I Am Kurdistan

A photographic essay on Iraqi Kurdistan’s post-conflict identity crisis

The History:

For half a century, Iraq’s Kurds have been victimized by their political leaders.  From Abdul Karim Qasm ordering the indiscriminate bombing of Kurdish villages in 1961 to the mass-murder carried out during Saddam’s 1988 Anfal campaign, Iraqi Kurds have been constantly persecuted.

But on December 30^th, 2006 all that came to an end when Saddam Hussein, the Kurd’s most brutal persecutor was executed.  In that very moment, a new Iraqi Kurdish identity was born.

It has now been 5 years since Saddam’s death and the Kurdish region—a land associated with chemical weapons, refugees, and genocide—is booming.  Lebanese luxury hotels are springing up in Erbil, where Rolls Royces cruise through gated communities and families spend their evenings perusing jewelry stores in newly built mega-malls.

But is this economic boom healing the wounds of the past or is it just hiding them? Is suffering shared by one generation defining the identity of the next?

As Kurds define themselves against the backdrop of Iraqi history, they must negotiate whether it is the future or the past that will determine the shape of their modern identity. “I Am Kurdistan” is the story of how Iraq’s Kurds are defining themselves in the aftermath of war.

The Project:

My project investigates Iraqi Kurdish identity at this unique historic moment when Kurds—for the first time in modern Iraqi history—are no longer the victims of oppression.  But as they advance, grow wealthier, and gain more independence they are shadowed by their violent and brutal past.  Mass graves are still being uncovered at the same rate as luxury hotel foundations are being dug.  In the wake of decades of oppression, mass-murder, and civil war, the Kurds are trying to move forward by addressing the past and asking themselves “Who are we?”  My project “I Am Kurdistan” is the story of this post-conflict identity crisis. 

I first came to northern Iraq in 2008 and immediately fell in love with the region. A year later, I relocated to Sulaimaniyah and have been living there ever since, covering northern and central Iraq for the international press. I  speak Sorani Kurdish and have an extensive network of friends and contacts who give me unrivaled access throughout the region.

The Sections:

Environment

            Natural beauty is an essential part of Kurdish culture and identity.  Poets write verse upon verse about it while young musicians set their music videos in fields and riverbanks, making sure, always, to take in sweeping mountain vistas.  But with the recent influx of reconstruction dollars, development is galloping ahead completely unregulated.  Mountain tops like Rawanduz are now garish multi-colored amusement parks and the Ahmed Awa waterfall is surrounded by Kebab houses atop concrete platforms. More seriously, water pollution in towns like Tanjero and Darbenikhan is causing severe, long-term health problems. This section will look at the struggle between development and the Kurdish identity association with nature.

History

            In this section I will investigate the living histories of Iraqi Kurdistan, both ancient and contemporary. This will include places such as Shanidar cave, which dates back to the Neanderthal era (60,000 BCE). I will also look at contemporary historical representation such as  the Amna Souraka Museum which displays life-like sculptures of Iraqi soldiers torturing Kurdish civilians in 1980 and 1990s. This segment will investigate what role history plays in contemporary Kurdish identity.

Tradition versus Modernization

The first part will look at Kurdish cultural traditions, both positive and negative: traditions such as dancing and music, but also the traditions of female genital mutilation and zhian ba zhian—arranged marriages where women are bought and sold to pay for tribal debts.

            The second part will be a document of the new wave of modernization which is challenging these traditions. In a region still recovering from a violent and impoverished past, thousands of Bangladeshis, Indians, and Africans have arrived to work as domestic cleaners and manual laborers. Satellite TV—banned under Saddam—doesn’t just broadcast European and American shows as they used to; now they create and broadcast their own versions of Oprah and the X-Factor.

In this section I will document these enormous modernizing advances and look into how they are changing and challenging Kurdish identity.

City v Village

            Of all the areas of Iraqi Kurdistan that have experienced this boom of modernization, the region’s large cities have had seen the most. A new urban elite is springing up in the capital, Erbil. Gated communities and luxury apartment buildings are in the forefront of the city’s urban sprawl and property bubble. And of course there are now mega-malls serving the shopping needs of this new social class.

            But how does this new elite urban class fit in with the majority of the population who live in small towns and villages? Is a growing disparity between rich and poor going to break the region’s unity that has survived decades of common suffering? This chapter will explore this developing geographical/economic tension.

Continuing Conflict

            In the final section I will look at the two major unresolved conflicts in the region. The first is the historic tension between the two main political parties, the PUK and KDP. Between 1994 and 1996, the two parties fought a bloody civil war that killed over 35,000 Kurds. Till this day, the two parties remain arch enemies and have split the region in two, the KDP dominating the West and the PUK dominating the East.

            The second unresolved conflict is the city of Kirkuk, which the Kurds, Arabs, and Turkomen all claim as their own. In the 1970s, Saddam carried out an Arabization campaign where large numbers of poor Shiia Arabs were relocated to Kirkuk to change the city’s demographics. Now that Saddam is gone, the Kurds want the city as their own.

In this section I will document the daily lives of those who are shaped by these tensions.

Conclusion

            “I Am Kurdistan” is a story. It’s a story of a people coming to terms with a history of violence that has defined them for decades. It’s a story of a people trying to draw a line under that violence and move forward. It’s the story of Iraqi Kurds answering the peacetime question, “Who am I?”