Kurdistan’s Health System must be

Reformed

Roma Restaurant: More than Dinner

Whenever I walk down Salim Street, I see at least two big DSL-R cameras slung on shoul-ders. This new trend and the in-creasing number of attractive Nikon and Canon professional cameras on display cases in stores indicate the Kurds’ rising interest in the art of photography. Clearly, the Kurds are beginning to rec-ognize that in order to survive in this modern world of visuals, they need to incorporate visual tran-scriptions into their lifestyles and professions. In her 2004 travel book, A Thousand Sighs, A Thousand Re-volts, Christiane Bird comments that “the Kurds like photographs because the images confirm their existence – otherwise too often denied.” But now, the Kurds are starting to realize that working be-hind the camera is as important as standing in front of it. Seven months ago Ranj Ahmed, a young Kurdish photog-rapher in Sulaimany, decided to follow his passion and embrace the art of photography. “Photog-raphy is a vital art for every na-

tion as it is the recording of his-tory with images,” he wrote to me. “The Kurdish society is just begin-ning to understand photography and many of its youth are starting to work in that field.”Even though photography is “all the rage” now with Kurdish youth, persisting issues hinder the devel-opment of this craft. From his observations, Ranj wanted to share his concerns about some of those issues. “There are social and political restrictions on photography in Kurdistan,” he wrote to me. “It is hard to take pic-tures of women subjects because of the cultural norms. It is also hard for Kurdish photographers to not get tangled in with the po-litical mess. Photographers work-ing for one political party are not welcome to take pictures of other political party members or their activities. Photographers are taken to jail while covering the protests. And even photographers with badges could be disallowed from taking pictures. “In other places, photogra-phers make names for themselves by publishing their work in news-papers. But in Kurdistan, most newspapers use photos without giving credit to their right-holders. “Also, photographers in Kurdistan don’t get enough money to even buy or upgrade their cam-eras.” While it is necessary to lis-ten to the concerns of our Kurdish photographers, consulting foreign experts on this field is key to un-derstanding photography in Kurd-istan; by listening to their concerns and working to improve ourselves we can get better and stronger in the art of photography. DJ Brad-ley, an American photographer in Sulaimany, believes that “a pho-tograph is a window: it can cre-ate awareness, it can educate, and

it can create change.” He works in Kurdistan in hopes of creating “education, awareness, change, and a portrait.” For Bradley, a por-trait is not only “a photograph of a person, but is also a photograph of what is going on in the world we live in, of someone’s life story.”DJ Bradley believes that the tools

available at the photographers’ disposal should be used well to communicate “stories and voices with others all around the world.” He suggests that we “take the time to create well thought out stories and use the other tools we have to share these stories. The pay off can be great when [we] hear what peo-ple have learned from the stories [we] help tell.” A self-taught humanitar-ian photographer from Chile, He-ber Vega, works in Kurdistan with “a vision of using [his] work for good, to help others, to bring hope, to respect cultures, and, ultimate-ly, to advocate and help certain in-itiatives that are worth mentioning and spreading around the world.” He wants “to show people giving their lives for others, making this world a better place to live.” Vega believes that photog-raphy is still “somehow ‘underes-

timated’ in the local markets” as there is much more to photogra-phy than just wedding photos and ID pictures. He is also concerned that the Kurdish market is shrink-ing. “There are almost no funds or resources available for distrib-uting the work we do,” he wrote to me. “There is a lack of exhib-

its and galleries. There aren’t any places to really study photography or to attend a workshop, at the very least. There’s a definite lack of appreciation for a good quality work. Companies still don’t have experience with publicity, market-ing, and specially understanding the power of images, so photog-raphy remains underestimated. I see a lot of mediocre work in ad-vertisements and photos for local companies.” These issues discourage many would-be photographers away from the profession, and if they are not addressed and attend-ed to, there is a slim chance that photography will ever reach its high aspirations in Kurdistan and I will see no more DSL-R cameras on Salim Street. This craft will dis-solve into chaos and turn from “all the rage” to “nothing but rage.”

Photography in Kurdistan: A Fledgling Art

1

Wednesday, June 1, 2011 Vol. 1, Issue 3

5

4

76

Escalating Violence in Kirkuk

Wasta: A Bane on Kurdistan

2

Osama bin Laden Killed: ‘Justice Is Done,’ Obama

says

3

Soccer Has No Limits!

1000 ID

EDITORIAL

Photo by Marwan Muhammed

Empowering you through your writing

The Art of Photoghraphy.

