Erbil protests Tammo's assassination - Kurdish Globe

From the Heart of Kurdistan Region 

The only English paper in Iraq - No: 325 Sat. October 15, 2011 

National P 3 

Officials’ visit to 

Baghdad offers 

hopeful results 

Kurdish officials and the Iraqi gove 

ernment emphasize settling key 

problems according to the Conse 

stitution and accords that have alre 

ready been signed. A second Kurdie 

ish delegation is expected to visit 

Baghdad to discuss a solution for 

suspended issues mainly relevant 

to the country's gas and oil legislate 

tion, disputed areas and partnership 

in governing. 

National P 7 

Recycling investors 

eye Kurdistan 

Erbil protests 

Tammo’s assassination 

P 4 

GLOBE PHOTO/ Safin Hamed 

Syrian Kurdish refugees protest the assassination of Mishaal Tammo in front of the Kurdistan Parliament in Erbil, Oct. 8. 

National P 6 

Salahaddin 

University allocates 

230 master’s places 

Sport 

P 15 

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The Kurdish Globe No. 325, Saturday, October 15, 2011 2 

Strategic agreement to be reconsidered 

Globe Editorial 

The Kurdish media are nowade 

days preoccupied with the posse 

sibility of the Kurdistan Regionae 

al Government’s reshuffle in the 

next month. According to the 

strategic agreement between the 

two powerful Kurdish political 

forces, the Kurdistan Democratic 

Party and the Patriotic Union of 

Kurdistan, one party is to run the 

government for two subsequent 

years, then turnmatters over to 

the other party for the remaining 

two years. With the most recent 

formation of the KRG in 2009, 

the premier post went to the 

PUK under the leadership of Dr. 

Barham Salih, who has run the 

government since. According to 

the agreement, Salih’s term is to 

end this month and the premier 

post goes to the KDP. 

Even though there is no office 

cial statement from either party 

about the handover of power, 

the speculation is that the KDP 

will acquire the premier post. 

Another speculation is about 

who will get the top post within 

the KDP once power is switched 

between the KDP and PUK. It is 

mostly considered and reported 

in the media that former KRG 

Prime Minister Nechirvan Barze 

zani is the strongest candidate 

for the post. 

Some media circles argue that 

at this sensitive period a governme 

ment reshuffle is not the best 

time and the current government 

under Salih should continue for 

another two years. Still other 

circles argue that change is nece 

essary and would have more of 

a positive impact on the current 

situation both in Kurdistan and 

Iraq. 

According to the media specule 

lation and internal public discusse 

sion around the issue, one can 

detect the fact that the governme 

ment is going to reshuffle and 

most likely Nechirvan Barzani 

will lead the next government. 

But whether or not the gove 

ernment will be reshuffled, the 

KRG faces serious challenges 

on many fronts. Consolidation 

of democratic and economic refe 

forms needs to be dealt with sere 

REUTERS/Majed Jaber 

Supporters of Kurdistan Democratic Party and Patriotic Union of Kurdistan wave their parties' flags at a gathering in downtown Erbil, March 11. 

riously. Growing aggressiveness 

of Turkey and Iran on border 

areas under the pretext of PKK 

and PJAK military activities is 

another issue for which the KRG 

needs to develop a very delicate 

and balanced policy. Relations 

with Baghdad are worsening 

as the Iraqi Prime Minister dispe 

plays centralized tendencies and 

shies away from his promises 

to resolve the pending issues 

between Erbil and Baghdad. 

There’s the prospect of the U.S. 

troop withdrawal from Iraq,and 

unresolved issues over the dispe 

puted territories carry serious 

potential for a Kurdish Arab 

civil war. All these are now coupe 

pled with the growing tension 

in Syria and the Syrian Kurds 

position in the possibility of a 

regime change there. 

These are very serious issues 

and require serious and somber 

attention. To deal with these 

issues, it is absolutely necesse 

sary that a strong cabinet with 

a strong leader run the gove 

ernment in such a dire period. 

Whether the incumbent prime 

minister remains for another 

two years or whether Nechirvan 

Barzani acquires the post, the 

political parties must unite behe 

hind the government in order for 

the KRG to smoothly deal with 

the burdensome issues. 

It does not really matter who 

gets the post; what really matte 

ters is with what principles and 

guidance will the KRG deal with 

Baghdad, Ankara or Tehran. No 

matter who keeps the post, the 

KRG has to make a better policy 

and inform the public how it is 

going to deal with the issue of 

reform and combat corruption in 

Kurdistan. 

It is also imperative to touch 

upon the necessity of the strate 

tegic agreement between KDP 

and PUK. At the time they 

signed this agreement, it served 

the Kurdish national interests. 

As they composed the two powe 

erful rivalry political forces in 

Kurdistan, a strategic agreement 

between them was essential in 

order to secure a united Kurdie 

ish position in the post-Saddam 

period. 

The social, political and econe 

nomic landscape of Kurdistan 

has since changed dramatically. 

New forces arrived at the politice 

cal arena,and since the establishme 

ment of the Kurdistan regional 

Parliament there are opposition 

forces today. Today, the KDP 

and PUK are not the only politice 

cal actors in Kurdistan--though 

they are strong and powerful 

still. 

The context of the strategic 

agreement between the two 

should be reconsidered for 

the purpose of creating a new 

mechanism of strategic unity to 

include all the political forces in 

Kurdistan. For this, a coherent 

Kurdish national strategic polie 

icy is to be developed with the 

consent and participation of all 

the political forces so as to face 

the challenges ahead. 

Kurdistan region must have 

enough maturity to develop a 

proper mechanism wherein a 

transfer of power takes place 

smoothly and properly like any 

other democratic regime. Strate 

tegic agreement between politice 

cal parties should not be about 

government formation or powe 

ersharing any more. Kurdistan 

has passed that stage. Strategic 

agreements should be mostly 

about protecting Kurdish nate 

tional interests against those 

forces that attempt to diminish 

or destroy them. Internal affairs 

should run according to democe 

cratic principles and justice. 

Periodic elections should dete 

termine who runs the governme 

ment and who is going to be the 

opposition. It should be the decise 

sion of the people through ballot 

boxes to put any political party 

in power and the other in the role 

of opposition. Parties should dige 

gest and recognize the public 

decision and act accordingly. 

Exchange of power between the 

KDP and PUK according to the 

strategic agreement was a necesse 

sity to build up confidence and 

trust between them in order to 

remedy the years of civil war. It 

is time for these two parties to 

realize that neither the Kurdish 

public nor the demographic charae 

acter of Kurdistan is the same as 

those horrible times. Society is a 

dynamic institution and changes 

rapidly. Human interactions and 

interrelations develop at a much 

faster rate in today’s global comme 

municative age. Political parties 

should pace with such changes 

and acts accordingly, if not to 

remain behind and gradually be 

nostalgia. If they want to be dyne 

namic and vibrant, political parte 

ties should catch the dynamism 

of the people whom they are 

supposed to serve. 

Azad Amin 

Weekly paper printed in Erbil 

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Time to settle problems 

Erbil and Baghdad 

governments set 

to negotiate as 

al-Maliki promises 

to meet Kurdish 

demands in 

accordance with 

the Constitution. 

Kurdish officials and the 

Iraqi government emphase 

size settling key proble 

lems according to the 

Constitution and accords 

that have already been 

signed. A second Kurdish 

delegation is expected to 

visit Baghdad to discuss 

a solution for suspended 

issues mainly relevant 

to the country's gas and 

oil legislation, disputed 

areas and partnership in 

governing. 

A delegation representie 

ing Kurdish major parties 

and the region’s presidence 

cy met with Iraq governme 

ment officials and politice 

cal parties in Baghdad for 

four days and returned to 

Erbil carrying a "posite 

tive" answer, giving hope 

for further negotiations in 

the near future. 

"The delegation was 

able to bring about a suitae 

able status for another 

technical and expert dele 

egation from the Kurdie 

istan Regional Governme 

ment to visit Baghdad 

and talk about procedures 

to resolve suspended isse 

sues," said Fazil Miran, 

secretary of the Kurdie 

istan Democratic Party 

politburo. The visit was 

"successful," Mirani--a 

member of the Kurdish 

delegation--told reporters 

in a press conference on 

October 8, a day after he 

arrived in Erbil. 

The delegation stated 

that al-Maliki promised to 

meet Kurdish demands in 

accordance with the Conse 

stitution and agreements. 

Kurdish parties have alle 

Kurdish delegation’s visit to Baghdad offers hopeful results 

GLOBE PHOTO/ Kawe Jamm 

Kurdistan Democratic Party's Fazil Mirani speaks to reporters in Erbil about relations with Baghdad officials, Oct. 8. 

lied with the Prime Minie 

ister's National Coalition 

to participate in the gove 

ernment based on a letter 

containing 19 points of 

Kurdish demands. 

Kurdistan Region Preside 

dent Massoud Barzani 

already announced that a 

delegation will test Baghde 

dad's will on respondie 

ing to Kurdish demands, 

and then a KRG delegate 

tion--probably as a last 

attempt--will go to Baghde 

dad to make agreements 

on resolving problems 

between both sides. 

This statement does not 

make a "threat," accordie 

ing to Mirani, but it gives 

more meaning. "The Presie 

ident of the region maybe 

no longer want to waste 

efforts for bringing Iraqi 

parties together," said the 

KDP official. 

The delegation is compe 

prised of KDP's Mirani, 

PUK politburo member 

Mulla Bakhtiyar, head of 


dency Office Fuad Husse 

sein and two other membe 

bers from the Kurdistan 

Islamic Union and Islamie 

ic Komal in Kurdistan. 

"Rights are obtained, not 

given. Therefore, we must 

strive to take our rights 

from Baghdad through 

insisting, observing and 

working" on those issues, 

said Mirani, urging Kurds 

to follow their cases as 

the federal government is 

responding now. 

Erbil officials have rece 

cently issued harsh stateme 

ments against the Iraqi 

government, mainly 

against Prime Minister 

Nuri al-Maliki, for ignorie 

ing cases claimed by the 

Kurds such as the issue 

of implementing Article 

140 of the Constitution. 

Implementing this article 

allows original inhabitae 

ants of the so-called dispe 

puted areas like Kirkuk 

to decide whether to be 

governed by Erbil or to 

remain under the Baghde 

dad government's adminie 

istration. 

Some Iraqi parties argue 

the validity of this article 

because its implementate 

tion deadline--the end of 

2007--is over now; Kurds 

insist on and plan to defe 

fend Article 140 until it is 

completely implemented. 

The article has "proble 

lems" and must be expe 

plained, admitted Mire 

rani, but his notes reduce 

the article's complicity, 

not its validity. "There 

are some towns like 

Makhmour that shouldn’t 

have been included withie 

in this article," he said, 

meaning that Makhmour 

is not disputable and is a 

part of Kurdistan Region. 

Other towns like Kalar, 

Kifri and Chamchamal, 

he added, were separated 

from Kirkuk province by 

a Baath decree. Those 

decrees should be cance 

celed and those towns 

should be annexed again 

to Kirkuk province, he 

said. Those towns mainte 

tained by Kurdish popule 

lations will curve the rate 

of Kurds in the controverse 

sial province. 

Tensions between Kurdie 

ish officials and Iraqi 

Prime Minister Nuri al- 

Maliki renewed once 

again after the Council of 

Ministers passed a draft 

for Iraq's gas and oil law 

last September. The law 

was rejected later in Parle 

liament after Kurdish obje 

jections. Furthermore, the 

move gathered Kurdish 

officials working in the 

Iraqi government and Parle 

liament to meet with the 


dent in Erbil. The meetie 

ing ordered a last round 

of negotiations with the 

Iraqi government. 

Maliki orders Kurdistani flags to be removed in Khanaqin 

The people of Khanaqin 

burned a letter from Iraqi 

Prime Minister Nouri al- 

Maliki to the Khanaqin 

administration ordering 

Kurdistan flags to be reme 

moved from government 

buildings during a protest 

rally last Tuesday. 

Khanaqin is the fifthlargest 

city in the Diyala 

governorate. It lies a few 

kilometers from the Irane 

nian border, about 140 

kilometers northeast of 

Baghdad. The town is one 

of the disputed areas bete 

tween Kurds and Arabs. 

Maliki ordered the local 

administration in Khanaqie 

in to remove Kurdistani 

flags from government 

buildings and raise only 

Iraqi flags. The decision 

came after Iraqi security 

forces sent a letter to Malike 

ki, who is also commander 

in chief, complaining they 

visited Khanaqin and saw 

only Kurdistani flags on 

government institutions. 

Meanwhile, Khanaqin 

Mayor Muhammad Mulle 

lah Hassan described Male 

liki's decision as "racist." 

Mullah Hassan said that 

Khanaqin is a Kurdish 

city and "it is the people's 

natural right to hoist their 

flag." He said his office 

will not implement Malike 

ki's order. 

Social activists and membe 

bers of nongovernmental 

organizations gathered in 

the town's main square, 

Krndi Square, to prote 

test the prime minister's 

decree. The protesters, 

while raising Kurdistanife 

flag, burned copies of the 

letter Maliki sent to the 

town's administration. The 

Khanaqin town council 

held a special meeting on 

Oct. 13 to discuss the flag 

issue. The council agreed 

to reject Maliki's order. 

