The Other Iraq
"Have you seen the other Iraq?", the posters ask. "It's spectacular. It's peaceful. It's joyful", they continue, concluding "Fewer than 200 US troops are stationed here". The posters - aimed at encouraging investment - advertise Iraqi Kurdistan, the semi-autonomous district in Northern Iraq which is best recovering from the horrific days of Saddam Hussein's rule and the tumultuous US-led invasion of 2003.
It may come as some surprise to observers in the West that much of Northern Iraq is now relatively peaceful. And even the clued-up are likely to be surprised that the ministry of tourism in Kurdistan employs 417 people. The area is modernising fast, hoping to draw back the Kurds who fled under Saddam, as well as Arabs from the Gulf attracted by the lush mountains and a relaxed attitude towards alcohol.
Naz City, a burgeoning development outside the capital of Erbil, is a new complex of 14 high-rise apartment towers which are designed with Western-style comfort in mind. Seven ministers in the Kurdish regional government, more than 100 assembly members and at least 50 academics have recently secured flats there. This high-profile, expensive project is one of several springing up in the region: this month the Kurdish prime minister signed a deal with the United Arab Emirates said to be worth $4.5 billion to build a hotel, shops and resort complex in Erbil. One projected shopping mall is rumoured to be planning for 6,000 shops.
Clearly Kurdistan is a very different part of the world to Baghdad. So much so, in fact, that many in Iraq (and abroad - particularly Turkey) are fearful that the region is preparing for independence. It's something the Prime Minister, Nechirvan Barzani, denies, saying:
"We just want to rebuild our region as part of Iraq, that's it. We are not a threat to anybody. We want to be a factor of stability"
A rational look suggests that Iraqi Kurdistan has higher ambitions. The government has recently awarded oil contracts to foreign investers such as America's Hunt oil, Austria's OMV, and Russia's TNK-BP, and have bypassed the national government in the process. Major plans are afoot to start exploiting the region's gas reserves, with a $20 billion project currently being negotiated.
In addition, "the KRG has all the trappings of an independent state -- its own flag, its own army, its own border patrol, its own national anthem, its own education system, even its own stamp inked into the passports of visitors".
Despite the new prosperity, there are real grounds for caution - Iraq is not impressed at the manouverings of the region, and there are concerns that the two main parties, the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and the Patriotic Union for Kurdistan (PUK) have stakes in almost every project. Many fear that corruption is rife.
More worryingly, the claims of security may be premature; in May two bombs shattered the peace - one outside the regional government's Interior Ministry which killed 15 people and wounded more than 100, and one in the office of Barzani's KDP, which left 30 dead and injured 50.
Nevertheless, the region is functioning and expanding, and certainly by far the safest territory in Iraq. Although it's possible that its status may cause problems for the country in the future, it stands as a model of what is still possible; a peaceful Iraq in the heart of the Middle East.
Written for Hii Dunia by Jonathan Shipley, of Assistant Blog
Naz City, a burgeoning development outside the capital of Erbil, is a new complex of 14 high-rise apartment towers which are designed with Western-style comfort in mind. Seven ministers in the Kurdish regional government, more than 100 assembly members and at least 50 academics have recently secured flats there. This high-profile, expensive project is one of several springing up in the region: this month the Kurdish prime minister signed a deal with the United Arab Emirates said to be worth $4.5 billion to build a hotel, shops and resort complex in Erbil. One projected shopping mall is rumoured to be planning for 6,000 shops.
Clearly Kurdistan is a very different part of the world to Baghdad. So much so, in fact, that many in Iraq (and abroad - particularly Turkey) are fearful that the region is preparing for independence. It's something the Prime Minister, Nechirvan Barzani, denies, saying:
"We just want to rebuild our region as part of Iraq, that's it. We are not a threat to anybody. We want to be a factor of stability"
A rational look suggests that Iraqi Kurdistan has higher ambitions. The government has recently awarded oil contracts to foreign investers such as America's Hunt oil, Austria's OMV, and Russia's TNK-BP, and have bypassed the national government in the process. Major plans are afoot to start exploiting the region's gas reserves, with a $20 billion project currently being negotiated.
In addition, "the KRG has all the trappings of an independent state -- its own flag, its own army, its own border patrol, its own national anthem, its own education system, even its own stamp inked into the passports of visitors".
Despite the new prosperity, there are real grounds for caution - Iraq is not impressed at the manouverings of the region, and there are concerns that the two main parties, the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and the Patriotic Union for Kurdistan (PUK) have stakes in almost every project. Many fear that corruption is rife.
More worryingly, the claims of security may be premature; in May two bombs shattered the peace - one outside the regional government's Interior Ministry which killed 15 people and wounded more than 100, and one in the office of Barzani's KDP, which left 30 dead and injured 50.
Nevertheless, the region is functioning and expanding, and certainly by far the safest territory in Iraq. Although it's possible that its status may cause problems for the country in the future, it stands as a model of what is still possible; a peaceful Iraq in the heart of the Middle East.
Written for Hii Dunia by Jonathan Shipley, of Assistant Blog
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