On March 18, 2011, Deraa, an agricultural city of around 100,000 people, became the crucial point for the upris-ing in Syria. The protesting in Deraa, a city close to the border of Jor-dan, erupted in protests after a group of young teenagers were put in prison for writing graf-fiti denouncing the corruption in the local government. The citizens of Deraa and the whole of Syria were stunned by the ac-tions of the local governor. Syria got its first taste of the rebellion in the Arab Spring. The mo-mentum of the protesting grew and spread across several other cities such as Homs, Banias, Deir-ez-Zar, and Damascus, the country’s capital. Everyday doz-ens of innocent Syrian citizens, including opposition leaders, are arrested and die at the hands of Bashar al-Assad’s army. On April 22, 2011, more than a hundred Syrians were killed in at least 14 different cit-ies bringing the death toll to 450 people. On April 25, the protest-ing took a new twist when tanks rolled into the city of Deraa. Hours before the army entered Deraa, electricity and commu-nications were cut off and “out-siders” were banned from en-tering the city. Water and bread were at a short

supply and still continues to run low today. Also, wounded pro-testers refused medical treat-ment by local hospitals. The Syrian government is still sending tanks into restive

cities across the country, trying its hardest to silence and “wipe out” the protesting before inter-national forces such as NATO decide to intervene. Syrian se-curity forces have detained sev-eral thousand protesters and political opponents and are still doing so. The death toll of those killed since the start of the pro-tests has reached a 1000 people and the number of those who have being arrested has reached 10,000 people. More recently, Syrian ac-tivities have urged the citizens of Syria for renewed protests in honour of the 13 year old boy

Hamza al-Kahtib, who was al-legedly tortured and killed by Syrian security forces. The body of Hamza was returned to his family almost a month after he disappeared. The image of the

boy’s body has outraged Syrians and everyone worldwide since it has been made available to the public on YouTube. The disturb-ing videos and images suggest that Hamza was tortured. There were signs of burns and cuts all over his body. The citizens of Syria have five important goals that they hope to achieve. The five goals consist of the resignation of president Bashar al-Assad, changing the regime to bring in democracy, expanding civil liberties, and giving more rights and recognition to the Kurds in Syria.

How many times have you tried to find a job, but it turned out to be impossible to get one? Peo-ple are complaining about the lack of opportunities for enrolment in ministries around Kurdistan, but the government has come up with a plan for reducing unemployment in Kurdistan. On May 1st of 2011, the Minister of Kurdistan Regional Government’s Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs, Asos Najib, clari-fied the plans for the issue in a press conference. 25 billion Iraqi Dinars, from the Region’s 2011 budget, is provided for job-making in colleges and insti-tutes in Kurdistan. A committee has set out from the Ministry of Labors and Social Affairs, alongside with representatives from other groups, for the contribution of the loans. The system will only serve those who are between 16 and 35 years old and do not have jobs; those

who have an investment project in mind will be given 1 to 15 million Iraqi Dinars with tax-free loans, but the money will have to be paid back within 5 years. There is a rumor go-ing around that the amount of the loan might increase. Furthermore, Asos said, “Employee benefits in the private sector will be similar to those of the public and governmental sec-tor, including pensions, employment history and so on. The Kurdistan Re-gional Government will take respon-sibility for 30 percent of the cost of a retirement fund to help those in the private sector.” It is predicted from the Job for Everyone program to lift em-ployment rates and generate around 3000 business opportunities for pri-vate sectors and companies over the next coming three years. For every graduate student the business owner hires, he will get 150,000 ID from the government. There has not been an of-ficial survey to calculate the rate of unemployment in Kurdistan, but the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs concludes it to be 14 percent.

After a period of mild sta-bility, the city of Kirkuk witnessed a relapse into violence again last month. On May 13, Ashur Issa Yaqub, a Christian construction worker and a father of three chil-dren, was found dead in an amuse-ment park after days of brutal tor-ture. From May 14th to 18th, Kirkuk was struck by three explosions in which 11 people were injured. A Kurdish citizen was also killed by a group of unidentified assailants. The most devastating of all the attacks happened on May 19th when a series of three explosions went off in the city. The first explo-sive device, which was attached to a car, exploded in front of the local police headquarters. After the po-

lice rushed to the scene, a second, more powerful car bomb exploded near the scene of the first attack killing 26 police officers and 3 ci-vilians. Half an hour later another bomb exploded near the govern-ment headquarters. Presumably, the third explosion was targeted at Colonel Aras Mohammad, the city’s head of counter-terrorism unit. By the end of the day, 29 people were killed and up to 80 were injured. The attacks might have been a backlash by terrorists against Kirkuk police forces after several key Al-Qaeda members were suc-cessfully arrested earlier in the month. The government’s failure to appoint ministers for the three security ministries might have also contributed to the rise of violence in Kirkuk. The string of attacks rejuve-nated the people’s fear of escalating violence as the deadline for with-drawal of the American troops is impending. Many believe that with