In September 2006, the 

local administration in the 

town decided to raise the 

Kurdistan flag beside Iraqi 

flag on the roof of every 

governmental institution. 

The administration also 

stated it wants Khanaqin 

to part of Kurdistan Rege 

gion, rather than under 

the control of the Baghdad 

government. 

Recently, Kurdistan Rege 

gion President Massoud 

Barzani visited Khanaqin 

and requested the Baghde 

dad government to impleme 

ment the Article 140 of 

Iraqi Constitution, which 

sets forth the process for 

dealing with the disputed 

areas between Iraq and 

Kurdistan.


Kurdistan blames Syrian regime for Tammo's killing 

While Mishaal Tammo, 

a member of the newly 

formed opposition Syrie 

ian National Council and 

the spokesperson of the 

Kurdish Future Party, was 

attending a political meetie 

ing with his son Marsil, 

his brother Abdurrazzaq, 

party member Zahida Rase 

schkilo, and three other 

people in a house in Al-Qame 

mshli on Oct. 7, a group of 

five armed men entered the 

house and asked, in Arabic, 

for Tammo. When Tammo 

stood up, they opened fire. 

While he was on the floor, 

Tammo was shot in the 

head. Marsil was shot in 

his stomach, and Rashkilo 

suffered a leg injury. 

Tammo, a former politice 

cal prisoner in Syria, had 

escaped an earlier assasse 

sination attempt on Sept. 

8. After the failed attempt, 

he said received informate 

tion that attempts would 

be made on the lives of 

well-known figures. "It 

is not important who carre 

ries out the orders, what is 

more important is that it is 

the government that issues 

the orders," said Tammo. 

He added, "When we made 

our stance on the regime 

and our stance on Kurdish 

participation in the Syrian 

revolution clear, we knew 

that such a thing could happe 

pen." 

"Either we earn win our 

freedom alive or we will die 

honorably," he concluded. 

Kurds are outraged by 


The assassination may bring Kurdish parties closer together 

Faris Tammo, his wife, and Syrian Kurdish refugees protest the assassination of Mishaal Tammo in front of the Kurdistan Parliament 

in Erbil, Oct. 8. 

Tammo's killing. Around 

100,000 Syrian Kurds took 

part in his funeral processe 

sion. Syrian security forces 

used tear gas and live amme 

munition on mourners durie 

ing the funeral procession; 

two people were killed and 

several others injured. Out 

of fear of state persecute 

tion, many of the injured 

refused to be treated in hospe 

pitals. Angry mourners in 

the Kurdish city of Amuda 

burned then toppled a statue 

ue of Hafiz al-Assad, forme 

mer Syrian president and 

father of Bashar al-Assad, 

the current president. Prote 

tests also reached Europe; 

Kurdish activists occupied 

Syrian diplomatic missions 

in Geneva, Berlin, London, 

Brussels, Hamburg, Paris 

and Vienna. 

Several demonstrations 

took place in Iraqi Kurdie 

istan Region, condemning 

the killing of Tammo. Iraqi 

Kurdish leaders blamed the 

Syrian regime for the killie 

ing. Most notably, the office 

of President of the Kurdie 

istan Region Masoud Barze 

zani issued a press release 

stating, “The Kurdistan 

Region Presidency strongly 

condemns the assassination 

of Mashaal Tammo and bele 

lieves the Kurdish people 

living in the Kurdish areas 

of Syria have thus far deme 

manded their legitimate 

rights through democratic 

and peaceful means, dese 

spite being subjected on 

numerous occasions to inte 

timidation and unprovoked 

violence.” 

The Kurdistan Parliament 

also issued a statement of 

condemnation: “At a time 

when we see the winds of 

democracy in the Middle 

East and the region bring 

down a number of totalite 

tarian regimes, bringing in 

hope for better human rights 

and freedom, it is with rege 

gret that we see the leade 

ers of Syria acting against 

this trend by resorting to 

violence and repression in 

order to silence the popular 

opposition. This violence 

increases day after day and 

sadly resulted in the killing 

of Mashaal Tammo in Al- 

Qamshli." 

Observers have pointed 

out there were several 

motives behind killing 

Tammo. Most notably, he 

always called for unity 

across ethnic and religious 

groups. The regime tries 

to convince Syrians that if 

it falls, there will be ethnic 

civil war in the country, in 

particularly between Kurds 

and Arabs. But Tammo's 

message for Syrian Arabs 

was always focused on a 

better life for all Syrian 

people. His vision for Syria 

was based on secular deme 

mocracy, rotation of power, 

the rule of law and equality 

among citizens. 

Meanwhile, a leader 

of Union Kurds Party in 

Syria (Yaketi), Abdul Baqi 

Yousif, believes "the Syrie 

ian regime killed Tammo" 

so Kurds would be unable 

to hold their planned nate 

tional conference. A confe 

ference was set for Oct. 10 

to include all Kurdish parte 

ties with the aim of unifyie 

ing their position regarding 

the regime and creating a 

single strategy for Kurds in 

Syria. 

Although the conference 

was delayed because of 

Tammo's killing, Yousif 

said the parties will hold 

the conference in the next 

few days. 

"We are not afraid of the 

regime anymore, it is weak 

and can't watch everything 

anymore," he said. 

PKK: Maliki shouldn't make himself a 

victim of Turkey's internal problem 

Turkish parliament renews mandate to attack PKK 

Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri 

al-Maliki said sending Iraqi 

troops to the Iraqi Kurdie 

istan Region borders with 

Iran is the best option to 

push out Kurdish separatist 

Kurdistan Workers' Party 

(PKK) and Free Life Party 

of Kurdistan (PJAK) milite 

tants who operate in the 

mountainous border areas. 

PKK spokesman Ahmed 

Denis, said PKK sees Malike 

ki's statement as a political 

statement, mainly pointed 

at Kurdistan Region leade 

ers, rather than PKK. Dene 

nis believes Maliki is using 

all cards available to push 

Iraqi Kurdish leaders to 

solve their problems with 

Baghdad. 

In interview with Reuters, 

the Iraqi prime minister 

said, "Sending Iraqi troops 

to the north of Iraq was 

the best option to push out 

Kurdish separatist PKK and 

PJAK militants who have 

hidden for years in Iraq's 

mountains. Logic says the 

way to end their presence, 

to end the Turkish and Irane 

nian intervention in Iraqi 

affairs, is sending troops or 

creating enough Iraqi mease 

sures to prevent their prese 

ence on Iraqi territory." He 

added, "When and how we 

send them depends on our 

military capabilities and 

the nature of our situation, 

when there will be opportune 

nity we will be there." 

Turkish authorities have 

described Maliki's stateme 

ment as positive. "Mr. Male 

liki's statement is positive. 

We have already demanded 

it. When Iraq preserves its 

own territories and borders, 

there is no need for Turkey 

to stage cross-border operate 

tions," said Turkish Foreign 

Minister Ahmet Davutoglu. 

"That terrorist organizate 

tion's taking shelter in Iraqi 

territories was against Iraqi 

constitution and basic resole 

lutions of the U.N." 

Iraqi Kurdish leaders alwe 

ways pointed out that milite 

tary means will not solve 

the PKK issue. Kurdistan 

Region Parliament Speaker 

Kamal Kirkuki said sending 

the Iraqi army to fight PKK 

will fail and it will not solve 

the problem. "Those who 

believe the PKK issue will 

be solved through military 

means are mistaken," noted 

Kirkuki. 

Iraqi Foreign Minister 

Hoshyar Zebari met his 

Turkish counterpart on Oct. 

13 in Ankara. During a joint 

press conference, Zebari 

said, "The presence of PKK 

elements in mountainous 

areas is not legitimate unde 

der the Iraqi Constitution." 

He added, "and this is unacce 

ceptable." 

But the problem of the 

PKK could only be resolved 

through "good neighborly 

relations" between Turkey 

and Iraq, he said. 

Ankara has repeatedly 

urged the Iraqi government 

not to allow its territory to 

be used as a springboard 

by the PKK for attacks 

in Turkey. "We no longer 

have any patience with terre 

rorist activities emanating 

from the Iraqi territory and 

threatening Turkey," said 

Davutoglu."We are determe 

mined to take the most effe 

fective measures," he adde 

ed, without elaborating. 

On Oct. 5, Turkish parliame 

ment extended the mandate 

to stage cross-border operate 

tions into Iraqi Kurdistan 

Region soil against membe 

bers of PKK. The mandate 

allows the Turkish governme 

ment to stage cross-border 

operations into Iraqi Kurdie 

istan at any time to fight 

members of PKK. 

The mandate was first 

brought up to Turkish parle 

liament in 2007, and it was 

extended twice in 2008 and 

2009. 

Since then, the Turkish 

military repeatedly attacked 

bordering areas around 

Duhok and Erbil provinces 

in Kurdistan Region to fight 

rebels of the PKK. This 

year, the Turkish attacks ince 

creased and took the lives 

of several Kurdish civilians, 

including children.


Renters wait to get apartments 

MPs ask Parliament to follow up on the Kasnazan residential project 

GLOBE PHOTO/ Aram Koshki 

A view of residential apartments under construction near Erbil's Kasnazan neighborhood. 

Eighteen Kurdish 

members of 

Parliament recently 

supported a request 

in which they asked 

the Kurdistan 

Parliament to 

investigate 2,000 

unfinished apartments 

on Kasnazan Road 

in Erbil. The 

government will 

supervise the project 

and then distribute 

the apartments. 

Dr. Bashir Khalil Hade 

dad, a Kurdish MP, told 

The Kurdish Globe that 

the MPs had presented a 

request to Parliament to 

look into the unfinished 

residential project. “Unfe 

fortunately, the project 

was given to a private secte 

tor company to build some 

luxury villas and this will 

be the greatest loss for the 

renters,” said Hadad. 

The project to build 

3,000 residential units was 

taken by a Turkish compane 

ny several years ago. The 

company completed 1,000 

apartments and distributed 

to renters, but the other 

2,000 units remain unfinie 

ished and people still want 

to rent or buy them. 

Hadad criticized the 

government for not overse 

seeing the project. “There 

are more than 30,000 

people in Erbil who filled 

out rental applications in 

the hopes of getting a unit 

there.” 

He also said MPs disae 

agree with handing the 

project over to a private 

sector company to build 

villas. He said the contract 

should be canceled and 

the Ministry of Constructe 

tion and Housing should 

take the project back. “A 

new budget needs to be 

allocated to finish it,” he 

said. 

Of the 18 MPs supportie 

ing the request, seven are 

from the Kurdistani party. 

Aso Kareem, another 

MP, believes the first 

phase of the project was 

a good start to solving the 

housing problem in Kurdie 

istan. “The other 2,000 unfe 

finished apartments would 

have been given to rente 

ers at a reasonable rent, 

but we found the project 

was given to the private 

sector. The new company 

will build some villas that 

are very expensive and 

poor people cannot afford 

them,” said Kareem. 

The project's land bele 

longs to the government, 

and it spent 15 million 

Iraqi dinars on it. “I think 

Parliament should work 

on this case very seriousle 

ly,” he said. 

Following their request, 

Parliament Speaker Kamal 

Kirkuki asked the relevant 

committees, including the 

Committee for Constructe 

tion and Housing, to inve 

vestigate about the case 

and send back a report to 

Parliament for a decision. 

The project, known as 

Kasnazan apartments, 

should have been finished 

five years ago. The Turkie 

ish Chevikler Company 

took it over in 2005 but 

the project stopped in Octe 

tober 2006. Then, KRG’s 

investment board took it 

back and gave it to Rad 

Company, a Kurdistan 

company. 

Before establishing the 

investment board, the 

Ministry of Construction 

and Housing fulfilled and 

took all the projects itself. 

The Kasnazan apartment 

project was one taken by 

the ministry. When the 

Turkish company left the 

project permanently, the 

Ministerial Council dece 

cided to give it to Rad 

Company. 

Floria is the name of the 

new residential project by 

Rad Company and will 

be built on the same area 

Chevikler was building 

on. The Floria’s project 

stopped in April 2011, but 

has since been restarted. 

The company has started 

to sell the units and the 

lowest price for an apartme 

ment is $130,000. This is 

out of reach for lower-ince 

come residents or those 

wishing to rent an apartme 

ment, many of whom have 

been waiting for years to 

buy an apartment. Howeve 

er, the company will give 

500 apartments to families 

of martyrs and victims of 

the Anfal attacks. 

Kirkuk's poor services questioned 

Kirkuk governor says province “oppressed” 

Kirkuk province finds 

itself falling behind in 

terms of projects initiated 

for public services. 

Krikuk Governor Najmaddin 

Kareem announced that Iraq 

and Kirkuk in particular are still 

in need of American forces to 

deter attacks on the province. 

He also stated that some Iraqi 

ministries have ignored Kirkuk 

completely. 

Kareem's statement came after 

a visit by Iraqi Deputy Prime 

Minister for Services Salih 

Mutlak to Kirkuk on Wednesde 

day. Mutlak accompanied by a 

number of ministers who visie 

ited Kirkuk to announce that 

the Iraqi government "attempts 

to promote public services via 

projects" in the province. 

"Kirkuk has been oppressed a 

great deal and still suffers; the 

size of the [allocated] budget 

for it is not in accordance with 

the demands by its people," said 

the governor in the meeting with 

Mutlak and other local and gove 

ernmental officials. 

