The 127th Anniversary of the First Kurdish Newspaper “Kurdistan”

ARK News.. On Tuesday, April 22, 2025, marked the 127th anniversary of the publication of the first Kurdish newspaper, Kurdistan, launched by Prince Miqdad Medhat Badirakhan in Cairo, Egypt in 1898.

The release of this newspaper marked a significant turning point in the political, cultural, and social landscape of the Kurdish people.

The first issue was published in the Kurmanji dialect using Arabic script, and it was issued twice a month with four pages per edition. In total, 31 issues were published over four years, until 1902, though not on a regular schedule.

The first three editions were printed at the Dar al-Hilal Press in Egypt. The fourth and fifth issues were printed at the Kurdistan Press, which belonged to the renowned Kurdish intellectual Sheikh Farajallah Zaki al-Kurdi in Cairo.

Due to pressure from the Ottoman authorities to shut down the newspaper, subsequent issues were printed outside Egypt. The newspaper relocated to Geneva, Switzerland, where issues 6 through 19 were published.

After the Kurdistan Press returned to Cairo, issues 20 through 23 were published from there. Issue 24 was printed in London, UK.

Issues 25 to 29 were printed in Folkstone, and the final two issues, 30 and 31, were once again printed in Geneva.

In 2021, the Kurdistan Parliament officially designated April 22 of each year as Kurdish Journalism Day in honor of this historic milestone.

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