the Americans gone, Iraq will de-scend back into chaos and violence. Government officials are currently debating whether to extend the deadline of U.S. troops’ stay in Iraq or not. However, not everyone is in favour of extending the deadline. Muqtada al-Sadr, a prominent Shia cleric and one of the most influen-tial figures in Iraq, threatened to reform his Mahdi Army and initiate resistance against the US troops if they stay. The oil-rich city of Kirkuk is a molten pot of mainly three na-tionalities: Kurds, Arabs, and Turks. Each claims that the land is their own. For a long time now, Kirkuk has been the main cause of heated dispute among the three ethnic groups which had, at times, reached a boiling point. In late February, a standoff occurred between Kurd-ish security forces and Arab protes-tors but was quickly resolved by the Americans before anyone was hurt.

America’ most wanted man, for less than 10 years, was fi-nally found, and killed. Osama Bin Laden, the mastermind behind the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States was shot and killed in a fire fight outside his Ab-bottabad residence in Northern Pakistan. Osama Bin Laden’s where-abouts were intercepted by the US Intelligence last August, where after many months of painstak-ing investigations, a solid basis for detaining him was given to the American President, Barack Obama, who on Sunday May 1, in a late-night address to the nation, confirmed the death of Bin Laden. President Obama also announced that he had given the green light for US Navy Seal commandos to take him down. “Finally, last week, I determined that we had enough intelligence to take action and authorized an operation to get

Osama Bin Laden and bring him to justice,” he said in his televised address. The raid took less than 40 minutes, and Obama was fully aware of the happenings of the mission. He was given live feed of the operation to his situation room in the white house, where only a handful of other American dignitaries watched the spectacle live as well. After the raid and the cap-ture of the former Al-Qaeda lead-er was confirmed, DNA testing confirmed his identity which was conducted by a special team from the Central Intelligence Agency; the team later positively identified the body as Osama Bin Laden’s to a number of reporters. The body of the former Al-Qaeda leader was taken out of Pakistan soon after it was washed and wrapped in a white cloth, following the Islamic traditions of burial. It was eventu-ally thrown into the Arabian Sea which sparked controversy as to why the Obama administration did not bury his remains or pro-vide pictures for the public of his

body. Many sceptics still do not believe Bin Laden is dead and think it is just another Ameri-can conspiracy. Many items were confiscated and taken as evidence from the compound. Analysts are viewing them one by one to fur-ther understand Al-Qaeda and what their future plans could pos-sibly be. Soon after the announce-ment, many videos and pictures showing Bin Laden as an old and frail man were released by the administration. These pictures and videos depicted a man unlike what people generally considered him to be; it was not the infamous Osama Bin Laden the world press portrayed him as, not a resilient man who walked from one cave to another hiding from American In-telligence, but an exhausted, worn out, and feeble man. Controversy still surrounds the truth as to why more proof of his death is not be-ing released and why his body was dumped into the North Arabian Sea rather than given a traditional burial. World leaders expressed their joy and congratulated the Obama administration for the death of this dangerous man and the Navy Seal commandos for their bravery.

On May 26th, the Sad-rist movement staged a massive parade in Baghdad in a chilling showcase of strength and defi-ance. About 70,000 followers of Muqtada al-Sadr, a prominent Shia cleric, took to the streets to rally against the extension of the upcoming deadline of the Amer-ican troops’ presence in Iraq. The Sadrist movement was founded by Mohammad Mohammad Sadeq al-Sadr, a prominent Shiite Grand Ayatollah and Muqtada al-Sadr’s father. The Sadrists – dressed in uniform red, white, and black of the Iraqi flag and wearing caps with the “I am Iraqi” slogan writ-ten on them – marched in an or-derly, military fashion down one of the main streets of the city. They were not carrying weapons, however. American, British, and Israeli flags were also painted on the roads of some places for the marchers to trample on while walking.

The march has been regarded by many as an open challenge to the Iraqi government and forc-es. Muqtada al-Sadr has repeat-edly threatened to re-activate his Mahdi Army militia – the movement’s armed wing – if the American troops stay any long-er. The Mahdi Army engaged in fierce battle with US and Iraqi forces during the early years of the war. The parade shocked many politicians and government offi-cials because of its massive scale. Due to the government’s inabil-ity to provide jobs and basic ser-vices for the poor, many have put

their faith in the Sadr movement as a last hope. This has led to a gradual decline in US popularity among Iraqis, further strength-ening the Sadrists’ position. With the deadline loom-ing, Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki and his government face quite a dilemma. If the U.S. forces are allowed to stay longer, the Mahdi Army militia might rise again. If the US forces leave on time, there is the possibility that Iraq would plunge back into sectarian violence. Violence is already on the rise in Iraq with kidnappings and bombings hap-pening on almost a daily basis.

