"I chose the Pope, as he is a symbol of peace and harmony in the world and he is a person who loves all the people to have peace and stability. Therefore, I loved to give him this gift and for it to be a symbol of peace in Kurdistan as well," artist Shanaz Jamal said.
She embroiders the robe embellished with a large cross.
"I used the Kurdish fabric that you would always see in my embroideries, which is produced by Kurdish women and men in all the Kurdish regions. These embroideries represent the story of a people through sewing and I want to show the Pope our craftsmanship in this field too," she added.
Kurdistan is a multi-ethnic region in Iraq where at least 97 percent of its population is Sunni Muslim.
"I want to tell the world that we live in a predominantly Muslim-Kurdistan society, where eight religions live together, and the slogan of all eight religions is sewed [in this robe], because I do not see any difference between the religions. I see love among them and I feel happy to bring all these religions together in this robe and to hand it to the Pope,” Jamal said.
Many ethno-religious minority groups like Arabs, Yezidis, Chaldeans, Syriacs, Turkmen, and Assyrians also live in the Kurdistan Region.
