Dear Callers of KURDISTANICA,

We are happy to announce you the "birth" of the Encyclopaedia of Kurdistan, KURDISTANICA, a digital information and database focusing on the Kurdish People. The Encyclopaedia of Kurdistan Online "KURDISTANICA" is a virtual organization in the form of a Global Academic Open Network for the creation and development of a multilingual Kurdish encyclopaedia on the World Wide Web. KURDISTANICA is an independent, non-partisan, non-political, not-for-profit organization dedicated to the dissemination of knowledge about and for the Kurds. Further details and guidelines are given in the constitution chart (an e-copy of the constitution can be requested by e-mail).

The KURDISTANICA is located on the World Wide Web - a worldwide computer network integrating text, images and sound - which is estimated to count about a billion subscribers from over 170 countries and is forecasted to grow all the time. This programme is intended to give comprehensive information about the Kurdish People, its ancient history having its origins in the roots of civilization, its rich and varied culture and traditions, but also to expose the dreadful oppression this people suffers daily in most regions of Kurdistan, its struggle for its legitimate rights and its hopes for a life in safety, peace and dignity. KURDISTANICA is the first Kurdish nation wide project for an electronic archive on World Wide Web. Please note that the KURDISTANICA can be access from any computer with internet connection form any location in the world free of charge.

The site you will find now on the Net is a first version showing mainly the structure and some information, as well as relevant articles and news. We promise to do our best to steadily develop the KURDISTANICA, but please be patient as we have only a very limited spare time to deal with the huge work it demands. Therefore we would like to ask for YOUR HELP in providing us with information about Kurdistan and all subjects relating to the Kurds. We are very concerned about getting accurate and true information, as we hope this Web site will become an information resource not only for the public all over the world, but a data source also for journalists and humanitarian-oriented organizations and workers. We sincerely trust it will become a favourite site for Kurds from different regions themselves - a platform on which Kurds can exchange news and information about each other and build up ties between Kurds living outside and inside Kurdistan. We would be very grateful if you could contact us to discuss how you could contribute and perhaps collaborate with the KURDISTANICA project by providing us with your interesting information (via E-mail, on diskettes, paper copies, cassettes or other means).

Please review the following options which you may like and be interested in providing us with:

• Sending us your reports about Kurdistan,
• Sending us information about books, publications, background documents about Kurdistan,
• Sending us photographs, scanned images, video cassettes, CD's, music cassettes, films or information about them indicating the author, title, ordering codes and source where it can be obtained,
• Sending us information about artists, writers, poets, film or theatre producers with a short description or excerpts of their life and works,
• Sending us information about cultural, political and academic events mentioning their date, place, aims, participants and organizers,
• Sending us information about a cultural or political organization, indicating its history, its aims, program, objectives, means and region of activity (on an informational basis - we will not publish propaganda),
• Providing us with geographical, geopolitical, socio-political or statistical information about Kurdistan and its regions,
• Sending us short stories, proverbs, poems, or describing your experiences in relation with Kurds or Kurdistan,
• Sending us useful contact addresses or links to other Web sites containing information in relation to Kurdistan,
• Sending us press releases or news articles concerning the Kurdish people on a regular basis, or giving us access to such information,
• Helping us to prepare information for loading on the KURDISTANICA, scanning, developing new technological means for their presentation or helping us in the maintenance and update of the site,
• Giving some of your time as a guest for online panel discussions, answering the questions of our users, providing a permanent service for journalists...,
• Helping us with the translation of information. The site will be presented on a multilingual base; at the beginning, every section will contain the documents in the language in which we receive them. We hope however to be progressively able to present relevant information in various languages, Please view our help section.

This project will aim at providing information and constituting an interactive tool for information exchange. However, we hope that in a later stage it will also be able to promote and support practical projects in favour of the Kurdish people to be implemented in Kurdistan by local and international organizations performing already humanitarian work and activities, as well as promoting fund raising for regional projects as for instance the equipment of libraries, providing study material. Such a platform could also be helpful for the exchange of information on development, emergency aid, urgent appeals for aid, support for medical teams... Your ideas are welcome !

Hoping that the KURDISTANICA will deserve your interest, will succeed in promoting the Kurdish cause and also give you fun, and thanking you in advance very much for your efforts, we send you our best wishes.

The project manager of KURDISTANICA, Mr. Dilan Roshani [ Use online Form ]