The first in Kurdistan Region, Kurdish YouTuber awarded Silver Play Button

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – A young Kurdish man was recently awarded the YouTube Silver Play Button, the “first” in the Kurdistan Region, for reaching the 100,000 subscriber mark on the video-sharing website.

Mir Omar Abdulla, from Sulaimani, appeared on Kurdistan 24’s HashTag program on Tuesday to talk about his award and other topics.

Abdulla graduated from the University of Sulaimani where he studied Business and Administration. He runs and owns the “Kurdish Gamer” channel on YouTube, which he launched in 2014.

He has over 130,000 subscribers (and growing), over 11 million views, and his viewership ranges from the ages of 8 to 30.

Abdulla says he is the first in the Kurdistan Region and second among Kurdish-speaking channels in the world to receive the Silver Play Button.

Kurdistan 24 visited Abdulla at his home office where he spoke about what led him to start his channel and explained that it takes time to grow on YouTube.

“I was looking for a way to best express my interest in gaming and present information, and I came across YouTube,” Abdulla told Kurdistan 24 in late July.

Abdulla admitted it was difficult in the beginning. But, from his experience, he noted that with continued efforts one could reach more people and generate revenue from their work especially as social media outlets are more popular today.

“If one believes in themselves and is persistent, they can, through their [growing] following, get results,” he had said at his home office.

Addressing problems of video game addiction, Abdulla believes parents and siblings should monitor whether the games family members are playing are appropriate for their age as well as the amount of time spent playing.

He also said he maintains a close relationship with his audience, considering his fans a part of his family, and engages with them on social media.

Editing by Karzan Sulaivany