The Kurdish American Education Society and the larger Kurdish community in Southern California are saddened that the Kurdish Institute of Paris -- an academic and cultural institution dedicated to representing, researching and preserving Kurdish culture, language and history -- is now facing an uncertain and gloomy future. The iconic institution may have to shut down if the French government does not reverse a decision to stop funding its programs.
From its inception in February 1983 and its subsequent official recognition by the French government in March 1993, the Kurdish Institute of Paris created a cultural renaissance for the Kurdish diasporic communities.
From the outset it was greeted with great zest, as among its founders were luminaries like the legendary film maker Yilmaz Guney, the renowned Kurdish poet Cegerxwin and Hejar, the prolific poet and linguist.
Iconic names such as Kendal Nezan, a nuclear physicist and president of the institute, Abbas Vali, scholar and professor, as well as Joyce Blau, professor and scholar of Kurdish Language and Civilization, were among its distinguished board members.
And a wide array of prominent French and world intellectuals such as Simone de Beauvoi, choreographer Maurice Bejart, Sean McBride, Nobel Peace Prize winner Gérard Chaliand and Andrei Sakharov lent their support to the mission of the Institute. Soon, the Kurdish Institute of Paris became a source of inspiration for cultural heritage of the growing Kurdish diasporic community and an intellectual pathway for Kurdish studies scholars from the 1980s to the present.
We do not need to remind the French government that the grateful 32-year-old institution has demonstrated a unique creativity and flexibility in the ways in which it has used its awarded funds.
In conformity with the French plural democracy, it has consistently championed for Kurdish human, cultural and linguistic rights; it has used its budgetary funds to inform the French and the world at large about Kurds and Kurdistan through timely and informative publications, films, festivals, art shows, seminars, musical performances and academic symposiums.
The institute has created the largest digital library and served as a primary source for a great many Kurdish and non-Kurdish researchers. More importantly, it has also served the Kurdish diaspora in France by providing educational scholarships to disadvantaged Kurds, many of whom are now serving European countries as professionals and specialists.
We are deeply indebted to the French government for its generous support and pleased that it played such a principal role in aiding the cause of the Kurdish heritage and cultural diversity.
This support has borne fruit. But withholding or reducing funds from the Kurdish Institute during this critical time would have adverse effects on the scope of its activities. Since the Institute received the majority of its funds from the French government, withdrawing or substantially reducing funding would not only have grave implications for its programs and continuity, it would prove to be an existential threat if other sources of funding are not found.
Indeed, the demise of the Kurdish Institute of Paris will be a great tragedy for the Kurdish communities everywhere and the French philanthropic philosophy and democratic convictions.
In the spirit of the French democratic values, the longevity and dynamic consistency of the Institute and its cultural and academic significance, we strongly urge the French government to renew the funding of the Kurdish Institute of Paris as one of the cornerstones of Kurdish cultural heritage and academic endeavors in diaspora.
Dr. Amir Sharifi is President of the Kurdish American Education Society-Los Angeles