2 3

Escalating violence in Kirkuk

Osama downGaddafi left to go?

Syrian Uprising

Can Libyan civilians be truly protected while Gaddafi is still in power? It’s the question everyone’s been asking as NATO attacks continue on Libyan land.British Defense Secretary, Liam Fox, believes it’s quite inevitable for the end of Gaddafi to come.In an interview for The Telegraph, Fox stated, ““We saw the Russians change their position subtly this week and I think it’s now very clear that the international com-munity believes that it’s not pos-sible to protect the civilian popu-lation while Gaddafi remains in control of the regime. He will go sooner or later and the calcula-tion for those around him is how long they continue to invest in someone who will ultimately be a loser.” What steps are being tak-en to remove Mr. Gaddafi? Well, for the Russians, it’s all about tak-ing an active role in trying to per-suade the mad man to step down. Russian officials say that they’ve got men in Gaddafi’s inner circle currently working on the task. The British, on the other hand, aim to weaken Gaddafi’s military strength before they make a direct attack. “[Gaddafi] has got a lot of bunkers, there are a lot of facili-ties that are being used partly as accommodation but also largely for military control and we will

continue to degrade that,” Fox added. However, the British are also continuing to negotiate with Gaddafi. On Sunday, former Brit-ish Government Minister met up with the Libyan Foreign Minister

in Tunisia. In addition, Libyan British Business Council also had a meeting with the Libyan For-eign Minister in Tunisia. Despite the efforts from the Russian and British govern-ment to negotiate terms with Gaddafi, one thing seems certain: any hope for peaceful resolution is quickly fading. Daytime bomb-ings have already begun on Trip-oli, Libya’s capital. Misurata rebel forces have been warned to pre-pare themselves for attacks by the Apache helicopters. Gaddafi is becoming a menace to the world and his own people. Will he agree to negotiate with the terms set by the Russian and British government? Or will he be removed from his tyranny through sheer force? Gaddafi, hate to break it to you, but your time is up. The world is losing its patience; step down, or join dear Osama.

The Rise of the

Sadrists

Photo courtesy of creativecommons.com

Police force during an intrusion operation.

Awat Newspaper Established on December 1, 2010 NO: 3

Wednesday, June 1, 2011Owner on BehalfAmed Latif OmarEditor-in-ChiefMeer Ako AliDeputy EditorBery MajeedPage Editors

Arez Taha Sadiq Decan Dana

Ruwayda Mustafa RabarJoshua Andrew Stacey

Meriwan ZanaShena O. Qaradaghi

Razhan Kawa AliLayout Designer

Marwan Muhammed HazimGraphics Designer

Arsh Latif OmarMarketing Manager in Sulaimany

Lazo RizgarErbil Development Manager

Zana Jaff

Public relations contact information: Publication Type: Monthly Peri-odical. E-mail: awatnews@gmail.com. For advertisements, contact us by phone: 07711533308, or by email: awat.advertisement@gmail.com.

“Like” Awat Newspaper on Facebook. Follow Awat_Newspaper on Twitter

Disclaimer: All the ideas expressed in this newspaper are the ideas of the individuals and not that of the Awat Newspaper. The Awat News-paper does not take responsibility for what is articulated by distinct writers.Awat abides by the rules of press ethics.

Vol. 1, Issue 2 International NewsVol. 1, Issue 3 Local News

Graphics by Marwan MuhammedPhoto courtesy of creativecommons.com

Osama bin Laden Killed: ‘Justice Is Done,’ Obama says

Photo courtesy of Reuters

AP/French Army

A girl holding a poster outside the Syrian embassy in London.

Jobs for Everyone program

Graphics by Marwan Muhammed

Graphics by Marwan Muhammed

Wednesday, June 1, 2011 Wednesday, June 1, 2011

The education system in Iraq and Kurdistan has been under tremendous strain since the mid eighties. During the war years of Iran-Iraq, the Baath gov-ernment cut back on education funding. As a result, by early nine-ties the education system was near to a collapse and barely achieving universal elementary education standards. Kurdistan was not im-mune from the cutback and was even more affected due to politi-cal tensions and discrimination. Since 1991, the Kurdish Region has held on the same outdated Iraqi model until recently. Dur-ing the years after Kurdish upris-ing, austerity and social decline did not dampen teachers’ spirit, and despite not being paid, they strived to provide young pupil with education. The recent video clip that was published online showing a teacher bullying a 6-year-old pu-pil has caused an outrage and at the same time highlighted two main points in Kurdistan Region education system. One is that the system is not functioning as well as it should be in light of govern-

