The time I swore to never return to Kurdistan
“This is a stupid fucking country that doesn’t even exist and everyone here is incompetent and I’m never coming back!”
I actually said that out loud, and in a government building too, but let me start from the beginning.
Wasta. It might not be in most dictionaries, but ask anyone from or familiar with the Middle East and they’ll tell you exactly what it is.
Though two years of formal Arabic isn’t good for much else in Iraq, it does inform me that the word wasta (واسْطة) comes from the root w-s-T, which relates to “the middle,” and the form wasta literally translates into “means.” As wasta is the means to pretty much everything here, that is appropriate, although other translations equate it to “who you know,” “clout,” or “agency.” It mostly has to do with who your family is.
I keep Iraqi Dinars in my wallet, but everyone knows Wasta is the real currency of Kurdistan.
The second day of Ramadan, I had to wake up early and go to the Department of Residence to extend my 10-day entry visa for a month (failing to do so would make it difficult to leave the country without a hefty fine and heftier hassle). I’d been up until sunrise, eating and drinking so I could keep fast during the day, so my tolerance was a bit compromised by sleep deprivation.
The Department of Residence is a open air maze of offices that is particularly hellish in the heat. First, through the women’s door and past the female security guard. Next, taken from office to office with the pesh merga who’s doing all the talking for you, playing helpless witness to an endless series of increasingly heated exchanges. Back and forth down the crowded hallway. Then, walking to nearby shop to get photos taken, nevermind that you reminded everyone you needed to get these beforehand. Because it’s Ramadan the only shop still open is packed with a dozen people– too crowded. Long walk back to the car. Long drive to a far away store where you wait 30 minutes for a dozen thumbnail photos of myself, frowning. Back to the maze. More heated conversations, and finally, an AIDS test, which takes place in an office identical to all the others plus some gloves and needles, like getting blood drawn in the waiting room of a dirty clinic.
From the beginning, my limited Kurdish was letting me comprehend what I already knew what was being said, but didn’t want to hear. This is the granddaughter of so-and-so. This is the granddaughter of so-and-so. My family name, my family name, my family name.
Like that was all I would and should need to cut the lines, to skip the process everyone else had to go through, to get away with anything. Like the rest of the people in the room couldn’t hear those same words and weren’t staring at the American girl to whom the rules didn’t apply.
I was at the end of my rope, and a lot of other things I usually only hear from my mom when my brothers and I are really misbehaving. Like ready to pull out my hair. Like livid.
Because wasta isn’t just how you get your visa extended here. It’s what runs this place. It determines how people treat you, if you have electricity in your house and sometimes even what grades your kids get in school. It determines if you’ll be able to breeze through checkpoints or get interrogated, and how fast you’ll be served at a restaurant.
This is the point when I said that really awful thing that I know I don’t mean (but did at the time). Thankfully, I don’t think anyone understood what I was saying.
I was angry because wasta is so ingrained into society that people living here don’t even seem to take any issue with it, especially not if they’re on the right side of it. I guess it’s no surprise that as a headstrong American, this makes my blood boil. I detest special treatment, and my constant encounters with it here do make me question my intentions to return.
I know I’m probably only scraping on the surface of wasta, and I know I’m still coming from the perspective of someone who has been helped more than hurt by it.
But I also know is that wasta means little social mobility, little hope of “making it for yourself,” and little opportunity for the drastic changes and reforms Kurdistan so desperately needs. Because it’s so tied to respect, it reinforces the cultural norms related to women and honor that severely limit women’s rights and freedoms. It stifles education. It even stifles free speech: because politicians are the ones with all the wasta, most of the press is run by political parties, absolving the government from much of the criticisms the press would otherwise provide, meaning those who do speak out are quickly and expertly silenced by threats or by death.
Wasta, true to its Arabic root, seems to be in the middle of all the dirty happenings in Kurdistan.
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You paint a very interesting picture of Kurdistan, and perhaps you’re words were written in a moment of anger. However, while Kurdistan has alot more to go before it can be considered in anyway developed your outburst is unwarranted and comes off as quite bitter.
The residency department within the KRG is a mess, there are efforts to modernize it however it will take time as there is alot of pressure on what is an immature typical public sector department within the middle east. To better understand its failings it would require backtracking why the public sector, KRG services, is the way it is, it was a way to include Kurds within the KRG and not turn to Baathi’s. This was what the KRG was built on initially, it was never initially created to deal with the massive influx that it faced post 2003. While there definitely needs a quickening of pace with regards to reforms within the public sector, it would still require some time. We in Kurdistan do not have the luxuries that other developing nations have such as friends, quick access to cash and friendly neighbours. None of the above are available, yet despite this there are genuine efforts to work things through.
