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Kurdish resort an oasis of peace in Iraq
30.5.2007
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May
30, 2007
Rawanduz, Kurdistan region (Iraq) , -- If the
sight of jagged peaks towering above red-roofed
chalets fails to conjure up the Swiss Alps, the
screams of children riding the imported alpine
toboggan make the comparison hard to avoid.
But armed guards at the gate betray what visitors
would like to forget: The newly opened Pank Resort
is located in Kurdistan-Iraq, a country fractured by
war.
Owner Hazem Kurda, a Kurd who fled to Sweden during
the Saddam Hussein-era and opened a successful
rice-processing plant, knows he took a huge risk
when he decided to invest tens of millions of
dollars of his own money to build a sprawling modern
complex nestled high in the northeast of Iraqi
Kurdistan.
"To speak of [Iraq] and tourism in the same breath
may sound crazy to many people," Mr. Kurda said.
"But I made up my mind to do something unique in my
country. I thought somebody should take the
initiative, and others will follow."
Coming attractions include a cable car across the
limestone gorge that plunges from the edge of his
property, an 18-hole mini-golf course and a camping
site for those on tighter budgets. If all goes well,
he thinks Hilton or Sheraton might one day lend its
name.
Today, the Kurdish Regional Government (KRG) and a
growing number of bold entrepreneurs are going to
great lengths to promote the north as "the other
Iraq," a haven of relative calm where Iraqi Kurds,
Arabs and foreigners alike are free to do business,
retreat to nature or just live normally for a few
days.
This peace was shattered May 9 when a suicide truck
bomb struck the Interior Ministry in Irbil, a rare
attack in the regional capital that killed 19
persons and proved that no part of Iraq is immune to
violence.
However, KRG officials are proud of the fact that no
coalition forces have been killed and no foreigners
kidnapped in the autonomous region since the 2003
U.S.-led invasion. They attribute this record to a
vigilant security apparatus comprising some 100,000
peshmerga troops and police, supported by a public
which treasures stability and development as the
groundwork for an independent state.
'The other Iraq'
A promotional hook on the KRG Web site reads:
"Welcome to Iraqi Kurdistan. Where democracy has
been practiced for over a decade. It's not a dream.
It's the other Iraq."
"Stability here is not understood in the world yet,"
said Nimrud Baito, minister of tourism in the KRG.
"We need a media revolution to let people know that
the Kurdistan region is something different from
Iraq, especially as far as security goes. We think
[conditions] here are only going to get better and
better."
Faith in the future has attracted massive investment
from one unlikely source, neighboring Turkey.
Hundreds of diesel trucks rumble across the northern
border each day with steel, concrete and other raw
materials to feed a construction boom, despite
heated rhetoric between Turkish and Kurdish
officials over the Kurds' unspoken bid for
independence. Of nearly 600 foreign companies
registered in the region, some 350 of them are
Turkish.
Investment Chairman Herish Muhamad says the
government expects rapid growth, thanks to a
business-friendly climate that gives "maximum"
rights to investors.
Perks include a minimum of state interference or
bureaucratic red tape; the freedom to repatriate
capital abroad or shut down anytime, or import
manpower from anywhere in the world; a 10-year tax
exemption and no customs duties for five years on
imported materials.
"Interested companies ask, 'Where is your
infrastructure so we can come,' " Mr. Muhamad said.
"My reply to them is: 'Come and make this absence of
infrastructure an opportunity for investment.' " New
homes priced between $100,000 and $500,000 are
selling out before they are finished, he added,
"like in Dubai."
Visitors also have the option of flying in business
class. The Kurdish region already has international
airports in Sulaimaniyah, the second-largest city,
and Irbil, from which Austrian Airlines opened a
direct line to Europe last year, providing a
symbolic victory after years of isolation.
Niche tourism
This month, Britain-based Hinterland Travel is
escorting its first batch of package-deal tourists,
with more in the pipeline.
Founder Geoff Hahn is a longtime Iraq hand who has
operated in the country on and off for 30 years and
says he wants to resume tours to the rest of Iraq
"ASAP." For now he's leading a dozen travelers on a
21-day "pilot exploratory trip" through northern
Iraq, eastern Turkey and Iran. Total cost: a hefty
$3,760 plus visa fees and insurance.
Still, interest has grown steadily, he says, and a
second trip planned for September is filling up.
"We are the only people operating to Iraqi
Kurdistan, for the moment anyway," Mr. Hahn said. "I
shall keep enlarging the schedule as we get more
insight into what is relatively unexplored tourist
territory."
Arab Iraqis, for their part, are already coming
north in droves. The Ministry of Tourism says it
needs at least 10 times the amount of hotel rooms
available at present to keep apace with rising
demand.
But analysts warn that the Kurdish region is now in
danger on two fronts.
Archrival Turkey has threatened a unilateral
military incursion into northern Iraq to oust
separatist Kurdistan Workers Party guerrillas known
to stage cross-border attacks, while tensions mount
over the fate of Kirkuk, an oil-rich, ethnically
mixed city less than two hours drive from Irbil that
the Kurds want to annex in a referendum this year.
Several recent attacks have targeted the Kurdish
majority there, and Sheik 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.
Back at Mr. Kurda's Pank Resort, such forecasts
seemed as distant as the cloudless horizon. A group
of well-heeled Arabs from Baghdad were sipping
Johnnie Walker Black Label whisky in the restaurant,
in front of a framed picture of Kurdish leader
Massoud Barzani.
Guests have already been coming for months to
unwind, among them former U.S. Ambassador to Iraq
Zalmay Khalilzad and former Prime Minister Iyad
Allawi, but this day was the official grand opening,
and there were still bricks to be laid and walls
without paint.
Taking a break outside, Mr. Kurda mused: "Nobody is
sure how long we have been in these mountains, but
one thing is sure: We Kurds belong in these
mountains. And everyone else should come and see for
themselves. Just look at this beauty around us."
washingtontimes com
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