mental changes. Secondly, it is not only the education system, which has failed this particular pupil but the parents too. The 6-year-old’s father has come out in defence of the teacher by justifying his actions as “hav-ing a bit of fun” at the expense of his son. In the eye of most people that have seen the video, this was a clear case of psychological abuse. The teacher clearly over stepped the mark and deserves to be pun-ished accordingly. He is due to be reprimanded and the education minister promised that the minis-try would take action against him for child abuse. Historically teachers have been perceived as pioneers, and it could be that the father of this pupil is giving the benefit of the doubt to the teacher. However, this blind faith in teachers has a sharp edge. Teachers used to be respected and cherished in so-ciety. They also enjoyed a social status, which many people aspired to. Nevertheless, in recent years, this persona has been diminished and the profession has become less valued. This has led to a lower standard of teaching and wide-spread decline in teaching ethics. Kurdistan Region has nu-merous problems, namely corrup-tion and mismanagement within

most sectors in the government. And the education system has not been immune from this chronic mismanagement. The schools have suffered from lack of fund-ing, while priority and concessions have been given more glamorous projects like Shopping Malls and luxury Hotels. The government have been giving grants and con-cessions to building mosques but have failed to encourage philan-thropists to build schools instead. The increased rate of un-employment and high inflation has consequently made the gov-ernment recruit more teachers and staff in schools. This policy has meant, less money for schools, which would ideally be spent on better facilities and school project funding. The government’s policy might be well intentioned, but this has been counterproductive. In order to make the nec-essary changes within the Educa-tion system, it is imperative that the government makes education reforms their top priority, and in-vests in making it successful. Many Schools are still without proper facilities and pupils are still tak-ing lesson in overcrowded classes with substandard facilities that lack adequate amenities. An over-haul of the system is needed and it can only start from those that

teach because unless the system is designed in a way that equips teachers with the right skills and values state education can only get worse. Rolling out the changes to other schools across Kurdistan must be a priority and the pace of change must be accelerated. The fast pace of development in Kurdish regions necessitate faster response towards calls for reform. It is obvious that reform-ing the education system in Kurd-istan and building new schools will not bare fruits immediately. Reforming the education system

will cost money, and take time. The government on its own can-not make this a reality, but the community must acknowledge that they need to compromise and contribute in order to have a brighter future for their children. The failure of the education sys-tem cannot only be blamed on government mismanagement, but it is a collective responsibil-ity of every member of the Kurd-ish community to support it and make sacrifices in order to make it a successes.

According to the New York Times, public individuals are strong characters within society at large, enriching it through differ-ent and diverse ways. This begs the question of how Public individu-als and intellectuals are portrayed within Kurdistan. Ancient Kurdish proverbs praise Kurdish intellectuals that were born and bred on Kurdish soil, but rarely do we see memo-rials held in the honorable name of so many intellectuals that have walked through Kurdish soil, and changed the face of our society radically. When asking the average Kurd about Kurdish intellectuals, and rich heritage that we have been honored with, what names will they mention? A true intellectual is different from a pundit and an opinion-maker. The latter merely generates their thoughts in an elo-quent, or comprehensive manner, while an Intellectual shakes the root of society, and forces peo-

ple to accept different findings through accredited research. Kurdistan is at its peak, through scientific research and legislative codification, but this has yet to affect society at large. While experts may generate factual infor-mation based on scientific experi-ments, publish journals, books or hold seminars regularly. They are not challenging society, their re-search and findings are repetitive, and that must be changed to cater for a new generation of intellectu-als. The ideal goal of Kurdish public intellectuals is to challenge his or thought patterns regardless of the cost. As Christopher Hitch-ens puts it, “there ought to be a word for those men and women who do their own thinking; who are willing to stand the accusation of “elitism” (or at least to prefer it to the idea of populism); who care for language above all and guess its subtle relationship to truth; and who are willing and able to nail a lie. If such a person should also have a sense of irony and a feeling for history, then, as the French say, tant mieux”.

The health system in Kurd-istan is in desperate need for re-form, it is outdated and fragment-ed through two separate systems. The division of public and private sector has significantly contributed towards the in-cohesiveness within the health system. This combined with loose regulations As a resul-has given rise to widespread abuse of patients’ and healthcare profes-sionals’ rights. Privatization of health has dominated the system due to short-comings of the public sector, which lacks the requirements of providing the essential health services that the general public need. In order to cater for this lack of service within the public sector,Therefore the pri-vate sector has become a means of compensation for the gap, which is unfortunately widening. In order to caterIn order to cater for the increasing demand of better services, private sector has been utilized. However, this comes at the expense of the public sec-tor because it is driven by quantity rather than quality. For example some of the private clinics have been reported to assess and treat up to 70 patients by a single physician in a space of few hours, which is inconceivable in any decent health service that is driven by quality. The domination of the health system by the private sec-tor is increasingly done by taking advantage of the shortcomings in

public sector; one common ex-ample is the lengthy waiting list for surgical operation, which will leave the patients at the mercy of the private hospitals and their un-controlled high fees. Those who are lucky enough to receive treat-ment in the public sector are indi-rectly pushed to follow up further treatment in private clinics.

