Yilmaz Güney

Yilmaz Güney was and still one of the greatest and most important personal in the history of Kurdish nation. He is truly Kurdish Che Guevara.

Yılmaz Güney was a Kurdish film director, scenarist, novelist and actor. Almost all of his works are devoted to the plight of the Kurdish people.

Born in April first, 1937 to a Kurdish family in a village near the southern city of Adana, Turkey, his father was a Kurd from Siverek, Turkey and his mother was a Kurd from Varto, Turkey.

Güney studied law and economics at the universities in Ankara and Istanbul, but by the age of 21 he found himself actively involved in film-making.

The most popular name to emerge from the Young Turkish Cinema was that of Yılmaz Güney. Güney was a gruff-looking young actor who earned the moniker "Cirkin Kral" in Turkish, which means "the Ugly King" in English.

After apprenticing as a screenwriter for and assistant to Atıf Yılmaz, Güney soon began appearing in as many as 20 films a year and became Turkey's most popular actor.

In 1960 there were a coup in Turkey, as it's usual in Turkish history, which brought some political reform to Turkey, but not regarding Turkey, they restricted Kurdish people more than before, as the result Güney was imprisoned in 1961 for 18 months for publishing a "Communist" novel.

The country's political situation and Güney's relationship with the authorities only became more tense in the ensuing years. Not content with his star status atop the Turkish film industry, Güney began directing his own pictures in 1965 and, by 1968, had formed his own production company, Güney Filmcilik.

Over the next few years, the titles of his films mirrored the feelings of the Kurdish people: Umut which means Hope in 1970, Agit in 1972, Aci in 1971 and Umutsuzlar in 1971.

After 1972, however, Güney would spend most of his life in prison. Arrested for harboring anarchist students, Güney was jailed during preproduction on Zavallilar in 1975, and before completing Endise (1974), which was finished in 1974 by Güney's assistant, Şerif Gören. This was a cherished role that Gören would repeat over the next dozen years, directing several scripts that Güney wrote laboriously while behind bars.

Released from prison in 1974 as part of a general amnesty, Güney was re-arrested that same year for murdering a judge. During this stretch of incarceration, his most successful screenplays were Sürü (The Herd) (1978) and Düsman (1979), both directed by Zeki Ökten.

In an interview with journalist Chris Kutschera, Guney said:

"The Herd, in fact, is the history of the Kurdish people, but I could not even use the Kurdish language in this film; if we had used the Kurdish language, all those who took part in this film would have been sent to jail..."

After escaping from prison in 1981 and fleeing to France, Güney won the Palme d'Or at the 1982 Cannes Film Festival for his film Yol, whose director in the field was once again Şerif Gören. It was not until 1983 that Güney resumed directing, telling a brutal tale of imprisoned children in his final film, Duvar, the Wall in 1983, made in France with the cooperation of the French government.

Güney remains a highly controversial figure in Turkish and Kurdish political and art circles. His works are still highly regarded by cinema critics.

Read my previous post about this great man:

Yilmaz Guney talking about being Kurd

More coming about this great man.

I miss my MOM so badly... :((

This week was my last week in Pediatric Surgery department of Rapareen Hospital here in Hawler, it was so busy and tired week, even I couldn't return back to home to see my mom, that's why I miss her so badly.

This evening I called her and told that I really miss you my dear mom, she said "Offffff", she is a heroine, a mom that every body will wish to have such mom.

Will return back home to see her tomorrow, God Willing...


May God bless you my dear mom...

"Bazar", Hotels and Parks in Hawler

"Bazar" is an eastern term used to refer to Market, nations from Pakistan, India to the Arabian countries, passing through Persia and Kurdistan are suing this term very widely.



The bazaar in Kurdistan contains a broad range of hand-made materials produced by the regional natives, which shows the Kurdish Folklore, in addition to the typical foods, along side the foreign products.

Generally speaking, Markets are very interested in Hawler city. At the city center, near the Hawler Castle, there is a place called "Qaysari", this is a great place for shopping, it contains about thousand shops selling different kinds of goods, from whatever you want; shoes, clothes for different ages and sexes, fabrics, make-up, foods; local and foreign foods, even folkloric manufactures and gold sellers.

Of course this is not only Markets here in Hawler, we have too many other markets, like: Iskan St. Markets which will be open till 1:00 am, Tayrawa Shopping centers, Koran Shopping centers, beside so many supermarkets and malls which have been opened since 2003, including: Kok Supermarket, New City Shopping Center, Modern City Mall, Naza Mall, and many others, to name but few.

Muthafariya Markets, they are located in the Muthafariya Qr., opposite to the Governorate Building, the majority of the shops in this market are specialized in selling computers and IT technologies, including spare parts and accessories. Beside a leading Model Cloth Shops "Al-Sultan Market", they are really leading in this field, but their goods are very expensive.


