> Published Sunday, July 15, 2007
>
> NASHVILLE - Miles from downtown, Nashville's southern neighborhoods are
> home to a thriving enclave of Kurdish immigrants. Just off a wide
> commercial strip called Nolensville Pike, women in head scarves shop at
> the Judy International Market. Lunch traffic is brisk at al-Rasoul
> Restaurant, and on the door of a local mosque, a flier announces Kurdish
> soccer league signups.
>
> Bound by a common language and ethnicity, Kurds here tend to shun
> attention. But a growing problem has turned an unwanted spotlight on
> them: a group called the Kurdish Pride Gang, thought to be the nation's
> only Kurdish street gang.
>
> After a series of high-profile crimes, a teenage suspect's suicide and
> four arrests connected to the attempted murder of a policeman, Kurdish
> Pride has become a source of deep shame and frustration, as Kurds find
> that their youth are as vulnerable to gang culture as are those of other
> populations. ...