A Kurd in Kazakhstan: Kinyas Ibrahim Mirzoyev

A KURD IN KAZAKHSTAN: KINYAS IBRAHIM MIRZOYEV

Dear readers!

In this article, I would like to briefly introduce you to the Kurds in Kazakhstan and two important Kurdish personalities living there. Approximately two weeks ago, the leader of the Kazakhstani Kurds, Prof. Dr. Kinyas Ibrahim Mirzoyev (Kinyazê Îbrahîmê Mîrzoyev / Kinyas, son of Ibrahim from the Mirzo lineage), was hosted in Germany at the invitation of his friends in Europe. One of those who welcomed and honored him was my very dear cousin, my elder brother Yılmaz Tırpan. Through Yılmaz Abi's reference, I had the chance to correspond and communicate with the highly esteemed scientist Prof. Dr. Kinyas Ibrahim on social media.

MY YEARS IN KAZAKHSTAN

Between 1997 and 1999, I visited Kazakhstan many times due to the investments of an American oil company. In those years, the republics left behind by the collapsed Soviet Union in 1991 were groaning under a great wreckage, and people were struggling for daily survival. Poverty was at a heartbreaking level.

Chevron, a multinational American energy company headquartered in California, specifically sent its Russian-speaking employees to former Soviet Union countries. Kazakhstan was one of them. I had the chance to travel to Russia, Kazakhstan, and other countries many times on this occasion.

A company named Tengizchevroil was established in 1993 with a 50-50 sharing agreement between the Kazakhstani Government and Chevron. Our task was to efficiently bring the Tengiz field, located in the west of the country, back into service.

In those years, the capital of Kazakhstan was Alma-Ata. (Today, Nur-Sultan is the capital.) Half of the country's population was of Russian origin. Russian was spoken everywhere. Since my work was intense, I didn't have time to explore the city except for a few small trips. The ski resorts we went to by cable car satisfied my longing for the mountains. Due to migrations to Russia and especially Germany, the proportion of the Russian population to the total population is around 20% today. Especially German Kazakhstani (Kasachstandeutsche) living in Kazakhstan chose to leave Kazakhstan and settle in Russia or Germany after the collapse of the Soviet Union.

What caught my attention in the city center was the dense Korean population. I remember going to the Korean market and buying Kimchi, a traditional Korean dish (or pickle) made from fermented red pepper and Chinese cabbage, which I loved very much. According to what they told me, there were over 100,000 Koreans in the country. The vast majority of them had fled the famine that broke out on the Korean peninsula in the mid-19th century. To be honest, in those years, I didn't know that there was a strong Kurdish diaspora in Kazakhstan. In later years, I would learn this fact and become aware of the existence of a strong Kurdish diaspora not only in Kazakhstan but also in Turkic republics like Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan. Based on the fact that Kurds and Turks have lived intertwined in a geography extending from Central Asia to Europe, I wrote an article discussing how this unity could be transformed into a political and economic power under the leadership of the Republic of Turkey. Interested readers can access this article by clicking or typing the link below. (http://hunacademy.com/turk-kurt-sentezi-ve-kuresel-guc-turkiye/)

KURDS OF KAZAKHSTAN

Perhaps you're wondering, when, from where, and why did Kurds go and settle in Kazakhstan? Today, the Kurdish population in Kazakhstan is estimated to be around 100,000. Since most Kurds came from Armenia and Azerbaijan, they carry the passports of these countries and are registered in the population not as "Kurds" but as "Azeris" or "Armenians." This has led to an underestimation of the Kurdish population. Therefore, it is possible to say that the real Kurdish population is over 150,000.

Kurds were migrated to Kazakhstan from the South Caucasus region in three waves. The dates of these forced migrations are as follows:

1. 1937
2. 1944
3. 1989

Here, I should note that sometimes there were mass exiles as above, and sometimes exiles on a family basis. For example, the family of the famous Prof. Nadir Nadirov was exiled as a small group in 1933.