Although a wave of violence in 

Kirkuk since 2003 has affected 

the execution of projects and 

services, said Kareem, "some 

ministries have not conducted 

any project in the province." 

Regarding security, the governe 

nor assured that the local secure 

rity authority has its own plan 

to protect the province "whether 

the American forces stay or 

leave." But he added: "We find 

American forces' presence nece 

essary for Iraq in general and 

for Kirkuk in particular in orde 

der to respond to any attempts 

to attack." The Iraqi forces are 

not competent yet to protect the 

country's aviation, navy and borde 

ders, and will need to be trained 

and its abilities promoted. 

The chairman of the Kirkuk 

Provincial Council, Hassan 

Toran, also complained to Mutle 

lak about the Iraqi government. 

“Some of the ministries do not 

count Kirkuk as a part of Iraq." 

"The Iraqi government is 

obliged to offer the best service 

es to the province," the deputy 

prime minister vowed during the 

meeting. "Kirkuk has to have a 

beautiful appearance because it 

represents a smaller Iraq as all 

ethnicities of the country exist 

in the province. “ 

Mutlak assured that reconse 

struction and services for Kirkuk 

will end its political problems as 

well. He assured that his accompe 

panying ministerial delegation 

will make immediate decisions 

on some service problems, while 

for others they have to go back 

and discuss with the ministerial 

council in Baghdad. 

He said that decisions have 

been made for housing projects 

proposed by the Ministry of 

Housing. He promised to build 

hospitals and provide medicate 

tions. Also, he called on lending 

farmers in the province nonprofie 

it loans to promote agriculture 

in Kirkuk. 

Health Minister Majeed Hamae 

adamin announced they would 

come back to Kirkuk in 10 days 

to place the cornerstone of a 

492-bed hospital. 

Minister of Migration and Mige 

grants, Dindar Doski, noted that 

his ministry would initiate the 

Council of Ministers to offer 

services for villages inhabited 

by people returned to their orige 

gins after 2003. He also said they 

will work on quarters like Panja 

Ali, Faylaq and Ma'askar Khale 

lid, where returning migrants 

have built houses illegally; he 

said they will try to register the 

houses legally for them.


President of Salahaddin University: 

Academic standards are rising 

University to cooperate with Russian 

and German institutions 

PRESS PHOTO 

Dr. Ahmed Dizayee, preside 

dent of the Salahaddin Unive 

versity in Erbil, Kurdistan 

Region's largest university, 

said in an interview with 

The Kurdish Globe that the 

academic standards of the 

university are improving 

rather than declining. 

Dr. Dizayee, who paid a 

visit to Germany, said he 

was welcomed in Germany 

at a very high level. "I rece 

cently paid a visit to Russia 

and Germany," Dr. Dizayee 

told the Globe. "The rease 

son I went to Russia was 

because delegations from 

four Russian universities 

visited Salahaddin Universe 

sity in February last year. It 

was the first time four big 

Russian state universities 

paid a visit to Salahaddin 

University to develop ties 

with us.” 

Dr. Dizayee said that durie 

ing their visits, the delegate 

tions invited him to visit the 

universities in Russia. "We 

are planning to start coope 

erating with them in some 

fields, such as engineering, 

chemistry, architecture, 

physics, mathematics and 

others," said Dr. Dizayee. 

"We reached a cooperation 

agreement with them to 

help us in awarding scholae 

arships to our students." 

The Salahaddin Universite 

ty president said they have 

agreed with a Russian unive 

versity to launch Russian 

language training courses 

for interested applicants in 

Kurdistan. "This is a step 

toward paving the way for 

the launch of the Russian 

Language Department at 

our university." 

Describing his visit and 

the way he was received in 

both countries, Dr. Dizayee 

said he is proud Salahddin 

University has its position 

among the Iraqi and Kurdie 

ish universities, and that 

the delegation was welce 

comed at a very high level 

in Germany. 

There are some allegate 

tions about the decline in 

the academic quality at the 

university. Dr. Dizayee told 

the Globe that one should 

look into the factors behind 

the decline, which include 

the continuous wars in the 

country from the 1980s unte 

til 1998. 

"However, in the period 

between 1998 and 2003, 

there were some improveme 

ments, and after 2003, the 

development in the quality 

continued at a faster pace. 

So I can say that currently 

the level of our university 

is on the rise rather than 

the decline.” 

Regarding the quality of 

students applying for highe 

er education, Dr. Dizayee 

says that the Ministry of 

Education has to cooperate 

with his university to impe 

prove the quality of educate 

tion in the region. 

"We know that the Minie 

istry of Education is trying 

to bring about reforms and 

we are also trying on our 

side to improve our faculte 

ties and equipment, so we 

can produce a capable gene 

eration.” 

In terms of accommode 

dations for students and 

dormitories, the university 

is now facing some compe 

plaints from the students 

about shortage of accomme 

modations, and Dr. Dizaye 

yee says the main issue is 

that the Shawkat Sheikh 

Yaziddin Dormitory, the 

university's largest dorme 

mitory with a capacity of 

1,700 students, is being reme 

modeled. Because delays 

in the work by the contracte 

tor, the remodeling proce 

cess, which should have 

been finished before the 

start of the academic year, 

it is not yet complete. 

"My message to the stude 

dents who used to stay 

there is that it would take 

some more time for the reme 

modeling to be finished, so 

they should not wait longe 

ger, but rather come and 

ask for other options from 

the university's residential 

office." 

According to Dr. Dizayee, 

Dr. Ahmed Dizayee, president of the Salahaddin University in Erbil 

the university is planning 

to organize an academic 

conference this month to 

celebrate the university's 

30th anniversary. 

"The conference will be 

attended by 400 local and 

foreign university lecture 

ers, and more than 630 

advisers and experts and 

many of our professors 

have been working on the 

project for more than a 

year, and to date,210 studie 

ies have been submitted 

for the conference." 

Post-graduate admission regulations change 

Hoping to solve 

issues regarding 

master's degree 

admissions, the 

Kurdistan Regional 

Government's 

Ministry of Higher 

Education and 

Scientific Research 

said applicants who 

fail to submit langguage 

and computer 

test certificates by 

Oct. 21, will be 

automatically 

disqualified for 

master's degrees at 

state universities. 

According to information 

available from the preside 

dency of the University 

of Salahaddin Hawler, the 

largest government-owned 

university in Kurdistan, 

the university has allocated 

230 places for post-graduae 

ate students for the acade 

demic year 2011-2012. 

Vice President of Salahe 

Salahaddin University allocates 230 master's student places this year 

PRESS PHOTO 

A group of students attending a class at a Salahaddin University college. 

haddin University Dr. Ibrahe 

him HamaRash, said in an 

interview with The Kurdie 

ish Globe that allocating 

post-graduate places was 

at the sole discretion of depe 

partment heads. 

"This year, 850 applicants 

from different colleges and 

university departments 

have taken the entrance 

exams, of which 230 succe 

cessful applicants will be 

admitted," Dr. HamaRash 

told the Globe. "The Minie 

istry of Higher Education 

has set a deadline of Oct. 

21 for the submission of 

the test certificates for Engle 

lish language and computer 

skills; otherwise they will 

be taken off the list withoe 

out being allowed to take 

part in the academic compe 

petition, which normally 

comes after these two basic 

tests." 

The reason behind this dece 

cision is because in previoe 

ous years, applicants were 

not obliged to submit their 

test certificates immediae 

ately, but were only asked 

to sign a letter stating they 

would do so during the 

course of their studies. 

This led to a situation 

where some applicants 

delayed submitting their 

certificates for up to two 

years, which created seve 

eral problems. The new 

rules obliging applicants 

to submit certificates in 

advance was welcomed by 

most university professors, 

who believe it will prevent 

problems. 

Some students who have 

applied for post-graduate 

studies say there are not 

enough places in the proge 

grams, and that more stude 

dents should be accepted. 

In the Department of 

Sociology and Social Scie 

ences, for example, 48 

applicants are competing 

for six seats, two of which 

are allocated for socioloe 

ogy, two for anthropology 

and two scholarship places 

where successful students 

can choose their course of 

study. One graduate of the 

Sociology Department bele 

lieves having dozens of 

applicants competing for 

two seats may cause stude 

dents to feel hopeless. 

Another issue with postgraduate 

studies is that in 

Kurdistan a student can 

only apply to a department, 

and there's no chance to 

change the degree, once 

accepted. Other countries 

allow master's students to 

change their subject area. 

This means that if a depe 

partment doesn't ask for 

a post-graduate place, the 

graduates of that departme 

ment need to wait for an 

entire year, hoping their depe 

partment will have a place 

for the next academic year. 

The following year, when 

the department does have a 

place, applicants from preve 

vious years must compete 

for the place.


Foreign recycling companies want to 

work in Kurdistan 

Government working to reduce environmental impact of trash 

GLOBE PHOTO/ Aram Koshki 

People shop at Erbil's Shekhalla Market where a pile of trash has been left in the middle of street. 

Around 1,500 tons of 

garbage and trash is 

collected every day 

in Erbil, capital of 

Kurdistan Region. 

It is a main factor in 

air, water and 

soil pollution. 

Kurdistan's Ministry 

of Municipalities and 

Tourism is planning 

to bring foreign 

recycling companies 

to recycle scrap 

materials in some of 

Kurdistan's cities. 

Muhammed Hussein, a 

shopkeeper, says store 

owners throw their scrap 

cartons and materials into 

the streets and contamine 

nate the environment. “I 

appreciate government's 

efforts to bring new recyce 

cling companies because 

the garbage in front of the 

shops infuriates people 

and is a factor in air pollute 

tion,” said Hussein. 

The scrap materials can 

be reused or recycled, 

using various processes, 

and can be turned into 

new products. Recycling 

makes sense in terms of 

conserving energy and 

economic resources. 

“Instead of throwing the 

garbage into landfills, it is 

better to recycle them. All 

natural resources eventuae 

ally run out, so let’s use 

recycled materials,” said a 

shopkeeper. 

For example, if every 

store throws away 10 carte 

tons daily, this adds up to 

millions of cartons a year. 

Many countries now recyce 

cle cardboard and paper to 

reduce deforestation. 

“Our recycling compane 

nies pay 750 tomans [650 

Iraqi dinars] for per kilo of 

cardboard and the price for 

other scrap materials varie 

ies. Therefore, shopkeepe 

ers and families always 

keep separating useless 

garbage from those matere 

rials that can be reused,” 

said an Iranian man. 

Omar Khidhir, the civil 

environmental director at 

the Directorate of Techne 

nical, Environmental and 

Ray Protection told The 

Kurdish Globe that dumpie 

ing all garbage in one 

place can spread disease 

and pollute the air. He also 

said that garbage dumps 

also cause explosions bece 

cause of the gasses they 

produce. One Erbil dump 

has had an explosion. 

“The gases from garbage 

may also increase cancer 

rates and are a great dange 

ger to public health. There 

are some dangerous gases 

released, such as dioxin, 

when plastic materials 

burn,” said Khidhir. 

In addition, he said a 

recycling system and 

launching new high-tech 

recycling companies to rece 

cycle materials may help 

reduce pollution levels. 

Farhad Muhammed, 

spokesman of Ministry of 

Municipalities and Tourie 

ism of Kurdistan told the 

Globe that the ministry 

is planning to designate 

some areas for garbage 

disposal. He also said the 

ministry will bring new 

recycling companies and 

sign deals with them for 

trash collection and recyce 

cling. 

A recycling plant has alre 

ready been built in Duhok 

province and authorities 

in Suleimaniya province 

are planning to send garbe 

bage to a special center to 

use it to generate energy. 

The ministry plans to inve 

vite new foreign recycling 

companies to Erbil. 

There is one recycling 

plant in Erbil that recyce 

cles medical items and a 

few other materials from 

Erbil’s garbage center in 

Kani Qerzhala. 

“Erbil will have two garbe 

bage centers in the future, 

according to the ministry’s 

plans. There is a possibe 

bility that two different 

companies will manage 

the centers. The existing 

plant cannot recycle all 

the trash, so we will sign 

new contracts to solve the 

problem,” said Khidhir. 

Local authorities in the 

fifth cabinet of Kurdistan 

Region signed a contract 

with a Canadian company, 

because of lack of expere 

rience, to teach a staff to 

manage such projects. 

Companies from Britain, 

Turkey and The Netherle 

lands have also submitted 

proposals to the ministry. 

Garbage becomes an income source 

Some search dumps for scrap metal 

Due to poverty and unemployme 

ment, some resort to collecting 

items from the dump in Suleime 

maniya province to provide an 

income. Suleimaniya's garbage 

dumb is few kilometers from 

Tanjaro, southeast of Suleimaniye 

ya city. The dump receives 100 

tons of garbage daily. 

Although many trucks drive 

fast in the area when they bring 

the garbage, and despite dump 

monitors, scores of people, of 

different ages and genders, carry 

sacks to look for items. They colle 

lect aluminum and copper which 

have value as scrap metal. 

Karwan is a teenager who has 

no father and has been makie 

ing a living collecting items for 

two years. "Life is not nice here 

because many times the older 

people stop me from collectie 

ing good items." Kawan makes 

around 10,000 Iraqi dinars a 

day, which is enough to cover 

his daily needs. 

Some of the scrap collectors 

are experienced enough to recoe 

ognize the trucks bringing garbe 

bage from rich neighborhoods; 

they follow the trucks to see 

where the garbage is dumped. 