The most crowded St. at night will be Iskan St with all the markets on both sides of the street, it's a short street, but very popular and crowded, the shops and markets will be open till late night, 1:00 am.

Iskan Street located in Iskan Qr. and connects the 30m St. to the 60m Street, everything available there, from clothes to foods.

There is also a very nice small garden, nearly in the middle of the St., "Brusik Garden", having two sides, one for families.

This is a picture of Khanzad Hotel, Five Stared Hotel, Situated on Erbil - Salahaddin Highway, composed of 6 Stories, 96 Rooms, Modern Luxury Hotel; Constructed Parallel to Khanzad Mountain; Wide Attached Areas Surrounded by Forests; Offering Various Services to Tourists. Watching over Rural Areas, Valleys & Mountains; About 15 km off Erbil City Center.

The Khanzad Hotel is built atop a hill some five kilometers from Shaqlawa. Its location is symbolic of its aspiration to represent the highest standards of service and hotelerie in the Kurdistan Region.

Build just before 2003 and once the American "invaded" Iraq become the official place for them, and by this the owner made a huge benefits.

This is a simple picture of "Martyr Sami Abdur-Rahman Park", made by the KRG, at first named "Hawler Park" but after the deadly explosions which targeted both Headquarters of the PUK and PDK, they changed the name to this name.

The park is situated on 60-m St, opposite to Kurdistan Parliament Building. It is beautiful, integrated and of tourist peculiarity.

I've heard too many times, that it's a largest park in all over the middle east, but I never read about it, so I don't know it's or not, but to be honest, it's very big, in a way you may be miss in it if you don't know it well.

It includes a swimming pool, statues, restaurants, and they added car parking garage lately.

Beside that recently the made a very big hall just between the Garage and the main Park, for the international shows, for example the last international book show and the Italian show, held there.

I have too many recent pictures of this great place, will upload them soon, so check it up... :)

Museum and Archaeological Sites in Hawler

The history of Hawler dates back to over 6,000 years BC, which is the oldest continuously inhabiting city in the world, by this, Hawler will be a very great place which contains many archaeological materials which will be very important, not only for the Kurdish or Iraqi people, but for he Humanity as a whole.

This is Erbil Civilization Museum, the museum is on Kirkuk Road between the 30m street and the 60m street, just opposite to the Kurdistan International Bank, near Sheraton Hotel.

It is rich in various antiquities, statues, remains of Erbil & surrounding areas ancient civilization.

It holds a great archaeological library that is of benefit for historians and archaeologists. You can see obviously how neglected from the first sight, unfortunately this is a case in all the great buildings in our area.

This is Khanzad Castle lies on Erbil-Shaqlawa road and is one of the archaeological sites in the city of Erbil. It dates back to Soran Principality period when Princes ruled (Sulaiman Beg and Princess Khanzad) in Soran district whose capital was Rawandooz then.

In the media rule of Abbasids, there had been a small emirate in the mountainous area, to the east of Erbil City. It was established by the princes of Zarzariya Tribe. Its castle "Deween Castle" was considered to be the greatest and most famous in the region. The emirate was the main center for political entities in the area. The castle is located on the top of a mountain, looking down upon a great river. The princes of this emirate are believed to be the affiliates of "Shadi Bin Marwan", who was the chief of Rawand Tribe, who were residing the village close to Deween Castle. He was one of the grandfathers of Salahaddin Al-Ayyoubi.

Some Resorts in Hawler

Hawler is well known for resorts, like Permam (Salahaddin), Shaqlawa, Jundyan, Haji Omaran , Choman, Rawanduz, Gully Ali Beg, and to mention but few.

This is an old picture of Bekhal Resort, which located about 140 km away from Erbil governorate center, east of Gully Ali Beg, 10 km off Rawandooz district. The maximum temperature is 32 degrees Celsius in summer.

The resort is accessible via Gally Ali Beg road or Rawandooz district. It has a huge cataract with pure water falling down the mountain. There are several folk restaurants and other entertaining places.

From early spring to late autumn, tourists head for the resort.

It's being awhile I didn't go to these resorts. I should revise myself.

Gully Ali Beg Resort which is about 130 km off Erbil governorate center. It is one of the attractive and beautiful resorts in Kurdistan Region. It extends for 12 km between Korak and Bradost Mountains, forming a magnificent landscape.

The Gully is round 800 m above sea level, with maximum temperature 35 degrees Celsius in summer and 10 degrees below freezing in winter. In the gulley two rivers meet-one springs from Alana Valley, Khalifan sub-district; the other from Rawandooz district and Bekhal Resort. At the gulley entrance, both meet Seedakan River to form the Great Zab.

