Erbil, Kurdistan Region – Sinem Bedirkhan’s two-story house, located in Erbil’s Christian neighborhood of Ainkawa, looks like a shrine dedicated to the culture of her people.
Over the years, family belongings of all kinds have accumulated on the walls and shelves, not to mention a picture of her with Valentina Tereshkova, the first female astronaut.
But the centerpiece of her collection is a two-meter-long flag preserved in a gilded frame. Red, white and green, with a blazing sun at its center, it is the flag of the Kurdish region of Iraq, where she lives.
More important, is that the banner was designed by her grandfather to symbolize an independent Kurdistan. She never dared to iron the crumpled flag, for fear of damaging her precious heritage. After all, she is a direct descendant of the Bedirkhan monarchy of Kurdish princes.
The 77-year-old princess, who once taught French and Arabic in Baghdad, has spent most of her life promoting Kurdish’s women rights and the culture of her stateless people.
As president of the Federation of Women of Kurdistan, she travelled to Mongolia, Russia and other countries. Last January, she was awarded with France’s Legion of Honor, becoming the first Kurd to receive the French honorary decoration. She is also honorary president of the Kurdish PEN Center.
Bedirkhan, born in Damascus in 1938, is the heir of a bygone dynasty and inherited a name deeply attached to the will for an independent Kurdistan.
"For 20 years, we have been bombarded and hunted. Today, we have a parliament and ministers," she said proudly and in perfect French.
Still, she wants more than an autonomous Iraqi Kurdistan, which only accounts for "Southern Kurdistan" to her. Near her front door, she hung a map drawn by a French geographer that depicts a large area called Curdistan.
"We have a language and a flag, we only miss Kurdistan with a capital C," she laughed.
With the Peshmerga forces and other armed Kurdish groups in the forefront of the battle against the jihadists of the so-called Islamic state, or ISIS, Bedirkhan sees a chance for the Kurds to claim their right to self-determination.
"It's now or never," Bedirkhan said. "We must take this opportunity to show the world that we have no country."
Kurdistan never existed as a nation state, but independent or semi-independent principalities ruled by Kurdish princes emerged as early as medieval times. The peninsula of Cizre Botan, governed by the Bedirkhan dynasty, was one of them.
The princess’ great-grandfather, the Emir Bedirkhan, founded a Kurdish State in 1827 with the approval of the Ottoman Empire.
Twenty years later, the Emir proclaimed his principality’s independence at the expense of the Sublime Porte, and minted his own coins. But the sovereignty was short-lived. That same year, the Turks lead a victorious military campaign against the Kurds and condemned Bedirkhan to exile.
The last remaining proof of the forgotten state are the ruins of the family fortress, situated on the Turkish side of the border with Iraq, 50 km from Zakho. The princess has kept a black-and-white snapshot of the ruins hanging on the wall of her living room.
The principality disappeared, but the history of the Bedirkhan family remained closely linked to the Kurdish nationalist movement. Family members became involved in politics, wrote manifestos, published newspapers, surrounded themselves with intellectuals, and even led revolts.
Her father, Jeladet Bedirkhan, even invented a Kurdish alphabet based on Latin characters that he popularized in his magazine named "Hawar" ("The Scream" in Kurdish).
Today, the direct descendant of the Bedirkhan dynasty continues to share the dream of independence cherished by her family for generations.
The recent Turkish airstrikes of positions held by fighters with the Kurdistan Worker’s Party – a group that is fighting ISIS – is seen by the princess as a new betrayal.
"We are surrounded by enemies," she said, taking a long drag of a cigarette.
"This is not the first time that the Kurds are betrayed. Throughout the years, we have been deceived many times. We always trust promises that, ultimately, lead only to the defeat and misery of our people," she said.
Even so, she retains hope of one day seeing a freed Curdistan. The last Kurdish princess takes a look at the map hanging on the white wall, and smiled: "Maybe it is a lucky charm."
Over the years, family belongings of all kinds have accumulated on the walls and shelves, not to mention a picture of her with Valentina Tereshkova, the first female astronaut.