One serious consequences of adopting a two-tier system with limited regulation is increased cas-es of medical negligence. Medical negligence is almost unavoidable in any health system but in Kurdis-tan the examples of wrong diagno-sis, delayed or wrong treatment are too common. It is essential to under-stand that the problem is not just with the domination of the private sector in the health system, but the lack of strategic vision of how to drive the health system to pro-vide a high quality service that is open to the public at large through a single framework. A strategic vi-sion which outlines the necessary standards that the providers must comply with and to develop the services which are most needed. The cancer treatment centers and stroke units are examples of those services.

There is no doubt that the system needs to be revolutionized and this can be done through the development of long-term national strategy of health, which sets out to clearly outline its objectives. At the center of the objectives of these re-forms should be the regulation of service provided by staff members at hospitals though legislation.

And it becomes incum-bent to have independent bodies that monitor the services provided. The ministry of health held a two-day conference in February 2011 on health reforms but the recom-mendations and strategies have not been available for public review. It is clear that with the current overall budget of health ministry, which is 5.8% of the overall budget in 2011, the public sector will not be able to meet this demand any time soon. In addition, the private sector will continue to dominate the services, but it will be of public benefit if the recommendations of the confer-ence are published. It might indi-cate the legitimate ways that are available to provide healthcare that is easily accessible, affordable, pro-tects patients against medical neg-ligence, and is driven by quality as opposed to quantity.

For two months protestors, comprised mostly of the young, gathered in Sara Square and Azadi Park to remonstrate against a gov-ernment they found corrupt and unresponsive. In a previous letter I challenged them to add to their protests a plan, some manifesto that would detail what they hoped would replace the current system or reform the current leadership. I also hinted at my own take on the situation – that the problems the demonstrators perceive are not political in nature, but social, and that the solution to Kurdistan’s ills is to be found not in some symbolic decapitation of the regime as we see in Egypt, Tunisia, Yemen, etc. but rather a full overall of Kurdistan’s social outlooks and practices. Kurds need to rid them-selves of the wasta system. Period. No meaningful and positive change will ever come to Kurdistan as long as this pervasive and pernicious system of patronage and clientelism survives. The system is a stumbling block to the modernization and liberalization of Kurdistan in three ways. The first is that whatever the outward form of government, Kurdistan will in effect always be a patron state. The purpose of gov-ernment here is not to promote or protect the common good, as it is in western democracies, but rather to provide jobs, money, contracts and legal protection to favored sup-porters of the regime. In return, of course, these “clients” provide the regime with its grassroots support – votes, street level demonstra-tions, flattering media coverage, and often, simply, the loyalty of extended families whose members all depend on the patronage that flows from the government. No de-mocracy anywhere in the world is perfect; all are infiltrated to some extent by those who would bend the system to their own advantage. But Iraq is a special case: the gov-ernment in this culture is nothing other than an extension of a cor-rupt influence peddling system. Wasta is not an aberration; it is the rule. Thus, there is not an imperfect form of democracy, there is in ef-fect no democracy at all. Second, there is no free enterprise, the other pillar of lib-eral society. According to a recent article in the Atlantic Monthly, Iraq is in the bottom 10 of all nations in the world in the ease of start-ing new businesses. The principal impediments: excessive govern-ment fees and regulations, and cor-ruption. The beneficiaries of these impediments? Those who profit from the wasta system. Govern-ment impediments to free enter-prise create opportunities for those well-positioned to make them disappear – for a fee. Those fool-ish enough to navigate the system “honestly” simply contribute to the wasta system through the payment of legitimate but excessive govern-

ment fees. Either way, the money flows to the dispensers of patron-age and those who receive jobs, money and privileges turn a blind eye to the whole process. And more important than any of this is the unofficial requirement that all businesses be “partnered” with one or another of the major players in the wasta system. From selling oranges in the bazaar to op-

