I would like to begin by conveying the greetings of writers, intellectuals and people with free pens from Kurdistan to your kind attention.
I believe you have been aware that the Kurdish PEN Congress was held in Amed (Diyarbakir) on 18-19 May 2013, which resulted in the election of a new board of management consisting of seven members and two standbys.
We are pleased to inform you that, writers from all Kurdish regions and abroad are reflected within the board as well as a strong representation of three very active women.
Post congress meetings have resulted in the activation of the four committees within PEN and allocation of professionals in the fields of interest, who will be actively cooperating with the staff, board members, and centers within PEN International. Our aim is to work together for literature, language, peace and freedom of expression all over the world, especially in places such as our homeland where oppression of language and literature is the norm.
Please be informed that the new Management Board of Kurdish PEN consists of the following members;
Sexmus Sefer (President)
Bêrivan Dosky (Vice – President)
Kakshar Oremar (Secretary)
Muherrem Cebe (Accountant and Head of the Linguistic Right Committee)
Dilsha Yousuf (Dilsha Mohammed Tamu) head of the Women Writers Committee.
Peri Shex Salih (Deputy Head of Women Writers Committee)
Salih Kevirbiri, Head of public relations
Irfan Babaoglu, Head of the Writers in Prison Committee
Omer Fidan, Head of writers for Peace Committee.
We also have a significant number of representatives in different countries, regions and places to cooperate and enrich us with information, reports and activities on the ground.
We are delighted to tell you that, as we are no longer operating from abroad but rather from the heart of our homeland, we are therefore making ourselves available for any cooperation and coordination with the PEN International office and/or the centers within, in order to work together to achieve the targets we set for ourselves.
In North Kurdistan, there are calls for peace and reconciliation instead of war and conflict, which have been overwhelming our society for decades. We are therefore at the stage where the help and contribution of everyone is needed to have the rights and freedoms of the Kurdish people obtained and practiced similar to all other peoples of the world. In order for this to happen we are in need of all free pens to work together to build a culture of a civilized human values.
Wishing you all the best and looking forward to seeing you at the World’s PEN Congress in Reykjavik in September this year.
On behalf of everyone at the Kurdish PEN Centre, please accept my very best regards.
Sincerely
Sexmus Sefer, President
Kurdish PEN Centre
2/6/2013
P.S. Please note that contacts should be through Vice President of Kurdish PEN Centre Dr. Berivan Dosky; e mail address; [email protected]
