Balisan (subdistrict) • בליסאן • بالیسان • باليسان • Balîsan

Balisan is an awe-inspiring valley tucked away with incredible natural sights but a painful history of being decimated by the Kurdish genocide.

In an interview with Barzan Mahmoud Balisani from Xate, he mentioned his grandfather had left Balisan during World War I amid some violence committed by the Ottoman forces. His family came to Erbil and his father (not grandfather) had many memories of working for Jewish bakers in Erbil. What made this story interesting was the violence in Balisan dating to World War I, as well as the memories of working with Jews in Erbil. He did not know which language the Jews spoke with his father but seemed to think that it was a little bit of Kurdish plus a little bit of whatever language the Jews spoke.