- In his Salahuddin HQ north of Hawler, KDP leader Massoud Barzani received on Sunday the US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who described Barzani as a prudent leader who can play a great role in rebuilding federal Iraq. Rice said she came to consult with Barzani. - Mr Barzani also met the Chinese Ambassador to Baghdad in Salahuddin on Sunday and Mr Barzani has been invited officially to visit China. Barzani accepted the invitation.
Aso, weekly newspaper issued in Kirkuk by Xandan Publishing House
- What does Jaafari want from Turkey? Since the twice-sworn-in PM Ibrahim Jaafari took office, terrorism, instability and anarchy are spreading in central and southern parts of Iraq. At this sensitive time when terrorism threatens all of us, Jaafari intends to visit Turkey while the Iraqi people expect him to focus on the domestic affairs! According to news reports, he may discuss the existence of PKK [the major political party of Turkey’s rebel Kurds] in border areas of Iraqi Kurdistan. This exactly what is expected from him being the man who cannot conceal his anti-Kurdish intensions. He may wish to try to bring back to the ’lovely North’ [the term used by Saddam and anti-Kurds to avoid using the name of Kurdistan] the Iraqi army under the pretext of fighting PKK while this army is not able to control [Iraq’s] southern and central areas.
- Jaafari knows that the Iraqi Kurds are not for the PKK policies and usage of their territory as launch pad for any external politics, but he does not know, or pretends not to know, that the Kurds are not ready to fight their Kurdish brethren. However, our Iraqi fellow citizens are more than ready to help fighting PKK according to news reports.
- One can say that Jaafari’s visit to Turkey means opening Kurdistan file under the pretext of controlling PKK while Iraq’s southern file (Muqtada Sadr’s anarchies) and that of the Sunni areas (Al-Qai’m fighting) are not settled yet. This may lead to opening another front in the ’North’, which is currently is Iraq’s most stable area.
- Is Jaafari repeating the same mistake of the former regimes - searching for regional support against fellow Kurdish citizens?
- The Kurds are worried. It is true that Turkey is changing and heading towards openness, but visits like that of Jaafari tickles Turkey’s archetypal Kurdish policy. Fighting PKK, which will create turmoil in [Iraqi] Kurdistan Region, has always been an urgent and immediate objective for the [Turkish] army.
- With the signature of the Kurdish mayor of Khanaqeen district, the Kurdish areas are being re-Arabized. The Mayor has signed, with other officials from Khanaqeen and Jalawla subdistrict, on the minutes of a meeting that decided to return to Arab settlers the plots of agricultural lands in Ahmed Gula Village in Shekh Bawa area of Jalawla subdistrict that were confiscated from the Kurdish farmers under the toppled regime in 1970s. The decision that has been labeled as "temporary until a final settlement is decided by the higher ranks [in the government]," angered the Kurds, who warned the Arab settlers from coming back to the area.
- The Iraqi immigration authorities are planning to transfer the eastern [Iranian] Kurdish refugees against their will from Altash camp near Rumadi to a new camp near Bazyan in Kurdistan Region. One of the refugees said that the Iraqi immigration department has registered their names recently and informed them to get ready for moving to the new camp. The source further said that the Suleymanya administration of the KRG cooperates with the Iraqi department to transfer the refugees in cooperation with and in coordination with UNHCR and Qandil - a Swedish NGO.
- Four youths from Goshtapa village are in the custody of the KRG-Slemanya security department in Chamchamal since 30 April for criticizing the government and attempting to prevent the KRG and political parties from commemorating the 17th anniversary of the former regime’s bombardment of their village with chemical weapons. An informative source said on condition of anonymity that the arrestees have said during the commemoration ceremony that they would not allow organizing such ceremonies where officials distribute promises to the villagers without fulfilling them. Chamchamal Security Department arrested 4 youths after the end of the ceremony, the source added. A source from the security department in Chamchamal denied the arrest adding that none was arrested by the department on such grounds.
- Kurdistan Islamic Union (Yakgirtu) is in the process of launching a satellite TV station soon, said leadership committee member Salahuddin Babakir. The party has more than 30 local radio and TV stations throughout the Kurdistan Region currently.
Hewler Globe, weekly magazine printed in Hawler
- How to interpret Kurdistanness and Iraqiness in the political system? - By Saro Qadir
It has been two years since the former regime was toppled by the allies, with the help of Kurds. There was at the time a united message and stand between Kurdistani political parties, with regard to the position and demands of the Kurd and the shape of state of Iraqi government, which is something to be proud of. However, a crack is emerging among the Kurdistani ranks at the third cabinet of the new federal government of Iraq, which other than having a strong bloc in the federal parliament Kurds also achieved and hold a large number of ministerial portfolios as well as the post of the president of the republic which is held by his Excellency Jalal Talabani. At present an old view has emerged and that is the domination of Iraqi stamp on the Kurdistan regional government. It is likely that this narrow party interest has emerged because of pressure of those newly arrived entities. They are calling in a loud voice that the all laws passed in Kurdistan should be rewritten according to Iraqi system.
