“Very few of my friends have come to Kurdistan on holiday, but I don’t understand why it’s still seen as such a risky place to visit,” says Sophie*, 28, who has lived in Erbil for five and a half years and works for a local NGO.
“Those that do make the trip are always surprised by how Westernized it is,” she says. “I know we’re down the road from one of the worst crises in the Middle East, but it doesn’t feel like it at all when you’re in the city. If anything, it seems like more and more bars and nightclubs are opening every week at the moment.”
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Her friend Marcia*, 32, agrees. She’s lived here since 2010, and says life used to be more debauched before ISIS invaded Kurdistan in 2014—back when the city was primarily populated by oil magnates and business types were taking advantage of the region’s natural resources.
“But even though many people left when it looked like ISIS were going to take Erbil three years ago, things are finally picking up pace again,” explains Marcia. “There’s a new cinema café, the first of its kind in the region, and we organize jazz and karaoke nights there all the time.”
Nevertheless, security is taken seriously, both women emphasize, and while shootings in nightclubs have happened, it’s more likely to be a frustrated football hooligan firing at the ceiling of a sports bar than a militant attack.
