Dr. Ismail Besikci was born in 1939 in the city of Corum. He became interested in the Kurdish issue during his military service in Kurdistan (1962) and studied sociology at the Kurdish town of Erzeroms University. Besikci was finished with his training and he wrote his doctoral thesis in 1967. His analysis focused on the Kurdistan Social Affairs: The social transformation of the Kurdish tribes in eastern Anatolia was published in book form in 1968. Later i 1969 published his second book: Changes in the East – Structural issues in the Kurdish nomadic tribe Alikanás. These books cost him his job at the university, and nearly 14-year sentence.
Last, he was prosecuted and imprisoned in 1993 for one of his earlier books he had written in 1977: The Scientific Method 1 – implementation in Turkey: deportations and assimilation of Kurds.
Besikci has been sentenced to more than 200 years’ imprisonment and the corresponding million Swedish Crones fines for their books. Besikci has been monitored by Amnesty International and the International PEN writers’ club carefully. Thanks to those taking national organizations, he has finally been released from Turkish prison after spending nearly 20 years of his life in prison.
Besikci has not given up. Most recently, he was in one of his articles in the journal Serbesti (Freedom), gave his views on why the Kurdistan distribution and oppression of its Kurdish nation.
A list of some of Dr Ismail Besikcis books:
– Bilim Yöntemi, Türkiye’deki Uygulama Kürtlerin Mecburi Iskani 1977 (The scientific method – the implementation of Turkey deportation and assimilation of the Kurds) – Devletlerarasi Sömürge Kurdistan in 1990 (Kurdisan – an international colony).
– Bilim, Resmi Ideoloji, devlet, Demokrasi ve Kürt Sorunu 1990 (Science, the officially ideology, state, democracy and the Kurdish question).
– Bir Aydin Bir Örgüt ve Kürt Sorunu 1990 (An intellectual, organization and the Kurdish question)
– Tunceli Kanunu ve Dersîm Jenosidi 1990 (Act of Tunceli and genocide in Dersim).
What do you think about Yezidis and how can we ensure their rights?
Yezidis are Kurds. The residents of Mesopotamia since several hundred years, BC Yezidis has preserved ancient Kurdish religion and faith.
During the course of history became Yezidis attacked by Muslim Arabs and Kurds, leading to the collapsed. Despite all Yezidis fought for Kurdish national identity and freedom.
It is very important to the Kurds who have Muslim faith know about these events. And not to lose sight of the story of how Kurds converted to Islam by threatening people with swords. Many agreed to convert Yezidis but did not give up; they fought to preserve the Kurds’ faith, tradition, language and customs.
In order to raise Yezidis security needs of their area linked to the Kurdistan Regional Government, KRG. Lalesh area is controlled by the KRG. But the area Shehkan lacks security. To Yezidis be able to practice their faith, they need a soothing situation. Therefore you need to strengthen their security even more and spend more on religious freedom in those areas where they live. This is the KRG’s main task to perform. They must also provide financial support for developing Yezidis area.
In recent months became Yezidis and Assyrians attacked in Iraq by extremist groups belonging to Arab nationalists. They want to blame all this on the Kurds. It should open their eyes and see this as a danger! Therefore KRG should be aware of this and improve Yezidis and the Assyrians and security situation in a systematic manner (interview: Gabar Çiyan – EuroKurd Human Rights)
