Sulaimaniyya
| Sulaimaniyya | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| location | |||
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| Coordinates | 35 ° 33 ' N , 45 ° 26' E | ||
| Country |
 Iraq
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| Autonomous Region | Kurdistan | ||
| Governorate | as-Sulaimaniyya | ||
| Basic data | |||
| height | 882 m | ||
| Residents | 1,607,000 (2014) | ||
| prefix | 53 (city), 964 (country) | ||
| Post Code | 46001 - 46023 & 132132 | ||
| mayor | Haval Abubakr | ||
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Sulaimaniyya or Slemani ( Kurdish سلێمانی Silêmanî , Arabic السليمانية, DMG as-Sulaimānīya ) is a university city in Iraq and with 1,607,000 inhabitants (2014) one of the largest cities in the Autonomous Region of Kurdistan . It is located south-east of the capital of the Kurdistan Region Erbil and east of the oil-rich city of Kirkuk . The city is regarded as the cultural and educational center of Kurdistan and is currently developing into a center for tourism in the region.
population
The population has exploded in recent years. Especially in the years after the Iraq war there was a massive rural exodus, which led to this massive increase in population. Due to the city's young history, the population consists almost entirely of Kurds. In recent years, however, the number of foreign workers has increased, most of them from East Asia. Mainly Muslims live in Sulaimaniyya, there are also a few Christians. Its history goes back to the founding of the city at the end of the 18th century. In 1862 the city's first Christian church was founded.
City structure
As a central district, the city itself belongs to the 16 districts of the Sulaimaniya governorate and is itself divided into four sub-districts. These in turn contain three to four districts.
The four sub-districts are:
- Bazyan
- Sharbazher
- Tanjaro
- Qaradagh
Geography and climate
Sulaimaniyya is located in the middle of the Zāgros Mountains south of the Pira Magrun mountain . In summer, temperatures in Sulaymaniyya reach up to 45 degrees Celsius. There is often snow in winter and temperatures occasionally drop below zero. In addition, strong winds often blow during this time, which Sulaymaniyya has also called the "City of Winds" among the Kurds. Due to the high mountains all around, there is often precipitation.
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Average monthly temperatures and rainfall for Sulaimaniyya
Source: WorldWeatherOnline.com
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history
Until the 20th century
Sulaimaniyya was founded in 1784 by the Kurdish prince Ibrahim Pascha Baban . He named the city after the then Beylerbey of Baghdad Büyük Süleyman Pascha . Furthermore, one of the ancestors of the city's founder was called Silêman Pascha. But it is also said that when the people were building this city they found a ring that supposedly belonged to the prophet Solomon (Silêman). Another legend reports that a beautiful girl from the village of Melkendî , near the present-day town, entertained the pasha during the breaks from his hunt and made him move his residence. As the seat of the Baban dynasty and the capital of the Sanjak, the city grew rapidly and gained great influence. In contrast to other cities in the region, it had no city wall or gates. There were two military barracks in the city. The houses of the upper classes were built in styles similar to other cities of the Ottoman Empire. The rest of the population built their houses as in the village: one-story, clay-plastered buildings with a roof made of straw, which was mixed with earth and clay and rolled down. The roof was supported with wooden beams.
The city originally consisted of seven districts: Melkendî , whose name is said to go back to malik hindi , Indian king, or malik gundi , owner of the village; Çwar Bax , four gardens, here were gardens with fruit trees; Dergezeîn , named after a village in the Iranian region of Hamadan , from which the new residents came; Seršeqam , named after the connection road to Baghdad ; Goîje , named after a mountain range; Kanîskan , spring of the deer, named after a source of drinking water, and Colekan , named after its former Jewish residents, who left the city after the establishment of the state of Israel, partly voluntarily and partly forced by the Iraqi authorities. Today the number of districts is far more. At the beginning of the 1920s, around 10,000 people are said to have lived in Sulaimaniyya, including 9,000 Kurds, 750 Jews and 250 Chaldeans . In 1965 the population was 65,000. The city began to expand in the following years, first in a south-easterly direction, then in a west and south direction. The upper classes left the center and built new residential areas in the east and northwest. Claudius James Rich reported in the 19th century about large markets and clean public baths ( hammams ), which were an integral part of Sulaimaniyyas when the city was founded.