In addition to the major waterfall, there are several cascades. The resort is featured by its mountainous terrain and various trees. It is a gorgeous place for recreational picnics; it has a number of restaurants and other entertaining spots. In spring and summer, tourists head for the resort where there are private places for families.

The Iraqi Government used this picture on one of the monetary units, from old days till now.

Jundyan Resort which is about 147 km off Erbil city centre, 5 km from Soran district. It lies at the bottom of Hndreen Mountain; with maximum temperature 32 degrees Celsius in summer. Jundyan resort is famed for its magic sweet water spring flowing out of Hndreen Mountain bottom.

It is surrounded by varied trees. The Regional Government took care of this resort, including a restaurant, and other recreational and private places for tourist families.

The Choly Minaret

As we said previously that Hawler is well-known for having a Castle in the center of the city and secondly, for having a Minaret known as The Choly Minaret, which located in the west region of Hawler city.

They Choly Minaret which is 36 m high, was built between 1190-1232 (630 – 586 according to Islamic Calendar) during the reign of Muzaffar Al-Din Abu Sa’eed Al-Kawkaboori, the king of Erbil.

The minaret is composed of a high octagonal base and a tall cylindrical shaft, with a balcony located between the base and the shaft.

It’s built of baked bricks, the base is decorated with two tiers of niches with pointed arches, two on each of the eight faces that are inscribed in rectangular frames.

The balcony parapet is carved with twenty-four small niches, the access door to the minaret steps is on the eastern side of the octagonal base and leads top to the balcony. From there a small door gives access to steps inside the cylindrical shaft that led to the second balcony now collapsed.

The shaft tapers inward and is decorated with several bands of interlocking diagonal Hazar-Baf motifs that are separated with thin bands. Peculiarly splendid "Kufi", which is a type of Arabic handwritings, calligraphy can be seen, the names of Muhammad and Mas'oudi Muhammadi the builders of the Minaret were inscribed.

I have these two old photos of The Choly Minaret, but have some other new pictures, and will try to upload them soon.

Kurdistan Region as a Model for Religious Coexistence and Tolerance

Kurdish people are well-known for their tolerance and their respect to the other religions other than they believe in. I've heard more than one time that in Akre and Amedi towns, which located on the Iraq - Turkey border and belongs to the Duhok Province, the Church is just beside the Mosque.

This is not only a talk, let's bring some proofs, on 3rd of March 2008, the news comes from PUK Media that Kurdistan Region President Massoud Barzani met a high ranking delegation from International Peace Messengers Union in Salah El-Din resort, Irbil Province, on the behalf that the Union has chosen Kurdistan Region as a model for religious and ethnic coexistence. The Union also introduced to President Barzani a certification for his role in achieving peace and joint coexistence.

President Barzani appreciated this step, and emphasized his support for the goals of the Union.

Here I am going to upload 3 pictures that proves that Kurdistan is a Model for Religious Coexistence and Tolerance.





This is a very nice shot, for the largest and the most well-decorated Mosque here in Kurdistan, Jaleel Khayat and his sons Mosque, located on the 60m St., just on the other side of Shorsh Overpass.

They spent more than 7 years to build this Mosque.






St. Joseph Church, this church is located on Erbi-Ainkawa main road. Ainkawa is a town near Hawler city, most of it's population are Christian, and after 1991 became a local site for all foreign NGO in the region.

St. Joseph Church is one of the eminent churches in Ainkawa subdistrict. Its total area is 10000 M2 of which the premises take up 950 M2.

In 1978, it was built according to the ancient Babylonian design.



Al-Sawwaf Mosque, one of the largest mosque here in Hawler, if not in the Kurdistan all it's located on the Thirty Meters St., next to the Kurdistan Region Bank, Hareem Bank.

It constructed in the year 2003 according to Islamic architecture. It combines between modernism an heritage.

It has very beautiful and amazing look, actually the process of building starts during 90ies of the past century, on a relatively large area. They said that the fund for building this mosque comes from an old Saudian Muslim widow, may Allah bless her.

Hawler in 90ies

It's not rare to see snowing in Hawler, but it's not common too, this is very nice shoot showing Hawler Castle covered with snow.





The last 2 pictures, is more modern, they may return to late 90ies.

Some other pictures of Hawler

Hawler at night, showing the Gov. Building just beside the Castle.

Hawler in 80ies and 90ies

You can see how life changing, these pictures taken during last decades of last century.


Look, you can't find any buildings around "Delalxana". Beside, the Ibin Mustawfi's Stature yet not placed on the main gate to the Castle.




Usual appearance of Hawler Castle in the Spring time.