Mar 04, 2015

Iranian Kurdistan: Azad University to Offer Kurdish Language Studies


The Sanandaj branch of the Islamic Azad University will open a Kurdish language centre next year. The University will then become the first to allow the study of Kurdish in the Islamic Republic of Iran. Azad University will also open a new branch in Iraqi Kurdistan.

Below is an article published by NRT: 

 

The Islamic Azad University’s Sanandaj branch is set to open a Kurdish language center for the following year.

Muhammad Qurban Kiani, the dean of the university, made the announcement on Monday, saying that the Kurdish language will be included as an educational module, making the Islamic Azad University the first to permit the study of Kurdish.

Speaking to a group of students, Kiani said the center would open soon, adding that the arrangements have been made.

Sanandaj, located near Iran’s western border with Iraq, is the capital of the Kurdistan province and its residents are predominately Kurdish.

He also said the center would improve its status with assistance from Iraqi Kurdistan and that a branch of the university would be opening in Iraq’s Kurdistan region.

Mohammad stated that he had talked with some Iraqi Kurdish figures about the proposed branch, but the Iraqi Kurdish side declined to acknowledge such a proposition.

They noted the monetary crisis now facing the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) and the lack of an appropriate location for such an undertaking.

Following the KRG’s December announcement that it would seek to strengthen ties with Iran, a delegation from Tehran arrived in Erbil over the weekend for meetings on oil, energy, and gas cooperation.