Texto y fotografías: Eugenio Grosso
Durante mucho tiempo los kurdos fueron olvidados por la historia hasta que recientemente se hcieron más conocidos por su lucha en la guerra contra ISIS en Siria e Irak.
Los kurdos son una gran minoría que nunca ha tenido su propio Estado. Se encuentran desparramados en cuatro países: Turquía, Irán, Irak y Siria y ha habido algunos intentos de establecer un Estado kurdo. La República de Mahabad fue uno de esos intentos, lamentablemente sólo funcionó desde enero a diciembre de 1946 en lo que es Irán estos días.
En 2003, durante la Guerra del Golfo, la parte norte del país, la parte que no estaba habitada por kurdos fue declarada zona de exclusión aérea. Desde entonces los kurdos establecieron una región autónoma con su propio parlamento, armada y bandera. Sin embargo la Kurdistán Iraquí sigue siendo dependiente del gobierno central iraquí. Desde que terminó el conflicto en contra del llamado Estado Islámico, el clamor por la independencia ha crecido más y más y en septiembre 2017 la sociedad kurda votó un referéndum donde la mayoría de la gente demostró que vana comenzar un proceso para convertirse en un estado independiente.
Viajé y trabajé muchísimo viviendo en el país durante 6 meses. Este proyecto es una recolección de diferentes aspectos que componen la identidad kurda en la región que abarca desde lo político a lo económico y la lucha militar, la religión su herencia y la occidentalización. También cuenta con una parte escrita que da cuenta de mi experiencia profesional durante esos días.
A pesar de esto, la sociedad kurda no es homogénea y algunos conflictos, como la guerra civil en los años ´90entre los dos partidos políticos más importantes han hecho difícil la meta hacia el camino a la independencia y la estabilidad regional.
Más info en: www.eugeniogrosso.com en donde se puede comprar el libro de este trabajo.
For a long time the Kurds have been forgotten by history then, recently, they have come into the spotlight for their struggle in the fight against ISIS in Syria and Iraq.
Kurdish people are a big minority that has never had its own state.
Spread across four countries: Turkey, Iran, Iraq and Syria there have been only a few attempts to establish a Kurdish state. The Republic of Mahabad was one of those,unfortunately it only lasted from January to December 1946 in modern-days Iran.
In 2003, during the second Gulf war, the Northern part of the country, the one inhabited by the Kurds, was declared no fly zone. Since then the Kurds established an autonomous region with its own parliament, army and flag.
However, Iraqi Kurdistan still remains dependent from the central Iraqi government. Since the conflict against the so called Islamic State had almost finished the claim for independence grown stronger and stronger and, in September 2017,Kurdish society voted on a referendum where the majority of people showed their will to start a process to become and independent state.
Despite that, Kurdish society is not homogeneous and many conflict, as a civil war between the two main political parties in the 90’s, have made the path to independence and general regional stability a difficult goal to achieve.
I extensively travelled and worked across the country, living there for about 6 months. This project is a collection of different aspects that compose Kurdish identity in the region from politics to economics and then military struggle, religion, westernization and traditional heritage. It also has a written part that is an account of my professional experience during those days.
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- Duhok – Iraqi Kurdistan 24/09/2016 A man passes by a wall painted Kurdish flag in Dohuk, Northern Iraqi Kurdistan.
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- Dukan Lake 09/09/2016 A view of Dukan lake, largest lake in Iraqi Kurdistan. The lake is located in the area near the city or Ranya. Dukan lake is the largest Iraqi Kurdistan fresh water reservoir thank to the Dukan Dam built in the late 1950s.
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- Qandil mountain 10/09/2016 – Heval Cekdar A PKK commander look for other PKK unit spread on the Qandil mountains where the PKK has its sanctuary on the border between Turkey, Iran and Iraq.
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- Qandil mountain 10/09/2016 – The members of a PKK unit have some rest after atraining session on the Qandil mountains where the PKK has its sanctuary on the border between Turkey, Iran and Iraq.
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- Suaymaniyah – Kirkuk road 14/09/2016 Petrol stations in Iraq are a family business. Most of those, in fact, do not belong to any company, as there is such a big amount of oil in the country that anybody can decide to open its own station. Therefore, the features of each station are very different one from another. There are luxurious golden ones and rusty stalls standing lonely in the middle of nowhere. This series of images was shot on the road that stretches between Sulaymaniyah and Kirkuk in Iraqi Kurdistan. It is only 112 km long and it is dotted with petrol stations at almost every kilometer. The city of Kirkuk, currently in Kurdish control, was at the centre of a dispute between the central government and the KRG (Kurdish Regional Government). Who controls the city in fact also controls the 10% of the whole Iraqi oil reservoir.
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- Lalish 25/09/2016 – Amphoras full of oil are seen in a cave inside Lalish main temple while some women pose for a group picture. Lalish temples are the most sacred places for the minority religious group of Yazidi. Yazidism is a Mesopotamian, monotheistic, pre-Islamic, initiatory religion linked with other Persian religions like Zoroastrianism and the cult of Mythras. Yazidi have been wrongly considered devil worshippers for a long time by both Christians and Muslims. Therefore, in their history, have faced several persecutions and more than 70 genocide attempts. The most recent is the one perpetrated by the ‘so called’ Islamic State in Sinjar area where the majority of Yazidi used to live. Yazidism is only partially known and even among its worshippers there are different degrees of knowledge accordingly with the caste they belong to. What it is known is that Yazidi believe in one God and seven angels, the most important is Melek Taus, the Peacock Angel. Their doctrine obliges them to help whoever is in need in order to be helped by God in the afterlife and they pray several times a day towards the sun. Yazidis believe that Lalish is the site where the garden of heaven was and, therefore, they are direct descendants of Adam. They also share with Christian, Muslims and Jewish many believes and rituals as, for instance, the memory of a Great Flood and ritual ablutions.
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- Bashiq Area – 201/10/2016 A Kurdish tank move back to its position after a day of fighting to liberate the town of Bashiq
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- Qaraqosh 04/11/2016 – Two sisters walk inside the church of Saint Banham and Sarah in Qaraqosh. The Domenican Sisters of Saint Cathrine come back to their convent and churches for the first time in two years after that had to leave it in the middle of the night as were informed that ISIS militants were approaching town.
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- Hassan Sham IDP Camp 06/11/2016 – IDP ladies queue to register at HAssan Sham camp.
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- Hassan Sham IDP Camp 18/04/2017 – Mr Ayed from Sinjar poses for a portrait inside his tent. He was displaced along with his family since September 2014.
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- Erbil 28/03/2017 – Three young women enjoy themselves at a book café open by a female entrepreneur in Erbil new compound Dream City.
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- Duhok 24/09/2016 – A group of Kurdish men watch a football match in a teahouse in Dohuk.
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- Erbil 26/02/2017 – A replica of Washington DC White House in Erbil compound Dream City.
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- Qandil 21/03/2017 – A girl wearing a traditional Kurdish dress holds her brother and poses for a portrait during Newroz celebration.
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- Qandil 11/09/2016 – Saria, a female PKK fighter rides in the back of a truck down from Qandil mountains.
