The Kurdish Academy, as the successor to the Kurdish Information Forum, which was established in 1970 and later renamed the Kurdistan Information Forum, became the Kurdish Academy in 2007.

The Kurdish Academy, which aims to preserve and develop the Kurdish language and culture, consists of 9-15 members; The presidency consists of five elected members. Its presidency changes every four years.

In this interview, Abdulfattah Botani, President of the Kurdish Academy, talks about the Academy and its activities in the ninth cabinet of the Kurdistan Region Government.

Efforts to standardize the Kurdish language

Professor Abdulfattah Botani, president of the Kurdish Academy said“From 2007 to 2009 we tried to establish a standard language, but we could not, there are currently two standard dialects in the Kurdistan Region, Badini and Sorani, and the media has brought the two dialects closer together".

Earlier, we discussed the Kurdish standard language in the meetings of the Kurdish Academy Council, but we did not reach a decision because it is a bit difficult and related to the issue of the nation in general and nationalization; Therefore, we did not talk about the standard language after 2011. We do not consider the use of both Badini and Sorani as a shortcoming, because as we know, there are many countries that use more than one language and they have no problems.

Regarding the activities of the Kurdish Academy after the formation of the ninth cabinet, the president of the Academy said “Before the formation of the ninth cabinet, the budget allocated for the Kurdish Academy was low, but during the ninth cabinet our budget increased, which led to more activities and we were able to publish 113 books in all important fields such as history, geography and more; We also have a journal called Kurdish Academy, approved by the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research; Most of the university professors in all provinces of the Kurdistan Region publish their research in the journal and so far 12 issues have been published and 150 research papers have been published in it and we will continue to do so.

Making Academy publications available on different platforms

"Because the Kurdish Academy is a scientific institution, it regularly opens book exhibitions and sells its books at reasonable prices. Every year, we opens an exhibition in the Kurdish Academy building on April 22, to commemorate the publication of the first Kurdish newspaper. We opens an annual exhibition in Sulaimani and participates in all the exhibitions and sells our books directly inside the academy building.”

The Academy tries to establish a variety of dictionaries

The president of the Kurdish Academy said that the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Culture, the Intelligence Commission and the Kurdish Academy are trying to publish a legal dictionary. We continue to establish a general dictionary of legal terms. For the first time, we are publishing an educational dictionary in two volumes that will serve the field of education and the Ministry of Education. We have another dictionary in collaboration with the Mukriani Institute, which is dedicated to the history of the Kurdish nation during the Islamic period. The Kurdish Academy also published the newspaper Dengi Kurdi (1960) along with the Kurdistan Democratic Party (PDK) Encyclopedia. Now we are preparing a 12-volume book to mark the 100th anniversary of the Treaties of Sevres and Lausanne, which is scheduled to be completed in 2023.

A scientific and detailed evaluation of the books will be conducted

Before any book is published by the Kurdish Academy, it is evaluated by the Academy's expert committees. Currently, 15 books are available for evaluation and four are under publication. The Kurdish Academy has several conditions for publishing books, the main condition being that the book must be related to Kurdish history and culture and the books must be published in Latin, Arabic, Persian and English.

Continuous scientific and international communication

The president of the Kurdish Academy said about the relations of the academy with academic centers, said: “We have relations with most academic centers and universities in the Kurdistan Region and abroad. We provide all our publications free of charge to the libraries of the university headquarters. In terms of contacts, we have contacts with the Beşkçi Center at Duhok University, the Zhin Foundation in Sulaimani, and the Center for Kurdish Studies in Berlin. We regularly send books to libraries in the Netherlands, Sweden, Germany, Baghdad, Oman, UAE, universities in Arab countries, universities in Diyala, universities in Basra and Nasiriyah.

Because the Kurdish Academy is the highest scientific institution in the Kurdistan Region, I call on all university teachers to rely on the Kurdish Academy and publish their books through the Academy.

The situation of the Kurdish Academy became much better in the ninth cabinet. Therefore, the Kurdistan Region Government should regard the Kurdish Academy as an important scientific institution and pay more attention to it.