Theoretically and politically relevant qoutes from Dr. Ghassemlou’s magnum opus, Kurdistan and the Kurds, published in 1965 by the Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences.

On the origin of nations and the Kurds as a nation: “The origin of modern nations is, in fact, connected with the rise of capitalism, and they become consolidated together with its progress. The prerequisites for further development of these nations lie, of course, already deep in the preceding social formations […] Nevertheless, the transition of a community into a nation depends on further conditions, the most significant of which are a common langauge, territory, economic life and psychic disposition which becomes expressed in the form of its national culture. [T]he Kurds do form a historical community and were known by this name as early as the 7^th centry. And what are the main features of a nation in the case of the Kurds?

Kurdish is the language common to all Kurds and the existence of certain differences between the various dialects changes nothing about this fact; dialectial differences have been preserved even in far more advanced conutries. The fact that as yet there exists no unified literary language is of greater importance, yet this state of affairs is not due to the Kurdish language being insufficiently developed nor its being a mere dialect of Persian, as is sometimes said. No recognized orientalist as ever doubted the existence and adequate level of development of the Kurdish language. […]

The situation is caused chiefly by the non-existence of a uniform Kurdish writing. […] Kurdish is written in the Arabic, Latin and Cyrilic characters, which for its part is evidently due to the splitting of the Kurdish nation among different countries, and to the prohibition of school education and literature in Kurdish in most of these areas. Minimum provisions and minimum time – form the historical point of view – would be needed to create a uniform writing and thus a single literary Kurdish language. It follows that the common language as one of the features inherent to a nation is provided.”

On Kurdistan: “From time immemorial Kurdistan has been known as the motherland of Kurds, who have been living together in its mountains and valleys already for milleniums, and the splitting of Kurdistan by political borderlines between different states has changed nothing about it.”

On the right to self-determination and Kurdish statehood: “The Kurds, like any other nation, have the right to self-determination and the right to create an independet Kurdish state. The singularity of the Kurdish problem consists in the fact that it is not only seperation, but mainly union, which is the main issue in their case. The materialization of the right to self-determination is not, for example, in the seperation of Iraqi Kurdistan from Iraq, but primarily in its unification with the other parts of Kurdistan in Turkey and in Iran. In this case we are actually concerned with the right of the Kurdish nation to integrity within one state.”

Words of A. R. Ghassemlou

“We are Kurds, we belong to a people that the vicissitudes of history have scattered over five states. A bond of brotherhood binds us, and will continue to bind us, to all other Kurds, wherever they live.”

“We are ardent defenders of the Declaration of Human Rights and the right of peoples as defined by the United Nations.”

“[Our goal is that] the living conditions of all to be improved, and customs from long ages condemning women to a state of inferiority to be ended.”

“We are for the freedom of worship and we respect all religions practiced by our co-citizens. Faith is an inviolable right. However, being resolutely modern in our outlook, we feel that a separation between the religious institutions and the state is desirable. A lay state is not, on that account, opposed to the faith or to those that serve it.”