As I’ve said, I understand why it would be quite annoying to deal what you dealt with. However, your initial quote and other words show that perhaps you will become an atypical expat who comes to Kurdistan only to complain about how bad it is. Kurdistan is not in need for such people, Kurdistan needs people that respects its land, its accomplishments and a genuine yearning for improvement. I genuinely wish you the best of luck, and I hope you understand why your words would be considered quite insulting to any self respecting Kurd, which probably explains the unfortunate outbursts of my fellow Kurds.
Viglen,
Thank you for your comment. I am happy to see people thinking and talking about this subject. You are right that I was bitter, but it was not because of the inefficiency of the residency office. I actually think it’s a rather impressive infrastructure, all things considered, and even the mandatory AIDS test is something I’d rather be required of all visitors than not as at least a rudimentary beginning towards protecting public health.
What I was bitter about was my own complicity in a complicated cultural phenomenon that I can only begin to understand, and only began to fully appreciate the depth of during my second time in Kurdistan.
In my opinion, Kurdistan is above all else a success story of a place and people who have been (and continue to be) trampled on by everyone in power around them: Saddam; the Iranians, the Kurds. In a place where the border regions are still under constant threat of shelling by neighbors, the rapid rise in infrastructure, wealth, and education in Kurdistan is astounding and it’s one of the reasons I’m so drawn back to this place that feels like a homeland to me. It’s why I see so much hope, and why it makes me so livid when I see what is plain and square injustice.
I know that the strongest, smartest, most hardworking Kurds I’ve met– the young 15, 16, 18 year old students in my journalism and english classes– have a very different path to success than the young generation who has grown up in the shadow of their well known families. While of course this is a phenomenon that happens all over the world, it’s particularly virulent in Kurdistan, though as many people have pointed out to me today, it has gotten better and inshallah will continue to improve due to the hard work of many fighting for a better Kurdistan.
I do understand why I upset and angered people, and while perhaps I could have expressed these sentiments in a clearer way, I don’t regret making myself look bad to illustrate something that seems to me to be at the heart of many problems in Kurdistan. Perhaps to Kurds who have been familiar with Kurdistan their whole lives, my reaction seems unwarranted. But to a Kurdish-American girl who has fallen in love with Kurdistan and, as a result, over-idealized the place, realizing the extent to which power and politics insidiously harm the great strides Kurdistan has made and continues to make was something that made me furious. I don’t think I could have been so passionate without such a deep love for Kurdistan and the Kurdish people to begin with.
In the end the result was that I feel more dedicated and inspired than before to continue following, supporting, and returning to Kurdistan in solidarity with my Kurdish brothers and sisters who have the same dream for a better Kurdistan than I do.
Tracy Fuad
Tracy says:
I said it before
your perspective Tracy is of an “American girl” (as you said in your post) who coming from the outskirts of the deep historic Kurdish culture to find it incomprehensible !!! If you come from an upper perspective to loath the grounded culture, you would reach to nothing other than more disappointment, and probably you will end into “never coming again” but stay in your America and speak bad things of the “backward” Kurds who are “good for nothing” and deserve not only to be directed by the “enlightened” Americans of yours, but also to be occupied for long to be educated the American way you wish to see !!
Kurdistan will never be America, nor the Kurdish culture would come closer to the “modernized and enlightened” western culture you lived and hold in your mind !!
You have too choices: either to pack your languages and “never come back again” or to try to understand your mother, or father’s culture and work from within, from the basic level of the people of the street. Try to be one of your Kurdish sisters and brothers, otherwise you will keep living “bitterly” (as you say) in your own Utopian American castle of an ignorant “enlightened” culture !!
Indeed, I appreciate your reply and clarification.
The only way you can counter injustice is not by raising the one fingered salute to the country and berate it. A more concise method of pointing this out would be pointing out the inefficiencies, the reasons for said inefficiencies and methods of solutions.
To come into a country that you are still foreign too and demand that they work according to how you expected to be treated is at the very least naive and the very worst arrogant. I am not saying you are arrogant, or in any way exonerating that the idea of wasta is in anyway productive or acceptable. However, the way in which you approached the problem was by immediately insulting the country, and that in no way, and will never be acceptable.
This is Kurdistan, this is a land that has been fought on for years to get to the point we are at, at the moment, to focus solely on an inefficient area and insult the entire country, and then bring in the most hurtful argument of “You are not even a country” shows very little love for this country. It is possible, as I said, that you were bitter, however your choice of words shows that you can quite easily insult the land without a second thought.
