Little Kurdistan USA | Next Door Neighbors | NPT 

Nashville Public Television is currently producing a new series of documentary programs entitled Next Door Neighbors. Next Door Neighbors looks at Nashvilles status as a new destination city for refugees and immigrants, and explores the rich diversity of people now calling Nashville home. The first program in the Next Door Neighbors series, Little Kurdistan, USA looks at Nashvilles Kurdish population, which is the largest in North America. Kurds first arrived in Nashville in 1976 and have since established a vibrant community recognized by Kurds nationally for its strong cultural and traditional heritage. As refugees, Kurds have overcome significant barriers to survive, and flourish in Nashville. But, refugees inevitably become outsiders; estranged from their homeland, and strangers in their new home. Over the past thirty years, Kurds in Nashville have built the first Kurdish Mosque in the US and opened businesses, restaurants, markets and bakeries, all of which provide benefits to the Kurdish community and points of access to Kurdish culture for all Nashvillians.