This fourth part of the series delves into the family histories and old photographs of Baharlı Neighborhood, aiming to reconstruct its collective memory and the interwoven lives of its residents.
This essay argues that the renaming of Baharlı Neighborhood to 14 Kasım was a psychological punishment for its residents' political identity, urging the Iğdır Municipal Council to restore the original name.
This second part of the series delves into the untold story of Baharlı Neighborhood's youth during the 1980 military coup, focusing on Necdet Karatepe's harrowing experiences of detention and torture.
This article explores the history and memory of Baharlı Neighborhood in Iğdır through Mecit Taşan's poem, which meticulously records the lives and stories of its former residents.
This article discusses Peter Lerch's pioneering work in recording Kurmanji and Zazaki using Latin characters, highlighting his efforts to capture spoken language and develop a systematic orthography.
This article explores the life and historical context of Ali Eşref Başaran, a prominent Karapapak figure in Iğdır, through personal accounts and historical documents.
This article tells the multi-generational story of Prof. Dr. Hakan Alpay Karasu, a distinguished academic and dean, tracing his family's journey from Karxın to Iğdır and Ankara, highlighting their commitment to education, public service, and community.
Yusuf Akgün, an Iğdır native who once filled exam papers with a pen held in his mouth, now uses the same pen to draw Turkey's national combat aircraft, KAAN.
This article explores the history of the Molokans and Doukhobors, two spiritual Christian communities exiled from Russia to Kars, who built villages, cultivated the land, and later embarked on new migrations.
This essay explores how societies, like individuals, express their repressed desires, traumas, and fears through symbols, flags, anthems, and collective narratives.
This article explores the 1905 Russian Revolution's impact on the South Caucasus, focusing on the ethnic conflicts in Yerevan and the surprising role of Prince Napoléon Louis Joseph Jérôme Bonaparte in restoring order.
This essay explores humanity's recurring fear and eventual adaptation to new technologies, from the printing press to AI, emphasizing the enduring importance of ethics and human values.
This article explores the dual political projects of 1918 Baku: the Azerbaijani Democratic Republic and the Baku Commune, highlighting their contrasting ideologies and historical significance.
The CHP's internal struggles are not just about leadership; they reflect the party's historical role in Turkey's democracy and its future as a social democratic force.
This essay argues that Turkish politics has devolved from serving the common good into a realm of self-interest, opportunism, and moral decay, undermining public trust and societal well-being.
This essay explores the historical relationship between the CHP and the Kurdish question, arguing that the party must overcome its state-centric reflexes to embrace a truly social democratic vision for all of Turkey.
This essay explores the life and legacy of Huseyin Kulu Khan, the last ruler of the Revan Khanate, and his resistance against the encroaching Russian Empire in the early 19th century.
This article translates a 1980 Milliyet newspaper report on the political and ethnic tensions in Iğdır, Turkey, just before the 1980 military coup, highlighting the perspectives of local leaders.
This essay reflects on the 10th-century Ikhwan al-Safa's "Dispute Between Animals and Humans" to critique humanity's self-proclaimed superiority and its justification of violence, especially in current conflicts.
Despite rising global tensions and regional conflicts, World War III has not erupted because major powers are employing a strategy of sequential containment rather than simultaneous confrontation.
This article explores the tumultuous history of the South Caucasus from the 18th to the early 20th century, tracing its transformation from a system of khanates to Russian imperial rule and finally to the emergence of independent republics amidst ethnic conflict and mass displacement.
This article critiques the double standards and power-centric morality in international politics, urging the US to cease its interventionist approach towards Iran.
This article explores the historical continuity of intervention in Latin America, from Simon Bolívar's warnings against external influence to the recent US actions against Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, highlighting the enduring struggle for sovereignty against foreign powers.
This article tells the tragic story of Hurç Cemile, a young girl who survived the Ağrı Dağı Rebellion by living with bears, and her eventual return to human society in Iğdır.
A tragic 1941 story recounts a nomadic family in Eastern Anatolia encountering a mysterious horseman, whose visit leads to unsettling events amid the chaos of World War II.
History's flow often appears as sudden leaps, but progress is actually the result of silent, gradual accumulation, with each stage preparing the next in an often unpredictable chain.
Melayê Cizîrî, a 17th-century Kurdish poet and philosopher, is celebrated for elevating the Kurmanji language to a high cultural and philosophical level, embodying the rich intellectual tradition of Cizre.
This article discusses the rising prominence of Indian-origin individuals in American business and politics, contrasting it with Columbus's historical journey to find India.
This article introduces Ömer Paçal, a PhD candidate from Iğdır studying the state's market-driven hegemony in Eastern Anatolia between 1970 and 1990, and calls for contributions to his research.
This article explores the 1937 migration of Bulgarian Turks from Deliorman to Iğdır, detailing their arduous journey, settlement, and integration into Turkish society, enriched by personal anecdotes and historical newspaper accounts.
This article explores the author's lifelong connection with the Russian language and culture, from childhood in Iğdır to a poignant encounter in post-Soviet Leningrad, alongside a tribute to Iğdır's first American daughter-in-law and a humorous anecdote.
This essay explores the concept of "Iğdır Creole" as a linguistic and cultural hybrid born from the diverse communities of Iğdır, exemplified in the works of writers Mehmet Kum and Asım Keser.
This essay explores the Basque experience in Spain and France as a model for Turkey's Kurdish question, weighing cultural versus political autonomy.
This essay contrasts the top-down military coup of September 12, 1980, in Turkey with bottom-up youth protests in Nepal, exploring how societies change and the destructive versus constructive paths of transformation.
In developing countries like Turkey, politics often revolves around the distribution of rent and patronage rather than ideological struggle, leading to a system where state resources are exploited for personal or group gain.
This essay traces the evolution of the human mind from hunter-gatherer societies to the digital age, arguing that civilization is a history of software updates to the same brain, culminating in the need for universal consciousness.
This article explores the historical figure Kiziroğlu Mustafa Bey and the research conducted by the late Muzaffer Şamiloğlu, a former senator from Kars, whose life story and insights are shared.
This essay examines the two enduring ideological lines in Azerbaijani politics, represented by Rasulzade–Elchibey's romantic nationalism and Narimanov–Aliyev's pragmatic statism, and their impact on the nation's history.
The Kurdish issue is fundamentally about identity, culture, and existence, not merely economic poverty, as historical evidence and global examples demonstrate.
This essay argues that Kurdish tribal structures, dengbêjs, and madrasas were crucial in preserving Kurdish identity, language, and history against assimilationist pressures.
This article recounts the turbulent history of Iğdır (Surmalu Uyezd) between 1917 and 1920, focusing on the heroic resistance led by Nado Agha against Armenian Dashnak forces.
This article explores why social democracy has struggled to become a lasting social project in Turkey, examining historical, structural, and political obstacles.
This article critically examines Abdullah Öcalan's "Democratic Modernity" as a repackaging of existing concepts, arguing it functions as a form of political messianism that exploits the Kurdish community's psychological vulnerabilities.
This article explores how the Kurdish society, shaped by decades of conflict and trauma, has developed cognitive rigidity and emotional-ideological reflexes, hindering critical thought and perpetuating a hegemonic structure.
This essay explores the recurring cycle of hope and defeat in Kurdish history, arguing that reliance on external powers has consistently led to disappointment and strategic missteps.
This essay compares the founding narratives of Turkey and the United States, highlighting the paradoxes of freedom and equality for marginalized groups like Kurds and African Americans.
