Iraqi student to speak on Kurdistan culture, history

The University of Colorado Colorado Springs' first Iraqi graduate will present a seminar highlighting Kurdistan at 2 p.m. Friday, March 11 in the University Center Theater.

Zamawang (Zama) Faisel Almemar will present "Kurdistan: The Other Iraq" to highlight the history, demographics, language, tradition, leaders and politics of her culture. Almemar fled Kurdistan in northern Iraq with her younger brother and parents in 1997. Since arriving in Colorado Springs she became a U.S. citizen, graduated from Palmer High School, and earned two bachelor's degrees and a master's degree from UCCS. Almemar now is attending UCCS in pursuit of a Ph.D. in mechanical and aerospace engineering.

"I feel obligated to present this seminar to educate both the students and the faculty on our campus, as well as the people in our community, about a Muslim country inside of Iraq," Almemar said. "I am hoping that through my lecture I can educate people enough about Kurdistan for them to be able to locate us on a world map and to distinguish Radical Islamists from the average Muslim."

Kurdistan is a geo-cultural region that includes northern Iraq, parts of eastern Turkey, northern Syria, and northwestern Iran. Kurds constitute about 17 percent of Iraq's population. Under Saddam Hussein, Iraqi Kurds faced prosecution and chemical weapons in the late 1980s and early 1990s. The Kurdish population welcomed coalition forces in 2003. The Iraqi Kurdistan Governorate Council elections in 2005 coincided with Iraqi legislative elections.