When the Briton Serovbe Kartnesi of Armenian descent visited the city in 1812 , he reported of 15 Nestorian , 12 Armenian, 4 Jacobite and around 4,000 Muslim families. At the beginning of the city's history, the Sufi order of the Naqshbandi competed for Sheikh Mevlana Xalid and the Qādirīya family Berzanci for influence over the city's Muslims. Although Ibrahim Pascha and his son Mahmud supported the Naqschbandi very much, their leader disappeared in 1811 without a trace. After that, the Qādirīya prevailed as the dominant order.
Around 1820 the ruler of the city, Mahmud Pascha, declared his loyalty to the Persian Crown Prince Abbas Mirza and thus ended his dependence on the Ottoman Empire . Thereafter Sulaimaniyya remained in the sphere of influence of Persia until the Ottomans recaptured the principality of Baban in 1847 and deposed the ruling dynasty. From then on the area was ruled by Ottoman governors.
Sulaimaniyya became both the economic and cultural center of this region. Since it was founded, the city had a central bazaar , where products from local arable and horticultural crops were traded and long-distance trade was carried out. Clothes, caps, shoes and soap were handcrafted; there was dyeing, tannery, joinery and metalworking. Teahouses were used for communication between the male population. First religious schools emerged, in which the villagers in the area trained their sons to be mullahs , and at the end of the 19th century there was also a military school. The city's notables also had their sons educated in Baghdad and Istanbul. The Sorani dialect of Kurdish was developed into a literary language here and spread with the influence of the city, so that the Gorani was displaced here. After the fall of the Baban dynasty in 1847 and the First World War , the city was added to Iraq.
From the 20th century
From 1922 to 1924 the city was the capital of the unrecognized Kingdom of Kurdistan , which had been proclaimed by Sheikh Mahmud Barzanji . This had previously been appointed governor by the British. He led several riots against them, all of which were put down. Nevertheless, the Kurdish publications and press flourished in these years and Sulaimaniyya became a spiritual center of the emerging Kurdish national movement. The first Kurdish-speaking schools also emerged in Sulaimaniyya, and in 1920 the first textbook in Kurdish was printed for them: Kitebi awalamin qirā'ati kurdi . In the mid-1920s, descendants of the Baban and Berzanci set up the first girls' schools, which were located in private houses but were only attended by upper-class girls. Since the 1920s, the population of cities in Iraq has risen steadily as people fled poverty and exploitation from rural areas to cities that offered better infrastructure and more life opportunities.
On March 7, 1991, Sulaimaniyya was the first major Kurdish city to be liberated from the Ba'ath rule of Saddam Hussein in the course of the Raperîn . Kurdish Peshmerga let the population know of their plans days beforehand via radio. When the Kurdish troops marched in, they received massive support from the population, who had already prepared for a fight. All government buildings in the city were occupied simultaneously, the red security building should be emphasized here. The Iraqi secret service had had Kurdish opposition members tortured and murdered there for decades. The liberation of Sulaimaniyyas and later Erbil and other large Kurdish cities in northern Iraq can be seen as the beginning of the de facto self-government of the Kurds in northern Iraq.
In recent years, the city has become one of the fastest growing cities in Iraq. Since 2003, 30 new city districts have emerged. The city's footprint grew by 61% between 2002 and 2006 alone, and this growth continues. Every year around 20,000 new houses are built and around 100,000 people move in.
Due to its remote location, the city was largely spared from the operation in the course of the war against the Islamic State . Only in the course of the Battle of Mosul did planned diversionary attacks take place. As in Kirkuk , IS cells are said to have planned to attack government buildings in Sulaimaniyya in early November 2016. However, this was prevented by the security forces in good time.
education
On June 9, 2004, the converted library (now: Central Library) was inaugurated by the then Prime Minister Barham Salih .
The city has four universities. The University of Sulaimaniya was founded in 1968 and has been an Erasmus partner since 2014 . A new university complex is being built about 7 kilometers west of the old complex, and the university is being moved to the outskirts. According to its own statement, the goal of the university is to serve humanity, to spread knowledge and to become one of the best universities in the Middle East. There are currently 25,500 students enrolled. In September 2007 a new university was opened by the American ambassador Ryan Crocker. This new university is called American University of Iraq (AUIS) and was funded with US $ 10.5 million from Congress and US $ 40 million from donations. The total cost will be $ 90 million. Following the example of the American University of Beirut (AUB) and the American University of Cairo (AUC), this university is intended to advance Iraq and especially the north of the country. The cost of study will be $ 10,000. 50 students are accepted in the first semester. When the university is completed, 1000 students will be trained here. The language of instruction is English. Two more universities were opened in 2008 and 2010.
