A SHOT AT STATEHOOD
Welcome to the lighter side of Iraq. Spend a bit of time in Erbil, with its sleek highways, its gleaming highrises and chic cafés that know their espressos from their macchiatos, and it quickly feels strange to think you’re in Iraq at all, which is something that locals take pride in hearing. Because, for them, this is not Iraq. This is Kurdistan.
Who can blame Kurdistan for wanting to break away? The entire Kurdish people were promised their own country by those slippery Brits, French and Americans after World War One. An independent nation for all Kurds, who instead now find themselves scattered across Iraq, Iran, Syria and Turkey. But Iraq’s Kurds at least have their semi-autonomous region, probably this friendless people’s most successful shot at statehood so far.
They suffered to