erating major multi-national firms, the wasta system has a hand – prof-its are skimmed to support patron-age, “tea-drinking” jobs are created for the sons of the well connected, contracts are provided to the com-panies of loyal supporters, etc. The article in the Atlantic Monthly esti-mated that 50% of all employment in Iraq is either direct government jobs or jobs in businesses who deal exclusively or nearly so with the government. Is there any wonder, then, why foreign firms, despite the myriad entrepreneurial possi-bilities in an Iraq trying to recover from decades of misrule and years of war, are conspicuous here mostly by their absence? Third, wasta retards Kurd-ish society by perpetuating social and cultural assumptions and prac-tices that are no longer suitable to a “modern” people. Systems of pa-tronage and clientelism are by their nature hierarchical and paternalis-tic. They subordinate the young – whose ambition and inventiveness are often the very sparks of pro-gress for any society – to the needs of the established generation. And invariably, women are seen as sub-ordinate to men in disturbing ways, and not because there is some scrip-tural mandate, but because there is the claim of a tradition whose other “benefits” – in this case supposedly protecting the “honor” (another of the bizarre byproducts of wasta’s old-fashioned hierarchy) of wom-en by forcing into nearly complete submission – are spurious at best. The truth of the “Revolu-tionary Spring” here in Kurdistan is this: it has had no direction, no cre-do, no manifesto because it has not addressed openly and honestly the true character of Kurdistan’s prob-lems. Until the young are willing to absent themselves from the wasta system by declining the jobs, aca-demic placements, political con-nections and so forth that sustain and justify this system, the system will endure, and not only endure, but prosper as a new generation is co-opted by its logic. I have spoken to any number of romantic youth who have told me of their willing-ness to die for a better Kurdistan. But I have yet to find one who is willing to turn down a tea-drinking job to accomplish the same end. If this weren’t so sad, it would be fun-ny.

During the past decade, the Kurdish society has undergone change at pace unparalleled in the history of the Region. Borders once closed due to ongoing wars and embargoes are now encouraging tourism and business investment. Travel to the Region from abroad is at its high-est level in many years. Tradition and modernity meet in the midst of an influx of information and ideas. As a result of this rapid change, it would appear that we are witnessing a society in the process of rebirth, attempting to embrace moderniza-tion while trying to maintain a sense of history and cultural identity. This process of becoming is much harder than it appears; it is a painful process in which beliefs, ide-als, and traditions are brought into scrutiny in the everyday lives and experiences of members of this so-ciety. As these changes occur, the Kurdish region remains a place of paradox in relation to women. De-spite the strides women have made in gaining the ability to exercise rights or leadership roles in Kurd-istan, they continue to be treated as inferior to men in many aspects of Kurdish society. While boasting a liberal view of women, so called “honor” violence against women in Kurd-istan continues with little substan-tive change. Honor crimes can take many forms including threats, beat-ings, imprisonment, or murder, of-ten through apparent forced suicide

by immolation. Examples of honor violence include the attempted mur-der of a young woman for having sex with her boyfriend before marriage and the murder of a young woman simply for falling in love with a man unapproved of by her family. According to the United Nations Assistance Mission to Iraq Report, statistics indicate an in-crease in the occurrence of honor killings in the Kurdish region since 2003, however accurate counts of honor based murders are hard to as-certain as many of these crimes go unreported and numbers can vary significantly between sources.For example, the Directorate to Trace Violence Against Women in Kurdistan claim there were 104 murders of women in 2008 and 85 cases in 2009. This is a substantial difference from numbers reported in the New York Times which al-leges more than 12,000 women were killed in honor crimes in Kurdistan from 1991 to 2007. Though accusations that the KRG has failed to implement real change regarding women does hold some merit, I do not believe this is indicative of a lack of commitment to women’s issues by government leaders but rather a means of meas-urement indicating where Kurdish society is in regard to the process of change. Many long held cultural beliefs are being questioned as tradi-tion and modernity clash. It must be understood that this cultural change will not occur overnight but rather over genera-tions as the perceptions of women and notions of honor held from cen-turies-old cultural beliefs will not easily give way to alternative views.

The patriarchal control of women will not easily give way to the chang-es taking place in Kurdistan; how-ever, change is inevitable.The concern for leaders, therefore, is the tension created in the individual lives caught in the midst of conflict-ing views and societal beliefs. A question the Kurdish people and Kurdish leadership must address is the line between what are viewed as long held cultural practic-es versus direct violations of human rights. Violence against women can no longer be tolerated or ex-cused in the name of cultural rela-tivism; it must be combated through every means possible. The role of government in protecting women must be ex-panded significantly to prevent fur-ther violence against women within Kurdish society. True reform will come only through continued ef-forts in multiple sectors to address women’s rights as human rights, not to be viewed as a favor toward wom-en but the opportunity for women to exercise basic human rights given by right of birth. While the anticipated changes will not and should not cre-ate a replica of Western society or Western feminist aims, they must include basic freedoms of women to participate in all walks of society without threat of violence. It is my hope that every avenue available for the protection of women in Kurd-istan will be utilized and that doors of opportunity for women to par-ticipate in all facets of society will be opened as Kurdish society continues to undergo rapid change. The opportunity exists for Kurds to re-examine their cultural identity and perceptions and form an open society that could be a model of human rights for the entire Middle East.

