A Thousand Sighs, a Thousand Revolts: Journeys in Kurdistan Christiane Bird Random House
Though the Kurds played a major military and tactical role in the United States recent war with Iraq, most of us know little about this fiercely independent, long-marginalized people. Now acclaimed journalist Christiane Bird, who riveted readers with her tour of Islamic Iran in Neither East nor travels through this volatile part of the world to tell the Kurds story, using personal observations and in-depth research to illuminate an astonishing history and vibrant culture. For the twenty-five to thirty million Kurds, Kurdistan is both an actual and a mythical place: an isolated, largely mountainous homeland that has historically offered sanctuary from the treacherous outside world and yet does not exist on modern maps. Parceled out among the four nation-states of Iraq, Turkey, Syria, and Iran after World War I, Kurdistan is a divided land with a tragic history, where the indomitable Kurds both celebrate their ancient culture and fight to control their own destiny. Occupying some of the Middle East’s most strategic and richest terrain, the Kurds are the fourth-largest ethnic group in the region and the largest ethnic group in the world without a state to call their own.
Whether dancing at a Kurdish wedding in Iran, bearing witness to the destroyed Kurdish countryside in southeast Turkey, having lunch with a powerful exiled agha in Syria, or visiting the sites of Saddam Husseins horrific chemical attacks in Iraq, the intrepid, insightful Bird sheds light on a violently stunning world seen by few Westerners. Part mesmerizing travelogue, part action-packed history, part reportage, and part cultural study, this critical kook offers timely insight into an unknown but increasingly influential part of the world. Bird paints a moving and unforgettable portrait of a people uneasily poised between a stubborn past and an impatient future.
Ckristiane Bird is the author of Neither East nor West: One Woman’s Journey Through the Islamic Republic of Iran and The Jazz and Blues Lover’s Guide to the U S., and coauthor of Below the Line: Living Poor in America A graduate of Yale University, she lives in New York City.
Contents
Acknowledgments / xi Author’s Note / xv Preface / xvii Map / 2
Through the Back Door / 3 Arrival / 18 The Little Engine That Could / 36 After al-Anfal / 55 Disturbances / 69 Balancing Acts / 87 Questions of Honor / 102 The Cult of the Angels / 120 From Kings to Parliamentarians / 142 Invitations / 160 Along the Hamilton Road, with Side Trips 177 In the Land of the Babans / 198 Judgment Day / 214 Safe Havens / 228 Syrian Interlude / 248 Of Politics and Poetry / 260 Land of Lions / 281 "Happy Is He Who Calls Himself a Turk" / 303 Alone After Dark / 325 Not for Money / 349 Kurds Among Nations / 364
Notes / 377 Bibliography / 385 Index / 389
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This book could not have been written without the help of many Kurds and scholars. Many magnanimously opened their homes and lives to me; others gave generously of their time and expertise.
For the Iraq section, I am especially indebted to Nesreen Mustafa Siddeek Berwari, who filled me in on many aspects of life in Kurdistan, hosted me in Erbil, and provided me with numerous introductions, and to Diane E. King, who gave me much invaluable advice and insight, and read the Iraq chapters in manuscript. A special thanks, too, to my kind hosts in Dohuk, Majed Sayyed Saleh and family, who helped me in innumerable ways, and to Carole A. O’Leary, who first introduced me to Iraqi Kurdish affairs and also read the Iraq chapters in manuscript. Shayee Khanaka was an astute and helpful reader as well.
I am indebted to many other Iraqi Kurdish families who hosted me during my stay. My thanks to the Shamdeen family in Zakho, Muhsen Saleh Abdul Aziz and family in Amadiya, Kamerin Khairy Beg and family in Baadri, Yassim Muhammad Wossou and family in Erbil, the Rozhbayani family in Erbil, the students at the University of Salahuddin in Erbil, Guergis Yalda and family in Diana, and the family of Hamin Kak Amin Bilbas in Raniya. In Syria, the Shweish family and others who prefer to go unnamed warmly welcomed me into their homes and provided me with an excellent introduction to their country.