"I can tell which truck is loaded 

with items from the rich neighbe 

borhoods. That is why I don't 

spend my time with the trucks 

that come from poor neighborhe 

hoods because there is nothing 

I can make money from, except 

soda cans or cheap items," said 

Emad Noori, another collector 

Ali, Noori's friend, thinks diffe 

ferently; he collects as much as 

he can even from the garbage 

that comes from low-income 

areas because he has to make 

enough money to support his 

three children. 

Ali turned to this occupate 

tion when he developed a back 

problem while working as an 

apprentice builder. Since then, 

he is unable to do work that is 

physically demanding, such as 

construction. 

The best day for Noori was 

when he found a piece of gold 

while looking for aluminum at 

the dump. He sold the piece for 

2 million ID ($1,660). That day, 

Noori treated his friend Ali to 

dinner at a restaurant. 

Asked if the garbage smell 

has a negative impact on their 

health, Noori said "Actually 

it harms our health, but somete 

times we use masks if we think 

the smell is very disgusting and 

bothersome." 

Barham Nasraddin, an econome 

mist, believes the misuse of 

Kurdistan Region's budget rese 

sulted in unemployment and 

poverty. 

"If there were a good plan to 

spend the budget in an organized 

way, there would be no people 

living on garbage. Now is the 

time for the government to work 

on making a plan on how to use 

the budget in the coming years. 

Special sums from the budget 

has to be allotted for investment 

to create as many jobs as posse 

sible for people in the Region," 

Nasraddin concluded.


Interview with the minister of Labor and Social Affairs 

Public and private sectors will be protected equally 

In an interview with The 

Kurdistan Globe, the minie 

ister of Labor and Social 

Affairs, discussed rehabe 

bilitation centers, women's 

shelters, burns centers, 

decreasing unemployment 

and several other issues. 

Minister of Labor and 

Social Affairs Asos Najeeb 

confirms the condition of 

rehabilitation centers have 

been going through an impe 

provement processes, but 

still have outstanding issues. 

She revealed that Kurdistan 

Regional Government has 

laid a foundation stone for 

a new rehabilitation center 

in Erbil. 

Globe: How is the new 

rehabilitation center dese 

signed? 

Najeeb: It is designed acce 

cording to international 

standards; it will have a 

progressive health center 

for treating those who were 

arrested for using drugs. 

We have agreements with a 

European organization that 

will run courses for those 

who work in the center. We 

are working on building anoe 

other rehabilitation center 

in Suleimaniya city also. 

Most of the organizations 

that observe rehabilitation 

in the region, see improveme 

ments in the system. 

Globe: Some people say 

the women's shelters have 

lots of shortcomings. Is this 

true? 

Najeeb: Most likely, the 

shortcomings are lack of 

appropriate buildings and 

a system to run them. But 

we have sent a proposal rele 

lated to the shelter system 

to the Ministerial Council, 

which sent them it also to 

the Consultancy Committee 

to identify the mechanisms 

and tasks of the shelters. 

Globe: How many wome 

en's shelters are there in 

Kurdistan Region? 

Najeeb: There are shelters 

in the cities of Erbil, Sule 

leimaniya and Duhok. But 

in our Region we think we 


Minister of Labor and Social Affairs Asos Najeeb. 

don't necessarily have to 

put all the women in one 

place. We may need more 

than one place to provide 

protection for women. 

Globe: What has your 

ministry done to help preve 

vent “honor killings” and 

suicides? 

Najeeb: What we notice is 

that suicide and murder is 

not only committed against 

women. There are cases of 

men who have committed 

suicide, too. The killing is 

not only in Kurdistan Rege 

gion, but in other countries 

of the world. It is not only 

my ministry's job to fight 

these cases but it is the task 

of the other related agencies, 

civil society organizations 

and citizens as well. We all 

need to play a role by coope 

erating with each other. We 

need to help social workers 

hold conferences and do rese 

search. The cases are about 

to become phenomenon, 

that is why we need to work 

on them. All the statistical 

data concerning women's 

issues are conducted by the 

Directorate on Research on 

Violence Against Women. 

Globe: You submitted a 

draft proposal to Parliament 

concerning job opportunite 

ties. What is the aim of the 

proposal? 

Najeeb: We as ministry, 

with five projects, are tryie 

ing to find jobs for those 

who are jobless and haven't 

found jobs in the public secte 

tor. But we need to expand 

our vision by thinking that 

solving the unemployment 

issue is not the task of only 

one ministry. Now we have 

a policy for operating the 

system and we are waiting 

on a final study. Once we 

have finished it, we will 

submit it to the Ministerial 

Council. The proposal was 

designed with the cooperate 

tion of International Labor 

Organization and the aim 

of it is to find jobs for those 

who are jobless. The Minie 

isterial Council and KRG 

will adhere to the content of 

the proposal as decreasing 

unemployment is affiliated 

with both the Ministerial 

Council and all the other 

ministries. We need also to 

ask the organizations to help 

the government because 

creating jobs is a national 

task and one ministry is not 

responsible for it alone. 

Globe: There are many 

differences between those 

working in the private secte 

tor and those in the public 

sector. Do you a plan to 

give the same privileges 

the public sector employees 

have to those in the private 

sector? 

Najeeb: We have sent a 

draft law to Parliament with 

several sections that address 

this. Those who work in the 

private sector should be as 

safe as those who work in 

the public sector. More impe 

portantly, the government 

needs to allocate money 

from the general budget to 

fund more projects and inve 

vest in those working outse 

side of the government. 

Globe: What happened to 

unemployment insurance? 

Najeeb: We have sent offe 

ficial letters to the Finance 

Ministry to decide who is 

eligible to receive the bene 

efits. In the near future, the 

jobless university graduates 

will receive the benefits. 

Globe: How about the 

loans for small projects? 

Najeeb: According to the 

latest figures, 320 people so 

far have received loans for 

small projects but the proce 

cess is still continuing and 

people fill in forms daily. 

Globe: Some families 

probably don't need benefits 

from Family Care project 

but they receive them anywe 

way. Wouldn't it be better if 

only those who need help 

get it? 

Najeeb: We plan to go over 

all the names registered in 

the program and remove 

those who don't need help 

and remove duplicates from 

the system. We also hope to 

use a database to help solve 

the problems. 

Globe: Another project 

was set up to help divorced 

people, but so far no body 

has received the money. 

Why is that? 

Najeeb: There is no spece 

cial fund allocated officially 

for divorced women at the 

Finance Ministry, but we're 

trying to allocate a budget 

for divorced women from 

the Family Care budget. We 

as a ministry try to do make 

suggestions and the Finance 

Ministry is the source of the 

money. 

Globe: You have sent a 

proposed law to Parliament 

concerning the private secte 

tor and the elderly. Could 

you explain? 

Najeeb: In the past, only 

the government ran senior 

care facilities, but in Europe 

pean countries, the private 

sector also does the same 

job and charities help out. 

There are some charities 

that want to do this work, 

and we have designed plans 

for them to help them succe 

ceed. 

Globe: Are disability bene 

efits the same for everyoe 

one? 

Najeeb: All disabled peope 

ple receive funds based on 

the ministry instructions; 

there is no difference at all. 

What someone receives in 

Duhok for example, somebe 

body in Garmiyan receives 

the same. 

U.S. Education Fair in Erbil 

Ari Mamshae 

EducationUSA is holding 

a University Fair at the Erbe 

bil International Hotel on 

October 14-15. Matthew 

Ference, public relations 

officer of the U.S. Consulae 

ate in Erbil, said the fair 

will have representatives 

from 21 U.S. universities, 

along with ETS, the organe 

nization that administers 

TOEFL and GRE exams. 

"Each of these universite 

ties is prepared to offer 

conditional admissions to 

qualified Iraqi students- 

-conditional admissions 

refers to admitting stude 

dents who may not have a 

TOEFL or GRE score that 

meets their normal applice 

cation standards," said Fere 

rence, asking for those inte 

terested in studying in the 

U.S. to show up and speak 

to university representate 

tives. "Students admitted 

conditionally attend ESL 

classes and are guaranteed 

admission to the degree 

program if they get the reqe 

quired TOEFL/GRE score 

within a specified period 

of time. University repre 

resentatives will discuss 

educational programs, adme 

missions, campus life and 

other topics. Students are 

invited to attend presentate 

tions that provide informate 

tion on applying to graduae 

ate school in the U.S., 

including how and when 

to apply, how to create a 

competitive application, 

how to select a university 

in the US., how to prepare 

for standardized tests and 

how to qualify for a U.S. 

student visa." 

Noteworthy, through the 

Kurdistan Regional Gove 

ernment's Human Capacie 

ity Development Scholarse 

ship program, thousands of 

Kurds are currently studyie 

ing on scholarship in the 

U.S., U.K., Australia and 

other countries. The numbe 

ber of students studying in 

the U.S. is less compared 

to the U.K., primarily due 

to the more complicated 

admission process in the 

U.S. and difficulties gette 

ting U.S. visas.


Iraqi women abused 

under unchanging laws 

Salma Jassim was beaten, 

kicked out of her marital 

home with her newborn 

daughter on her shoulder 

and then deserted by her 

husband. But she says 

the threat she faces from 

her own family, who feel 

shamed because of her dive 

vorce, is just as bad as the 

abuse. 

There are few places in 

Iraq where Jassim can turn 

for help. Iraqi experts bele 

lieve that domestic abuse 

has increased during the 

years of war and economie 

ic hardship since the 2003 

U.S.-led invasion. But atte 

tempts to strengthen laws 

to protect women have 

gone nowhere in the face 

of heavy cultural and relige 

gious resistance. 

The World Health Organe 

nization has estimated that 

one in five Iraqi women 

has reported being a victe 

tim of domestic violence, 

and experts say the rate is 

much higher. Government 

officials say for the time 

being there's little hope 

that laws giving men wide 

rights to "discipline" their 

wives will be changed. 

"There are abusive laws 

against women ... but we 

believe that in this era, this 

project will be rejected," 

said the Human Rights 

Ministry's spokesman 

Kamil Amin. "Politicians 

have no will to change 

these abusive laws." 

State Minister for Wome 

en's Affairs Ibtihal al-Zaidi 

agreed. 

"The new reforms might 

raise issues against Islamic 

laws as well as tribal and 

traditional norms," she 

said. "It is a very sensitive 

issue." 

Al-Zaidi's ministry is 

working with other minie 

istries along with civil 

society organizations in 

coordination with the 

United Nations to finalize 

a national strategic plan 

for the advancement of 

women, combating viole 

lence against women, and 

preparing draft legislation 

to protect against domeste 

tic violence. 

However, al-Zaidi said 

she was "very hesitant" to 

present the draft legislate 

tion to parliament because 

of unsuccessful attempts 

made by Iraq's Human 

Rights Ministry to repeal 

discriminatory provisions. 

"The Iraqi Supreme Jude 

dicial Council thwarted 

our attempts under the 

pretext that the time was 

not right for such amendme 

ments which would be 

rejected by the Iraqi street 

because they conflict 

with religious, tribal and 

traditional norms," said 

Amin, the Rights Ministe 

try spokesman. "Not only 

male lawmakers but even 

some female lawmakers 

stood against such reforms 

because of their extreme 

religious convictions." 

At issue is Iraq's penal 

code, written in 1969, that 

excuses crimes "if the act 

is committed while exe 

ercising a legal right." 

Husbands punishing their 

wives, and parents and 

teachers punishing childe 

dren are considered perme 

missible "within certain 

limits prescribed by law 

or by custom." 

In Iraq, some tribes and 

fundamental Muslim sects 

believe that Islamic laws 

allow husbands to beat 

unruly wives, and even 

for families to kill women 

relatives who are accused 

of bringing shame upon 

the home, such as in cases 

of adultery. The authorie 

ity given to husbands can 

sometimes be exploited 

by their families to abuse 

wives as well. 

More often than not, 

women like Jassim route 

tinely are blamed instead 

of helped. 

Jassim said her husbe 

band's family, which bece 

came wealthy after their 

son started a thriving car 

spare parts business, was 

ashamed of her because of 

her humble background. 

She said her husband's 

sisters beat her so badly 

her breast milk dried up 

and she could not feed her 

baby. The sisters one day 

kicked her and her baby 

out of the house, even 

ripping her headscarf and 

some of her hair off, she 

said. Jassim's husband 

eventually divorced her 

after his sisters accused 

her of stealing money 

from them. 

But when Jassim, 22, 

returned to her family 

home with her baby, her 

brothers blamed her for 

the entire debacle and said 

she'd shamed their family 

by being kicked out and 

divorced. They refused to 

let her leave the house, 

held her at gunpoint and 

threatened to kill her. 

"I accept insult, degradate 

tion and abuse rather than 

the hellish condition I am 

living in now," Jassim 

said recently, sitting in the 

Baghdad office of an Iraqi 

aid agency that offers legal 

advice to such women. 

In September, Iraq was 

named among 34 countries 

that will share a $17.1 mille 

lion grant from the U.N. 

for programs to end viole 

lence against women. The 

U.N. says the money can 

be used to give women 

legal and medical access, 

provide counseling for 

men and women and other 

programs. 

Even small efforts to 

curb domestic violence 

short of changing the law 

have largely failed, office 

cials and experts say. 

