Father of Kazakhstan’s Kurds dies, aged 74
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — Kurds, especially those living in former USSR countries, lost a great academic, politician and leader on Sunday. Knyaz Ibrahim Mirzoyev dedicated most of his life promoting Kurdish language and political movements in central Asia, especially Kazakhstan.
Mirzoyev was born in Armenia in 1947. He had two sisters and seven brothers. He enrolled in the prestigious Armenian State Pedagogical University in the sixties and studied Kurdish and Kazakh languages until he became a professor.
The scholar passed away in Kazakhstan on Sunday, weeks after contracting the coronavirus. Kurdish leaders and academics have expressed their condolences on his death, including Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani and General Commander of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) Mazloum Abdi.
Mirzoyev was the head of the International Federation of Diaspora Kurds and had recently established a television channel on social media, named Yekbun (unity), in order to promote Kurdish language and culture.
“He was a great man who was not only a linguist but also a politician as well. He worked very hard to bring about brotherhood between Kurds and Kazakhs and other ethnic groups in Kazakhstan. This was a great work, and he was a great bridge between nations living in Kazakhstan,” Prof. Mohammed Misto, a Kurdish academic and friend of Mirzoyev, told Rudaw English on Monday.
“We have lost the greatest person who had devoted his entire adult life to the development of the history and culture of his people,” added Misto, saying the scores of students the professor had educated will follow in his footstep. “His glorious deeds will remain in our memory for good!”
Mirzoyev penned tens of books about Kurdish language, making comparisons with other languages such as Kazakh. He also wrote a number of text books for students of the Kurdish language, according to Prof. Hassan Avdo Ali, who was a close friend of Mirzoyev for 45 years and taught with him for 30 years.
“He was leading the Kurdish community in Kazakhstan … Through his works, he turned Kazakhstan into a center for the development of Kurdish culture. He had prepared course books for Kurdish students at stages 2-9 ... and boosted Kurdish language,” said his friend who teaches orientalism in an Almaty university.
“Knyaz Ibrahim wanted to create unity through establishing the International Federation of Kurdish People as a support for independence of Kurds,” he added.
Gogerchina Tahire Temur, wife of Mirzoyev, told Rudaw in a 2015 documentary that the scholar had been “a great husband and father. There are a few such fathers.”
Mirzoyev was also highly respected by Kazakh authorities and often attended official events. Narin Nadirova, a Kurdish politician in Kazakhstan, said on Twitter that Mirzoyev was like a father to all Kurds.
He “always prioritized the presence of Kurds, and Kurdish language, culture and literature, and acted as per this. He believed that all politicians, political parties and organizations had to provide Kurdish rights. Therefore, professor Knyaz was globally known and accepted as a president, chieftain, and leader," Nadirova told Rudaw English.
It was under Mirzoyev's influence that Kazakhstan paid attention to the rights of Kurds. "Unfortunately his death will bring a negative impact on the Kurdish political movement," she added.
Kurdish minority populations live across central Asia.
Mirzoyev was born in Armenia in 1947. He had two sisters and seven brothers. He enrolled in the prestigious Armenian State Pedagogical University in the sixties and studied Kurdish and Kazakh languages until he became a professor.
The scholar passed away in Kazakhstan on Sunday, weeks after contracting the coronavirus. Kurdish leaders and academics have expressed their condolences on his death, including Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani and General Commander of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) Mazloum Abdi.
Mirzoyev was the head of the International Federation of Diaspora Kurds and had recently established a television channel on social media, named Yekbun (unity), in order to promote Kurdish language and culture.
“He was a great man who was not only a linguist but also a politician as well. He worked very hard to bring about brotherhood between Kurds and Kazakhs and other ethnic groups in Kazakhstan. This was a great work, and he was a great bridge between nations living in Kazakhstan,” Prof. Mohammed Misto, a Kurdish academic and friend of Mirzoyev, told Rudaw English on Monday.
“We have lost the greatest person who had devoted his entire adult life to the development of the history and culture of his people,” added Misto, saying the scores of students the professor had educated will follow in his footstep. “His glorious deeds will remain in our memory for good!”
Mirzoyev penned tens of books about Kurdish language, making comparisons with other languages such as Kazakh. He also wrote a number of text books for students of the Kurdish language, according to Prof. Hassan Avdo Ali, who was a close friend of Mirzoyev for 45 years and taught with him for 30 years.
“He was leading the Kurdish community in Kazakhstan … Through his works, he turned Kazakhstan into a center for the development of Kurdish culture. He had prepared course books for Kurdish students at stages 2-9 ... and boosted Kurdish language,” said his friend who teaches orientalism in an Almaty university.
“Knyaz Ibrahim wanted to create unity through establishing the International Federation of Kurdish People as a support for independence of Kurds,” he added.
Gogerchina Tahire Temur, wife of Mirzoyev, told Rudaw in a 2015 documentary that the scholar had been “a great husband and father. There are a few such fathers.”
Mirzoyev was also highly respected by Kazakh authorities and often attended official events. Narin Nadirova, a Kurdish politician in Kazakhstan, said on Twitter that Mirzoyev was like a father to all Kurds.
He “always prioritized the presence of Kurds, and Kurdish language, culture and literature, and acted as per this. He believed that all politicians, political parties and organizations had to provide Kurdish rights. Therefore, professor Knyaz was globally known and accepted as a president, chieftain, and leader," Nadirova told Rudaw English.
It was under Mirzoyev's influence that Kazakhstan paid attention to the rights of Kurds. "Unfortunately his death will bring a negative impact on the Kurdish political movement," she added.
Kurdish minority populations live across central Asia.
Updated at 11:43am, August 10