Swedish Book Exposes Kurdish Cleansing in Kirkuk

[Anthea]

Swedish Book Exposes
Kurdish Cleansing in Kirkuk

A newly published book titled Ethnic Cleansing Against Kurds – From the Establishment of the Iraqi State to Today… Kirkuk as an Example marks the first detailed Swedish-language account of the systematic persecution of Kurds in Iraq

Written by father and daughter Majid Nuri and Evin Majid, the book explores how successive Iraqi regimes have used policies of Arabization, forced displacement, and mass killings to undermine Kurdish identity and territorial presence—particularly in the disputed city of Kirkuk.

Speaking to BasNews about the content and purpose of the book, the authors stated, “Ethnic cleansing and genocide to destroy the Kurdish nation have been two continuous methods and processes committed by the rulers of the Iraqi state against the Kurdish people.” They emphasized that these strategies were shaped by fascist ideologies and were aimed at erasing the Kurdish presence from lands they have historically inhabited.

“In fighting this fascism, the Kurdish people have always followed the idea of protecting human dignity by countering the policies of Arabization, deportation, and mass killings. The idea of protecting human dignity as a defense of nation, land, existence, and life has had legitimacy in the history of South Kurdistan,” the authors said.

The book argues that these state-sponsored actions have not only inflicted trauma on the Kurdish people but also prevented peaceful coexistence among ethnic groups in Iraq. Through detailed accounts, the authors illustrate how efforts by Iraqi regimes to destabilize Kurdish communities have long-term psychological and societal consequences.

The motivation to publish the book arose in a Swedish high school classroom in Örebro, where a teacher asked students to write an essay on the psychological impact of genocide and ethnic cleansing. Kurdish students, despite growing up in Sweden and speaking the language fluently, struggled to find any academic, historical, or psychological literature in Swedish that documented the suffering of their people.

“There are tens of thousands of Kurdish families in Scandinavia whose children have been educated in Swedish. Yet, they cannot find any reliable resources in Swedish libraries that explain the suffering and destruction of their nation,” the authors said. “There are no scientific, historical, or journalistic works in Swedish that cover the ethnic cleansing and genocide against Kurds.”

The idea to compile the book took shape as Majid Nuri, who had been gathering materials for a novel based on the life and martyrdom of his grandfather Awrahmani Nafousi, realized that his research could serve a broader historical purpose. Together with his daughter, Evin, they decided to produce what they describe as the first Swedish-language booklet summarizing the history of genocide and ethnic cleansing against Kurds in Iraq.

This publication is expected to fill a significant gap in European scholarship and will serve as a valuable reference for researchers, institutions, and individuals seeking Swedish-language material on the persecution of the Kurdish people.

https://www.basnews.com/en/babat/884724