Last year, the Interior 

Ministry opened two 

women's protection cente 

ters in Baghdad, where 

victims can file abuse 

complaints with police. 

The centers are sponsored 

by the State Ministry for 

Women's Affairs, which 

opened at least one in each 

of Iraq's 18 provinces. 

Police Col. Mushtaq 

Talib, who oversees the 

two centers in Baghdad, 

said women rarely file 

complaints because "they 

would end up homeless, 

for their families would 

surely reject them." 

At any one time, Talib 

said, the centers deal with 

less than a combined 100 

cases which were referred 

to them from court. 

The WHO study found 

that 21 percent of Iraqi 

women – out of the 

country's population of 

30,747,000 – reported beie 

ing victims of domestic 

violence in a survey taken 

in 2006 and 2007, the late 

est data available. 

Talib said the actual 

number of domestic abuse 

victims likely is far higher. 

A 2010 U.N. report conce 

cluded that while it's impe 

possible to gauge how ofte 

ten Iraq women are beaten 

by family members since 

so few report it, "the proble 

lem may be widespread." 

In its own study, Iraq's 

Human Rights Ministry 

found that domestic viole 

lence was a factor in the 

nationwide increase in 

divorce cases, Amin said. 

In 2010, 53,840 marre 

riages ended in divorce, 

compared to 52,649 in 

2009 and 28,800 in 1997, 

according to the latest 

available U.N. and Iraqi 

Supreme Judicial Council 

data. 

In previous generations, 

women suffering domeste 

tic abuse would stay with 

their husbands regardle 

less of how bad it got. 

But Amin said now Iraqi 

women are starting to push 

back and ask for a divorce 

when they're abused. 

These women who are 

"better educated, enlighte 

ened and aware of their 

rights," he said. "They 

are ready to sacrifice their 

married life for the sake of 

preserving their dignity." 

But even so, many wome 

en prefer to stay in abusive 

relationships because the 

social stigma of divorce 

isn't just embarrassing – it 

can put them in danger of 

their own families as Jasse 

sim's divorce did. 

"When divorced women 

leave one abusive family, 

they fall victims to anothe 

er abusive family," said 

lawyer Wijdan Khalaf. "In 

our society, women have 

no options. There is no soce 

cial protection." 

AP 

AP Photo/Hadi Mizban 

In this Monday, Oct. 1, 2007 file photo, Iraqi women who have been widowed, wait queue to receive aid in Baghdad, Iraq.


Kirkuk reopens its 

Martyrs Bridge 

7 PKK returnees 

sentenced to up to 

Kirkuk Now 

10 years in jail 

Kirkuk Governor Najmaddin Kareem and other local officials visit Martyrs Bridge in the city. 

Kirkuk Governor Najme 

maddin Kareem visie 

ited Martyrs Bridge--the 

second-most important 

bridge of the city—on Octe 

tober 13 where he was acce 

companied by the district 

governor and Azadi police 

chief. 

He announced that aute 

thorities would not allow 

vendors to return to the 

bridge. He talked with 

vendors who were irrite 

tated with the decision to 

close the bridge to them. 

“Instead of here, we have 

dedicated other places for 

you,” said the governor. 

Martyrs Bridge is locate 

ed in Majidiya Street near 

the Kirkuk Citadel. Vende 

dors have sold their items 

on the bridge for years, 

but the head of the district 

of Kirkuk decided to open 

the bridge for cars and reme 

move the vendor sellers. 

Kareem said everybody 

should obey the law. “We 

should take the public inte 

terest into account, not just 

our personal interests.” 

Muhamad Hasan, whose 

has been working on the 

bridge for years, said, 

“They sent us to a place 

where no bargain is posse 

sible. I am poor with a 

family of 12. I only have 

25.000 Iraqi dinars, and 

I also have to pay house 

rent every month.” 

Hasan warned that they 

will protest against the 

decision and work toward 

having a piece of land regie 

istered for them, not just a 

place given to them for a 

fee. 

Kirkuk Now 

Seven returnees who 

were among a group of 

34 Kurdistan Workers 

Party members who laid 

down weapons in 2009 

in a show of support for 

a peaceful solution of the 

Kurdish issue in Turkey 

have been sentenced to 

up to 10 years in jail by a 

court in Diyarbakir city, in 

southeast Turkey, Turkish 

media reported Tuesday. 

They have been charged 

of being members of and 

disseminating propaganda 

for the PKK, which Turke 

key lists as a "terrorist orge 

ganization." 

The PKK members surre 

rendered to the Turkish 

forces in 2009 when the 

Turkish Prime Minister 

Recep Teyyip Erdogan 

launched his initiative 

known as the Kurdish 

Opening in an attempt to 

address the Kurdish issue 

in the country, which has 

been denied for decades. 

PKK leadership then dece 

cided to send a group of 

fighters referred to as the 

"Peace Group" to surrende 

der to the Turkish forces 

to show support for Erdoge 

gn's initiative and a peacefe 

ful solution of the Kurdish 

issue. 

The court in Diyarbakir, 

however, denied the seven 

any pardon, saying the 

PKK members had surre 

rendered to the Turkish 

forces on command of the 

jailed PK leader Abdullah 

Ocalan and therefore canne 

not benefit from Article 

221 of the Turkish Penal 

Code called the “active 

repentance” law, Turkey's 

English-language “Zame 

man” reported. 

Under the article, "terrorie 

ist organization" members 

who surrender will not be 

punished as long as they 

have not been involved in 

any armed clashes with sece 

curity forces or any other 

"terrorist attacks" against 

Turkey. 

The sentence included 10 

years, 10 months for each 

of Mustafa Ayhan, Hüseyie 

in İpek and Nurettin Turge 

gut, who are currently unde 

der arrest. The court also 

sentenced Haci Surgun, 

Kamil Ökten, Melekşah 

Soydan and Fatma İzer to 

seven years, one month in 

jail. 

The court rejected to 

the defendants being defe 

fended in the Kurdish 

language, saying the lange 

guage was not understood 

by the court. One of the 

defendants, Ayhan, said in 

Turkish to “Zaman” after 

he was denied to speak in 

Kurdish, “We left the camp 

and our guns and returned 

to Turkey of our own will. 

All of these efforts are for 

achieving peace.” 

AKnews 

تعلن شركة أسياسيل لألتصاالت المحدودة 

المسؤولية فرع أربيل عن وجود مزايدة علنية 

لبيع المواد المستهلكة المبينه تفاصيلها ادناه في 

مخازن الشركة الواقعة في منطقة طرده رش وذلك 

في تمام الساعة العاشرة من صباح يوم االربعاء 

المصادف 26\10\2011 , فعلى الراغبين 

باالشتراك بالمزايدة مراجعة مقر الشركة الواقع 

في شارع اراس قرب مديرية التربية العامة لدفع 

التأمينات التي تخص المشاركة ويتحمل 

من ترسو عليه المزايدة اجور نشر االعالن و 

المصاريف االخرى على ان ترفع المواد خالل 

ثالثة ايام من تاريخ المصادقة.‏ 

المواد : 

اوالً‏ - بطاريات متنوعة . 

ثانياً‏ - اثاث مكتبي متنوع . 

ثالثاً‏ - اجهزة تبريد متنوعة . 

رابعاً‏ - اطارات سيارة متنوعة.‏ 

Mixed reactions 

of clergy who 

"found Satan" 

The clergy who claimed 

he found Satan, a powerful 

personification of evil and 

a mystic opponent of God 

and mankind in Judaism, 

Christianity and Islam, rece 

ceived mixed reactions by 

Islamic scientists and law 

experts. 

Abdullah Mala Saeed, 

head of the Kurdistan Isle 

lamic Scientists Union, 

said it had always been the 

union's opinion that clerge 

gies should not touch such 

provocative issues. Saeed 

called the clergy "sedite 

tious". Legal expert Abde 

dul-Baset Farhadi called 

on the Attorney General to 

prosecute the clergy since 

he "created an abnormal 

situation in the commune 

nity.” 

"Addressing any topic 

that may offend the feelie 

ings of certain people, for 

instance calling the name 

of Satan and claiming that 

one has seen him, is regule 

lated in penal law," Farhe 

hadi said. 

Meanwhile, the Kurdish 

Ministry of Religious Affe 

fairs and Endowment said 

that it would not take mease 

sures against anyone if a 

speech is not considered 

to be blasphemous or a 

threat to national security. 

"Everyone, including the 

clergy, is free to express 

what he or she believes 

in," Barzan Saleh, spokesme 

man for the ministry, said. 

Clergy Ali Mahmoud 

Hassan, better known as 

Mala Ali Kalak, said durie 

ing an interview with the 

Kurdish weekly "Rudaw" 

that he found the place 

where Satan lives. Acce 

cording to Hassan, he was 

visited by a woman from 

Mosul who claimed that 

she had been enchanted 

by a jinni. Hassan said he 

expelled the jinni from her 

body and converted him to 

Islam. 

The jinni, who allege 

edly introduced himself as 

"Victor John Oliver," told 

the clergy about his childhe 

hood, Hassan said. As a 

child, Victor John Oliver 

said, he was brought to 

Satan by his mother when 

he was ill. Satan allegedly 

prayed for the jinni, who 

then recovered. 

Satan lives in the Bermude 

da Triangle, said he was 

God, has a crown on his 

head and wears a red robe 

like Superman wrapped 

around his shoulders, the 

jinni allegedly said, acce 

cording to Hassan. Also, 

Hassan said, Satan is only 

160 cm tall. 

Aknews


The Kurdish strategy for Iraq: 

divide and exploit 

Ranj Alaaldin 

For The Guardian 

Keep Baghdad weak and 

sustain political divisions 

– that is the Kurdish strate 

egy for Iraq, underpinned 

by an astute game of mane 

nipulation and patience. 

Arab Iraq remains divide 

ed and the Baghdad coalite 

tion government is dysfe 

functional. Disputes over 

territory, natural resources 

and power-sharing, ince 

cluding the implementate 

tion of key legislation, and 

ongoing security problems 

stand in the way of endurie 

ing stability and progress. 

The stable Kurdistan rege 

gion, however, is moving 

ahead, despite being at the 

centre of these disputes. 

It garnered enough votes 

during the March 2010 

parliamentary elections to 

position itself as a kingme 

maker, since top vote-winne 

ners Ayad Allawi and the 

prime minister Nouri al- 

Maliki struggled to form 

a coalition independent of 

the Kurds. 

After nine months withoe 

out leadership and amid 

continuing terror attacks, 

Arab Iraq finally got a 

government – but only 

because the Kurdistan 

president, Massoud Barze 

zani – having kept everyoe 

one guessing as to which 

individual the Kurds were 

going to back – brokered 

an agreement that paved 

the way for a coalition 

of Iraq's major political 

blocs. 

Yet, that agreement 

never came to fruition; Alle 

lawi and Maliki failed to 

come to agreement over 

the distribution of power. 

Through the allocation of 

ministries, however, just 

about enough was done to 

appease various segments 

of Iraq's political specte 

trum, including key Sunne 

ni-Arab politicians who 

contested the elections 

alongside Allawi but, as a 

result of their new-found 

status and prestige, refuse 

to heed any calls to withde 

draw and go into opposite 

tion. 

Arab Iraq was thus given 

a fragile and dysfunctional 

government, and the Kurds 

facilitated this, ensuring 

that a government of nate 

tional unity was actually 

a government of unlikely 

bedfellows driven by suspe 

picion. The politics is still 

divided along sectarian 

lines: hostility exists bete 

tween the Shia Dawa parte 

ty of Maliki and powerful 

politicians belonging to 

the Sunni-Arab dominated 

Iraqiyah bloc, who remain 

wary of his grip on power 

and suspicious of his and 

other Shia blocs' links 

with Iran. 

That works for the 

Kurds. It keeps Baghdad 

weak and unable to move 

forward. It allows them to 

exploit tensions to further 

their own ambitions. For 

example, when Baghdad 

recently moved to revise 

an earlier version of an 

oil and gas law to the detre 

riment of the Kurds, the 

Kurdistan regional gove 

ernment recalled Kurdish 

officials in Baghdad and, 

at the same time, invited 

Maliki's foe, Allawi, to Erbe 

bil for emergency talks. 

That response was aimed 

at exerting pressure on 

Maliki and his governme 

ment, and the Kurds may 

be winning: the revised 

law is now unlikely to be 

approved and the Baghde 

dad oil and gas licensing 

round, scheduled for Januae 

ary 2012, has been postpe 

poned. Similarly, while 

Photograph: Mohammed Ameen/Reuters 

Iraq's prime minister Nouri al-Maliki. By facilitating a dysfunctional coalition driven by suspicion in Baghdad, Kurdistan has 

been able to further its own ambitions. 

Baghdad may be adamant 

that the Kurds will never 

get oil-rich Kirkuk, the isse 

sue, unresolved, provides 

the Kurds with a powerful 

bargaining chip that allows 

them to push for other obje 

jectives in the meantime. 

This includes objectives 

related to their own ene 

ergy sector. Kurdistan is 

establishing itself as an 

industry champion, hostie 

ing the world's oil and gas 

players at a forthcoming 

oil and gas conference in 

Erbil. For the event organie 

isers, CWC, this is a first; 

their previous conferences 

focused on Iraq as a whole 

– not any more, though. 