They are also calling to delay the drafting of constitution of Kurdistan after the Iraqi one has been ratified, while their slogan it is our territory from Zakho to Faw, and the danger lies here. Iraqiness within the history of national liberation movement of Kurdistan has emerged during the forties of the last century. At the time, the communists were working from the premise of their ideological standpoint pursued their political principles. On the other hand, despite the continued confrontation between the liberation movement and the establishment at the time and throughout Iraqi successive government, and because adverse geo-political realities the national liberation movement of Kurdistan was forced to include an Iraqi dimension within its political agenda, programmes and objectives. This could be mainly summed up by the clause pertaining to the territorial unity of Iraq and the aim to establish democracy. However, following the uprising people of Kurdistan in 1991, the establishment of the national and revolutionary government, which received international support, the nation of forced Iraqiness had loosened but with the downfall of the regime in 2003 this imposed concept has completely lost its legitimacy.
In this phase more work on is required to insist on differentiating and safeguarding the distinctive characteristics of the political systems in Kurdistan, which has 14 years of experience in self-rule and that a generation have lived under its auspices. There is now an Iraq which is not clear long it can keep itself together and we also don know how far Shi’i and Sunni Arabs can coexist together and if the agree, will they recognize the independence of Kurdistan and how long the political system in Kurdistan attached to it? The holding of posts by Kurds within the Iraq government has a status emissary or representative attached to it and not in creating the mantra: Iraq is my homeland.
In view of the fact that so far we have been in negotiation with Iraqi Arab politicians and we have not reached a position, which could give us assurances. Who says that we reach it anyway?
- This crisis will also pass - By Aso Kerim
Recently there have been rumours about a crisis concerning the state of democracy in Kurdistan, and at the same time it has been suggested that Iraq can benefit from the democratic experience of our region. Where did such rumours originate? Iraq through its national assembly has appointed a committee to draft its constitution two months after holding general elections. The assembly also held many sessions including one that elected the presidential council of the republic and another that gave a vote of confidence to the cabinet of Iraq’s new premier Dr Ibrahim Ja’fari.
There is no doubt that there are many problems within Iraq that can not be compared to those of Kurdistan, because for the past 14 years our region has enjoyed a different state of affairs and our security conditions may even be better. Kurdistan has also established civil institutions and has been steadily pursuing the path of democracy for its society. The other difference between the two is that Kurdistanis fully subscribe to the notion of pluralism and have grown accustomed to diverse opinions and this has now become a part of their culture. However, Kurdistanis have voiced their concerns regarding the current crisis between the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), and these concerns could probably threaten the democratic process, tolerance towards one another, and the propensity for the acceptance of different opinions.
Furthermore, it may also have an adverse effect on the economy, trade, and on people’s daily lives. This is an indication that despite 14 years of self-rule, civil institutions in the society have not been consolidated and separated from the political authority. In addition, democracy has not been set on the right path and in short, Kurdistan has embarked on the path of democracy while still in the midst of many challenges and much pain.
It seems that issues such as these are always inherent within the process of the development of social and political life. Then again, the path to democracy can’t be measured by a graphic chart showing a steady progression of implementation of democratic values. Instead it is a crooked line with ups and downs, set backs and rises, drops, and some times just plummets.
The important thing to remember is that after the long bitter experience of a fratricidal war, there is a determination to accept one another and to reach a compromise solution on the existing crisis and other issues. As fate would have it, the present crisis which now exists within the Kurdistani political leadership would mean that the KDP and the PUK would nevertheless have to work together in order to safeguard and increase the Kurdistani political weight. The best ways for this to succeed is to adhere to the principles of democracy, coexist, and live in harmony. It is true that the elected parliament should have convened, a president for the Kurdistan region should have been elected, a government of national unity in Kurdistan should have been formed, and work should have begun on drafting the constitution of the Kurdistan region. However, because of differing views between the KDP and the PUK on the issue of the authority of the post of the president of Kurdistan, these steps that should have been previously taken have still not yet been carried out. Despite all of this I would like to remind you of the following:
1. It is never easy to bring about reconciliation and to have mutual confidence in a country that has experienced in fighting and to have two sides who only yesterday were rivals now working together. This will take time, but this is the truth and it has to be said.
2. The KDP and the PUK are two large political parties in Kurdistan whose cooperation and unity is a necessity and a must, and the issue of authority needs to be negotiated. The presence of contrasting views is a normal and natural thing and no side, party, or individual has the right to further expand their domain [at the expense of the other]. The reason being that opponents will soon exploit the differences in positions and would consider it a crisis in democracy and authority in Kurdistan.
3. The only way out of this small crisis is for the two sides to agree on a compromise solution and to put all other differences in this phase on hold for another time.
4. The KDP and the PUK should bring all other Kurdistani forces and allies together in their negotiation in order to help find a compromise solution, particularly since we have the 15th of August deadline ahead of us which is the date where the draft of the permanent constitution of Iraq will be finalized. The draft will then be submitted for approval in December of this year after which time the people of Kurdistan will be faced with a destiny-shaping elections.
5. Everyone including Kirkuk took part in the elections thus we should face our problems together with a clear conscience and together we should reap the benefits. There is no other realistic or equitable way. Fate has made it like this and so far the cultures of western democracies that is to say the rule of majority over minority, won’t be applicable to us.