No where else in your article or in the reply do I have a feeling of any regret for these words, and I think that this is where you are mistaken. We all make mistakes during times of angst and anger, but to continously stick to the belief that these words were warranted are somewhat out of line and will hopefully clarify for you why people are passionately replying to you in such a manner.
On the topic of governement modernization, before your next article where you berate the entire country. It would be useful if you gain a better understanding of the efforts taking place at present.
For example, within the Ministry of Higher Education you have an entire revaluation of the Higher Education method of accepting both students and employees, also, more and more money has been spent on both restructuralizing the university campuses and many more students are now being sent abroad on exchange programs. These are our future leaders.
Within the Ministry of Education itself, there is a concise effort to fix the previous ministers mistake of introducing a “swedish system” with a better system. 3,000 new teachers will be employed as many more schools will be opening not just in main cities but in villages with many more “Model” Schools opening up in the outskirts of the cities.
There are two major efforts currently being implemented to reform the entire KRG. The first effort is by the Department of IT itself, you can learn more by reading their latest publication “ (PDF).
The Department of IT is working together with PricewaterhouseCoopers to introduce more efficient systems within the government. PwC is also working on a another major project entitled “Good Governance and Transparency Strategy” . These are all major projects undertaken to make the KRG more efficient and more in line with the current private sector.
As you can tell, there are concrete efforts. And Kurdistan does not need people to insult it simply because of issues that require more patience when handling them. I know many foreigners over here in Kurdistan that have gone through much more then you have gone through, but they are understanding of the deficiencies, they are understanding of the background, never once have they insulted the land.
If you are here as an American, then it is important to respect the land of your hosts. If you are a Kurd, then you need to understand the background of why things are the way they are, and look for ways to improve them, not berate them.
The choice as to what you are going to decide to be…well that’s up to you.
Hi Tracy, I can certainly relate to what you are talking about here.
I wouldn’t worry about Sami’s insults above; he is blinded by his hypocrisy and xenophobia.
Kurdistan is a paradise. There has to be tight security measures in order to maintain the region calm. Tracy Faud, if you did not like it, it is because you were never born there. Your name Tracy is not even Kurdish. Kurdistan has existed for centuries. You need to do more studies and increase your level of general knowledge.
Viglen, Tracy has written again and again about Kurdistan and this is her first negative piece. I don’t think you have the right to judge her love for Kurdistan based on her statements in this article. She has chosen to point out a very disappointing reality in Kurdistan (and in the Middle East, for that matter) that needs to be corrected. The anger she has expressed is not unwarranted. The people in Kurdistan (especially the young generation with no “wasta” connections) are suffering from these shortcomings and they need to be paid close attention to. It is great that the KRG is now working closely with PwC, but until actual tangible results appear, we have yet to see whether these efforts will be fruitful.
Tracy is in a unique position as an individual and through her opportunity to live in Kurdistan. I think her Kurdish background allows her to understand the cultures of the Middle East better than the average American. At the same time, her American background allows her to provide insight and critique that some of the rest may not be able to see. I encourage her to keep writing and I hope writings like hers will be taken seriously.
At the same time, Viglen, I think it is wonderful that her writing has opened up a debate that people like you have chosen to engage in. This is the beauty of bringing a topic like this to light. It allows us to discuss important issues, reach understandings, and recognize the needs for improvement.
Dara Amin – maybe you need to do more studies and increase your knowledge instead. Your pathetic reply to a thoughtful piece is a clear indicator of your lack of it. You also criticize of her for not being Kurdish because of her name? Look at the disrespectful manner in which you write. This is uncharacteristic of the hospitable Kurdish culture in which respect for others (especially people you are a stranger to) is the most important quality. You may really be named “Dara” (an authentic Kurdish name) but your attitude and disrespect prove that you are very disconnected from the Kurdish culture and that you are anything but a Kurd.
What is wrong with you people? Leave her alone. There is really nothing she has written apart from the fact that she is unhappy with the wasta system. I am not really sure why some of you are acting as if she insulted your parents. I am Kurdish, I lived there and I can’t stand the wasta system. My only argument is that wasta exists EVERYWHERE. The only problem with Middle Eastern people is that they are not good at trying to hide it. In the West, wasta is common place with sons of PM’s and Presidents and important people always getting the best jobs, university offers etc.
That is a harsh reality of life and is not unique only to Kurdistan. For those saying go back to the US, and don’t come back etc…grow up. It is an article she wrote. There is a lot worse articles written by Kurds in some Kurdish media.
