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General Entry - Emerging Talent Awards
Tom Verbruggen

General Entry - Emerging Talent Awards

In April 2014, I went to the autonome Kurdish region in Iraq. Despite relentless sectarian violence in the rest of the country, Kurdistan has emerged in recent years as a safe haven for economic growth and political stability. The Kurdish Regional Government (KRG) is going to great lengths to promote tourism and attract foreign investment. With this era of newfound prosperity as a backdrop, people across the nation are preparing for the third federal parliamentary elections since Saddam’s overthrow in 2003, which will be held April 30, 2014.

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33
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Public
Created
Apr 24, 2014
Updated
Feb 09, 2022
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#Iraq Kurdistan Erbil Slemani Pkk

Photos (33)

Cover
Gold-pimped Hyundai Coupé 'Kurdi-style' in Rawanduz. The owner, a young Kurd in his mid-twenties, made and handpainted the body work himself. © Tom Verbruggen
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This boy sells rhubarb alongside Hamilton Road near Khalifan. Between 1928 and 1932, New Zealand-born Hamilton was the principal engineer of a British-built strategic road across Iraqi Kurdistan, which ran from Erbil, through Rawanduz, to the Iranian border near modern-day Piranshahr. © Tom Verbruggen
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Two albino brothers begging near the Irani border city of Haj Omaran. © Tom Verbruggen
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Lorries queuing to pass the Irani border in the city of Haj Omaran. © Tom Verbruggen
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A PKK control post at dusk in the Qandil Mountains. © Tom Verbruggen
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A construction site at the foot of Korek Mountain Ski Resort. © Tom Verbruggen
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Two youngsters in a Ford Mustang wait for their friend, buying licquor in a nightshop in Ankawa, the Christian part of Erbil. © Tom Verbruggen
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These two Kurdish tourists take photos and selfies in an abandoned construction site next to Hamilton Road near Khalifan. © Tom Verbruggen
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A currency trader in his office in Haj Omaran, a city next to the Iranian border. © Tom Verbruggen
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A shishkebab restaurant owner in his kitchen in the city of Haj Omaran, next tot the Iranian border. © Tom Verbruggen
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A Kurdish boy runs in front of the entrance of the Family Mall, the biggest mall in Erbil. © Tom Verbruggen
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Near the village of Penjwin in the Korek mountains, lies a newly-built ski resort. © Tom Verbruggen
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Statues of a male and female peshmerga partisan. Peshmerga is the term used by Kurds to refer to armed Kurdish fighters. Literally meaning "those who confront death", the Peshmerga forces of Kurdistan have been in existence since the advent of the Kurdish independence movement in the early 1920s. © Tom Verbruggen
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A car parked near a lake in the Qandil Mountains, a region controlled by PKK fighters. © Tom Verbruggen
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A customer quietly drinks his alcoholic beverage in a speakeasy in Ankawa, the christian district of the city of Erbil. © Tom Verbruggen
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Patriotic Union of Kurdistan party flags, hanging all over the city of Slemani for the parliamentary elections of April 2014. © Tom Verbruggen
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A Jeep parked in front of a Korek telecommunications company building in Slemani. © Tom Verbruggen
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Election flags of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan party in Salim Street, Slemani. © Tom Verbruggen
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A man selling water melons from the back of his pick up truck, with the Grand Millennium Hotel tower in the background in the city of Slemani. © Tom Verbruggen
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Supporters for the Movement for Change party, Gorran ('Change') in short, in the city of Slemani. © Tom Verbruggen
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View from the restaurant on the top floor of the Grand Millennium Hotel in Slemani. The restaurant makes a full 360° rotation in one hour. The well-lit curbed road is the 700m driveway to the hotel complex. © Tom Verbruggen
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A mountain view near the city of Erbil. © Tom Verbruggen
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A view of the vast grass plains near the city of Erbil. © Tom Verbruggen
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A young boy in a trainer with Ferrari logo in the refugee camp of Qushtapa, near Erbil. Around 7,000 refugees, mostly Syrian have been living there since 2012. © Tom Verbruggen
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A group of young children and a mother posing in the refugee camp of Qushtapa, near Erbil. Around 7,000 refugees, mostly Syrian have been living there since 2012. © Tom Verbruggen
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Two women and two young boys strike a pose in the refugee camp of Qushtapa, near Erbil. Around 7,000 refugees, mostly Syrian have been living there since 2012. © Tom Verbruggen
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Park square in Erbil at the foot of the citadel. Sitting in the park on a bench is one of the Kurds' favourite pastimes. © Tom Verbruggen
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A closed shoe and headscarf seller shop in the old bazaar of Erbil. © Tom Verbruggen
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Candy sellers are waiting for customers in the cinema complex of Family Mall in Erbil. © Tom Verbruggen
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An old man strolls in a street at the foot of the Erbil citadel. © Tom Verbruggen
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Two befriended old men walk the way down from the Erbil citadel. © Tom Verbruggen
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Three policemen of the Kurdish police force are having a break while guarding the citadel in Erbil. © Tom Verbruggen
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A young boy in an FC Barcelona outfit is resting at a football grounds near the city of Haji Omaran. © Tom Verbruggen
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