Kurdish mountains turn white by first snow of year


HAJI OMARAN, Kurdistan Region – People along the mountainous borders between Turkey, Iran and Kurdistan woke up Friday morning to the year's first snows that have shrouded their homes, gardens and roads in a blanket of white.

On the Kurdistan Region side of the border the snow fell in the provinces of Duhok and Erbil.

"It is a great day for us, because it is a mountainous area. We like cold weather," a young man said in Haji Omaran, a town on the Iranian border. He complained though that they had problem buying kerosene for heating which may push them to cut trees for firewood.

In Turkey's city of Van, southeast of the country, 20cm of snow was reported, blocking most roads to traffic and pedestrians.

In Iran, the snow covered parts of the provinces of West Azerbaijan such as Urmia, and Marivan in Sanandaj province on the border with the Kurdistan Region.

The snow started to fall at about 5:00 in the morning on Friday.

It is the first snow of the year but certainly not the last. The mountains of Kurdistan receive snowfall throughout winter and though some of it starts to melt in spring, most stays on the mountaintops through the summer.

 

Haji Omaran near the Iranian border with the Kurdistan Region. 

 

Photo shows the first snow of the year in the mountainous village of Bnave in Kurdistan Region's province of Duhok on Friday. Photo: Rudaw/Shaprza Akmalay

 

Van Province, Turkey's South East.