Middle East - Anthony Ham [189]
Amadiya is about 60km northwest of Dohuk. There are no hotels and few services here, but you’ll find everything you need in nearby Sulav.
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WHO ARE THE YAZIDIS?
The Yazidis are a misunderstood, long-persecuted Kurdish sect who practice Yazidism, a religion that is an amalgam of Islam, Christianity, Judaism and Zoroastrian. There are about 500,000 Yazidis in the world, most in Iraqi Kurdistan. Most speak Kurdish Kurmanji. The Yazidis believe a supreme god created the universe with seven angels, the chief among them Malak Taus, the peacock angel. He fell from grace but was later pardoned, leading many people to unfairly label Yazidis as ‘devil worshippers’. Yazidis regard themselves as descendents of Adam, not Eve. Like Muslims, Yazidis pray five times a day.
Yazidis believe they will be reincarnated until they reach soul purity to enter Heaven. They have two holy books, the Mishefa Res (black book) and the Kitab al-Jilwa (Book of Revelation).
In April 2007, a 17-year-old Yazidi girl named Du’a Khalil Aswad was stoned to death by a mob because she fell in love with a Sunni Muslim boy. A mobile-phone video of the stoning quickly made its way onto the internet. A few weeks later, 23 Yazidis were forced off a bus and executed in an act of revenge, and in August 2007, suicide bombs in the small village of Qahataniya killed more than 500 Yazidis. Du’a’s death brought new attention and widespread condemnation to the practice of so-called ‘honour killings’ in Iraq.
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SULAV
Tiny Sulav is a mountain resort town overlooking Amadiya, 5km northwest. The crisp, cool climate attracts tourists from hotter parts of the country. A 1km-long, cobblestone hiking trail leads to a small waterfall and a stone arch bridge. The path begins near the Sulav Hotel, behind the cheesy man-made waterfall.
Sleeping & Eating
There are several hotels, restaurants, cafés, shops and even liquor stores along the one and only road through Sulav.
Sulav Hotel & Restaurant (r per person ID20,000) A small, family-run hotel with recently renovated rooms with balconies and shared bathroom. One room has a small, babbling brook running through it. The terraced restaurant offers magnificent views of Amadiya and the valley below.
Restaurant Dunya ( 6am-midnight; mains ID3000-10,000) Opened in April 2008, Dunya has good traditional food and panoramic views of Amadiya from its glassed walls.
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BARZAN
The small village of Barzan, about 52km east of Amadiya, is the ancestral home of the Barzani family who dominate Kurdish politics. Chief among them was Mullah Mustafa Barzani, the father of the Kurdish independence movement and a national hero who fought Baghdad’s government for decades. His son, Massoud Barzani, is the current president of the Kurdish Regional Government and leader of the Kurdish Democratic Party (KDP). His grandson, Nechirvan Barzani, Massoud’s nephew, is the KRG Prime Minister.
The town of Barzan is itself rather boring and nondescript, yet many Kurds make pilgrimages here to visit the grave of Mustafa Barzani, who is buried in a simple plot on a hill overlooking the town and surrounded by KRG and KDP flags. Just a few metres away, a massive Barzani Memorial Centre is under construction.
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AKRE
Like a bit of Santorini plopped into the Middle East, the ancient city of Akre (also spelled Aqrah) is built into a steep hillside above a thriving old market. Located about 23km south of Barzan along a scenic mountain road, Akre once had a substantial Jewish population – former embattled Israeli defence minister Yitzhak Mordechai was born here. The mountain overlooking Akre has a flat plateau called Zarvia Dji, meaning Land of the Jews, and once used for Jewish celebrations. Today it is the site of the region’s largest Nowruz festival, celebrating the Kurdish New Year on 21 March, when huge bonfires and fireworks light up the night skies around Akre.
The best way to explore the town is on foot – uphill. Narrow