Kurdish philosopher and writer Faruq Rafeq dies in Erbil

ERBIL — Kurdish writer and philosophy scholar Faruq Rafeq has died at his home in Erbil, the Kurdistan Writers Union branch in Erbil confirmed Tuesday.

Rafeq held a PhD in philosophy and was born in Sulaymaniyah. He lived and studied in Canada before returning to the Kurdistan Region in later years. He served as editor-in-chief of Awez journal, a quarterly publication focused on philosophy and intellectual discourse, and taught philosophy while leading training courses in the field, with a particular focus on classical Greek philosophy and the works of Plato and Aristotle.

His published works span philosophy, political theory and poetry, and include “Pax Americana” and “Communal Concerns,” a two-volume essay collection, “The Reconciliation of Mind and Love,” “In the Hour Before Midnight,” a work of political criticism, “The Art of Love,” “Philosophy and Life” and “A Station of the Philosophical Expedition.”

Rafeq was considered part of a generation of Kurdish intellectuals who combined academic philosophy with public commentary, regularly appearing in televised debates on Kurdish channels. His views on politics, Islam and religion were at times the subject of public controversy.