Anywhere from 20 to 30 percent of people in Bashiqa are now employed by one of Iraqi Kurdistan’s two major political parties, the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) and the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP). The main jobs are in education or security. Many other residents of Bashiqa work in Iraqi Kurdistan itself, in the cities of Dohuk, Sulaymaniyah or Erbil as labourers or in the service industry.
Although the town’s electricity and water are provided by Baghdad, better municipal services in neighbouring Iraqi-Kurdish-controlled towns like Shaikhan, are a topic of constant discussion.
These issues have certainly shifted people’s loyalties from Iraq to Iraqi Kurdistan. “I will vote for whoever gives me a job,” many locals state plainly. And in the 2010 provincial elections, 55 percent of Bashiqa’s votes went to the Iraqi Kurdish bloc – a surprising percentage for town many consider part of Mosul.
One local who identified himself as Bashiqi, Yazidi and Iraqi, told NIQASH: “I don’t care whether I’m Iraqi. I don’t care about Iraq or Kurdistan. I care about services and development.”
But with jobs have come both subtle and obvious attempts to “Kurdicize” Bashiqa. Locals protested when the KDP said that Kurdish should be taught in local schools. While the party backed off to some extent, teachers employed by the Iraqi Kurdish in Bashiqa must still teach a certain number of courses in Kurdish and are encouraged to send their own children to Kurdish speaking schools and universities in Iraqi Kurdistan.
Some residents have been asked to change signs from Arabic to Kurdish script. The two major Iraqi Kurdish political parties and the Iraqi Kurdish in general, are very obvious in Bashiqa - the number of party and regional flags on roofs and store fronts has steadily increased over the past few years.
Comments are closed.