Sulaymaniyah as a city, and Sulaymaniyah as a source of pride.

Sarkhel Mahammed

For two hundred and forty-one years, Sulaymaniyah has stood as a centre of Kurdish literature, culture and intellectual life. It has been a place where movements for freedom, dignity and justice were born. Sulaymaniyah has embodied every defining element of a true city.

Yet for the past three decades, the progress, growth and future of this city have been delayed and restricted. Instead of supporting Sulaymaniyah and enabling its development, the so-called Kurdish authority and its ruling parties put their interests above the interests of the city and its people. They took its land, its resources and its opportunities.

Today, Sulaymaniyah still holds enormous economic power and potential. With proper planning, it could become a major centre of industry, agriculture and tourism. It could become one of the most important trade corridors in Iraq, and even the food basket of the country.

But unfortunately, like many young people from Sulaymaniyah, I am now living far from my homeland. I was separated from both the joys and the sorrows of my own city because of the dominance of corrupt party networks, family rule and the grip of the PUK over every aspect of life. Only recently was I able to leave Sulaymaniyah and rebuild my life.

There are thousands like me. Today, we live peacefully in democratic and free societies abroad, yet our hearts remain with our city. We cannot return because the KDP and PUK have turned our homeland into a private territory for their relatives, associates and business networks.

This is why I say: may this corrupt family rule collapse. May every smuggler, every thief, every person who traded the future of this city and its people face displacement, confusion and loss, just as they forced us into displacement and uncertainty.