The renowned literature and linguistics scholar, Kurdish writer, and former Kurdish lecturer at Freie Universität Berlin, Feryad Fazil Omar, has been awarded the Cross of Merit on Ribbon of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany. It was presented to him by Berlin's Senator for Science Ulrike Gote on December 21, 2022, at an event in the "Rostlaube" that was significantly initiated and supported by the Ernst Reuter Society.

In her laudation, Science Senator Ulrike Gote referred to Feryad Fazil Omar's outstanding civil society commitment to the protection and enforcement of human rights worldwide. "Your tireless and multifaceted commitment as a pioneer of research and teaching of the Kurdish language, culture and history in Germany, as well as your extraordinary services as a mediator between the German and Kurdish cultures - all this is recognized by this award," the senator emphasized.

Lecturer for Kurdish language, literature and history

Omar was born in Iraq in 1950 and has lived in Berlin for almost 45 years. Initially, he was a lecturer at the first Kurdish university in the northern Iraqi city of Sulaimaniya. After receiving a research fellowship at Freie Universität, he left Iraq in 1978. Until 1982, he studied Iranian studies at the institute of the same name at Freie Universität. From 1982 to 2018, he was a lecturer in Kurdish language, literature, and history there. Among other things, Omar held seminars and lectures on Kurdish language, literature, history, and politics and devoted himself to writing textbooks and dictionaries on Kurdish language and literature. He also translated Kurdish literature into German and wrote poetry himself in German as well as in Kurdish.

His most important works also include the Kurdish-German Dictionary (Central Kurdish/Sorani), first published in 1992, and the German-Kurdish Dictionary (Sorani) in 2016. These works have since been reprinted and expanded several times. In February 2022, Omar was awarded an honorary PhD by Salahaddin University in Erbil. Three months later, he became an honorary member of the "Kurdish Academy" there.

Omar is the founder and president of the "Institut für Kurdische Studien e. V." in Berlin. He was also the federal chairman of the human rights organization "Society for Threatened Peoples" from 2012 to 2017. In addition to his academic engagement and his commitment to human rights, he is a politically independent observer and commentator of Kurdish issues as well as ethnic and religious minorities in the Middle East.

The award of the Federal Cross of Merit was initiated by Jan Diedrichsen, his successor in the federal chairmanship of the Society for Threatened Peoples, and supported by, among others, the First Vice President of Freie Universität, Prof. Dr. Verena Blechinger-Talcott, the chairman of the Ernst Reuter Society and former chancellor of Freie Universität, Peter Lange, and the Iranian Studies Professor Dr. Maria Macuch, all of whom also honored Omar's multifaceted work in speeches during the event. Representatives of the Kurdistan-Iraq Regional Government and the Kurdish Academy, as well as the 1st Secretary of the Embassy of the Republic of Iraq in Berlin, also took part in the event, in some cases with words of greeting.

Feryas Fazil Omar created standard works on the Kurdish language

Blechinger-Talcott emphasized that Omar's successful work in Iranian studies as well as his humanitarian commitment were recognized with this award: "He has taught at the Institute of Iranian Studies with great dedication for many years and has influenced numerous students. At the same time, through the encyclopedias and standard works he has edited, he has contributed significantly to the understanding of Kurdish languages and literatures in Germany and beyond." With his work, he had gained great recognition worldwide and made Freie Universität known as an important and unique center for Kurdish studies.

Diedrichsen had referred to Omar's remarkable life story and career when suggesting that he be awarded the Federal Cross of Merit. Persecuted and tortured in Iraq, he had made his worldwide commitment to human rights his life's work. In addition, he said, he had preserved the language and literature of his Kurdish homeland and wanted to give back to his new home in Germany with an impressive voluntary and civic commitment, which he, a German citizen since 1993, liked to describe as "Germany's generosity" toward him. "Feryad Fazil Omar is a human rights activist who was particularly sensitized by the suffering of the Kurds to the injustices of the world and to the powerlessness of the often weakest, the minorities," Diedrichsen emphasized.

A cultural mediator and linguist

At the end of the event, the honoree himself had his say. His concern was not only to stand up for the rights of the Kurds, but for those of all the minorities who have no voice of their own, Omar emphasized. "I represent those who cannot represent themselves," the 72-year-old said, looking back with a twinkle in his eye to the beginning of his tenure at the Institute of Iranian Studies. At that time, he said, he was asked to teach two semester hours of Kurdish, "unsalaried." He had not known the word at that time. But when it was further explained that "funds were scarce," he understood what was expected of him - and complied with the request. Since there was a lack of basic teaching materials, he created them himself without further ado. This was the beginning of his life's work as a cultural mediator and linguist, for which he has now received the Federal Cross of Merit.