Kurdish heir by day, Duke frat boy by night
‘I believe everyone comes to this world for a purpose’
Most Duke kids simply want to pass their classes. Few have the goal of leading a nation.
But Arya Deniz, originally from Istanbul, Turkey, isn’t a normal student.
He is the heir to one of the most powerful families in Kurdistan – the largely unrecognized nation between Syria, Turkey and Iraq.
He has a potential marriage partner lined up from his country, who is studying in the UK.
And instead of taking the bus from Central to West, Arya drives the Porsche Panamera his dad gave him for doing well in freshman year.
We caught up with him at his dorm to hear his thoughts on girls, Duke life – and his plans to shape the future of the Kurdish nation.
So, you’re in an arranged marriage – or you’ve made a promise to a girl back home that you’re going to marry her. Talk me through that.
It’s not an arranged marriage, but it’s like a promise ring – I should get married with a Kurdish lady in the future.
When it comes to our nation, people would judge me if I got married to people of other nations. Since I came to the States to influence my nation and everything, I think I have to be with a Kurdish lady in the future.
It’s hard to find someone – I think I did. We’ll see. If it’s meant to be, it’s meant to be. But I’m available right now.
How has that influenced your life at college?
I would much rather explore and try out with different people at this age, rather than after marriage. So that’s one of the reasons why I broke up with my girlfriend.
Having an open mind changes many things. And that doesn’t necessarily mean I should be with a Kurdish lady. So I’m exploring right now.
But yes, it definitely had an impact on the ladies last semester.
Where does she go to school?
She goes to Cambridge and lives in London. She’s doing Psychology and she’s fluent in seven different languages.
She knows The Tab, too! It is a huge thing in Cambridge and she knows it, she reads it.
I also heard you just got a new car?
Because I passed through my freshman year with success, my father thought it would be fine for me to have a new car. I just got a Porsche Panamera 2013 model. It’s pretty sick.
I love traveling, and I always want to see more of this country, so rather than the social aspect of girls liking the car—of course, that’s a plus—I’ve been using it to travel around.
What is your role in the Kurdish nation, within the family?
My ultimate goal is to be the leader of my nation, but to achieve that you need money–at least, in the 21st century.
I want to expand the [family] business in the States, so I want to go back and forth all of the time between Turkey and the States. Once my father retires I’ll be the one that is going to take care of everything about the family when it comes down to decisions.
So in a way, I’m like the heir of our family. I want to be the representative of—not the sole representative—but a part of the organization in the States that represents the Kurdish nation in a positive way.
It’s clear that you are a very proud Kurd. Can you tell me more about that?
The Kurdish nation is the largest nation that doesn’t have it’s own country. In Turkey, there are almost 25 million Kurdish people.
So in Turkey, what I want to do is just sit with the government, and not divide the country, but form states, where the rules can be slightly changed according to the area.
For example, when I went to elementary school, there was a march where I had to say, “I’m Turkish, I’m proud.” But I’m not Turkish. Among all my friends, I was the only Kurdish person.
So one of the reasons I love being in the States is because here people don’t care about the nation— I’m not defined being a Kurd or Turkish—I’m just an international kid.
How did you end up coming to Duke?
I exactly knew what I wanted to do when I was 12 or 13. My goal was to come to the States.
And why I picked Duke, it’s a growing college. For the example that twenty years ago, it was not as popular but it is getting better exponentially – so is the Kurdish nation. There is a similarity between Duke and our nation.
When you go home, what is your life like there?
In Turkey, I lived a relatively humble life. We used to ball out every once in a while, but I never used my name to get with girls or get into positions, because in the future I want to be remembered as an individual. I’m not going to be my father’s son, but I’m going to be Arya Deniz.
So I always try to achieve things by myself.
Whenever we go to Northern Iraq, I feel like people are influenced by our actions. For example, one of the reasons I decided to come to the States was to influence my cousins, people who know us, so that they will realize that though I’m going to be the leader of my family, I’m not wasting my money to get with girls or on ostentatious stuff but instead I’m doing engineering at a respectable school.
Is there anything else the students at Duke should know about Arya Deniz?
What I believe is everyone comes to this world for a purpose. And as I said, I picked up my path when I was really young, and there’s no turning back for me.
So, at Duke, of course [my future] influences the things I want to do. Whenever I want to go out, I have to have this idea in my mind “I can’t be seen with alcohol.” Whenever I do something, I have to think if it will have any consequences that may affect my future life. Which is a huge burden.