That is because the rege 

gion is attracting major 

players, evidenced none 

other by former BP chief 

Tony Hayward's $2.1bn 

deal for oil assets in the 

region. Around 40 foreign 

companies from 17 diffe 

ferent countries are comme 

mitted to investing some 

$10bn in the energy secte 

tor. 

But does Kurdistan need 

Iraq? Iraq has control 

over pipelines that alle 

low for oil to be exported 

more efficiently. Exportie 

ing oil via tanker trucks, 

although inefficient, is 

still feasible, but at some 

point a pipeline will be 

needed if Kurdistan is to 

become a viable exporter 

able to manage its huge 

reserves. So far, though, 

Kurdish energy ambitions 

have not been impeded by 

Baghdad's control of the 

pipelines and its messy 

politics. 

Baghdad also provides 

additional revenues, 

which allow for better base 

sic services, infrastructure, 

education and a better 

equipped military – for the 

Kurds. In addition to their 

own resources and reve 

enues – which Baghdad is 

unable to audit and benefit 

from – the KRG gets 17% 

of the annual Iraqi budget, 

worth, at the very least, alme 

most $10bn a year. 

Ultimately, it is about 

keeping any enemies in 

the making close; that is, 

have a foot in Baghdad, 

be aware of behind-thescenes 

developments and 

have constant access to 

the political elite, providie 

ing an opportunity to prome 

mote regression. 

Of course, the Kurds do 

not have to be part of Iraq 

and could declare independe 

dence tomorrow. There is 

little that Turkey and other 

neighbours like Iran could 

do, given their billions 

of dollars worth of trade 

with Kurdistan, domestic 

problems and the general 

volatility in the region, as 

well as the impossibility 

of invading and occupying 

Kurdistan's cities. 

However, the Kurds will 

not declare independence 

because they have a good 

thing going for them. It 

makes little sense to sacre 

rifice this when any unile 

lateral declaration of indepe 

pendence would put them 

«in the wrong», perhaps 

land-lock them and justify 

counter-responses from 

Baghdad and regional 

neighbours. 

Instead, they want to 

declare independence as 

part of a sustainable and 

regional framework, and 

so long as this framework 

gives them Kirkuk. In the 

meantime, the Kurds will 

continue to operate in the 

interests of the Kurds and 

Kurdistan, and that means 

exploiting Baghdad for all 

it has got – a price Iraq and 

Iraqis have to pay to keep 

the the country intact. 

Iran urges Saudi Arabia to avoid U.S. 'trap' 

Iran on Thursday urged 

Saudi Arabia 'not to fall 

into the trap' of believie 

ing U.S. claims it was 

behind an alleged plot 

to assassinate the Saudi 

ambassador to Washingte 

ton, which it said served 

only the United States 

and Israel. 

'I am asking Saudi 

Arabia not to fall into 

the trap, because any 

disturbance in relations 

between countries in 

the (Middle East) rege 

gion will only benefit 

the United States and the 

Zionist regime,' said Ali 

Ahani, Iran's deputy fore 

eign minister in charge 

of Europe and America 

affairs, according to the 

IRNA news agency. 

Ahani was quoted as 

saying that 'we hope that 

Saudi Arabia will unde 

derstand the aims of this 

plot' which he said was 

mounted by the United 

States. 

Iran's foreign ministry 

had already communice 

cated that message on 

Wednesday to Saudi 

Arabia through the Saude 

di ambassador to Tehran, 

according to an emailed 

ministry statement sent 

to media on Thursday. 

Iran 'categorically reje 

jects the accusations and 

views them as untrue,' 

Amir Abdolahian, a depue 

uty foreign minister in 

charge of Arab and Afre 

rican affairs, told Saudi 

Ambassador Mohamme 

med bin Abbas Alkilabi, 

according to the stateme 

ment. 

Abdolahian said the alle 

leged plot was 'a poorly 

crafted scenario' prepe 

pared by the United 

States and Israel and that 

'even Western countries 

say it's a fabrication.' 

He urged the Saudi ambe 

bassador to Tehran to tell 

the Saudi government 

'to be vigilant over this 

plot,' and criticized offe 

ficial Saudi condemnate 

tion of the alleged acts as 

'hasty and baseless.' 

Saudi Arabia on 

Wednesday called the 

alleged plot 'sinful and 

abhorrent' but stopped 

short of naming Iran as 

the culprit. It said it was 

looking into unspecified 

'decisive steps' in rese 

sponse. 

AFP


The global economic crisis: The product 

of today’s buy now, pay later culture 

Kurdistan needs to diversify to protect its economy 

By Bashdar Pusho Ismaeel 

The last four years have 

witnessed a global econe 

nomic crisis not seen since 

the Great Depression of 

the 1930s. With the global 

economy as intertwined 

as ever, a brewing credit 

crisis in the U.S. swiftly 

sent shock waves and a 

domino effect throughout 

the world. 

With export, import, curre 

rency valuation, national 

deficit and controlling 

inflation such interdepe 

pendent components of 

any economy, significant 

changes or a crisis in one 

zone can quickly sprout 

crisis in other regions. 

While the global econoe 

omy limped to recovery 

from its lows of 2009, a 

number of factors have 

recently pointed to a slowde 

down of the recovery and 

a possibility that has sent 

shivers with investors — a 

double-dip recession or 

worse the onset of a depe 

pression. 

Such fears and the general 

anxiety is one of the main 

reasons for the extreme 

volatility experienced in 

the world stock markets 

in recent months, with 

commodity prices yo-yoie 

ing as sentiments change 

daily. While everyone has 

looked to governments for 

surety, to act swiftly and to 

maintain stability, in truth, 

the hands of many governme 

ment, particularly those of 

Washington, are tied. 

The mechanisms used 

that contributed to conte 

tainment and gradual easie 

ing of the first economic 

crisis are clearly not a 

long-term answer. For exae 

ample, while many have 

hoped for another round 

of quantitative easing in 

the U.S., throwing more 

“money” into solving a 

money crisis is clearly not 

a sustainable solution. The 

U.S. debt is increasing by 

trillions each year and it’s 

the children of the future 

who will be left to suffer 

from the economic shortsightedness 

of today. 

The common denominate 

tor in the crisis of 2008 

and the brewing crisis of 

the current time is credit. 

While it may be easy to 

borrow more money to 

pay off your debts or to 

ensure the economic cycle 

continues, at the same 

time, this creates a dangeroe 

ous long-term conundrum 

that can easily lead to the 

collapse of a country. 

The theme underpinning 

discussions and initiatives 

to calm and contain the 

current economic crisis is 

the cutting of the national 

deficits. National debt is a 

natural reality and can be 

key to revitalizing a counte 

try, but when the deficit 

increases exponentially 

and at the same time the 

government income dece 

clines, such as when the 

population become weary 

of spending or job growth 

declines, leading to higher 

unemployment, the gove 

ernment is unable to conte 

tain its debt and becomes 

susceptible to an economie 

ic collapse and defaulting 

on its debts. 

While in previous years it 

was large banks that were 

bailed out across Europe 

and America, the perils 

have increased as governme 

ments received bailouts. 

In the past year, Ireland, 

Portugal, and more infame 

mously Greece, have rece 

ceived bailouts. In the case 

of Greece, the need for 

larger bailouts has become 

a growing necessity and a 

stark reality. The economy 

Visitors attend Erbil International Fair. 

is struggling, unemployme 

ment is increasing and 

crucially the deficit auste 

terity measures employed 

as a condition for receipt 

of bailout funds have not 

kept pace with the ever-ince 

creasing funds needed to 

plug immediate debt gaps. 

While the Eurozone and 

the euro have become a 

sacred icons of the Europe 

pean landscape, the idea 

of allowing Greece to exit 

the Eurozone or leaving it 

to default on its debts has 

become a red line. 

As a “smaller” economy, 

bailing out Greece is not 

such a big problem. Howe 

ever, many now fear the 

worst, that other countries 

will soon follow foot. The 

credit rating of many Eure 

ropean powers and chillie 

ingly the first cut of credit 

for the U.S. have only exae 

acerbated uncertainty. 

Two countries staying 

above water for now are 

Italy and Spain, both with 

large deficits and ambite 

tious austerity budgets. 

With the volatility expere 

rienced in bond markets, 

both countries could easie 

ily be sucked into a vice 

cious cycle where only 

significant bailouts would 

prevent economic ruin. 

With all the talk of bailoe 

outs and financial aid, the 

question of just who will 

pay for all this is constantle 

ly overlooked. With maje 

jor economies in a fragile 

state, government debts 

already at record levels, 

understandably no country 

has jumped at the prospect 

of contributing billions 

more in bailout funds. 

As the months have 

passed and Eurozone crise 

sis in particular has gathe 

ered pace, it has become 

ever apparent that only an 

all-encompassing Euroze 

zone bailout facility could 

contain the crisis. This 

has led to controversy in 

a number of more estable 

lished economies, particule 

larly that of Germany, and 

also in countries such as 

France, which are particule 

larly exposed to the Greek 

crisis as main creditors. 

Short-term solutions 

should not mask the 

wholesale changes needed 

across the global economy, 

including tighter regulate 

tory control of the bankie 

ing system, a deficit levels 

that matches the profile 

and economic growth of 

a country and also a need 

to avoid ignoring the fiscal 

failing of another country 

as “their problem.” Your 

neighbor’s problem could 

soon become your proble 

lem. 

The need to work toge 

gether will become critical 

with the world population 

fast reaching 7 billion. 

The demand for oil, staple 

foods and general resource 

es has already pushed up 

global prices with global 

poverty threatening to ince 

crease even further than 

today's rates. 

A greedy mentality 

among bankers, unconte 

trolled capitalism and 

governments that refuse 

to look at long-term debt 

measures, only add fuel to 

a growing fire. 

Kurdistan, as a flourishie 

ing economy, is developie 

ing an economic founde 

dation for a number of 

reasons. If the government 

controls debts and deficit 

levels at an early stage, 

this could safeguard Kurdie 

istan economically for dece 

cades to come. Kurdistan 

has practically no debts 

and is self-sufficient — its 

spending could easily be 

facilitated by it growing 

clout as an oil power. 

Much like the global crise 

sis of the past few years, 

which has had minimal 

impact on Kurdistan with 

the exception of declinie 

ing oil prices, the Kurdiste 

tan government must take 

heed before crisis strikes. 

Although the Kurdish 

economy is in a stable 

state, key deficiencies 

should also serve as longterm 

alarm bells. The lack 

of an effective tax system, 

social welfare and private 

tization could undermine 

prosperity in the years to 

come. 

Kurdistan should estable 

lish a solid private bankie 

ing system, a facilitation 

of controlled loans to the 

general population, allow 

income taxes to create 

revenues and ensure the 

private sector is given firm 

backing. 

The economy should be 

diversified to allow other 

sectors, such as tourism 

and production, to increase 

and to ensure that the impe 

port and export ratios are 

closely watched. Self-suffe 

ficiency is key and by alle 

lowing disproportionate 

import levels, a declining 

agriculture and over-reliae 

ance on a single source of 

income, Kurdistan could 

become engulfed in rege 

gional and global economie 

ic crisis and more crucialle 

ly become susceptible to 

policies of its neighboring 

powers. 

GLOBE PHOTO / Safin Hamed


A new constitution or implication of 

subsidiarity in Turkey? 

By Mehmed Sabri Akgönül 

For several years, a new 

constitution has been disce 

cussed intensely in Turkey. 

The constitutional amendme 

ment, which consisted of 

26 articles and was acce 

cepted by 58% of votes 

after the Constitutional 

Amendment Referendum 

held onSeptember 12, rene 

neweddiscussions on the 

new constitution. 

The Justice and Develoe 

opment Party (AKP) met 

with the right-wing Nate 

tionalist Movement Party 

(MHP) on September28 

and the main opposition 

Republican People's Party 

(CHP) on September 29 

to exchange views on the 

constitution-making proce 

cess. After the meetings, 

MHP Deputy Chairman 

Faruk Bal stated there is a 

serious expectation in soce 

ciety about the new constite 

tuion and the MHP is ready 

to work on drafting a new 

constitution. Speaking to 

reports after the meeting, 

CHP parliamentary group 

Deputy Chairman Akif 

Hamzacebi said the most 

important issue that Turkie 

ish Parliament has faced is 

thenew constitution. “Thene 

new constitution should be 

texts on which the [Turkie 

ish] nation has the broadest 

consensus,” he stated. 

In order to discuss a roadme 

map for work on the new 

constitution, the AKPalso 

met with thepro-Kurdie 

ish Peace and Democracy 

Party (BDP) on October 

10. While it was agreed to 

“come to the table without 

preconditions,” the BDP 

proposal for the “establishme 

ment of a Constitutional 

Assembly” was rejected by 

the AKP, which claimedthat 

“the Parliament has a 

definitive authority and 

doesn’t need a parallel 

assembly.”Moreover, BDP 

has demanded the prope 

posed changes as “road 

cleaning,” also known 

as“mini democracy packae 

age,” ahead of the constite 

tution-making process. 

Speaking after the 

meeting,BDP vicechairMeral 

Danis Bestas 

said they found the opporte 

tunity to talk about participe 

patory democracy in the 

new constitution for the 

methods to be applied. To 

enable a wider participate 

tion, she added, the BDP 

proposed the creation of 

a Constitutional Assembe 

bly, which would include 

political parties out of the 

Turkish Parliament, civil 

society organizations, acade 

demicians and trade bodies 

in Turkey."There is a point 

we call the road cleaning. 

