Kurdistan

Kurds are a people torn by borders. Borders of Turkey, Syria, Iran and Irak keep them away from the long-desired unity. Governments have used them in their wars, to pressure their neighbors, and kurdish nationalism was stifled in harsh suppression. Historically, Kurds were promised independance and national unity at the Peace Conference after WWI, but the Treaty of Sevres was never ratified as such. The conjonction of western greed (France and Britain sharing influence on the region, as planned in the secret Sykes Picot agreements) and turkish nationalism (Mustapha Kemal was building a strong nation out of the ashes of the Ottoman Empire) condemned the Kurdish national dream to remain unaccomplished. Add oil to the equation and you understand why Kurds never got their independance: petroleum was discovered in Mosul (then part of Ottoman Empire) in early 20th century and the control of the region, heart of Kurdish territory, became the cause of many wars. Kurds were not well organized to face these challenges. A great part of the Kurdish nation was still nomadic, and tribal divisions did not help to coalesce against turkish, arab and persian nationalisms. Kurds have suffered from harsh suppression of nationalist claims, and have been instrumentalized in international affairs, one country supporting Kurdish rebellions to weaken its neighbor, while still suppressing Kurds on its territory - this happened for example during the Iran-Irak war of the 1980s.

Kurds in Iran live in the western part of the country and they are famous for their hospitality .
we arrived in Sanandaj, capital of Iranian Kurdistan, a bit afraid by the proximity of the Iraqi border. But everybody told us the area was safe, and we found a friend of a friend to take care of us and accompany us in the trip. we visited the city, a regional capital where urban and rural populations meet. Then we went to Zaribar lake, near Marivan. Reza, the son of a retired colonel, guided us through the way, and we met other friends of friends, , hard line Kurdish nationalists. While walking in the beautiful landscapes of the lake, we experienced a wide spectrum of political opinions on Kurdistan: some consider they are Iranians, but one of the minorities of Iran, just like Azeris. Some consider they should have their own country. Most of the people we talked to didnt like the Islamic Republic because they are sunnis, not shiis, and they dont like being told by the government how they should dress. On the way around lake Zaribar, we met farmers who were harvesting forage. They offered us apples they hide under the grass to keep them fresh and discussed about our visit, how we like Iran... We decided that next time we come, we should at least learn farsi, if not kurdish and azeri !

Even if most Kurds said they didnt like the government, they did not complain about specific policies (i.e. different than for other Iranians) and they say the police let them dance in wedding parties. There are media outlets in Kurdish also. In the night, we could see how important it was : we had a dancing lesson with Reza's parents. they had put a recording of kurdish videoclips and started a villager dance that looks like debke, or like danses bretonnes - all villager dances look a bit alike !

Northern Iran

. After Teheran we headed to northern Iran: Zanjan, famous for its knives and archeological sites, and Tabriz, the capital of Iranian Azerbaijan: the dominant ethnic group is Azeri, they speak a Turkish language, a bit different from the "Stambuli Turkish" (Turkish from Istanbul) but close enough. Anyway I don’t understand anything…
We are getting tired of wearing something on the head all the time, even in cafes, in the bus and when we want to go from our bedroom in the hotel to the bathroom… But Iranians are very very nice. We met friends of friends of friends, they took very good care of us, and when we were lost somewhere we always found someone to help us. Yesterday for example, we were at the bus station trying to find a bus to go to Sanadaj at night. The guy wanted us to leave in the morning and did not want to understand we needed to leave at night (despite my nice picture of a bus under a moon…) so an old man called one of his English-speaking friends on the phone and helped us to get tickets (of course the night bus did exist!). Then he said he was calling "Madam taxi", so we thought about a taxi for women (yes, it exists in Iran), but it was actually his wife, he wanted us to meet her and help her practice her English. The guy who helped for the translation was there also, a young professor of medicine in the university, who was worried about his visa to France because his paper was accepted for an international conference on reproductive medicine in Paris in November… We were happy to meet all these nice and interesting people, but felt they were toooo caring and intrusive, because we had been almost kidnapped by them, so we finally declined the ice-cream, and went back to the hotel.
Besides all these encounters, we also visit lots of places. Soltanye, the ancient capital of Moghol empire – where Oleijitu wanted to build a mausoleum for Ali (number 2 of Muslim Holy family) but eventually kept it for himself. Takht e Soleyman, where Zoroastrians worshipped the eternal fire around a volcanic lake of toxic water. The Blue Mosque of Tabriz that was destroyed by an earthquake in the 18th century and is miraculously recovering its ancient splendor. Kandovan, a village with funny troglodyte barns and wonderful honey…

