Dear Ladies and Gentlemen, Honored Guests, Dear Friends

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Dear Ladies and Gentlemen,
Honored Guests,
Dear Friends,

On behalf of the Preparatory Committee of the 12th Annual Congress of the Kurdish PEN Centre, it is my great pleasure to welcome you most warmly and to thank you for joining us today.

Before we continue in Kurdish, allow me to briefly share with you—in German—some information about the Kurdish PEN Centre, the purpose of our gathering, and today’s program.

Many of our members and guests have travelled from Kurdistan and from abroad, and for most of them Kurdish is their mother tongue. That is why the main language of today’s congress will be Kurdish.

To our guests who do not speak Kurdish: you are, of course, most welcome to remain with us—perhaps even to discover a few words of Kurdish—or, if you prefer, to dedicate your valuable time elsewhere. The choice is yours, and we thank you sincerely for being here.

Our program today will begin with words of greeting. Afterwards, the reports of the outgoing Executive Board and the Treasurer will be presented, discussed, and formally adopted.

We will then elect a new Executive Board for the Kurdish PEN Centre, and also consider proposals for its work in the coming three years.

Beyond this, we have set aside time for our members to get to know one another more closely, to share their literary works, to foster mutual understanding, and to strengthen the spirit of democracy and our common commitment to the goals of our Centre.

Tomorrow morning, after a joint breakfast, we will go on a boat trip, and then return here to the Yezidi Forum for lunch together.

But first, a few words about the Kurdish PEN Centre:

  1. The Kurdish PEN Centre brings together Kurdish writers and intellectuals. We are dedicated to advancing the goals of PEN International. Here in Germany, Kurdish intellectuals also play an important role in supporting the integration of Kurdish people into German society.
  2. Since 1988, the Kurdish PEN Centre has been a member of PEN International, the worldwide organization that defends imprisoned writers, works for peace, protects oppressed languages, and upholds the rights of authors everywhere.
  3. Because of the political situation in Kurdistan, even this 12th Annual Congress cannot be held in our homeland. We are deeply grateful to the Federal Government of Germany, which allows us here, in freedom, to voice our thoughts.
  4. This year, we have chosen to hold our congress here, at the Yezidi Forum in Oldenburg—deliberately—as a sign of solidarity with our Yezidi brothers and sisters in their time of suffering. It is also a message to the Muslim majority within Kurdish society: that the Kurdish PEN Centre stands firmly with the Yezidi faith and speaks out clearly against Islamic fundamentalism within Kurdish society.

At this point, I would like to thank my colleagues on the Preparatory Committee for their tireless efforts in organizing this congress. My warmest and most heartfelt thanks go also—through Mr. Aliyas Yanc—to the Board of the Yezidi Forum, and in particular to our generous Kurdish restaurant owners, who will be providing meals for our guests throughout these days.

And now, before we switch into Kurdish, it is my great honor to welcome Mr. Denckmann, Head of the Department of Culture of the City of Oldenburg. We are grateful that you have taken time this Saturday to be with us and to bring the greetings of the Cultural Office to our 12th Annual Congress.

Following Mr. Denckmann’s remarks, we will hear from the Yezidi Forum, as well as from distinguished personalities and representatives of parties and organizations, who will present their greetings in Kurdish.

We are very pleased now to invite Mr. Denckmann, Head of the Department of Culture of the City of Oldenburg, to the podium for his address.

From this moment on, we will continue in Kurdish. And, as I have already mentioned, it remains entirely up to our guests who do not understand Kurdish whether they wish to stay with us or to leave.

Preparatory Committee
12th Annual Congress of the Kurdish PEN Centre
Dr. Zaradachet Hajo
06 September 2025