THE 1937 KURDISH EXILE

These were the years when Stalin's harsh and ruthless rule continued. A brutal espionage-counter-espionage struggle was ongoing between Turkey and the Soviet Union. On the Turkish side, Hüsnü Bingöl, the Regional Head of MAH (MIT), had taken control of the border region. Since the Celali, Redkan, and Brukan tribes were located on both sides of the Turkish and Soviet borders, Hüsnü Bingöl built a wide counter-espionage network relying on the Kurds. Stalin was disturbed by this situation. Realizing that he could not cope with Hüsnü Bingöl, Stalin one day loaded the Kurdish tribes settled along the Aras River onto a train and sent them to Kazakhstan. Furthermore, since the existence of Red Kurdistan (Kürdistan Uyezdi), established in Lachin and ruling between 1923-29, was ended, a small Kurdish population from this region was also included in this forced migration. (I recommend my book "Black, White and Gray: Hüsnü Bingöl," which describes Hüsnü Bingöl's counter-espionage activities, to interested readers.)

THE 1944 KURDISH EXILE

The most critical moment of World War II was the Battle of Stalingrad. The Germans' aim was to capture Stalingrad, quickly descend into the South Caucasus, and seize the Baku oil fields. The Germans formed Nazi battalions from Soviet soldiers of Azeri, Armenian, Georgian, Uzbek, etc. origin who had been captured, promising these nations independence if the Soviet Union was defeated. Stalin was filled with deep hatred for these battalions collaborating with the Nazis and the peoples they belonged to. In 1944, to prevent them from further collaborating with the enemy or to punish them, Stalin exiled a considerable population from the South Caucasus to Central Asia. A certain Kurdish population also received its share of this exile. Those exiled were dispersed to countries such as Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and Kyrgyzstan.

THE 1988-90 KURDISH EXILE OR VOLUNTARY MIGRATION

Most of the Kurds living in the Red Kurdistan region were Shiite. When the Karabakh War broke out between Armenia and Azerbaijan, the Kurds in the Lachin region, once called "Red Kurdistan," were attacked by Armenians. The Shiite Kurdish population migrated to Azerbaijan. They adopted an Azeri identity and were assimilated over time. Sunni Kurds, on the other hand, were not wanted by either Armenia or Azerbaijan, so they voluntarily left the war zone and mostly migrated to Kazakhstan to start a new life there.

Thus, a strong Kurdish diaspora was formed in Kazakhstan, with Kurds from three different periods intertwining. In the tolerant environment provided by the Kazakhstani State, they found the opportunity to preserve their identity and mother tongue. As you can imagine, in difficult times, personalities and important people emerge who lead every society like a locomotive. The most important figure who gave a new spirit to the Kurds of Kazakhstan and provided them with every opportunity to develop their identity is Prof. Dr. Kinyas Ibrahim Mirzoyev. Prof. Dr. Kinyas Ibrahim, who once served as the Deputy President of Kazakhstan, is today at the forefront as the undisputed leader of the Kazakhstani Kurds.

PROF. DR. KINYAS IBRAHIM

(The struggle for life of the Caucasus Kurds is not well known. Everything happened behind closed doors. Among the world's Kurds, who spent the 20th century fragmented and unaware of each other, the Caucasus Kurds, in particular, experienced heartbreaking separations and were exiled from country to country. Even their graves were separated. Kinyas Ibrahim, whose childhood was spent in the Caucasus, walked the plateaus like every Kurdish child, ran after lambs, sat in a corner of his father's house, and listened to dengbêjs (Kurdish singers) with attention and pleasure. The feeling of serving the development of Kurdish identity in his soul developed at a very early age. From his doctoral work onwards, he dedicated all his books and scientific studies to Kurdish identity. In Kazakhstan, where he went as an exile, he assumed the position of Deputy President with his Kurdish identity. He served as the head of the world languages department at Kazakhstan's most established university. Not content with this, he founded the BERBANG (Dawn) Kurdish association and brought up the issue of education in the mother tongue for Kurdish children. When there were 5-6 Kurdish children in a class, he secured the right to take Kurdish as an elective course, and in villages where Kurds lived in high density, he ensured the right to education in the mother tongue up to the 12th grade. He contributed to the development of the Kurdish language with the Kurdish magazines and newspapers he published. With the television channel named Yekbûn, he made serious efforts to bring new vitality to Kurdish folklore and language in changing world conditions. All Kurds of the world consider it their duty to bow with respect before the person and work of Prof. Dr. Kinyas Ibrahim. All that remains for us is to say, Her bijî Mamoste Kinyas Ibrahim.)

