Kurdish PEN center
The Kurdish PEN Center e. V. is an association of Kurdish writers. It is part of the international writers' association PEN. The Kurdish PEN Center was initiated in 1988 at a conference in Cambridge by the Kurdish-German writer Hüseyin Erdem from Turkey . Other founding members were Mehmed Uzun , Yayla Mönch-Bucak, Abdurrahman Nakshabandy, Hüseyn Kartal, Emine Erdem and Haydar Işik.
In the spring of 1990 it was approved as an association by the district court and tax office in Cologne . The headquarters of the association is also in Cologne. Until 2013 the chairman was Zaradachet Hajo . His successor is Seyhmus Önal , who lives and writes in Diyarbakir , also Amed in Kurdish .
There are publications in the four languages Kurdish , German , English and Spanish .
The Kurdish PEN center is aiming for branches in Iraq and Turkey . In 2005 the association organized a conference on cultural diversity in Diyarbakır .