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February 1, 2008
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NOS reporter: “I was wrong. Kurdistan does exist”
Kurdishaspect.com - By Raz Jabary
After fifteen Kurdish students from the Netherlands and the United Kingdom had written a letter of complaint to the NOS, one of Holland’s main news agencies, following a decision from the NOS not to recognize the term ‘Kurdistan’ in the future, some progress has been made.
Tim Ombudsman, NOS column writer whom published a column on 11th January 2008 with the title ‘Kurdistan does not exist’, today expressed his apologies on his NOS blog to those who were offended by the title he had used in his previous column.
The official statement on his blog reads:
Concerning the question whether or not the state Kurdistan does exist I have received more than one hundred letters of complaint from Kurds. They were opposed to the conclusion I had drawn that the state Kurdistan did not exist. Their reactions were actually based on understandable confusion. Is Kurdistan a recognized state, is it a country, is it a province, is it a geographical or a linguistic definition?
One letter of complaint from thirteen [later to become fifteen] Kurdish students grabbed my attention. The last fortnight I have been mailing this group of students and we have been exchanging information. In the end, they remained in despair over the fact that I had used the title ‘Kurdistan does not exist’. This is regarded as offensive to Kurds.
The title would suggest that the term Kurdistan does not exist in any way, while in my column I only meant that Kurdistan does not exist as an internationally recognized state. “That state does not exist, but the title had to say that the state of Kurdistan does not exist,” the students wrote. They are right in that. My apologies.
On behalf of the fifteen Kurdish students whom had started the campaign I would like to express my thanks and appreciation to those whom have contributed to the campaign so far by sending a letter of complaint to the NOS. Although no reply has been received thus far from the NOS editorial department on the issue of whether to use the term ‘Kurdistan’ or ‘Kurdish areas’ in future broadcasts on Dutch television, the students would like to show their appreciation to Mr. Ombudsman for the publication of his apologies on this sensitive matter.
For further information on the recent campaign see: 15 Kurdish students: “Kurdistan does exist”
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