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Kurds show Iraqis a way forward
By Syed
Saleem Shahzad
SULAIMANIYA, northern Iraq - With
other parts of Iraq becoming increasingly volatile and
unstable, this Kurdish city with a troubled past is
emerging as a beacon that could help show the way
forward for the rest of the country.
Numbering
at least 25 million people, Kurds - a distinct ethnic
linguistic group - are mostly divided among Turkey,
Iraq, Iran and Syria and are the largest ethnic group in
the world without a state. In Iraq, there are
approximately 3.7 million Kurds in the predominantly
Kurdish northern safe haven area, and between 1 and 2
million in the rest of Iraq.
The mostly Sunni
Muslim Kurds have suffered political and cultural
repression, destruction, ethnic cleansing and genocide
in their struggle to obtain autonomy. In April 1991,
following the March uprising of Kurds in the north and
Shi'ite Arabs in the south against the central
government, Iraqi Kurdistan was divided into two parts.
The so-called Kurdish safe haven and northern no-fly
zone were established in this context. Under
considerable constraint and against strong external and
internal opposition, the Kurdish safe haven has now been
successfully governed for a decade by the Kurds
themselves, and in these troubled times, provide an
example of what could still happen throughout the rest
of Iraq.
This correspondent spent some time in
Baghdad before the US-led war in Iraq earlier this year,
and again passed through the capital on the way to
Sulaimaniya this week. The changes are many, and often
stark. Though the general ambience of Baghdad remains,
with its old and traditional look, palm trees and the
Tigris river snaking through the city, many areas
resemble a ghost town - especially the once high-class
Mansoor neighborhood and Sadr city. Long queues are a
common sight as US soldiers scrutinize Iraqis at
checkpoints. And the city is effectively without power
and telephones.
Apart from food shops, most
other stores are closed. And where once the city was
adorned with ubiquitous portraits and statues of Saddam
Hussein, now the characters featured are religious,
indicative of the rising fundamentalist trend in the
city.
Sulaimaniya, in the Kurdish safe haven, is
a different world. There are few portraits of
individuals, and there are even banners proclaiming
their thanks to "Mr Bush for liberating us" - a reminder
of the tyranny imposed on Kurds in earlier times .
Ahmed Ali Faraj is the chairman of Soran Trading
Company, dealing in electronic items. He has offices in
Turkey and the United Arab Emirates, and he is proud of
what is happening in his city. "This is now the best
city in Iraq because it is peaceful, it now has the best
infrastructure, it is progressive and devoid of any
political and religious chaos," said Ahmed.
"After the war, we did good business deals with
many countries. You will see that business will
jump-start from Sulaimaniya, which will be the center of
all economic activity in Iraq," the trader beamed.
Mohammed Rauf Arif is a former director general
of the accounts department of Sulaimaniya University. He
received his higher education at Oxford, England, and he
feels that since 1992 Solymania's social and political
dynamics have changed for the better.
"After the
Gulf War [1991] we not only separated ourselves from
Baghdad, but we also separated our line of thinking.
Although we kept our medium of instruction as Arabic, in
the technical institutes, like the medical and
engineering colleges, the medium of instruction is
English. This gives our people a chance to interact
freely with other parts of the world. At present, from
eight colleges back in 1992, we now have 20 and one
university," Arif said.
Sulaimaniya has also
developed an open, secular society where access to the
Internet and satellite channels is freely available
(Yes, there are telephones in this part of Iraq).
In other areas of Kurdish Iraq, such as the
oil-rich regions of Mosul and Kirkuk, which were well
under the thumb of Saddam and his Ba'ath Party, there
have been changes. Saddam's portraits were quickly
pulled down once it was clear that the dictator had been
deposed, but no one person has emerged to fill the power
vacuum. Rather, different religious clerics have
established their circles, and their slogans and banners
can be seen around the cities, while in the rural areas,
religious trends are becoming more pronounced among the
population.
Abdul Samad is cab driver. He is a
Kurd, lives in Kirkuk and could be considered typical
for the region. He believes that Saddam was a criminal,
but he also is not exactly flowing over in praise of the
US "liberators". "They came here to take our petrol," he
said matter-of-factly. Samad also expresses support for
Osama bin Laden, stating that he is a "true Islamic
figure" and that many Iraqis respect him.
These
are just some of the trends emerging in the Kurdish
north, while much of the attention of the world media is
focused on the troubles to the south, and the daily
count of American soldiers killed.
(Copyright
2003 Asia Times Online Co, Ltd. All rights reserved.
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