Kinyas Ibrahim is from the Brukan (Brukî) tribe on his mother's side and the Geloylu (Gêloî) tribe, a branch of the Celali Confederation, on his father's side. Kinyas Ibrahim defined himself and his family in this way in his speeches in Germany. For us, Prof. Dr. Kinyas Ibrahim is a personality above tribes and states, embraced with praise by all Kurds worldwide.

I want to insert an interesting anecdote here. The late Kinyas Kartal was the undisputed leader and an important figure of the Brukan tribe. My uncle Hamit Hun's stepmother, Zeynep Hanım, was the daughter of Derbaz Ağa, a relative of Kinyas Kartal. Thus, Hamit Hun named his firstborn son 'Kinyas' (1945 / 1949 was mistakenly written on his tombstone). Two years passed. This time, Kinyas Ibrahim, whose mother was from the Brukan tribe, was born (1947). He was also given the name 'Kinyas' in reference to Kinyas Kartal. The interesting thing is the incredible resemblance among the three "Kinyas"es.

In 1926, his elders crossed the Aras River from Turkey and settled in Nakhchivan. After living in Nakhchivan for a while, his family and other Kurds were exiled by Stalin in 1937 from the banks of the Aras River to Kazakhstan, and some to Siberia. Kinyas Ibrahim's family settled in Kazakhstan. When World War II broke out, his father, uncle, and part of his family returned to Armenia. Since his maternal uncle served as the head of the Soviet military intelligence department in the South Caucasus, he gathered Kurds around him. In fact, when the Soviet Army entered Northern Iran in August 1941, this intelligence organization formed by Kurds became quite effective. Thanks to this, Kinyas Ibrahim's family escaped the exile of 1944 and continued to live in Armenia.

Kinyas Ibrahim was born on May 1, 1947, in the village of Uluhanlı (Zengibasar / Masis). He attended the village primary school until the eighth grade. Later, he went to Yerevan. Between 1963-66, he graduated from the high school named after the famous Azeri statesman Ahundov. He enrolled in the Faculty of Language and Literature. After completing his master's degree, he continued his doctoral studies. He completed his doctoral thesis on Kurdish and Azeri Literature. In his own words, Kurdish and Azeri literature have intertwined and experienced a historical interaction. For example, Nizami Gence states in his writings that his mother was from the Sheddadi Kurds.

Kinyas Ibrahim continued his studies on Kurdish Language and Literature as a lecturer. He published nearly 25 original books and hundreds of scientific papers. Misfortunes did not leave the family alone. In 1988, the Karabakh War broke out between Azerbaijan and Armenia. Azeris expelled Armenians, and Armenians expelled Azeris from their countries. Around 20-30 thousand Kurds were caught in the middle. They had no choice but to leave the region.

Like birds without nests and orphans of history, some of these migrating Kurds dispersed to Kazakhstan, and some to Russia and other republics. The graves of their ancestors remained in three or four different countries. Kinyas Ibrahim married Gögercin Hanım in 1974. Prof. Dr. Kinyas Ibrahim has five children, two of whom are daughters.

Kinyas Ibrahim, who received the title of professor in Philology in Saint Petersburg, returned to Kazakhstan after 1990 and served as vice-rector at the State University.

Prof. Dr. Kinyas Ibrahim attracted attention with his work, leading to deep respect and interest in him, especially among Kurds, and throughout the world. Kinyas Ibrahim knows eight languages: his mother tongue Kurdish, as well as Azeri, Armenian, Persian, Turkish, Russian, Kazakh, and English.

Prof. Dr. NADIR NADIROV

Another prominent figure among the Kurds of Kazakhstan is Prof. Dr. Nadir Nadirov. His family was originally settled in Nakhchivan. Nadir Nadirov was born in 1932 in the city of Sədərək, Nakhchivan. His father passed away in 1933 before Stalin exiled the family. Nadir Nadirov grew up in a family of nine siblings. His family was exiled to Kazakhstan in 1933 on suspicion of espionage. He recounts his memories of those days as follows:

"We were sent to an unknown place. They handed us shovels and told us to build a house for ourselves. It was a barren land. It probably didn't even have a name. No cars, no roads, no planes, no communication... Just an endless steppe... A year later, they came to visit us. They went from house to house, asking who the head of the family was. My eldest brother was Abdullah, 22 years old. He had just gotten married. I was about 5 years old. They took Abdullah away. My elder sister was married and lived in a house next to ours. They also took her husband. Neither of them ever returned.

