The Kurdish Diaspora’s Role in “Humanrightizing” the Kurdish Question

Justus Liebig University Giessen | Campus Law and Economics | Dekanatssitzungssaal | Licher Str. 72, 35394 Giessen

Since 1979, Kurdish diaspora activism has increasingly engaged with international human rights discourse. This lecture examines how Kurdish communities across Europe have reframed the Kurdish question through human rights language, transnational advocacy, and the politics of memory. It explores how diaspora actors have sought to bring Kurdish experiences and political claims to the attention of international institutions, NGOs, and wider publics. Adopting a historical perspective, the lecture considers both the possibilities and limitations of this process of “humanrightization,” including tensions between universal human rights claims and the political and historical specificities of the Kurdish question. It also connects these debates to broader discussions of human rights discourse in migration societies.

Dr Delzar Salih Sadiq, PhD, FRHistS, is a Lecturer in Modern Middle Eastern and Kurdish History at the Department of History, College of Arts, Salahaddin University–Erbil, Kurdistan Region, Iraq, where he also serves as Director of the College of Arts Library. He is an elected Fellow of the Royal Historical Society (London). His research interests include modern Kurdish and Iranian political history, comparative genocide studies, human rights, diaspora activism, and cultural memory. His doctoral research examined political parties and political organisations in Iran between 1941 and 1953. His broader research explores the historical dimensions of political mobilisation and the representation of Kurdish experiences in transnational and human rights contexts.