Attacks on our party are ince 

creasing day by day.Everyde 

day, almost a manager arre 

rested.Everyday, hundreds 

of detention pending trialse 

sareseen.The fundamental 

basis of this isthe related 

articles of the Counterte 

terrorism Law (TMK) 

andthe Turkish Penal Code 

(TCK). A new constitute 

tionmust provide social 

peace.''Afterward,AKP 

Deputy Chairman Omer 

Celik said BDP shared the 

same opinion about politice 

cal parties coming to the 

constitutional reconciliate 

tion commission without 

preconditions. He also 

stated that the AKP has 

now completed its opposite 

tion talks and that response 

sibility now lies with the 

reconciliation commission 

to be founded in Turkish 

Parliament. 

BDP submitted to 

the Turkish Parliament 

the“mini democracy 

package” consisting of 

30 proposals on October 

8.Thefollowing demandse 

swereincluded:abolition of 

the TMK; changeTCK arte 

ticles that violate freedom 

of thought and expression 

and freedom of associate 

tion; shorten lengthy dete 

tention periods;abolish 

the special-authority 

courts;overcome obstacles 

to a fair trial;make changes 

concerningissues of bugge 

ging, secret witnesses and 

secret investigators;in acce 

cordance with Article 6of 

the European Convention 

on Human Rights, provide 

equality of prosecution 

and defense “equality of 

arms”;andabolish Article 

35 of the military’s interne 

nal service law, which the 

military has used as a base 

sis for coups.However, the 

AKP is against this prope 

posal, and it is known the 

CHP andthe MHP are not 

optimistic about these deme 

mands. 

Turkish Parliament 

Speaker Cemil Cicek on 

Monday asked all political 

parties represented in Turkie 

ish Parliament to nominate 

three members to a reconce 

ciliation commission that 

will work on drafting a new 

constitution. Cicek said the 

TurkishParliament would 

create a new commission 

to ensure maximum parte 

ticipation in the creation 

of the new constitution; 

thefour political parties asse 

sembled theirfirst meeting 

on 13 October. Three MPs 

from all partiesrepresented 

in Parliamentareassigned 

to the reconciliation comme 

mission. 

In fact, constitutional disce 

cussions have so far been 

one of the most important 

topics throughout the 200 

years of modernization of 

Turkey. New constitutions 

were created during this 

process, while many of 

those already in force were 

often modified or changed. 

Constitutional discussions, 

nonetheless, never ended, 

and problems of each era 

were blamed onconstitute 

tionalissues. Solutions, on 

the other hand, were again 

searched in creation of new 

constitutions. Apparently, 

Turkish public opinion 

alongside political cadres 

have attributed mystical 

meanings to constitutions. 

More to the point, in Turkie 

ish public opinion and pole 

litical life, the notion of 

“constitutional solutions 

for problems” has always 

been dominant. In other 

words, a new constitute 

tion is viewed as a magic 

stick in Turkey that shall 

heal the entire problematic 

system. However, the conse 

stitution that is expected to 

be replaced is not as it was 

accepted in 1982; hence 

the constitution that is inte 

tended to be renewed is alre 

ready an “almost” renewed 

one. Since it was accepted 

in 1982, Turkey’s constite 

tution was modified 17 

times; 119 articles out of 

177 (including the tempore 

rary articles) in total were 

changed. Consequently, 

70% of the constitution 

was renewed. If renewal 

and modification of the 

constitution has positive 

connotations as they are 

predominantly represented 

to be, there had to be 70% 

civilianization and democre 

ratization in Turkey after 

all those changes. Therefe 

fore, a brand-new constitute 

tion and a big step toward 

democratization do not 

seem to be as rational as 

In this photo released by the Turkish Presidency Press Service, Turkey's President Abdullah Gul, 

second right, replaced the country's top general, Chief of Staff Gen , Aug. 30, 2011. 

they are propagated to be. 

The main emphasis by 

contemporary Turkish 

political stuff busy with 

a full-scale change of the 

constitution accepted in 

the aftermath of the 1980 

military coup is upon deme 

mocratization. The entire 

constitutional discussion 

in Turkey is based upon 

an old crisis in the Turkish 

political system: democre 

racy. For the cadres who 

established the Turkish 

Republic, democracy was 

at the end of the list of prioe 

orities. But today it is so 

often repeated that the new 

objective is to transfer deme 

mocracy to the top of the 

agenda. However, the 30- 

year effective constitution 

can also be regarded as an 

indicator of the structural 

continuation of Turkish 

politics. Therefore, if the 

current constitution has 

an undemocratic characte 

ter, the entire state system 

and institutions can also 

be blamed to be undemoce 

cratic, and/or built upon 

an undemocratic basis. 

The prime institution that 

is established according 

to the constitution is the 

Turkish Parliament itself, 

and the making of the new 

constitution will be proce 

ceeded by this institution. 

Thereby, creation of a new 

constitution in an old and 

anti-democratic epicente 

ter casts a shadow on the 

intended democratic and 

reformist character of the 

future constitution. In the 

interim, having a parliame 

ment that was elected after 

a 10% threshold may also 

be considered as an incompe 

patibility of the parliament 

with primary dynamics of 

democracy. 

Moreover, the assumpte 

tion that new constitution 

will solve the Kurdish 

issue also is among the 

comments that are made. 

Even if we believe that the 

new Turkish constitution 

will be quite democratic, 

the classical “securityappe 

proach” ofthe Turkish sove 

ereignitysystem aimed at 

theKurdishissue--the milite 

tary operations towardthe 

Kurdistan Workers’ Party 

(PKK)recently,which is 

preparingTurkish police 

special operations units to 

prepare to take on an greate 

er role in the fight against 

the PKK in north Kurdiste 

tan, detainees against the 

BDP and Kurdish politice 

cal activists andair strikes 

and ground operationplans 

aimed at Turkish army 

against south Kurdistan- 

-prevent us from expectie 

ing any solution for theKue 

urdish national issue. In 

Turkey, the solution of 

theKurdishnational issue 

is possible only if reconse 

struction of theadministrate 

tive system takes place and 

the principle of subsidie 

iarityis brought into force. 

But both Turkish political 

reason and cadres, who 

will draft the new constite 

tution, reduce the Kurdish 

national issue to a lack of 

democracy and language/ 

cultural rights. This appe 

proach, above all, is inconge 

gruous with the fundamente 

tal character of theKurdish 

national issue.The Kurdish 

national issue or issue of 

stateless nations in general 

terms is the issue of being 

in the sovereign-actor pose 

sition by getting involved 

in theworldsovereigntyse 

system. The demand of 

stateless nations for more 

sovereignity in the world's 

democratic countries-- 

Quebec in Canada, Flame 

man in Belgium, Basque 

and Catalan in Spain, and 

Scotch in Britain, forexae 

ample--shows us it is not 

right to handle theKurdish 

issue as part of a lack of deme 

mocracy or cultural traits. 

That's why it is possible 

to mention that the diffe 

ference between a “new” 

and “democratic” Turkish 

constitution and the ones 

in the past will not be very 

structural and deep-seated 

when it comes to Kurdish 

national issue. 

AP Photo/Murat Cetinmuhurdar, Presidential Press Service


The rise of the “Arab Spring” 

Failure of nation-state or security predicament? 

By Salah Bayaziddi 

sbayaziddi@yahoo.com 

Part II 

While it is important to underse 

stand the anatomical structure 

of these pro-democracy moveme 

ments across the Middle East, 

political scientists and acade 

demic circles are paying more 

attention to a different angle: 

reviewing the historical backge 

ground of the security predicame 

ment of these failed states in 

the Middle East. Indeed, with 

having these new political deve 

velopments (especially in cases 

of failed states such as Tunisia, 

Egypt and Libya), the study of 

the security of so-called Third 

World states is a broad and dyne 

namic field of examination that 

encompasses many different isse 

sues and questions. Indeed, in 

order to understand the recent 

social unrest, antigovernment 

rallies and unprecedented signs 

of public defiance that have 

erupted across North Africa 

and Middle Eastern countries, 

it is crucial to analyze the backge 

ground and political processing 

of failed nation-states. 

The Third World’s collective 

attitude toward superpower rive 

valry emerged as the most direct 

challenge to the legitimacy of 

the Cold War international orde 

der. This collective aim proved 

that the global superpower 

rivalry was viewed with profe 

found mistrust throughout the 

Third World. Author Mohamme 

med Ayoob* asserts that Third 

World countries possessa certe 

tain amount of leverage vis-àvis 

the superpowers (it needs to 

be pointed out that Third world 

states used this leverage in purse 

suing their own domestic and 

regional security objectives). 

He also observes the Third 

World’s collective policy towe 

ward the superpower rivalry at 

the early stage of the Cold War: 

“Many Third World states also 

respond at the collective level 

to nuclearized bipolarity in a 

highly stratified international 

system by banding together in 

the Non-Aligned Movement 

(NAM). This strategy was mote 

tivated by the states’ desire to 

protect their autonomy of acte 

tion from the dominant powers 

by creating and maintaining for 

themselves international politice 

cal space that occupied a middle 

ground between the two major 

power blocs (p. 103). 

Indeed, the main objectives of 

the NAM were opposing superpe 

powers’ interference in the Third 

World, advocating global disarme 

mament and the strengthening 

of global and regional mechane 

nism for conflict resolutions 

in the Third World. It should 

be mentioned, however, that 

the NAM’s record in realizing 

these objectives has attracted 

much criticism as well. Ayoob 

also acknowledges some weakne 

ness of the NAM in its quest for 

autonomy from the dominant 

global powers during the Cold 

War era. First, membership in 

the NAM only signified a parte 

ticular foreign policy orientate 

tion; it did not prescribe any set 

of uniform policies that had to 

be followed by all members of 

organization. Second, as a rese 

sult of this broad interpretation 

of non-alignment, many membe 

bers of the NAM were able to 

retain the privileges of memberse 

ship while maintaining security 

links with one of the superpowe 

ers (pp. 103-104). 

The stunning development 

of 1989 and 1990 in Eastern 

Europe and the Soviet Union 

turned the world upside down 

and marked the end of the Cold 

War. Among the many challe 

lenges confronting great powers 

in the so-called post-Cold War 

world, none of them appears to 

be more problematic than the 

security landscape in the Third 

World. Ayoob admits that there 

is no final consensus on what 

the post-Cold War world will 

ultimately look like in terms of 

distribution of various dimense 

sion of political, military and 

economic power among the 

major great powers (p. 116). 

However, it seems that he has 

reached his conclusion about 

the Third World in the post- 

Cold War balance. Indeed, “the 

instability of conflicts in the 

Third World can be increased 

or reduced by the policies of 

the great powers, but the fundame 

mental causes that lead to confe 

flict are largely disconnected 

from transitory configurations 

of the global balance of power. 

Therefore, these causes of confe 

flict are affected only marginae 

ally by transformations in that 

balance, such as the end of the 

Cold War.” (Ayoob, p. 115) It 

should be noted, however, that 

the Third World security experie 

ence (interstate conflict and rege 

gional insecurity) is helpful not 

only in understanding the source 

es of insecurity in the post-Cold 

War era, but also for judging the 

effectiveness of global-order 

maintenance mechanisms. 

Nevertheless, the mentality of 

the Cold War has not changed 

up to these days. While this 

massive political turmoil can 

be interpreted as a rise of pole 

litical consciousness and prodemocracy 

movements in the 

Arab World, the U.S. has deep 

concerns that developments in 

the most volatile region of the 

world could change the political 

landscape of the Arab and Musle 

lim world from Morocco to Male 

AP Photo/Abdeljalil Bounhar 

laysia. Therefore, the issue of 

security still should be seen as 

a main concern for the internate 

tional community and especialle 

ly for the remaining superpowe 

ers. For this reason, the study of 

how these Middle Eastern socie 

eties entered into the process of 

state-making, how the weakness 

and vulnerability of those states 

explain the obsession of their 

elites with the concept of secure 

rity and grabbing of power, and 

how demands for political parte 

ticipation, economic redistribute 

tion and social justice at a very 

early stage in the state-building 

process have complicated the 

task of Third World state-make 

ers. 

Therefore, we can come to this 

conclusion that if Ayoob wanted 

to analyze the recent asocial 

unrest and anti-government ralle 

lies across the Middle East, he 

would argue that this security 

predicament is internal and rele 

lated to the ongoing process of 

state-building in post-colonial 

societies where it has rejected 

the role of the Western model of 

“civil society.” Ayoobargues: 

“Even in a country such as Inde 

dia, where a democratic politice 

cal system has operated more 

successfully than probably anywe 

Aniti- government protesters shout during a rally organized by the 20th Febrruary, 

the Moroccan Arab Spring movement in Casablanca, Morocco, Sunday 

Sept 18, 2011. 

where else in the Third World, 

the important role of the secure 

rity apparatus is visible in states 

such as Punjab and Kashmir, 

where the Indian state faces maje 

jor challenges to state-building. 

Indeed, the weakness of civil 

society and political institutions 

in Middle Eastern states is the 

primary cause of state failure 

and regional conflicts. 

