In 1988, hundreds of thousands of Kurds fled northern Iraq as Saddam Hussein’s armies hunted them down. Many ended up in Nashville, making this southern city home to the largest Kurdish community in America.
‘You can get people killed,’ and other advice.
Suha and Hanna have both reported extensively on Iraqi Kurdistan’s refugee camps, on their own and as fixers. They had a great deal of advice on how to report within these camps: how to act, what to say, what information to censor to protect the people who lived there.
An extremely grand bazaar
The Qaysari Bazaar is an absolute marvel. Nestled in the heart of old Erbil, this sprawling covered market sits in the shadow of the city’s ancient citadel, which is perhaps the oldest continuously inhabited place on earth.
The generous journalists of Erbil
So, I had made it to Erbil. I had dinars, I had a working phone, and I had meetings set up with sources for weeks to come. Now, I needed to get a real understanding of local politics. I needed to find a good translator or two. I needed to make some friends. In short, I needed to meet some local journalists.
Liquor stores and LED crosses
I spent my first few mornings in Erbil taking long walks, trying to explore my new neighborhood before the full heat of the day.
Welcome to the Classy Hotel Ankawa
In this first travelogue from WPLN’s Rose Gilbert, we arrive with her in Erbil, the capital of Iraqi Kurdistan, for her five-week reporting trip.
Connecting Nashville to its sister city, Erbil
Have you met Nashville’s sisters? Sister cities, that is. If you didn’t know, the long-running Sister Cities Nashville program has formal partnerships with 10 international cities.
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