Typewriters and mimeograph sets are considered dangerous weapons by the governments of Iraq and Iran, since they provide the opposition with considerable publishing power already difficult to detect. During the 1978-79 Iranian Revolution, a genre of literature (in Persian) had emerged which was called "xerox literature" (adabiyat-i zïraks-ï). Unable to use the carefully controlled printing presses, Iranian writers, poets, cartoonists and political activists used typewriters and photostat copiers found in government offices to produce their anti-government literature. This explains why both regimes carefully regulate the use of typewriters, photostat copiers and mimeograph sets.

Typewriters and mimeograph sets are considered dangerous weapons by the governments of Iraq and Iran, since they provide the opposition with considerable publishing power already difficult to detect. During the 1978-79 Iranian Revolution, a genre of literature (in Persian) had emerged which was called "xerox literature" (adabiyat-i zïraks-ï). Unable to use the carefully controlled printing presses, Iranian writers, poets, cartoonists and political activists used typewriters and photostat copiers found in government offices to produce their anti-government literature. This explains why both regimes carefully regulate the use of typewriters, photostat copiers and mimeograph sets. In Iran, the owners of copying businesses were warned in the summer of 1981 to avoid copying "harmful" literature. A visitor to Baghdad wrote in 1985, "[T]here are no typewriters for sale in Thulatha Market. Special permission is required for an Iraqi to purchase one, for a typewriter might be used to produce revolutionary tracts" (National Geographic, January 1985, p. 103).

These restrictions make it almost impossible for the individual to make use of not only the enormous facilities of modern printing technology, but even a commonplace instrument such as a typewriter. Although Persian and even Arabic typewriters can be used for Kurdish typing (diacritics have to be added manually), typewriters suited to the needs of Kurdish were not available until the early 1980s in Iraq.

Modern word-processing facilities can solve many printing problems if political restrictions are removed. In Europe, where the market is too small for Kurdish printing presses, a number of journals (e.g., Peyv in London and Berbang in Stockholm) have experimented with the improved software which is capable of producing adequate texts in both the Roman script and Arabic-based scripts such as Kurdish and Persian. Since the import of all printing related equipment is administered by the central governments in Iraq and Iran, individuals in Kurdistan are not in a position to make use of modern technological improvements (cf. 7.2.7, on book publishing; 7.3.4, on emigre press, and 10.3.6, on the market regulation of Kurdish language and culture).

Source: Dr. Amir Hassanpour, "Nationalism and Language in Kurdistan 1918-1985", 1992.