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ERBIL. Kurdistan Region - Local authorities in Erbil province’s Rawanduz district have started repairs on historic houses, which date back centuries ago, in order to preserve them.
Now Rawanduz's heritage is in poor condition, emptied of its residents as the government aims to preserve them as the city's culture and heritage.
The restoration and protection process started with 10 houses.
Kahiriya Qadir says she spent half of her age at their antique house witnessing a myriad of happy and sad moments in it.
"As long as this is for the government, I am fine with it [the restoration]. We lived for 37 years at this house, spending happy and sad moments," Kahiriya Qadir, owner of an antique house in Rawanduz, told Rudaw on Tuesday.
The residents of the historic houses are yet to be compensated, a key demand that so far remains unanswered.
The government says they will eventually buy the antique houses from their owners and transfer their ownership to the Rawanduz heritage directorate.
"We started restoring them in order to preserve and save them from collapse. We have already worked on transferring the ownership of these houses from their owners to the relevant authorities in the future," Ahmed Qadir, Rawanduz mayor said.
There are an estimated 8,000 houses in Rawanduz that are split over 13 neighborhoods, including 13 households that date back to the Soran Emirate, a medieval Kurdish emirate established before the conquest of Kurdistan by the Ottoman Empire in 1514.
Now Rawanduz's heritage is in poor condition, emptied of its residents as the government aims to preserve them as the city's culture and heritage.
The restoration and protection process started with 10 houses.
Kahiriya Qadir says she spent half of her age at their antique house witnessing a myriad of happy and sad moments in it.
"As long as this is for the government, I am fine with it [the restoration]. We lived for 37 years at this house, spending happy and sad moments," Kahiriya Qadir, owner of an antique house in Rawanduz, told Rudaw on Tuesday.
The residents of the historic houses are yet to be compensated, a key demand that so far remains unanswered.
The government says they will eventually buy the antique houses from their owners and transfer their ownership to the Rawanduz heritage directorate.
"We started restoring them in order to preserve and save them from collapse. We have already worked on transferring the ownership of these houses from their owners to the relevant authorities in the future," Ahmed Qadir, Rawanduz mayor said.
There are an estimated 8,000 houses in Rawanduz that are split over 13 neighborhoods, including 13 households that date back to the Soran Emirate, a medieval Kurdish emirate established before the conquest of Kurdistan by the Ottoman Empire in 1514.
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