| 1. KURDISH WRITERS AND BOOK PRODUCTION IN SYRIA
Some Kurdish writers have written and published books in their
language in Syria even under these difficult conditions. I will try to explain
how this is accomplished at various stages.
1.1 An impeded mother tongue
It has been already stated that the usage of Kurdish language is hampered in different ways such as creating difficulties for education in Kurdish language in schools, for publishing books, periodicals, audio and video cassettes with songs in Kurdish, and even speaking Kurdish in institutions. (11). Publishing books and magazines in Kurdish was permitted during the French mandate but when Syria became an independent state, it started to be hampered.
1.1.1 Writing in spite of the regime’s pressure
The Kurd Huseyîn Huznî Mukriyanî, who was born in Eastern Kurdistan (in Iran), is the author of the first book in Kurdish published in Syria. Later Celadet Bedirxan wrote and published a few books in Kurdish in Syria in the 1930s. He is also famous for having prepared the Kurdish alphabet based on the Latin alphabet. His books were written and published in this alphabet. Until that time the Arabic alphabet had been used. The alphabet used by Celadet Bedirxan has spread to Western and Northern Kurdistan (in Syria and Turkey) and is still in use. Celadet Bedirxan published his books under the name Hawarê Library (Kitêbxana Hawarê) in Damascus in the 1930s. He also published the books of his brother Kamiran Bedirxan and some other books in Kurdish, about 10 small books altogether – collections of poems, alphabet books and religious books. Among the publications was a translation, the first translation into Kurdish published in Syria. So, the pioneers of Kurdish literature in Syria are the Bedirxan brothers. They were opposed to the Turkish government and had left Turkey due to political reasons.
The authors of the five books published in Syria in the 1940s had emigrated from Northern Kurdistan The poems of one of them – Cîgerxwîn - was distributed to Western and Northern Kurdistan, traveling from hand to hand, and they were learned by heart and copied. Thus, the works of writers who had come from Northern Kurdistan went back north again. These appealing poems inspired many people to write and read in Kurdish. A significant work published in this period is the love epos Mem û Zin written in 1695... | 
