Reconstruction of Kurdistan
Reconstruction of Kurdistan
by Robert Huber

Named "the other Iraq" by the Kurdish development agency, the Kurdistan area of Northern Iraq is a prospering place in Iraq. Enjoying relative security and (in face of external threats) internal unity, the cities of Dohuk and Erbil are among the very few places that attract foreign investors in Iraq at the present time. A newly built airport connects Erbil with major German and Middle Eastern cities, former Baath Party...
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  • Kurdish construction worker at the building site of "Dream City", a future luxury gated community in Erbil.
  • Silopi / Habur frontier. Turkish truck drivers are waiting to get into Northern Iraq.
  • The 7000 year old city of Erbil currently sees a boom in building and constuction. Here, a housing development of a Turkish entrepreneur is shown. As Northern Iraq (the Kurdistan region) is quite safe, Erbil has become a center for development for foreign investors.
  • Kurdish security guard next to an election campaign poster of the Kurdistan Coalition (the joint list of the Kurdish Democratic Party and the Kurdish Union Party) for the Iraqi parliament elections on 12.12.2005, at the gates of "Dream City" a future luxury gated community in Erbil.
  • Advertising sign of "Dream City", a future luxury gated community in Erbil.
  • Construction workers at the building site of "Dream City", a future luxury gated community in Erbil. ..Most construction workers are foreign, (Turkish, Indian, Lebanese) as there are few Kurds with the necessary skills at the present time.
  • Construction at the building site of "Dream City", a future luxury gated community in Erbil.
  • Kurdish students during a break at the University of Dohuk. The recently opened university is housed in the buildings formely occupied by Saddam Hussein's Baath Party.
  • At the gates of the citadel of Erbil. The flag of Kurdistan is seen all over Northern Iraq (Kurdistan Region) - while the Iraqi flag is hardly ever present. ..
  • The 7000 year old city of Erbil currently sees a boom in building and constuction. As Northern Iraq (the Kurdistan region) is quite safe, Erbil has become a center for development for foreign investors.
  • Recently built student dormitories in Erbil. As Northern Iraq (the Kurdistan region) is quite safe Erbil has become a center for development for foreign investors. The number of students is constantly on the rise, as the young generation of Kurds enjoy access to higher education which was denied to their parents.
  • Gas station in the Iraqi Kurdistan. Despite being one of the oil-richest countries on the planet, there is an acute gas shortage and very few gas stations. Typically, gas is sold by the roadside in canisters.
  • Many cars in the region have a second tank installed in their car; with it, they are able to buy cheap gas in Iraq and sell it across the border. here, a tabk is emptied in the turkish side.
  • Inside the new airport of Erbil. A futuristic sign advertises Kurdistan Airlines, featuring a prospering (though currently non-existing) town with high rise buildings. Recently, flights into Kurdistan are available from various towns in Germany and the Middle East. A direct flight to Turkey is planned, but has still to overcome some political obstacles.
  • The lobby of the Erbil International Hotel (the former Sheraton) is the meeting place for investors in the Kurdistan region.
  • Early morning among the artificial palm trees which line the streets in Dohuk.
  • On a hill near Dohuk people observe the burning of the KIU headquarters in the distance. In the run up to the Iraqi parliamental elections of December 2005, the Kurdistan Islamic Union (KIU) suddenly withdrew from the Kurdish Coalition List (together with the PDK (Kurdish Democratic Party) and the PUK (Kurdish Union Party), to form an alliance with an Arab islamic party. In Dohuk, a stronghold of the PDK, angry protestors shot at the KIU Headquarters, killed 4 party members, burned and looted the building.
  • A map at the border crossing, warning Turkish truck drivers crossing into Iraq of specially dangerous areas. Every month several Turkish truck drivers disappear in Iraq. A red dot on the map represents a truck driver killed, a blue one abducted, a yellow one wounded. The concentration of dots around the cities of Kirkuk and Mosul is particularly high.
  • Looting of the KIU headquarters in Dohuk. In the run up to the Iraqi parliament elections of December 2005, the Kurdistan Islamic Union (KIU) suddenly withdrew from the Kurdish Coalition List (consisting mainly of the PDK (Kurdish Democratic Party) and the PUK (Kurdish Union Party), to form an alliance with an Arab islamic party. In Dohuk, a stronghold of the PDK, angry protestors shot at the KIU headquarters, killed 4 party members, burned and looted the building while the security forces (under PDK control) stood by and took their cut from the looters. ..Later, the shootout and looting was condemned as "absolutely unacceptable" by PDK party officials.
  • Election poster of the joint kurdish party for the Iraqi parliamentary election
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