Moorhead to Rename Park as ‘Friendship Park’ in Honor of Zakho Partnership
City official Sean Brandenburg said the move recognizes Moorhead’s Kurdish community and the city’s newly established friendship relationship with Zakho in the Kurdistan Region.
Erbil (Kurdistan24) - The US city of Moorhead, Minnesota, is moving to rename Johnson Farms Park as “Friendship Park” in recognition of its newly established relationship with Zakho in the Kurdistan Region, according to remarks delivered by city official Sean Brandenburg during a Moorhead Park Advisory Board meeting on Thursday.
Brandenburg told board members that leaders from the city of Moorhead, Minnesota State University Moorhead, and Zakho formally signed a friendship city proclamation in July 2025 aimed at strengthening cultural exchange, educational cooperation, and community ties between the two cities.
According to Brandenburg, Moorhead is home to approximately 3,500 Kurdish residents, representing nearly eight percent of the city’s population.
“For more than a generation, Kurdish families have been important contributors to Moorhead’s cultural and social fabric,” Brandenburg said, adding that many Kurdish families arrived in the city seeking “safety, stability, and opportunity,” while contributing to local neighborhoods, schools, and the local economy.
Brandenburg said city staff had explored opportunities to designate a municipal park as “Friendship Park,” noting that Zakho would also name a park in recognition of the relationship with Moorhead.
“This name honors that relationship while also allowing communities of all nationalities a place where they can feel welcome,” Brandenburg told the board.
He added that Moorhead is home to more than 63 spoken languages and described the initiative as part of the city’s multicultural identity.
During the meeting, board members questioned how Johnson Farms Park had been selected for the renaming effort.
Brandenburg responded that many parks across the city had historically been named after residential subdivisions by developers and that the city had increasingly explored replacing such names with ones carrying broader meaning for the community.
He said the friendship with Zakho presented an opportunity to rename a subdivision-style park in a way that reflected community identity and cultural connection.
Brandenburg also referenced discussions with Kurdish diaspora representatives involved in the friendship initiative, describing the city’s Kurdish population as an important factor in the decision.
The proposal forms part of wider people-to-people diplomacy efforts connecting Kurdish communities in the United States with cities across the Kurdistan Region.