After the collapse of the Soviet Union, my sister's son began to trace his father. He wrote to archives. Finally, one day, a reply came. His father had been imprisoned in 1938, tried on charges of being an 'Iranian spy,' and executed. Poor man! He was illiterate. He didn't even know where Iran was. Unfortunately, despite all my efforts, I couldn't find any information about my brother Abdullah, who disappeared the same night."

(Dear readers! I want to make a note here. Whether in the Republic of Turkey or the Soviet Union in the 1930s, both countries, as if in agreement, subjected the Kurdish population to forced settlement. To give an example from the Iğdır region, members of the Helikan tribe were taken by ships via Trabzon to Thrace and Western Anatolia, Kurdish families were broken up and dispersed, with no more than 2-3 families per village, and leaving the villages was subject to special permission. A similar situation was applied in the Soviet Union.)

Prof. Dr. Nadir Nadirov served as the president of the Kurdish Association (Berbang) in Kazakhstan and the first vice-president of the Kazakhstan Engineering Academy. He also held the position of director of the Oil Science Center. In 1992, he became interested in the history of the mass deportation of Kurds in the former Soviet Union in the 1930s and 1940s, and he made his findings public. Professor Nadir Nadirov became known in Kazakhstan by the titles 'MARSHAL OF SCIENCE' or 'LOMONOSOV'.

(Note: Lomonosov is one of the greatest scientists Russia produced in the 18th century. In addition to being an encyclopedist, natural scientist, physicist, and chemist, he also has important works in linguistics and history.)

Prof. Dr. Nadir Nadirov also served as an advisor to the President of Kazakhstan in the 2010s. In an interview with him, Nadirov stated that Kurdish education is provided in schools in all cities where Kurds live, and he added:

"Kurdish teachers are being trained. This is necessary not only for the language but also for the development of the Kurdish language so that it is not forgotten and for children to be educated in their mother tongue. In the Parliament, we express that we are Kurds with our culture and language. We are not assimilated. Despite living away from our homeland for 80 years under the influence and pressure of the old Soviet culture, we have not forgotten our culture and language. The Parliament of Kazakhstan allows us to protect our values.

In the Parliament, of course, we also undertake political responsibilities concerning the whole country, but we have always prioritized the fact that culture, art, and language are the most important issues. The most important thing is language. When a nation loses its language, it also disappears. For us, the most important thing is to be able to protect our language and to express this desire in Parliament. 70 different nations live in Kazakhstan, and each nation can freely speak its own language and develop its culture. In Kazakhstan, the newspaper JiyanaKurd (Kurdish Life) is also published. There are also Kurdish magazines. Important work is being done under the leadership of Mamosta Kinyas Ibrahim."

NARIN NADIROVA, THE PRIDE OF THE KURDS

In the Assembly of Peoples of Kazakhstan, chaired by the President of Kazakhstan, a member from one of the peoples living in Kazakhstan assumes the position of vice-chairman each year. Since its establishment, Kurdish members have also served in the Assembly every year. In this context, it is worth briefly mentioning Narin Nadirova. Narin Nadirova is a promising Kurdish female politician who was awarded the Kazakhstan People's Unity award, the highest state award of the Republic of Kazakhstan, in 2017.

Narin Nadirova is also a famous businesswoman. Narin Nadirova, who also serves as the CEO of Home Credit Bank, which has offices and branches in Kazakhstan and worldwide, advises Kurdish women as follows: "The importance given to the education of Kurdish girls should be further increased. Let's not forget that the mother is the first to teach the child their mother tongue. The woman is the foundation and everything of the family. Moreover, it is the mother who instills love for the homeland in the child."

MOTHER TONGUE EDUCATION IN KURDISH

In Kazakhstan, Kurdish education was first provided in 1968 in the village of Drejne, initiated by Kerim Nadirov. In subsequent years, efforts accelerated in line with public demands, and the Kurdish elective course education, whose foundations were laid in Kazakhstan in 2000, was reorganized in later years to provide education in the mother tongue up to the 12th grade. Today, Kurdish education in the mother tongue is provided in schools opened in 20 villages. Teachers who teach Kurdish language are trained on the curriculum within the Ministry of National Education of Kazakhstan. Wherever in Kazakhstan there are 5-6 Kurdish students in a class, according to the curriculum, these students are entitled to 4-8 hours of elective Kurdish language lessons per week.