But the centerpiece of her collection is a two-meter-long flag preserved in a gilded frame. Red, white and green, with a blazing sun at its center, it is the flag of the Kurdish region of Iraq, where she lives.
More important, is that the banner was designed by her grandfather to symbolize an independent Kurdistan. She never dared to iron the crumpled flag, for fear of damaging her precious heritage. After all, she is a direct descendant of the Bedirkhan monarchy of Kurdish princes.
The 77-year-old princess, who once taught French and Arabic in Baghdad, has spent most of her life promoting Kurdish’s women rights and the culture of her stateless people.
As president of the Federation of Women of Kurdistan, she travelled to Mongolia, Russia and other countries. Last January, she was awarded with France’s Legion of Honor, becoming the first Kurd to receive the French honorary decoration. She is also honorary president of the Kurdish PEN Center.
Bedirkhan, born in Damascus in 1938, is the heir of a bygone dynasty and inherited a name deeply attached to the will for an independent Kurdistan.
"For 20 years, we have been bombarded and hunted. Today, we have a parliament and ministers," she said proudly and in perfect French.
Still, she wants more than an autonomous Iraqi Kurdistan, which only accounts for "Southern Kurdistan" to her. Near her front door, she hung a map drawn by a French geographer that depicts a large area called Curdistan.
"We have a language and a flag, we only miss Kurdistan with a capital C," she laughed.
With the Peshmerga forces and other armed Kurdish groups in the forefront of the battle against the jihadists of the so-called Islamic state, or ISIS, Bedirkhan sees a chance for the Kurds to claim their right to self-determination.
"It's now or never," Bedirkhan said. "We must take this opportunity to show the world that we have no country."
Kurdistan never existed as a nation state, but independent or semi-independent principalities ruled by Kurdish princes emerged as early as medieval times. The peninsula of Cizre Botan, governed by the Bedirkhan dynasty, was one of them.
The princess’ great-grandfather, the Emir Bedirkhan, founded a Kurdish State in 1827 with the approval of the Ottoman Empire.
Twenty years later, the Emir proclaimed his principality’s independence at the expense of the Sublime Porte, and minted his own coins. But the sovereignty was short-lived. That same year, the Turks lead a victorious military campaign against the Kurds and condemned Bedirkhan to exile.
The last remaining proof of the forgotten state are the ruins of the family fortress, situated on the Turkish side of the border with Iraq, 50 km from Zakho. The princess has kept a black-and-white snapshot of the ruins hanging on the wall of her living room.
The principality disappeared, but the history of the Bedirkhan family remained closely linked to the Kurdish nationalist movement. Family members became involved in politics, wrote manifestos, published newspapers, surrounded themselves with intellectuals, and even led revolts.
Her father, Jeladet Bedirkhan, even invented a Kurdish alphabet based on Latin characters that he popularized in his magazine named "Hawar" ("The Scream" in Kurdish).
Today, the direct descendant of the Bedirkhan dynasty continues to share the dream of independence cherished by her family for generations.
The recent Turkish airstrikes of positions held by fighters with the Kurdistan Worker’s Party – a group that is fighting ISIS – is seen by the princess as a new betrayal.
"We are surrounded by enemies," she said, taking a long drag of a cigarette.
"This is not the first time that the Kurds are betrayed. Throughout the years, we have been deceived many times. We always trust promises that, ultimately, lead only to the defeat and misery of our people," she said.
Even so, she retains hope of one day seeing a freed Curdistan. The last Kurdish princess takes a look at the map hanging on the white wall, and smiled: "Maybe it is a lucky charm."
Comments
Rudaw moderates all comments submitted on our website. We welcome comments which are relevant to the article and encourage further discussion about the issues that matter to you. We also welcome constructive criticism about Rudaw.
To be approved for publication, however, your comments must meet our community guidelines.
We will not tolerate the following: profanity, threats, personal attacks, vulgarity, abuse (such as sexism, racism, homophobia or xenophobia), or commercial or personal promotion.
Comments that do not meet our guidelines will be rejected. Comments are not edited – they are either approved or rejected.
Post a comment