Kurdish cultural icon dies at 72

Shafaq News/ Kurdish writer, journalist, and translator Ahmed Zerdast died on Thursday in al-Sulaymaniyah, Iraqi Kurdistan, at the age of 72.

Zerdast, born in al-Sulaymaniyah in 1952, began his journalism career in 1974. He held editorial positions at various Kurdish publications and led children's magazines Asteri Kowaari Men and Chemshemal.

In addition to his journalistic work, Zerdast was also a prolific writer and translator. He published a number of books, including "Kaweh, Newruz, and Myth" and "The Nusayris and Alawites." He also translated over 20 children's books from Arabic to Kurdish.

Zerdast's most significant work was the compilation of a comprehensive Arabic-Kurdish dictionary, which contains over 75,000 words. The dictionary was published in three volumes under the title "Sarkol Dictionary" and was printed in al-Sulaymaniyah in 2022.