From here, I want to make an appeal to the Republic of Turkey: While Kazakhstan grants the right to education in the mother tongue, or at least elective Kurdish, to 150,000 Kurds who came as exiles, the Republic of Turkey is making an extraordinary effort to avoid bringing this issue to the agenda. Until when, I wonder?

THE NEW CENTER OF KURDISH LANGUAGE STUDIES: ALMA-ATA

Once, Armenia was the center of Kurdish studies. The first Kurdish newspaper in Latin script, Riya Teze (New Way), began publication in 1930 and continued to meet its readers, with some interruptions, until 2003.

Meanwhile, the importance of Yerevan Kurdish radio should also be noted. The radio, which started test broadcasts in Kurdish in 1955, initially broadcast 15 minutes of news three days a week. In later years, the radio broadcast was reorganized to reach wider audiences, with two hours every day.

The radio created a unique opportunity for Kurdish language and folklore. The Kurdish writer, poet, translator, educator, and collector Casimê Celîl included Kurdish oral culture and literature and dengbêjs (folk bards) in the radio broadcasts along with Kurdish music. It is known that the radio's archive contains approximately two thousand Kurdish songs and melodies. Furthermore, it is known that over ten thousand songs and melodies were recorded and archived as part of Kurdish folklore compilations. Among the famous names, one can mention dengbêjs such as Aram Tigran, Fatma İsa, Egîde Cimo, Feyzoyê Rizoyî, Ayşe Şan, Meryem Xan, and Karapetê Xaço.

Today, Alma-Ata is considered one of the important centers for Kurdish studies in the world. It seems that the Federation of Kurdish Associations is doing important work and will continue its efforts without slowing down. The regrettable aspect is that the Turkish Republic government is pressuring the Republic of Kazakhstan to close down established Kurdish associations, allegedly on the grounds that they serve the PKK, and is constantly pressuring for an end to Kurdish language education. To equate 150,000 honorable Kurds living in Kazakhstan and upholding their identity with the PKK is a blatant insult. The Republic of Turkey is in a state of unnecessary fear syndrome, as if it would worry if Kurds went to Mars and received education in their mother tongue there. A regrettable situation!

PART TWO: ANECDOTES

THE WALNUT TREE

(I saw my walnut tree in my dream, and I wrote the following text.)

Mujahit, where are you? I heard you forgot me! I understand, disloyalty has found a place in your heart too. Humans are always like this! Actually, there's nothing surprising about it. You've been coming and going to Iğdır for a long time, but you never stop by me. Yet, you planted me in the garden as a small sapling. How could I ever forget that day? It was April 1968. You and your neighbor's son, your beloved friend Alaattin (Bayat), brought my delicate roots together with the soil, revived by the warm spring. You dug the hole with a shovel. Alaattin gently grasped me by my trunk and lowered me into the pit, and after ensuring I stood upright, he pushed the soil in with his hand to fill the pit. You watered me generously with a hose. Every day you came by to check if I was still alive. How happy I was when you came to me. I was proud. I took root to be worthy of your love.

Alaattin was a talented child. He knew how to do cleft grafting. I grew even stronger after being grafted. I grew. My branches hung over the garden wall onto the road. Neighbors, children, young people, passers-by, they are all in my mind as if it were today. Sometimes, being long-lived does not make a living thing happy. If they hadn't cut me down with a saw, I would have lived for over 150 years. Many people I knew are now invisible. Perhaps many of them have found their eternal lives under the soil. Each of them left behind a memory, a bitter recollection.

Mujahit, know that your father's house is now desolate and abandoned. Its stones are faded and tired... They seem to be crying from within. You must tell me the truth: Will we return and reunite with our old days? Or will a saw soon fell me too?

THE PIGEON WITH THE RED STRING

In the elections of July 22, 2007, I ran for parliament as an Independent Social Democrat from Iğdır. Five of us were sitting around a table in front of a coffeehouse near the old Doğubayazıt Mosque. One side of the table leaned against the coffeehouse's glass window. On the left side of the table sat the late Hacı Nadir Durak, on his right a villager from Orgof (Suveren) village, Hacı Maruf Çakmaz from Karakuyu village, my brother Hacı Ahmet Hun, and I. It was afternoon. A scorching heat filled the air.