Culture
As the official cultural capital of Kurdistan, Sulaimaniyya is a center of intellectuals and art. Among the Kurds, the city is considered less religious than other Kurdish cities, such as Halabja . The city offers a diverse cultural program. This includes the large museum landscape with almost two dozen larger and smaller museums and exhibition halls. Furthermore, many libraries, including the national library, the central library, as well as the university libraries, are open to the public without restrictions. The state theater is considered to be one of the best in the Kurdistan Autonomous Region and is considered the flagship of the city. The classical symphony orchestra , as part of the state theater, is known throughout Iraq and also performs in the neighboring states in the Middle East.
politics
Sulaimaniyya is one of the centers of the Kurdish national movement and therefore has an above-average politicized population. The city is the headquarters of two large parties, the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan and Gorran , as well as several smaller parties. It was also a focus of unrest in 2011 against the government and ruling parties in the region. As a result of this very political and intellectual population, there were repeated uprisings during the city's history by the Kurdish residents of the city against the Ottomans , British and Arabs, who they perceived as occupiers . This in turn resulted in strong reprisals by the respective rulers, such as the dissolution and relocation of the university in 1981 by Saddam Hussein .
Uprisings from Sulaimaniyya include:
- War of the Kurdish Baban rulers against the Ottomans. (1847)
- Independence of the Kingdom of Kurdistan (1922)
- War of the Kurds against Saddam Hussein . (1991)
- Sulaimaniyya uprising against the DPK - PUK government. (2011)
Economy & Infrastructure
Means of transport
air traffic
The Sulaimaniyah International Airport is located west of the city and similar highway by a road to the center is connected. It opened on July 21, 2005. Mainly other cities in the Middle East such as Tehran, Dubai, Amman, Beirut and Istanbul are served from here.
Local public transport
Local transport takes place mainly with buses and taxis. Because the cost is very low, taking a taxi in the city is much more popular than taking a bus. This is mainly due to the irregular departure and arrival times of the buses. With the help of a Dutch company, the city's bus services are to get a new plan and become more reliable in early 2015.
Medical institutions
There are more than 20 private and state hospitals , clinics and university clinics in the city .
Major projects
- Qaiwan towers
The Qaiwan Towers project includes the twin towers with a megamall in between, which connects the two towers. One of the towers will serve the city's economy and provide luxury office space, while the other tower will house a five-star hotel with 220 rooms. The project cost is $ 100 million.
- Sulaimaniyah Heights
The Sulaimaniyah Heights are to be built at the foot of the Zagros Mountains in the north of the city. The $ 500 million project will include 2,500 residential and office buildings and will make it a prestigious area of the city. The project should be completed in 2018.
- Bakrajo Gate
The Bakrajo Gate project includes a skyscraper and five other high-rise buildings that are primarily intended to be used commercially. A swimming pool, restaurants and sporting activities should make Bakrajo Gate a popular place to go out.
- Kurd Towers
The twin towers Kurd Towers will be 175 m high and at the time of their completion they will be the tallest buildings in Kurdistan. They should contain residential units as well as allow commercial use of the rooms.
- Silemani 3000
The Silemani 3000 project extends over an area of 4200 m² and is intended to offer a megamall, commercial offices, a sports hall and other opportunities for sporting activities. Completion should take place in late 2014 - early 2015.
Attractions
- Amna Suraka: Former secret service headquarters of the Ba'ath regime. Formerly used as a torture prison, it now serves as a museum.
- Grand Millennium: Hotel and tallest building in the city.
- Parkî Azadî: The "Park of Freedom" is a large recreational facility with restaurants, cafes and playgrounds for children. The large green area is often visited for picnics.
- National Museum with its almost 15,000 year old finds. The time span of the exhibits ranges from the Neanderthals to the ancient empires of Mesopotamia and the Kingdom of Iraq.
- Chavy-Land: A large theme park with the largest Ferris wheel in the Middle East.
- National theater: The national theater and the national orchestra are known to both Kurds and neighboring peoples and enjoy high recognition.
- Azmar: Sulaimaniyya is right at the foot of Azmar Mountain. The residents consider the view of the city unique.
