Koy Sanjaq

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The town Koy Sanjaq (Arabic: كيويسنجق‎, Kurdish: Koye, Turkish: Köy Sancak- also known as Koya, Kuya[citation needed], Koysinjak, Koy Sanjaq, Kou Senaq[citation needed], Kou Senjaq) is located in the Erbil Governorate of Iraqi Kurdistan, close to the Iranian border.

Most of the town was property of two families (the Hawezis and the Ghafuris) in the past, but later the Iraqi government took most of the land owned by the two families.

Wallace Lyon, travelling through the town in 1923, compared it to Sulaimani and noted that it was a centre for tobacco. The governor at the time was Jamil Agha Hawezi, succeeding the late Hama Agha Ghafuri. [1]

The population is between 50,000 and 100,000. [2]

Photo of Koya by Hwnar M. Smail

A specific variant of the Aramaic language, Koy Sanjaq Surat, spoken by about 1,000 people in the town, as well as the nearby village of Armota, takes its name from the town. [3]

One of the local dishes is Dolma. [4]

Famous people from the city include the Kurdish poet Haji Qadir Koyi, Sheikh Jangi Talabani [older brother of Iraqi President Jalal Talabani] Zeki Ahmed Henari, Hama Aghai Gewre Ghafuri, Kaka Ziad Ghafuri, Jalal Talabani, Omar Debaba, Mamosta Aziz, Malay Gewre, Jalal Aghai Hawezi, Haji Bakir Aghai Hawezi, Dildar, Dr Xalid Ghafuri,XarAswad, Amin Agha, Mela Masoum, Dr Fuad Masoum, Sewa Koyi. The current President of Iraq, Jalal Talabani, who was born in the nearby village of Kelkan, went to school here. In 1949 he joined the town's branch of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP). [5]

A university, known in English as "Koya University" was set up in the town in 2003.

Photo of University of Koya by Hwnar M. Smail

References

  1. ↑ Fieldhouse, David Kenneth (2002). Kurds, Arabs and Britons: the memoir of Wallace Lyon in Iraq 1918-44. Tauris. Retrieved 2009-09-08. 
  2. ↑ "Koi Sanjaq". Collins. Retrieved 2009-09-11. 
  3. ↑ Moseley, Christopher (2007). Encyclopedia of the world's endangered languages. Routledge. Retrieved 2009-09-11. 
  4. ↑ "The Many Ways of Rolling Grape Leaves". Food Bridge. 2009-05-15. Retrieved 2009-09-12. 
  5. ↑ Gunter, Michael M. (1999). The Kurdish predicament in Iraq: a political analysis. Social Science. Retrieved 2009-09-12. 

External links

  • Koya University

Coordinates: 36°05′N 44°38′E / 36.083°N 44.633°E / 36.083; 44.633

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