'Spreading the principles of democracy': Nashville, Erbil form Sister City partnership

Butterflies fluttered among the sassafras leaves near President Andrew Jackson’s grave at The Hermitage on Thursday, as a group of foreign dignitaries who traveled from more than 6,500 miles away listened to Mayor John Cooper give a history lesson.

Gov. Omed Xoshnaw of Erbil in the autonomous Kurdistan region of Iraq led a delegation of Iraqi officials to visit Nashville this week, to formalize a sister city relationship between Music City and one of the worlds oldest cities.

Years in the making, the partnership is aimed at facilitating exchanges in culture, education, commerce, and tourism.

“We are a region different from the regions around us. The people living around us are not accepting us because democracy in their areas isn’t working,” Xoshnaw told The Tennessean in an interview through a translator. “This relationship with Nashville will be another push fortifying our efforts for peaceful coexistence and spreading the principles of democracy in the region.”

Erbil will be Nashville’s first sister city in the Middle East. Nashville already has sister city relationships with nine other cities, including Mendoza, Australia, Edmonton, Canada, and multiple European and Asian cities.

A signing ceremony to formalize the partnership will take place on Saturday at 1 p.m. at the Downtown Library. The public is invited to attend.

'Modernity and ancient history'

Erbil is the capital city of the Kurdistan region of northern Iraq, and has a population of about 1.6 million. Civilization in the citadel of Erbil, the city’s historic city center, is documented back to at least 2,300 BC.

“Life has been continually in the citadel for over 6,000 years, while around it is a place for a modern city that’s growing,” Xoshnaw said. “So you can see modernity and ancient history all at once.”

The citadel has survived conquest by some of the world’s oldest empires: Assyrian, Mongol, and Ottoman. But more recently, the city has faced security threats from a different foe: the militant Islamic State group.

“In the last 10 years, terrorist groups came to our area: Daesh, also called ISIS. We faced a lot of damages to our way of life,” Xoshnaw said. “But through the resilience of the people and our Peshmerga fighters – and the support from the international communities and from our allies – we won the fight, and the terrorists lost.”

Today, Xoshnaw said, Erbil’s culture of peaceful religious coexistence, opposition to terrorism, and commitments to human rights and democracy stands out amid the instability of the region.

“This historic and ancient city is very proud that the sister city relationship with Nashville is getting to the formal stage,” Xoshnaw said. “This is a great privilege for us to become the first city in the Middle East to formalize our relationship with Nashville.”

50 years in the making

Nashville is home to the largest diasporic Kurdish community in the U.S. The first Kurds arrived in Nashville in the mid-1970s, and have since grown to a population of about 20,000.

“This is 50 years in the making,” Cooper said. “I don't think anybody would have predicted 50 years ago that we would be called Little Kurdistan all over the Middle East.”

The Salahadeen Center supported a formal sister city relationship more than a decade ago – during the administration of Mayor Bill Purcell.

“This is a project we have been working on for a long time,” Mina Johnson, board president of Sister Cities of Nashville, said in a statement. “We are so looking forward to being able to share an even deeper connection with our Kurdish neighbors both here and in Erbil.”

Work on this week’s formal signing began three years ago, and involved visits to both cities and a Metro Council resolution. The partnership is supported by the Kurdish American Cultural Institute, the U.S. Consulate General in Erbil, and the U.S. State Department.

Last year, a Kurdish delegation from Erbil visited Nashville for the first time. In May, Cooper led a delegation from Nashville to Erbil for a week-long visit to the city and surrounding countryside. The group met with Kurdish dignitaries, and visited the Citadel and bazaar,

“They were incredibly hospitable,” Cooper said.

‘The City of Music’

Nashville’s partnership with Erbil will center on cultural and educational exchange.

Throughout their visit this week, the delegation visited sites of Nashville’s diverse cultural heritage, including the National Museum of African American Music, Ft. Negley, the Grand Ole Opry, the Salahadeen Center, the Nashville Sounds and Prince’s Hot Chicken, along with The Hermitage.

On Friday morning, the delegation toured John Overton High School, and met with Metro Schools Director Adrienne Battle and school board members Rachel Elrod and Freda Player-Peters.

In one classroom, a student greeted Erbil City Mayor Nabaz Abdulhamid and others in the group in Kurdish –  to much enthusiasm from the group. There are more than 3,000 Kurdish students at Metro Nashville Public Schools.

Dignitaries also learned about the career prep tracks the school offers. Student ambassadors shared their own paths toward post-graduation employment opportunities, including how the school helps students obtain OSHA workplace safety certifications, and professional certifications in Adobe graphic design platforms and as a nurses’ aide, allowing certified graduates to work in a hospital immediately after graduation.

The group also stopped briefly in the school’s auditorium, where students were rehearsing vocals and vibrant choreography for “All That Jazz” from their upcoming performance of the musical Chicago this December.

“The sister cities announcement honors … this remarkable ally for America and the Middle East, which values diversity and democracy," Cooper said, "but it also recognizes Nashville's journey to being a diverse and welcoming city, ourselves."

Reach reporter Vivian Jones at vjones@tennessean.com or on X and Threads at @Vivian_E_Jones.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Nashville Kurdish residents: Sister City partnership formed with Erbil