Tracy,
Interesting article, you have pointed out a big problem in Kurdistan that has to be addressed sooner or later. Although I was in Kurdistan a few months ago and I went through the same procedures as you. I spent 6 hours in the Residency building and I made no complains! I had no ‘wasta’ and with patient it all went smoothly. I even appreciated the hard works of the public servants .
However, I noticed people like yourself whom were loudly complaining, I am Kurdish and understood their language, most of them, like yourself ( I would say) were impatient to get it done, wanted express services! It kills me when I see ‘some’ follow Kurds that can wait in the West for years for their residency paperworks to go through while they are arrogant and impatient when it involves Kurdistan, they can’t wait 5 hours without multiplying the KRG by Zero!
I think it is unfair of you to expect the same public services from the KRG that you would receive in the US. What you have seen in Kurdistan is all the result of hard work and is paid for by someone’s blood. KRG itself is hardly 20 years old!
I went back to Kurdistan for the first time after 11 years and I can tell you that in those 11 years dramatic changes have taken place, so much so that, in my view, Kurds and the KRG deserve support and saluting, not discouragement. For example, we have achieved more in the fields of women’s and minority rights, and democracy than Saudi Arabia or Syria has achieved during their entire life times, among many other countries!
Untold developments have taken place in 20 years and particularly since 2003. Kurds and the KRG are now in need of people, of friend, that would praise and encourage them to do better than ridicule their genuine efforts to bring about a democratic state, a state based on the liberal values that are practiced in the West. It took the Americans more than 200 years, a bloody civil war, slavery, atrocities…etc to build the United States. You will only be disappointed to expect us Kurds to build ‘an America’ in the ‘Middle East’ in 20 years- on a land that has been devastated by its enemies!
Regards,
Tracy you must be an anti-kurd, there is NO WAY you are a kurd otherwise you wouldn’t insult all kurds by using a few bad examples of kurdistan above all else and expand on it with anger and xenophobia. I am proud of kurdistan and KRG for getting to this point in afew years despite being under constant political and millitray pressure 360 degrees around.
TRACY ,from what I can see is that you have been waiting in many places to be chekced,to be tested, to see the relevant people as a foregin guest and that is what has made you angry. Not only that you have actually described that in somewhat detail , but you have ATTCKED Kurdistan not on that bases but on the bases of other things which you didn;t mention having happened. Where have yoy said I have done WASTA to get by? are you just saying this is the norm there?
Tracy you have really really made a mess in your written words and more so in your reply. you seem to be appologetic and you know you have made a big mistake and possibly being xenophobic, so I suggest you appologise and write another article about this.
long live kurd u kurdistan.
As for the ARAB person who have replied. WE know you babe.
‘Unbelievable’ can anybody express his/her opinion in Kurdistan without being accused of???
IF I were you I would not give a “monkey” what people like Dare or Sami says for 2 reasons first u r Kurdish, like anybody else u can express ur frustration and secondly what u said no surprisingly is true.
Sahar…
sorry but I didnt insult nobody, and sorry if I was understood wrongly by anyone. I was just clarifying my viewpoint of how to address and issue, any issue (and the Kurdish is the one in case here). I live among the people here, the very simple people of the street and struggle with them against corruption and wasta. But the problem is how to address this epidemic plague? is it by going along with it and forgetting about the simple people? Is it by running away to another country and “never to come back”? it is by getting frustrated and feel bitter? Is it by looking down and the bad conditions the people living in? Or by joining the real people who are fighting for their rights?
Please dont misunderstand me Sahar. I am not insulting anybody nor use bad words to discribe others like what you just did of others who are
fine if that is your level of discussing serious issues !!
That was a very good post you wrote Kak Hawraman Ali. Dast Xosh u hiwadarim har sarkawtu bet.
I wish her the best of luck in all future articles, and future writings.
My main issue with the way she presented her argument. Her argument was introduced with an insult, a swear word at not just the country but, as I previously said, the most hurtful argument of “Not even a country”. We all realize we are not a country, but to pick that point to clarify, and the air of superiority and pride in “Saying it in a government building” shows that perhaps there is an air of contempt to Kurdistan.
Even in subsequent replies there is no indication that her poor choice of words was something she regretted. From what I heard from other writers, that is what is still sticky about this situation and angers fellow Kurds. Perhaps angers them more then the real issue at hand over here, which is the wasta problem in our land.
It most definitely needs to be corrected, and as we are in the MIddle East we are not immune to this culture of paybacks and tribal nepotism that leaves, at times, hardworking people out in the cold.
Indeed, and I agree very much with her right to express anger at this. However, my issue personally is the method in which she chose to describe her issue.
I thank you and wish you the best of luck as well Kak Azad