The villager from Suveren pointed to Pervin Buldan, the Independent Candidate whose large portrait hung in the window, and reproached me: "You are betraying the Kurds with your candidacy!" When there was no sound from the table, I spoke sharply to this person I didn't know. He, as if to say, "I won't sit at the same table with a traitor," stood up. He walked away quickly.

There was a long silence at the table.

A little further away, children were walking around with pigeons in their hands. They had tied strings, 2-3 meters long, to the pigeons' feet. The pigeon would flap its wings hopefully but return to the child's hand when it realized it couldn't fly.

The children approached passers-by with a tone full of emotional manipulation, calling out: "Brother, if you give 5 liras, I will set the pigeon free. You will earn merit!"

I got up from the table and approached one of the children. I offered 20 liras. He untied the strings of three of the four pigeons in his hand and set them free. No matter how hard the child tried, he couldn't untie the knot of the red string tied to the fourth pigeon's leg. I grabbed the string and broke it close to the pigeon's foot. I took the pigeon in my hand, kissed it, and threw it into the sky. I returned to the table.

I was staying at the Olimpia hotel. The owner was a German Turk. Our friendship and camaraderie with the staff were quite deep. They treated me with great respect and did everything they could to make me comfortable. I was staying on the fourth floor. I could see Mount Ağrı from my room's window.

In those days, rumors about me being a "MIT agent, CIA agent" were gaining momentum, and I was becoming increasingly isolated. I had been targeted. Even my closest relatives came to the hotel, threatened me with death, and pressured me to leave Iğdır as soon as possible. The answer they received was always the same: "To die by a Geloylu bullet and be buried in Karakuyu cemetery is more honorable for me than to leave Iğdır."

I was upset. The weather was hot and stifling. Since I don't like air conditioning, I left the window open and lay on the bed with my clothes on.

I opened my eyes at the morning call to prayer. I saw a pigeon on the television. I wasn't surprised. I wondered if it could get out of the room. I started watching the pigeon motionless. Looking closely, I noticed the red string on its leg. It was the pigeon whose string I had broken and set free yesterday! It walked back and forth on top of the television box, making sounds. Then it flapped its wings from the open window and flew off into the unknown.

I AM FROM URFA FROM ANCIENT TIMES

We had a shepherd. (Note: Although I don't like words like Shepherd or Servant, I find it difficult to find another expression for accurate description.) His name was Ömer (Avcı). He was from Karakuyu village. It was as if he had been our shepherd since the day I was born. One of his legs was lame from birth. He did his job with loyalty and never complained. He was the only shepherd who didn't mind my mother's anger and scolding. He never sulked. Even in her angriest moments, he would win my mother's heart and sing a song loudly, beating his chest:

"I am from Urfa from ancient times, I am from Urfa from ancient times

My heart does not pass by beauty

May my heart's eye be plucked out

If I hadn't loved from ancient times

May you be my Agha, Ömer

May you be my Pasha, Ömer

May you be an orphan, Ömer

May you be mine, Ömer

Urfa falls to one side

Tresses fall on the neck

What kind of head-tying is this

Every day it falls to one side"

Ömer had found a nickname for my mother: "Ereb Zengi." We all adopted this nickname. Even though my mother didn't know its meaning, she took pride in being addressed this way. And she wasn't wrong!

Ömer had no school life, but the name "Ereb Zengi," a historical figure, was always on his lips. In later years, I would understand that in Kurdish Madrasahs, when Kurdish History was taught, Kurdish historians had given the nickname "Ereb Zengi" to Nureddin Zengi, the most important atabeg of the Turkic-origin Zengi Atabeglik established in Syria, due to his dark complexion. It was Nureddin Zengi who appointed the Kurdish-origin Ayub as commander of the Damascus castle, and later assigned Ayub's brother Shirkuh, along with Ayub's son Saladin, who was still a young man, to conquer Egypt. The Turkish-Kurdish brotherhood, which united against the Crusader attacks, continued with the magnificent Saladin Ayyubi, who succeeded Nurettin Zengi after his death, and the Turkish-Kurdish unity curbed the Crusader attacks, preventing the eradication of Islam.