I also owe a great deal to the many Iraqi Kurds who went far out of their way to serve as my guides and translators, usually on an informal and voluntary basis. In Dohuk, Dr. Shawkat Bamarni, Dilovan Muhammad Amin, Dr. Saadi Namaste Bamemi, Bayan Ahmed, Yousif Chamsayidi, Zerrin Ibrahim, Dr. Khairy, Mr. Fadhil, and Dr. Jasinr Elias Murad were especially helpful, with Dilovan serving as my ad hoc research assistant after I returned home. In Zahko, Nazira Shanideen gave me especially perceptive insight into her world and culture. In Erbil, Fawzi Hariri, Rezan Yousif, Hozak Zahir, Himdad Abdul-Qahhar, Othman Rashad Mufti, and Yonadam Kanna helped me explore the city, while in Barzan, Dr. Abdullah Loqman and Saleh Mahmoud Barzani did the same. In Suleimaniyah, Nizar Ghafur Agha Said and Dildar Majeed Kittani were translators par excellence, while Safwat Rashid Sidqi, Dr. Fouad Baban, Rewaz Eaiq, and Yousif Hassan Hussein showed me parts of Kurdistan that I would not have seen without them. In Halabja and Suleimaniyah, Dr. Adil Karem Fatah took much time out of a busy schedule to help me conduct numerous interviews. Also most helpful were my translators Khalid Muhammad Hassan Sharafani in Sumel, Hickmat Mustafa Mahmoud in Amadiya, Imad Salman in Chamsaida, Janet Iskail in Diana, and Ayub Nuri in Suleimaniyah.
Before leaving for Iraq and Syria, I was in contact with many experts who both encouraged me to make the trip and helped prepare me for my journey: Michael Rubin, Omar Sheikhmous, KDP and PIJK representatives in the United States and Damascus, Mike Amitay, Deirdrc Russo, Joost Hilterman, Dr. Ali Sindi, Kathy Fuad, and David Hirst. After I returned home, the Washington Kurdish Institute, and Stafford Clarry and Ann Mirani in Kurdistan did a superb job of sending me news stories about the Iraq war, its aftermath, and other developments in the region.
For the Iran section, I am especially grateful to Soleyman Soltanian in Tehran for his advice, hospitality, and many introductions, and to his son Babak for first introducing me to his father. My thanks as well to the Bahri, Sedighi, and Najafi families, who hosted me in Mahabad, Sanandaj, and Kermanshah respectively, and to Hiwa Soofyeh, who gave me much poetic insight into Kurdish culture. Hasham Salami introduced me to Iranian Kurdish folklore, his son Siamand Salami filled me in on the music of the Ahl-e Haqq, Fatah Amiri and family welcomed me in Bukan, and Mehrdad E. Izady offered me pretrip advice. Shirin Rewaz was my gracious host in Urumieh, Nasreen Jaferi and Parang Shafai served as my able guides and hosts in Mahabad, and the Greenway conference organizers were my enthusiastic escorts in Sanandaj. For the Turkey section, I am especially indebted to Kani Xulam, who provided me with many contact names and answered many of my questions, and to the Sevinc family in Istanbul, who went far out of their way to help me in my research. In addition, I would like to thank Henri J. Barkey for reading the Turkey chapters in manuscript; A. Celil Kaya, Sedef Esirgenc, and Hivda Ustebay for serving as my translators; Suzan Samanci for her delightful company and hospitality; and Kevin McKiernan, Sennacherib Daniel, Jordan Bell, and Gregory Scarborough for their pretrip advice. 1 am also deeply grateful to Kurdologists Martin van Bruinessen and David McDouall, w hose exhaustive works inform much in the following pages.
I would like to thank my editors: Wendy Hubbert, without whose enthusiasm this book might never have been written; Nancy Miller, for her unfailing insight and friendship; and Dana Isaacson, for his skillful tightening and line editing. A special thanks also to my agent Neeti Madan for her belief in this project, to my friends Barbara Feinberg and Kim Larsen for reading early drafts of several chapters, and to Jerry' Brow'n and my family for their steadfast support throughout the research, writing, and publishing process.
Christiane Bird
A Thousand Sighs, a Thousand Revolts Journeys in Kurdistan
Random House
Random House Publishing Group A Thousand Sighs, a Thousand Revolts Journeys in Kurdistan Christiane Bird
A Ballantine Book Published by the Random House Publishing Group
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Bird, Christiane. A thousand sighs, a thousand revolts: journeys in Kurdistan / Christiane Bird. p. cm.
ISBN 0-345-46892-9 — ISBN 0-345-46939-9 (pbk.) 1 Kurdistan (Iraq)—Description and travel. 2. Kurdistan (Iraq)—Politics and government. 3 Kurds—Iraq—Social life and customs. 4. Bird, Christiane—Travel—Iraq—Kurdistan. I. Title. DS70.65.B57 2004 956.7'2—DC22
The mountains, always the mountains, held the old man’s gaze. There is a fascination about them that it is not necessary to be a Kurd or a Persian to be able to acquire.
To Mesopotamia and Kurdistan in Disguise, Ely Bannister Soane
