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Arabs from Iraq enjoy life in secular
Kurdistan region
30.6.2007
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June
30, 2007
MOUNT AZMAR, Sulaimaniyah, Kurdistan region
(Iraq), -- Maher Talaat and his two friends sat on
the grassy mountainside, toasting bottles of beer
and gazing at the pastoral scene — and at the girls.
"Do you see how pretty the girl looks today," said
Talaat's friend Ibrahim Salah as a young woman
walked past. Talaat and a third friend, Alaa Hamed,
smiled in agreement.
All three were enjoying a quiet afternoon in the
refuge of the secular, Kurdish-controlled Kurdistan
region (north of Iraq) — far from the chaos of
Baghdad. Here they can enjoy the pleasures of life
denied them in the turmoil sweeping the rest of the
country.
"I have become addicted to this kind of life. I was
buried alive back in Baghdad," said Talaat, who
settled in the Kurdish north several months ago.
"At least there is no curfew here. They can hang out
anytime they want, without fearing anything," Talaat
said of his two friends, who had come from Baghdad
for a visit.
The contrast between life in the three Kurdistani
provinces and the Arab-dominated rest of the country
is stark.
In Baghdad, few people venture far from the safety
of their houses and neighborhood for fear of bombs,
ambushes or death squads of the rival Islamic sect.
Even in areas that are less violent, religious
zealots enforce a climate of austerity and
intolerance that many Iraqis find suffocating.
But in Kurdistan, as the Kurdish region is known,
both Iraqi Kurds and Arabs can get their lives back
on track, enjoying
parties, restaurants and picnics in the safety of
Iraq's oasis of peace.
According to U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees,
about 822,810 Iraqis have been uprooted from their
homes by the recent violence to new areas in search
of basic security, a figure far higher than an
estimate of 600,000 individuals released by Iraqi
officials in the Ministry of Migration and
Displacement.
Anita Raman, a UNHCR official, said nearly 23,888
families, about 143,328 individuals have settled in
Kurdish areas after fleeing central and southern
Iraq. That's about a 69 percent increase in the
number of displaced Arabs in the Kurdish north since
early February.
Some critics have cited alleged corruption and
political favoritism in Kurdistan, which has been
dominated by two Kurdish parties since the U.S. and
Britain established a self-governing region for
Kurds after the 1991 Gulf War.
On May 9, a suicide truck bomber struck a government
building in Kurdistan's largest city, Erbil, killing
at least 14 people in the first major attack there
in more than three years. |
Azmer, Sulaimaniyah, Kurdistan region
Azmr Hotel & Restaurant
Azmer, Sulaimaniyah, Kurdistan region |
For many Iraqis — Kurds and Arabs alike — all that
pales in comparison to the anarchy and tyranny of
fear gripping the rest of the country.
"It is much better here. If you are not a
troublemaker, no one kicks in your door in the
middle of the night and throws a hood over your
head," said Hamed, 20, who was on vacation from his
home in Baghdad's Bab al-Sheikh neighborhood.
Kurds are Muslims like their Arab countrymen. But a
secular political climate tolerates bars and liquor
stores. Elsewhere in Iraq, merchants who sell
alcohol risk death at the hands of Islamic
extremists.
Women in Kurdistan are free to dress in Western
clothes if they so choose, and men and women mingle
freely at cafes and nightspots. Parents can take
their children on outings without fear of sudden,
violent death.
On a recent spring day, the road winding through the
mountains near Sulaimaniyah was jammed with cars
filled with families heading for picnics in the cool
hills.
Along the roadside, vendors sold chocolates, potato
chips and soft drinks. Shepherds tended herds of
sheep and goats grazing aimlessly along the rocky
slopes.
Among the crowd was Saman Othman, who parked his
borrowed SUV at a quiet spot and asked his wife and
children to help set up a barbecue grill.
A few yards away, a group of young men were dancing
to Kurdish folk music blaring from a recorder. Other
families were setting up their own small tables and
chairs for a picnic lunch.
"I adore coming up here," Othman, 47, said as the
women in his family sat on straw mats, chewing
sunflower seeds and exchanging news of friends and
neighbors.
"My kids love it too so I have to bring them here
often," Othman said as he fanned the coals. "This is
the only safe place in Iraq."
Othman's 10-year-old daughter Daliyah said she loves
hiking in the hills with her sisters and friends.
"We like picking flowers," she said. Her older
brother Diyar chimed in: "And we also like
volleyball."
In Sulaimaniyah, an Arab woman who gave her name
only as Umm Iman, or Mother of Iman, was shopping
for a party. As she filled her shopping bag with
candies, pastries and fruit, she was phoning friends
on her mobile, inviting them to her home.
"Of course we are happy here," she said. "It's all
coming back to us — the life we used to live
before."
Umm Iman moved to Sulaimaniyah several months ago
with her husband and two daughters after they
"miraculously survived" a car bomb attack at
Mustansiriyah University, where her children were
studying.
At least 70 people, mostly students, were killed in
the Jan. 16 attack.
"I am having a tea party tonight, which I would
never think of doing if I were still in Baghdad,"
she said.
AP
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