crossroads9. City Life Among the KurdsPart II10. Beyond the Tribe: Developing New Relationships11. Peace and Stability?12. Update: Formidable Constraints on the KurdsAppendicesSelect BibliographyIndex