ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - It still might take years to get the Erbil Citadel on UNESCO’s World Heritage List. The head of the Citadel reconstruction project stresses that no final decisions have been made so far.
Dara Al-Yacoubi, head of the High Commission for Erbil Citadel Revitalization (HCECR) sounds not too worried about the almost totally negative assessment of ICOMOS, the commission that advises UNESCO about candidates for its heritage list. “Many sites that applied for the list were in first instance not accepted, and many spent years in the procedure,” he explains.
A place on the list is seen as a trademark, showing the world that a site has universal value.
The negative report given by ICOMOS is not a refusal, Yacoubi hastens to point out. It has made 10 recommendations that could still change the assessment.
The importance of the Erbil Citadel lies in its very ancient history: UNESCO says it “may be regarded as the oldest continuously inhabited settlement in the world.”
But a major problem cited in the ICOMOS report is that the old history is not on display.
What one sees are 18th and 19th century Ottoman buildings under reconstruction in the heart of Kurdistan’s capital, not the ancient evidence of more than 6,000 years of habitation that would validate the Citadel for the UNESCO list.
Yacoubi wipes the problem off the table. Since the application was posted in January last year, excavations have been done to look at layers below the ground -- as the Citadel exists of layer upon layer of civilization.
“We have found the old fortified wall of the citadel,” the HCECR is excited to report. “We have only dug five meters and already found examples of the Islamic and possibly the Assyrian period.”
Moreover, scans have shown the remains of a big building under the ground, possibly of the Ishtar Temple that is said to have existed in the Citadel, he says. More research is planned.
Yacoubi has designated five areas for archaeological excavations, to be conducted in as many years. He is also stretching out the working seasons, from the usual four, to seven months in order to speed up the work.
Another stumbling block for Yacoubi’s commission is that the Citadel is hardly inhabited at present: Only two families remain to keep up its claim as the oldest site of continuous inhabitation. This way, the Citadel’s “urban fabric” is not shown.
“How can you renovate while people live here?” exclaims Yacoubi. “The houses must be empty, as we are digging in the streets, putting in a sewage and water system.” He assesses it will take another two years before the citadel is livable.
Since the people who were moved out were mainly squatters, Yacoubi considers the recommendation that former inhabitants be involved in the reconstruction as unviable.
Yet, some of the houses were owned by ancient Erbil families, like his own. His grandfather’s mansion is one of the buildings presently being reconstructed on the main road through the Citadel.
ICOMOS deems the role of tourists in the plans for the Citadel as exaggerated. But the HCECR head stresses that civilian activity is there: “Handicrafts, a weaving project for women, a carpet museum. And our information centre is planning weekly activities.”
Part of the buildings being reconstructed will be offered for free to international and local NGOs involved in culture, if they pay for the reconstruction of their building. Already, the French research centre IFPO has accepted the offer, but cannot move in yet because of the lack of infrastructure.
ICOMOS notes that the reconstruction project “is still at its beginnings”: Since 2010, only about 25 houses have been more or less finished -- six to eight per year. If the work goes on at this rate, it will take till the end of the century to finalize the project. Already, buildings that were considered valuable have collapsed.
Yacoubi admits that, even though maintenance of endangered buildings is part of the project, six to seven have collapsed.
He vows to finish some 200 buildings in the next 15 years. To do so, HCECR will invite private investors, and many have already come forward. But the creation of a legal structure for their involvement, as ICOMOS recommends, will take at least until next year.
The HCECR head points out that ICOMOS is mistaken in its assumption that most of the finances for the reconstruction have come from abroad. Most was donated by the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) -- some $35 million -- over the past three years, he says.
Yacoubi adds that, even though Baghdad has created serious financial problems by freezing the KRG’s share from the national budget for years -- in a row over oil exports -- the Citadel project will continue. “We still continue to get some funding, which shows the importance attached to the project,” he says.
The UNESCO advisors do not like the plan for a very modern Kurdistan National Museum -- designed by the world-famous architect Daniel Libeskind -- next to the Citadel. They suggest changing or moving it. The matter is under consideration with the local government.
Concern is also expressed about the buffer zone of four 18th and 19th century quarters surrounding the Citadel, and it is suggested that the zone be added to the reconstruction plan. Some parts, like the bazaar, are built on tells that probably hold valuable historical treasures.
But for HCECR the zone and the Citadel “are two different issues,” Yacoubi says, making clear he does not attach much value to the quarters at the foot of the mound. “For us these are different civilizations. The houses in the buffer zone are maximum 200 years old.”
The only positive conclusion in the report concerns the work of HCECR. ICOMOS advises that the commission be strengthened with a formally established mandate. All other conclusions are negative.
The HCECR has already sent ICOMOS its reply, and Yacoubi hopes to meet commission members to clear away any remaining doubts.
And if all this still leads to a thumbs-down by UNESCO to include the Erbil Citadel on its World Heritage List, he plans to submit a new application.
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