▁other ▁Turkish ▁and ▁Kur d ish ▁intellect uals , ▁he ▁was ▁stri pped ▁of ▁his ▁national ity . ▁He ▁res umed ▁his ▁lingu istic ▁quest ▁in ▁Stockholm , ▁a ided ▁by ▁gr ants ▁from ▁the ▁Swedish ▁government . ▁To ▁collect ▁voc ab ul ary ▁and ▁fol kl ore , ▁he ▁visited ▁an ▁Ira qi ▁Kur d ish ▁leader ▁in ▁a ▁re bel - h eld ▁mountain ▁valley ▁of ▁Ira q , ▁sp ending ▁even ings ▁in ▁a ▁tent ▁listening ▁to ▁Kur d ish ▁po ets ▁and ▁story t ellers ▁by ▁the ▁light ▁of ▁an ▁oil ▁lamp . ▁He ▁learned ▁Arab ic ▁script ▁to ▁read ▁classical ▁Kur d ish ▁po ems ▁of ▁the ▁ 1 6 th ▁and ▁ 1 7 th ▁centuries . ▁Later , ▁he ▁h unted ▁down ▁rare ▁copies ▁of ▁a ▁magazine ▁published ▁by ▁Kur d ish ▁ex iles ▁in ▁the ▁ 1 9 2 0 s . ▁The ▁ill - f ated ▁advent ures ▁of ▁these ▁pione ers ▁form ▁the ▁back bone ▁of ▁two ▁of ▁his ▁nov els , ▁which , ▁like ▁all ▁of ▁his ▁fiction , ▁detail ▁the ▁strugg les ▁of ▁Kur ds ▁through ▁the ▁ages . ▁He ▁also ▁led ▁an ▁editor ial ▁board ▁of ▁intellect uals , ▁who ▁would ▁pay ▁for ▁Kur ds ▁to ▁fly ▁to ▁Europe ▁to ▁brief ▁them ▁on ▁obsc ure ▁voc ab ul ary . ▁ ▁When ▁after ▁many ▁years ▁of ▁living ▁in ▁ex ile , ▁he ▁went ▁back ▁to ▁Turkey ▁to ▁give ▁a ▁speech ▁about ▁Kur d ish ▁literature , ▁seven ▁of ▁his ▁books