. the Unislamic Republic of Underground Iran

In Iran, the list of forbidden things seems endless. It is forbidden to drink alcohol. It is forbidden for a woman to show her hair, her arms, her legs. It is forbidden to have parties at home. It is forbidden to watch uncensored satellite channels. It is forbidden for a woman to sing in public. You can be arrested for holding hands with your boyfriend, for having too much hair showing outside of your scarf, for drinking alcohol in your own house, for showing varnished toe nails… If an Iranian is arrested for these forms of inappropriate-unislamic behavior, she/he can spend the night in the police station, and will have to sign a paper saying she/he will not misconduct anymore. If you do it again, you risk high fines, whipping and even prison. Our friend Gala, an artist a bit rebel who always has wild hair running outside her colourful scarves, once spoke English to the policeman who wanted to arrest her: it worked, the policeman let her go, he was didnt want to look harsh on a tourist ! Just to give an idea of risks and costs: if a young man is arrested walking romantically in a parc with a young girl, and they dont have a certificate of marraige, they are arrested, sent to the police station, the police calls their parents, and they face a fine of about 50 euros. By comparison, for a speeding ticket (even in a very dangerous place, like a winding road in the mountain...) you pay the equivalent of 15 euros...


Underground Iran is also intellectuals circulating censored dvds, artists organizing living-model sketching clubs (I actually attended one today. The model is not naked, but still there is a liberating perfume of outlawry in the artist workshop…), leftists circles denouncing religion.
Underground Iran is all you can download on the internet, from heavy metal music to political pamphlets. This is how we went to the mountain north of Teheran listening to Iron Maiden and other "satanic" music playing loud in the car...

Underground Iran is a longer list of forbidden things you enjoy with friends and family. Parties with home-made vodka – they call it dog vodka, because it is so strong, the strongest alcohol is the cheapest and easiest to manufacture. Armenians are the specialists of this, and it is not very difficult to get vodka. For wine and beer it is more expensive. Usually, people pour some vodka in an Islamic (=nonalcoholic) beer. When you arrive at friend's home for a party, if you are a woman, you are first directed towards a room to change your clothes, from the Islamic long-sleeve dull colored "manto" to a sexy dress, low waist pants etc. It is amazing to admire the disciples of Britney Spears and Lindsey Lohan in the country of Ayatollah Khomeyni, comparing their cleavages, plastic-surgerized nose, and hip-undulations… Then, before leaving, you will have to re-Islamize yourself.

Underground Iran is also dreams of exile. Going to Europe to study, and maybe never come back. Emigrating to Canada, or maybe Australia, wherever provided you have a future. Many young women say they don’t care that much about the veil, but they would like to live in a place where they would not be continually worried about economic sanctions plaguing their perspectives.

Iran is NOT an Arab country.

1. Violaine and I (Yasmine) arrived on August 13, very very early in the morning. Mousavi, the boss of the hotel we had booked, had secured us a taxi to pick us up at the airport and take us to the hotel. A long long drive, the airport is 70 km away from the city. We try to catch up the night, then adjust our Islamic attire (a long shirt, and a loosely tied veil, nothing to do with the burqa, and I have to say I found myself quite elegant) and go visit the city.

First impression of Teheran: it looks like Damascus. But when I tell that to the Iranians I meet, I don't get any reaction, except indifference. What is the connection with the Arab invader please?

I learn in the archeological museum that Iran is the modern form of old Persia, the Achemenide Empire, the greatness of Sasanid kings, Cyrus and the conquerors of the world from Mediterranean to India. When Arabs arrived to Islamize Persia, resistance to the invasion organized in the eastern part of Iran, and reconquered the Empire. The Arab legacy is pretty visible: the alphabet, and the religion. But Iranians are proud of their more ancient, more sophisticated culture.

I catch some words in Arabic sometimes, but the melody of the language is different. "Farsi" an indo-european language, is connected to Hindi and European languages. Not to Semitic languages like Arabic and Hebrew.

The historic population of Iran is "Aryan", an ethnic group composed of three subgroups: Pars, Parthes and Medes. Well that is ancient history, now there are Iranians, Azeris, Kurds, Arabs etc.

But except from the Arab population of the South West (at the border with Iraq), and scholars, nobody speaks Arabic. School kids just learn how to pronounce it so they can make recitation of the Coran, they don't understand it.
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In this familiar Middle Eastern atmosphere, I felt estranged… The first day we met an old shoe-maker in the Golestan Palace. He told us, in French, that he would like to chat with us to practice his French. He is learning it, and spends all afternoons, after his work, in the Golestan Palace. We went with him in the garden, to find some cool air. He was reading memoirs of Genevieve Anthonioz-de Gaulle, and wrote words he did not know in a thick old notebook. He offered us a tea, and was charmed that we came to Iran to discover the millenary splendors of the country, in spite of all the bad things that are said about it in the media. Welcome, welcome to Iran, we heard all day long. .