This is Kurdistan: Qaradagh

I have been again silent for too long time, sorry for that. I have been very busy with the final exams of my students, but they will be over next week.

Here are some views from Qaradagh. It is a mountain area about half an hour journey from Sulaymnia, in the south of the town. The Turkish name (”Dark Mountains”) is a memory of the Ottoman times.

This is the area where PUK (Patriotic Union of Kurdistan) started at the end of 1970s armed struggle against Saddam Hussein after Mullah Mustafa Barzani had given up his struggle 1975 because of Algiers Accord.

Nowadays Qaradagh is a popular picknick resort.

This is Kurdistan: Picnic in Qaradagh

Spring is the season for picnics in Kurdistan. Especially in South Kurdistan people really love them. On Fridays cities and towns are empty when people go to the mountains.

I was on picnic in Qaradagh (south from Sulaymania) at the beginning of April. We grilled fish.

This is Kurdistan: Khanaqeen in pictures - 1

Here are some pictures from Khanaqeen, which I could not add to my previous posting because of some technical problems. I took these pictures in Khanaqeen during a quik visit in autumn 2009. I will put later to Samaran some of my pictures from Khanaqeen taken one year earlier.

This is Kurdistan: Khanaqeen - 1

I have noticed that Kurds from different parts of Kurdistan do not know much about other parts of Kurdistan. It is no wonder, Kurdistan is huge country, as large as France, and it is lacking national communication and education system to distribute information about the home country.

As I have been privileged to visit many parts in South Kurdistan I will share my experience by putting some pictures and information about various places. For further information, please look for other sources in internet. Wikipedia is good source to start.

Khanaqeen is one of the disputed areas in Iraqi Kurdistan. It is inhabited mainly by Kurds, but it is still ruled by Baghdad government, also by the Arabs.

In disputed areas there should be referendum: the inhabitants should vote whether they want to be part of Kurdistan autonomous area or the part of Iraqi federation which is ruled by the central government in Baghdad. This referendum is accepted by United Nations and it is Article 140 in the Iraqi constitution.

The referendum has been postponed several times due to the poor security situation. Terrorists continue the forced Arabization of Kurds from where Ba’ath party finished their activities.

Kurdistan is famous for its mountains but in the most southern parts of Kurdistan there are deserts and palms trees!

Khanaqeen is located by Sirwe river 20 kilometres south from the area controlled by Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG). It is a boarder town to Iran. In addition of its date palms it is famous for various intelligence agencies acting there.

Khanaqeen is not the most southern town in Kurdistan. More south are for example Jalawla, Mandli and Badra (which is more southern than Baghdad).

I have visited Khanaqeen twice. I will put later pictures from Khanaqeen to Sahmaran. Unofortenately I can not do it today, there are some technical problems (which are common in the Iraqi internet).