Kurdistan (newspaper)
The newspaper Kurdistan was the first Kurdish-language newspaper in the world. It was first published in Cairo on April 22, 1898 by Mikdad Midhat Bedirxan - a son of Bedirxan Beg . It was issued by Kurds in exile from the Ottoman Empire under the auspices of the Bedirxan family. This first newspaper emigrated to the 5th edition because of the political situation in Egypt after Geneva , then to Cairo and then via London and Folkestone back to Geneva.
The newspaper consisted of four pages and appeared irregularly. The first edition was 2000 pieces. The newspaper wrote in both Kurmanji and Ottoman . Initially, the editors' intention was to provide Kurds with knowledge about education and culture. The most important cultural contribution was the publication of the epic Mem û Zîn by Ehmedê Xanî . The political contributions consisted of articles against the politics of the Ottoman Sultan Abdülhamid II and the role of the Kurds in it. The newspaper warned the Kurds not to allow Abdülhamid II to abuse them against the Armenians .
In 1902 the newspaper was discontinued after 31 issues. In Germany, the Marburg City Library has original copies of the newspaper with the exception of five issues. Mehmed Emîn Bozarslan transcribed the newspaper into the Latin alphabet and published it in two anthologies in 1991.