As we previously noted,the 

relatively brief time available 

to Third World states--espece 

cially in the cases of Middle 

Eastern countries (while the 

early modern states of Europe 

had adequate time at their dispe 

posal to complete the process of 

state-making) to create viable 

political structures out of anticolonial 

struggles limited the 

capability of the ruling elites to 

impose order and demand the 

exclusive loyalties of their popule 

lations (especially in cases such 

as Col. Moammar Gadhafi’s 

regime in Libya andAssad’s 

ruling family in Syria). As Ayoe 

oob observes: “Given the short 

amount of time at the disposal 

of state-makers in the Third 

World and the consequent acce 

celeration in their state-making 

efforts, crises erupt simultaneoe 

ously, become unmanageable as 

they overload the political and 

military capabilities of the state, 

and lead to a culmination of crise 

ses that further erodes that legitie 

imacy of the fragile post-colone 

nial state. (pp. 32-33) Indeed, 

roots of Third World insecurity 

were to be found in weak state 

structures that emerged from 

the process of decolonization; 

that is, structures that lacked fit 

between the state’s territorial 

dimensions and its ethnic and 

societal composition (the empe 

phasis on ethnic divisions in the 

early stages of modernization, 

leading to frequent attempts at 

secession). 

In the end, while Middle Easte 

ern states are under massive 

political and social transformate 

tions, the pro-democracy moveme 

ments are rising at a speed not 

seen before and the spirits of 

freedom and liberty have their 

momentum, it should also be 

acknowledged that this massive 

political drama and the process 

of the Arab Spring is still unfoldie 

ing and it should be considered 

a political earthquake for the 

entire region. All of this means 

a road of promise and danger is 

ahead of entire Middle Eastern 

societies. 

*Ayoob, Mohammed, “The Third 

World Security Predicament,” Boulder: 

Lynne Rienner Publishers, Inc., 1995.

The Kurdish Globe 

No. 325, Saturday, October 15, 2011 15 

GLOBE PHOTO / Safin Hamed 

International Marathon in Erbil 

International runners join to run for peace 

A of view runners at the First International Iraqi Marathon for Peace and Nonviolence, held in Erbil on Oct. 7. 

More than 1,500 Iraqi 

and international 

runners participated 

in a marathon held in 

the Kurdish capital 

city of Erbil on Oct. 7 

to deliver the world a 

message: “Let’s 

Run for Peace and 

Nonviolence.” It was 

held in conjunction 

with a conference on 

Iraqi civil society 

solidarity initiatives. 

The First International 

Iraqi Marathon for Peace 

and Nonviolence in Erbil 

was part of the fourth week 

of Nonviolence in Iraq, a 

week-long series of nationae 

al activities sponsored by 

Iraqi NGOs of La'Onf, the 

Iraqi Nonviolence Network, 

which includes the Al- 

Mesalla, Kurdistan Youth 

Organization and the Iraqi 

Kurdistan NGO Network. 

Building peace through 

sports is an international 

initiative implemented in 

dozens of countries for 

adults, youth, women and 

The Globe - Erbil 


Although the Iraq team 

wasn't in the best spirits 

due to FIFA's decision 

banning the team from 

playing home matches in 

its homeland due to secure 

rity and technical issues, 

it excelled in a 2014 Braze 

zil World Cup qualifier 

game against China. 

China got only three 

individuals of varying 

skills. The First Internate 

tional Iraqi Marathon for 

Peace and Nonviolence in 

Erbil hosted running events 

for families, the disabled, 

youth, women and professe 

sional runners. Anyone of 

any age or gender could 

join the marathon. 

Runners competed inde 

dividually and in teams, 

representing NGOs, gove 

ernment ministries, youth 

clubs, student and workers' 

unions, and other informal 

groups. The marathon had 

three races: 2 kilometers, 10 

kilometers, 21 kilometers 

and 42 kilometers. The winne 

ners were awarded prizes. 

Several civil society acte 

tivists from different counte 

tries participated in the 

marathon, aiming to build 

bridges of cooperation and 

solidarity with Iraqi soce 

cial movements, which are 

working to build a democe 

cratic Iraq that respects hume 

man rights and fundamental 

freedoms. 

Before the marathon starte 

ed, Abdulstar Esmat Youne 

nis, national coordinator 

points from its first three 

games and ranked third, 

six points behind topseated 

Jordan and three 

behind second-placed 

Iraq. With three games 

to spare, China must beat 

Iraq on Nov. 11 to change 

its precarious situation. 

Iraq's captain Youne 

nis Mahmood took the 

game-winner with a nice 

tap-in following Mustafa 

Kareem's left-wing low 

for Iraqi marathons, said, 

"The marathon is going to 

be very interesting as we 

have invited people from 

the France, Italy, Germany, 

Spain and the United States 

and Canada and a number 

of Arab countries." 

Younis revealed the prizes 

would be in cash and the 

organization is working on 

increasing their value. "For 

that purpose, we are in the 

process of talking to some 

of the parties who supporte 

ed the marathon to increase 

the value of the awards." 

The marathon started at 6 

p.m. in front of the Kurdie 

istan Region Parliament 

building and the runners 

ran on the 60-meter ring 

road, where traffic was alte 

tered to give the runners a 

clear route. 

The winners of 2-kilome 

meter run for men were as 

follows: first, Safin Rasul; 

second, Omer Atallah; and 

third, Hakeem Adnan. Feme 

male winners for the same 

distance were: first, Nahla 

Ibrahim; second, Ghaza 

Muhammad; and third, Bafre 

rin Qader. The results of 

the run for disabled people 

were: first, Tahsin Taha; 

second, Rekan Muhamme 

mad; and third, Hemn Muhe 

hammad. 

The top male runners 

who participated in the 10- 

kilometer run were: first, 

Muntasir Hassan; second, 

Awat Mahmud; and third, 

Muhammad Hadi. The faste 

est female racers for the 

same distance were: first, 

Shene Aziz; second, Naz 

Tahsin; and third, Dilsoz 

Obed. 

The best male runners of 

the 21-kilometer race were: 

first, Ali Ahmad; second, 

Lade Gahzi; and third, Omer 

Musa. The female winners 

of the same distance also 

were: first, Dalia Ahmad; 

second, Dibaro Federica; 

and third, Amal Khidhir. 

The longest distance of 

the competition was 42 kile 

lometers and its top runners 

were: first, Sergio Litan; 

second, Marcelo Dossi; and 

third, Mazhar Nia'ama. 

Following the marathon, 

winners were awarded with 

prizes in a ceremony attende 

ed by Safin Dzayee, Kurdie 

Iraq’s qualifying hopes alive 

istan Regional Government 

education minister, Kawa 

Mahmud, KRG minister of 

youth and culture, Nawzad 

Hadi, Erbil governor, and 

the Italian general consul in 

Erbil. 

"We very pleased to see 

many people taking part in 

the marathon. People from 

different countries came 

here. It is a big honor for 

Erbil to host such events 

successfully without facing 

any problems," said ministe 

ter Mahmud. 

Mahmud thanked all those 

who sponsored and suppe 

ported the marathon and 

hoped such events will take 

place every year in Erbil. 

What made Mahmud and 

the Kurdish government 

and sports officials pleased 

was the great number of Eure 

ropeans, especially Italian 

runners, in the events. 

Italian runner Tersab Dage 

gostino said, "The marate 

thon was very well organe 

nized in every respect and 

it wasn't less than other 

marathons held in the proge 

gressive countries. Erbil 

is a very nice city and its 

Iraq beats China 1-0 at the 2014 Brazil World Cup qualifiers 

cross in the 45th minute. 

China missed several 

easy chances in the game. 

Substitute midfielder Yu 

Hai's 87th-minute header 

facing lonely goalkeepe 

er Mohammed Kassid 

went just a little wide of 

the post, while Du Wei's 

volley inside the box 

following a corner was 

tipped over by Kassid. 

Yu squandered another 

close-range opportunity 

in injury time. 

China took advantage 

of a sell-out Shenzhen 

Sports Center in the first 

half with more possession 

and threats. Midfielder 

Feng Renliang was the 

livewire in the left flank. 

The tricky player rounded 

his markers from time to 

time and provided some 

fine cross. Striker Gao 

Lin had two dangerous 

shots after some dazzling 

footwork, only to miss 

the target. 

In the second half, Chine 

na's coach Jose Antonio 

Camacho brought on atte 

tackers Zhang Chengde 

dong, Wu Pingfeng and 

Yu Hai, and change the 

4231 formation to 442. 

Iraqi right back Basem 

Abbas was sent off in 

the 65th minute, making 

China increase attacks on 

the Iraqi goal but none 

people mostly love sports; 

I am really happy to be one 

of the participants of an inte 

ternational marathon here." 

Dagostino hopes the city 

will develop and hold larger 

events in the future. 

Many hope the marathon 

will open doors for the city 

to host more important 

events in the future. The 

large number of participants 

may also encourage Kurdie 

ish people to have a better 

opinion of sports. 

Ali Ahmad, winner of 

the 21 kilometer run was 

pleased with the prize he 

was awarded and the great 

care Kurdistan Region offe 

ficials paid to the marathon. 

He said, "It is a good experie 

ence for the Iraqi runners to 

gain experience in preparate 

tion for participation in inte 

ternational competitions; it 

is also a huge benefit to the 

Kurdistan Region to host 

major events like this." 


Erbil 

zakaria.kurdishglobe 

@gmail.com 

of the strikes resulted in 

an equalizer. The Iraqi 

defenders, helped by 

midfielder and strikers, 

were able to stay firm 

and resisted until the last 

minute of the match. The 

result stayed 1-0. 

After the match, the 

Iraqi people started cele 

ebrating and Prime Minie 

ister Nouri al-Maliki 

congratulated the players 

for the victory.

Last page 

No. 325, Saturday, October 15, 2011 

Aloooo! 

M 

e 

m 

o 

i 

r 

s 

By Sazan M. Mandalawi 

One of the most interesting 

Kurdish character traits is that 

we tend to exaggerate sometimes. 

For example, instead of saying 

'Khwa-hafiz' once on the phone, 

we say it four times; then the 

other person keeps saying it until 

one of the two decides to hang 

up. This is akin to when you call 

someone and you don't just ask 

how he or she is, but you also ask, 

"Mal w mnal chonen?" (How are 

the house and family?). At that 

point, they would give a long 

reply thanking you (Daset mach 

akan), then ask about your family, 

and then formulate an even 

longer response. It is only after 

all this that you finally say, "Is 

the paperwork done?" Of course 

our telecom companies take 

advantage of every single extra 

word we say on the phone. 

My friend's grandmother who 

has four numbers saved in her 

phone was recently taught that, 

to call her eldest daughter, she 

needs to press the arrow pointing 

downwards once then the big 

button on the right; pressing twice 

calls her son, and if she presses it 

three times then she knows her 

granddaughter will pick up. Yes, 

this is back home. Now you just 

estimate the depth of the influence 

of mobile phones among young 

people in today's Kurdistan. 

I recall infinite times where 

colleagues used their nails to 

scratch the number of yet another 

phone card to top up their balance. 

They'd complain, "Heech kheiri 

tiya niya," basically saying these 

phone cards run out quickly. 

As I indulge in 500 free minutes 

of talk every month to everyone 

with the same network, enjoy 

unlimited text messages, Internet 

and BlackBerry services for the 

equivalent of five days (or seven 

if I am lucky) worth of phone card 

back home, I am reminded of just 

how much we are taken advantage 

of in Kurdistan and Iraq. 

I’m just wondering how 

fabulous it would be if Korek or 

AsiaCell came up with a similar 

deal for their customers. Having 

a cheaper rate between midnight 

and sunrise is worthless, and 

providing a service that allows 

your younger brother to divert 

phone balance from your account 

into his is a total mockery. 

Back home, you obtain a $10 

phone card that will last you a 

week if you are being very careful 

of whom you call. For an average 

person, if you desperately want to 

stretch that to the entire week, you 

would have to dial your parents 

by mistake so they call you back. 

However, if you have a brother 

who texts you three times a day 

saying "Call me! ESTA (now)!!!" 

then consider yourself lucky if 

you can make it to three and a half 

The number 

you’re 

dialing is: 

daraway 

Bazna! (out 

of service) 

days with that card. 

Maybe there should be a boycott 

to all telecommunications 

companies so that they enhance 

their services. This may not mean 

decrease the cost of calls per 

minute, but few luxuries or deals 

in contracts will go a long way for 

young people in particular. 

There are people with three or 

four different SIM cards, and of 

course everyone is walking around 

with two phones these days due to 

the fact that some companies don't 

have proper network coverage 

(you must have heard the sweet 

voice of the lady kindly telling 

you the number you are dialing is 

“daraway bzanaya!”). 

You be the judge. Is it fair that 

my friend's grandmother has to 

keep asking for her grandchildren 

to top up the balance on her phone, 

just because she says "baqurbant 

bm" 50 times before she hangs 

up? 

Sometimes it would be nice to 

know that telecom companies 

actually do care about their 

customers. A little pampering 

wouldn't hurt. I hoped that 

they would do what their motto 

really says. At the end of the 

day: AsiaCell--komanakatawa; 

Korek--Dunya gawratr akatawa; 

Zain--Inta shlonak? Ani Muzein* 

(AsiaCell--Doesn't unite us; 

Korek--Maximizes our world; 

Zain--How are you? I am good.) 

 

 

 

Quality 

has its 

New Campus 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

* 

07480480480 

*

Erbil protests Tammo's assassination - Kurdish Globe

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