“My native dialect was Mukriyanî, a sub-dialect of Central Kurdish, and it held official status in the semi-autonomous region of Kurdistan due to its rich literary history. After our village was tragically bombed by Turkish fighter jets, we were forced to flee to the city and rebuild our lives. This was essentially a fresh start, albeit under much harsher circumstances. Nostalgia for our previous life began to swell within me, and I couldn't help but reflect on how we survived such a catastrophe, known as the Zargally Massacre. During my teenage years, I started to appreciate my language even more deeply and began to wonder how such an ancient treasure of humanity could be so overlooked by the world.”

- Dewran Mahmud, Sorani, Kurmanji, and Kelhorî speaker living in Bashur

“In the city’s universities, professors explain everything in Arabic, although half of students are Kurdish, and this makes it a big difficulty for them to understand what they are studying. Therefore, Kurdish parents have started to send their children to Arabic schools to make studying at university easier for them. This may not seem like a big issue for most people, but it is!”

- Sarah Ali Mohammed Amin, 22-year-old Sorani speaker in Bashur