Kurdish Institute of Istanbul
Kurdish Institute of Istanbul, founded in 1992, was an organization focusing on Kurdish literature, language and culture. Kurdish and Turkish intellectuals such as Musa Anter, Yaşar Kaya, Feqî Huseyîn Sagniç, İsmail Beşikçi, Abdurrahman Dürre, İbrahim Gürbüz, Cemşid Bender and Süleyman İnanoğlu were among the founding members.
The institute's main research activities were in the fields of linguistics, folklore and history. It published a research journal titled Zend. The institute held courses in the languages Zazaki, Kurmanji and Sorani, and provided certificates of translation into/from Kurdish.
It has published a Kurdish-Turkish dictionary prepared by Zana Farqînî in 2004. The institute has also re-published many of the classical works in Kurdish literature, including the works of Faqi Tayran.Closures
The institute was first raided and shut down on 15 November 1992, shortly after its opening.
The institute was again closed down and sealed on the morning of 31 December 2016, per a declaration issued under Article 11 of the Turkish State of Emergency.
