Kurdish Turkish Dutch poetess Canan Yagmur

Today, Turkish Dutch poetess Canan Yagmur told me about religions and languages in Turkey.

She is Alevi, a tendency especially numerous in central Turkey.

A related, yet different tendency exists in Syria, including the President´s family.

And in Lebanon, but in small numbers.

It is a Shi´a Muslim tendency, but much more liberal than usually in Iran.

Somewhat comparable to tendencies like Reform Judaism among Jews, and liberal Protestants in Christianity.

There are Alevis both among Turkish speakers and Kurdish speakers in Turkey.

Canan´s ancestors are mainly Kurdish, though some are `ethnic Turkish`.

I asked her whether she could write poems in Kurdish.

She replied that she could understand Kurdish well, but, as the language most spoken in her region of birth was Turkish, writing Kurdish was more of a problem.

She thought that she might write simple children´s poems in Kurdish, but not more complex ones.