Security situation since the Gulf War 2003
As one of the very few larger cities in Iraq, Sulaimaniyya has seen practically no bomb attacks since the end of the war in 2003.
sons and daughters of the town
- Members of the Baban family
- Mustafa Yamolki (1866–1936), military officer, journalist and Minister of Education of the Kingdom of Kurdistan
- Taha Muhi ad-Din Maʿruf (≈1929–2009), Iraqi politician and diplomat
- Jamal al-Hajj Sharif (* 1930), head of government of the Kurdish Autonomous Region 1980–1983
- Cemal Nebez (1933–2018), Kurdish linguist, writer and translator
- Mahmud Osman (* 1938), Kurdish politician, member of the Iraqi parliament
- Sherko Bekas (1940–2013), poet and Tucholsky Prize winner from 1987 in Stockholm
- Jafar Abd al-Karim Barzandschi (* 1940), last Baathist head of government of the Kurdish Autonomous Region (1989–91)
- Navjirvan Mustafa (1944–2017), politician
- Rodsch Nuri Schawais (* 1946/47), member of the Iraqi parliament
- Feryad Fazil Omar (* 1950), Kurdish writer and linguist
- Baldin Ahmad (* 1954), Kurdish painter
- Rizgar Muhammad Amin (* 1957), judge of the special tribunal on Saddam Hussein
- Barham Salih (* 1960), Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister and Acting National Security Minister
- Bakhtyar Ali (* 1966), writer, poet, romanceur
- Mariwan Kanie (* 1966), Kurdish intellectual, writer and political scientist
- Schwan Kamal (* 1967), Kurdish-German sculptor
- Kurdo (* 1988), German rapper of Iraqi-Kurdish descent
- Rauand Taleb (* 1992), German actor
Town twinning
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Sulaimaniya population reaches 1.6+ million. Iraq Tradelink News Agency, September 17, 2014
- ↑ http://investingroup.org/files/the%20guide%20-%20kurdistan.pdf
- ↑ According to J. Edmons, the city was founded in 1783 and according to Basil Nikitin in 1786.
- ↑ a b c d e Andrea Fischer-Tahir: "We gave many martyrs". Resistance and collective identity formation in Iraqi Kurdistan , ISBN 978-3-89771-015-3 , Münster 2003, p. 61 ff.
- ↑ Archived copy ( Memento of the original from September 27, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Martin van Bruinessen : Agha, Sheikh and State - Politics and Society of Kurdistan , 2nd edition, Berlin 2003, ISBN 3-88402-259-8 , pp. 304, 429
- ↑ Joyce Blau, KURDISH LANGUAGE ii. HISTORY OF KURDISH STUDIES . Encyclopedia Iranica Online, 2009
- ↑ http://www.hrw.org/legacy/reports/1992/Iraq926.htm
- ↑ Asayish foils ISIS attempt to control governmental organizations in Sulaymaniyah , on: iraqinews.com (November 1, 2016)
- ↑ a b Archived copy ( memento of the original from February 5, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Archived copy ( memento of the original from April 24, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Archived copy ( memento of the original from December 20, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ http://univsul.edu.iq/
- ↑ Iraqis protest in Kurdish region, capital , Reuters, February 19, 2011
- ↑ Ely Banister Soane (2007), To Mesopotamia and Kurdistan in Disguise, p.371, Cosimo, Inc.
- ^ Prince, J .: A Kurdish State in Iraq , In: Current History , January 1993
- ↑ Michael G. Lortz: Willing to Face Death: A History of Kurdish Military Forces. THE PESHMERGA IN MODERN IRAQ (1958-2003). (No longer available online.) In: THE FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY, COLLEGE OF SOCIAL SCIENCES. Florida State University Libraries, 2005, pp. 58-61 , archived from the original on Oct. 29, 2013 ; Retrieved on December 21, 2015 (English, A thesis submitted to the Department of International Affairs in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts). Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Kurdistan Peshmarge Minister gives green light to shoot as PUK extreme elements take charge. By Shwan Zulal . Ekurd.net. Retrieved August 20, 2012.
- ↑ http://www.sul-airport.com/
- ↑ http://rudaw.net/english/kurdistan/24092014
- ↑ http://www.the-report.net/iraq/kurdistan-region-sep2013/681-profile-qaiwan-group-leading-the-field
- ↑ http://www.qaiwangroup.com/sulaymaniyah-heights/
- ↑ http://www.farukholding.com/project/detail.xhtml?id=32
- ↑ http://www.farukholding.com/project/detail.xhtml?id=33
- ↑ http://www.bareazgroup.com/Weberhinan_E.aspx?Jimare=8&proje=2
