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Iraqi Kurds defy Turkish war threat, they
live their lives as usual
31.10.2007 |
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October
31, 2007
Erbil-Hewler, Kurdistan region 'Iraq', --
It is late in the evening and the aroma of hot tea
fills the air as a restaurant in Erbil's Al-Iskan
street serves dozens of customers happily chatting
late into the night despite Turkey's threat of an
incursion into Kurdistan region 'northern Iraq'.
Erbil, the capital of northern Iraq's autonomous
KURDISTAN region, enjoys a calm in stark contrast to
blood-drenched Baghdad, where people have to rush
home even before the sun sets to avoid the nightly
curfew or a bomb attack.
Even as Ankara continues to warn of a military
incursion into Iraqi Kurdistan region to flush out
Turkey's Kurdish PKK rebels, Iraqi Kurds continue to
live their lives as if the threat did not exist.
Dozens of restaurants are open, shopping centres are
thriving with people and cinema houses are full of
movie goers.
"We meet each other almost every day. Turkish
threats do not stop us from living. Life must go on.
These threats are not new," said Azad Ahmed, 42, as
he sips tea with his friends at the restaurant on
Al-Iskan street.
"In Kurdistan you can stay out until dawn and travel
with your family everywhere... visit relatives or
have dinner outside without being afraid of killed
or kidnapped. This place is not Baghdad."
Outside the restaurant, people stroll on pavements
and traffic police direct vehicles as roadside cafes
play Kurdish songs, while youngsters engage
themselves in Domino.
Every now and then Westerners are seen walking into
cafes wearing jeans and t-shirts but without
bullet-proof vests, protection that is a must in
Baghdad where they face threats of kidnapping or
assassination.
"This is Kurdistan. There is no place for
terrorists," says Ahmed, as the city's giant neon
lights glitter in the background and huge banners
invite people to visit the shopping malls.
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Iraqi Kurds say they are not afraid of war anymore,
having faced struggle for decades.
"Our history is full of crisis, tough times and
wars," says Omed Haval, 33, a government employee as
he parks his car outside a pizza shop.
"We have passed through hard times. We were forced
to leave our homes and go to the mountains. But now
we are not afraid and would not leave our homes if
the Turks come."
Iraqi Kurds faced a series of military assaults in
the 80s from executed dictator Saddam Hussein's
troops. Experts say nearly 182,000 Kurds were killed
in these campaigns, especially towards the end of
the Iraq-Iran war.
Haval, however, hoped the Turkish threat would
recede.
"I hope the Turks will not commit such stupidity,"
Haval said. "I hope our friends, the Americans, will
intervene and find a peaceful solution to this
problem and prevent the Turkish incursion."
Washington is concerned that a Turkish military
operation inside northern Iraq would destabilise the
only peaceful region in the war-ravaged country.
The three Iraqi Kurdish provinces of Erbil, Duhok
and Sulaimaniyah with their five-million citizens
are witnessing an economic prosperity that is absent
in the other chaotic Iraqi provinces.
The president of Kurdistan region, Massoud Barzani,
told Al-Arabiya television on Friday that any
Turkish incursion was aimed at hampering development
in these provinces.
"Frankly, targeting the PKK is just a pretext, the
goal is hindering or stopping the development and
growth in Kurdistan," he said.
Since 1991, the Kurds of Iraq achieved self-rule in
part of the country. Today's teenagers are the first
generation to grow up under Kurdish rule. In the new
Iraqi Constitution, it is referred to as Kurdistan
region.
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Kurdistan region has all the trappings of an
independent state -- its own constitution, its own
parliament, its own flag, its own army, its own
border, its own border patrol, its own national
anthem, its own education system, its own
International airports, even its own stamp inked
into the passports of visitors.
Turkey has never, and still does not, recognize the
Kurdistan region government (KRG) and refuses to
meet with its representatives in any official
capacity. That reflects Ankara's fear that any
international respect shown to the autonomous Iraqi
Kurdistan region would only embolden Turkey's own
large Kurdish minority to seek similar home-rule
status.
AFP | Agencies
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