Mothers of peace in Diyarbakir: Photo by Shirvan Nuray Sarikaya.
Shirvan Nuray Sarikaya chronicles her journey into the war-torn heartland of Turkish Kurdistan. Kurds have been denied their rights ever since the foundation of the Turkish republic in 1923. The word Kurdish was taboo for eighty years and the use of the Kurdish language has been prohibited in government offices and media. Recently, the use of the Kurdish language has been allowed, still Kurdish writers and politicians face persecution, on a regular basis. Kurds in Turkey faced one of the most brutal of oppressions, after the military coup of 1980. Hundreds of Kurdish people, among them a large number of intellectuals, were tortured in Diyarbakir — recognised as the capital of the Kurds — prison.
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