It was 1970. That summer, we had gone to the Zor plateau. A stream flowed in front of our black tent. When we went to bed, the gurgling sound of the stream would lull us to sleep like a lullaby. We had two shepherds: Ömer and Mehmet. Both were from Karakuyu village and were our relatives. Since my grandmother was having difficulty milking cows, my mother allowed a poor family, also relatives from Taşlıca village, to set up their small black tent near ours. Since her husband was a peddler, the woman of the house stayed alone with her adult daughter. Mother and daughter helped milk the cows together, and my mother would give them some of the milk.

As life went on like this, one day Ömer and Mehmet got into a fistfight during milking. Everything happened before our eyes. We would soon realize that both shepherds had fallen in love with the girl of the house. The girl was indeed very beautiful. If I had been a little older, maybe I would have joined the fight too!! The pain of love had pitted our two shepherds against each other, and they had fought. My mother chose Ömer. She fired Mehmet.

It was the next day. My mother, as usual, asked me to take the cheese and bread wrapped in a cloth to Ömer, who was grazing the cows on the mountainside. I took my beloved oak stick, seasoned by fire, and set off. After a long walk, our cows finally appeared in the distance. As I climbed the slope, I saw someone else coming to where the cows were from above. Looking carefully, I realized it was Mehmet. Ömer was lying stretched out at the base of a rock. It was clear that Mehmet had come to harm Ömer and take revenge. I shouted with all my might: "Êmê (Ömer)! Êmê!" Ömer sat up from where he was lying. He was looking at me but was unaware of the danger coming from behind. Mehmet was faster because he was going downhill. I was trying to climb the slope with all my might. At the same time, I kept my eyes on what was happening.

Mehmet lifted a huge rock with both hands. He was about to bring it down on Ömer's head, who was still unaware of anything. I screamed with all my might: "Êmêêê!!!!! Watch out!! Mehmet is behind you...." Ömer, finding my scream unusual, instinctively turned around. Seeing Mehmet's stone, he threw himself aside, and the stone hit his left shoulder.

Ömer got up and started fighting Mehmet. However, Ömer couldn't use his left arm. He was trying in vain to resist the fierce Mehmet's attack with one arm.

Ömer fell to the ground. Mehmet was delivering deadly stick blows to Ömer. As soon as I reached them, I brought the stick in my hand down on Mehmet's head with all my might. Mehmet, whose head was broken, staggered and rolled to the ground. Ömer was lying motionless on the ground, having taken too many blows. To prevent Mehmet from getting up again, I delivered a second stick blow to his head. Mehmet lay semi-conscious. Other shepherds who saw the fight ran over. Mehmet's head was covered in blood. A large group came towards us from the black tent of the late Enver Güneş. To stop Mehmet's bleeding, they applied a mixture of dry herbs to his head and tied it with a scarf.

If I had been 10-15 minutes late that day, I would have found Ömer with his head crushed by a stone. And who killed him might never have been known.

***

Years had passed. It was 2002. I was working on the book IĞDIR SEVDASI (Love for Iğdır). As I was walking down the road, someone grabbed my arm from behind. I turned around. It was an unfamiliar face. He smiled. "Do you recognize me?" When he asked this question, the meaning that we had met before was hidden. With this intention, I strained my memory and recognized Mehmet. He hugged me lovingly. I also embraced him warmly. He had settled in Istanbul. He said he had come to Iğdır to visit his relatives. Before leaving, he bowed his head and showed me:

"I still bear the marks of your stick. I don't regret it! You saved me from becoming a murderer that day!"

"True, but I almost became a murderer too."

We laughed. On the one hand, I was emotional. When Mehmet left me, my mind went back to my childhood years. I felt a lump in my throat. I learned that that beautiful girl had not become the beloved of either Mehmet or Ömer.

***

One day, Ömer got married. He settled in Karakuyu village. He had children. He was attacked in the village over a small piece of land. He died of a heart attack following internal bleeding. They brought him to the village cemetery and buried him next to my father. Less than a week later, my Aunt Fatma, my Uncle Hamit's wife, also passed away. They buried Aunt Fatma next to Ömer. Some time passed. Her family wanted to have Aunt Fatma's grave made. The gravedigger mistakenly made Ömer's grave. Later, when the mistake was realized, only the headstone of Ömer, whose grave had been made, was changed. Aunt Fatma's grave was also made from scratch.

When my mother passed away, we buried her next to my father. Today, my mother and Ömer, who worked for our family for years, rest peacefully side by side. Every time I visit the cemetery, I always recite a Fatiha for Ömer's soul and pour water on his grave. May God have mercy on him!