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Kurds restoring ancient citadel to
showcase culture
14.5.2007
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May
14, 2007
Erbil (Kurdistan region (Iraq), -- Kurdish
authorities have removed hundreds of families,
cleaned up their trash and have begun development in
an ancient citadel, which they say is the site of
the oldest continuously inhabited settlement in the
world.
Their plans -- to establish a cultural centerpiece
in Kurdistan (northern Iraq) that will attract
tourists and archaeologists from around the globe --
extend well beyond the fortress itself.
All across this Kurdish regional capital are signs
of a citywide makeover in progress. Fancy new hotels
and foreign-built office buildings rise above the
din of diesel trucks and clatter of men at work.
"Under Saddam [Hussein], the Kurdish people never
had a chance to show off their heritage," said Kanan
Mufti, general director of antiquities for the
Kurdish region and leader of the citadel project.
"Now we have a potential stage to tell the world.
When visitors see all this history, they will really
come to respect the Kurdish people. ... If I had
permission, I would call [the citadel] the eighth
wonder of the world."
Local historians say the Erbil citadel has been the
site of human habitation for more than 7,000 years.
The Assyrians, Sumerians, Greeks and Ottomans are
among the peoples known to have lived in the Erbil
region, a fertile plain at the
junction of two rivers near the Zagros Mountains.
Some archaeologists dispute that claim, citing a
lack of hard evidence. Mr. Mufti counters that
probes sunk into the man -made hill have indicated
multiple layers of civilizations -- supported by
written references that date back to the 21st
century B.C. -- though civil conflict and isolation
have so far prevented experts from undertaking a
proper excavation.
A study carried out by the Iraqi government many
years ago catalogs more than 3,000 archaeological
sites in the Kurdish region. Mr. Mufti said fewer
than 25 have been unearthed because Saddam opposed
digs in the area in order to suppress Kurdish
culture.
Exploration in the citadel ended completely in the
1980s, when Saddam waged a scorched-earth campaign
against rural Kurds. Masses flocked to the cities to
blend in and escape, and many found refuge in the
ancient fortress.
Roughly 5,000 people were living inside until the
Kurdish government moved to relocate them before a
collapsing sewer system could damage the layers of
buried artifacts.
More than 800 families were given plots of land
about 25 miles east of Erbil and $4,000 for housing
expenses. Only one family has been permitted to
remain inside in the citadel to preserve the
continuity of habitation.
Since the relocation, almost 6,000 cubic yards of
trash have been removed, exposing labyrinthine
alleys and crumbling homes. Mr. Mufti and his team
are in consultations with UNESCO, the United
Nations' cultural agency, which is looking into the
possibility of renovating parts of the city.
Many in Erbil hope this will lead to coveted status
as a U.N. World Heritage Site, but they are aware of
the work that must be done to meet the agency's
standards.
Sami al-Koja, an adviser to the citadel's board of
renovation, said he is committed to securing the
best foreign expertise to ensure the project is
given the care and attention it deserves.
"We are beggars. We want the help and technology,
and that's all there is to it," Mr. al-Koja
half-joked. He said the U.S. military had provided
helicopters to take vertical mapping images of the
citadel.
He thinks it will take at least five to 10 years
before the old town is sufficiently restored to
attract tourists and archaeologists. People will
also be brought back to live inside the citadel "on
a more regulated basis," he said.
All such dreams depend on the Kurdish region
remaining a relatively peaceful island of stability
amid the violence of Iraq -- something that is far
from certain.
Pressure is building over the fate of Kirkuk, an
oil-rich, ethnically mixed city less than two hours
drive from Erbil that the Kurds want to annex in a
referendum this year.
Several recent attacks have targeted the Kurdish
majority in Kirkuk, while Muqtada al-Sadr's Mahdi's
Army militia has vowed to resist any Kurdish attempt
to take control of the city.
"If the referendum is held later this year over the
objections of other communities, the civil war is
very likely to spread to Kirkuk and the Kurdish
region," said an April report by the Brussels-based
International Crisis Group.
To the north, archrival Turkey has threatened a
unilateral military incursion into Kurdistan
(northern Iraq) to oust separatist Kurdistan Workers
Party guerrillas known to stage cross-border
attacks. Turkey has also pledged to intervene if the
Kurds ever move toward independence.
washtimes com
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