Kurdish languages

German and Kurdish archaeologists have found a 3400-year-old palace in northern Iraq thanks to prolonged drought, DPA reported.

The building of a minimum of 2000 sq. M is made of brick walls up to 2 m high and is located in a reservoir in Iraqi Kurdistan. The palace was part of the ancient and mysterious Mittani Empire, experts from the University of Tübingen, Germany announced.

At least 54 people died when an overcrowded ferry carrying families sank on March 21 in a swollen river in northern Iraq during Kurdish New Year celebrations, officials said.

A German-Kurdish singer was sentenced on Nov. 14 to more than six years in prison in Turkey for membership of a terrorist organisation, her lawyer said.    

Around 10 self-professed members of the Rouvikonas anarchist group targeted the Iranian Embassy in Athens in the early hours of Monday, throwing paint at the building's facade and smashing the windows on the guard's booth, after instructing the security guard to step away.

A bride has received a total of 3 kilograms of gold as a gift at a wedding of a Kurdish tribe in southeastern Turkey. Click through for the story in photos...

Two Turkish soldiers have been killed in separate incidents, both of which involve Kurdish militant groups, Turkish officials said on March 12.

Turkish state radio and television (TRT) banned 208 songs for their content.

"According to the law, TRT has the right to take action on content that includes uncensored expressions, alcohol, cigarettes, etc.," said Turkish Deputy Prime Minister and Government Speaker Bekir Bozdag. According to him, banning songs is not censorship, but it means that TRT does its job.

A planned independence referendum in Kurdish northern Iraq could make the situation in the region worse and even lead to a civil war, Turkey's foreign minister warned on Wednesday, reported Reuters.

Turkish students will be introduced to the letters "w," "x" and "q," which are not in the Turkish alphabet, starting from the fourth grade as part of a lesson teaching children how to use computer keyboards. 

'The Kurds of Turkey: National, Religious and Economic Identities' by Cuma Çiçek (IB Tauris, 352 pages, £69)