4 5

Wasta: A Bane on Kurdistan

I read a story a few weeks ago about an American doctor who worked in Pakistan in the 1970s. He had been constantly overwhelmed with the suffering and evil he had seen on a near daily basis. After working for several years in a hos-pital, he mentioned to a group of trusted Pakistani co-workers that he found Pakistan to be one of the most evil places in the world. He thought, perhaps, that they would respond sympathetically. He couldn’t have received a more difficult and harsh response. “You have no right to speak that way! We don’t know of any coun-try with a higher per capita crime rate than America. It is safer for your wife to walk the streets of Pakistan at mid-night than it is for our men to walk in your cities at noontime. We don’t know of any more hypocritical coun-try that preaches democracy and yet has failed to solve its race problem. We don’t know of any coun-try with a higher standard of living and yet still has twenty percent of its

people living below the poverty line. We don’t know of any country so evil that it exports films of violence and pornography, like America. We think you come from the most evil country on the face of the earth.” While this doctor was ini-tially stunned by their response and then later on furious, he eventually admitted that he had been wrong. He was guilty of what anthropolo-gists call ethno-centrism. Some call it pride. Others call it gross hypocrisy. He had ignored the evils of his own country and pointed at the wrongs of the Pakistani people. It’s always easy to enter an-other country and another culture and point the finger at all that is wrong. My Arab and Latin Ameri-can friends in university pointed out wrongs about my culture that I had never seen before. This kind of cri-tique can often be constructive.So why am I mentioning this? Most of the articles in this section of the newspaper are written by Westerners. And while I agree or at least sympathize with all that has been written in this section of the newspaper, I think one significant voice is lacking: yours. I welcome foreigners to

write constructive and critical edito-rials for Awat. Outsiders often point out aspects of culture and society that insiders wouldn’t otherwise see (I’m also a foreigner, after all). But we need more Arab and Kurdish voices on these pages. The most powerful voices of change often come within a cul-ture. India would not have listened to a white Gandhi. A Chinese man could never have influenced so many in America about race like Martin Luther King, Jr. You don’t need to be an ex-pert, professor, politician, PhD, jour-nalist, NGO worker, or someone of importance to submit an article. If you see an issue that you care about that’s not being addressed – corruption, trash clean up, legal rights for street kids, the importance of preserving traditional culture, inequality of migrant workers (for example) – you can write about it, whether you’re 16 or 75, someone of importance or not. If you want to see if your idea is worth printing, send me an email at joshuaandrewstacey@gmail.com. I can’t promise you that I’ll sub-mit your article for publication. But let’s begin that dialogue.

Women Rights in Kurdistan: Lost and to be Found

Only You Can do it for YourselvesVol. 1, Issue 3 FeaturesVol. 1, Issue 3 Editorials

Photo courtesy of creativecommons.com

Bullying Teacher Raises Questions about Education

Kurdistan’s Health System must be reformedPublic Intellectuals in Kurdistan

Photo courtesy of creativecommons.com

Wednesday, June 1, 2011 Wednesday, June 1, 2011

6 7

My Friend Who Never Spoke to Me

Swish. Three points. Swish. Three more. Swish. He couldn’t miss! The short, skinny Asian boy with mismatching clothes and matted hair was a true sniper on the basketball court. Never in my life had I seen such an unathletic-looking kid play so well. And his talent was not limited to long-range practice - this kid could flat-out play! Dribbling, passing, jumping - he did it all, and with such passion it was almost scary. I approached him as one might approach an exotic crea-ture in a zoo, with a strange mix of awe, curiosity, and fear. “Hey, I’m Logan”, I offered. “What’s your name?” No answer. I tried again, “My name’s Logan, you play for Service?” Swish, Swish. Normally at this point, I would simply walk off and leave him be; if he didn’t want to talk, he didn’t have to. But this boy so intrigued me (almost inexplica-bly) that I stuck around. In fact, I waited for several minutes as he drifted around the court, raining jumpers from all over the place. I waited for what I knew would be the right time. I waited for the only moment a basketball player “in a groove” would be willing to talk. I waited- CLUNK!He finally missed one, the be-draggled sniper was still human it seemed! I calmly snatched up the

loose ball and walked over to him. “I didn’t catch your name, I’m Lo-gan.” I extended my hand. It was then that I finally got a good look at him. He couldn’t have been older than 10, though his play suggested otherwise. However, his face was what really captured my attention. His eyes were fear-ful and his frown was deep; this child had experienced more than his share of hardship, which was obvious. He looked at my hand, and then looked away. He meant no offense by it, but he certainly felt uncomfortable shaking hands with a stranger. Then, with a shrug, he motioned to his lips and shook his head. I then realized that he did not speak English. However, I was not going to let that barrier stop me from getting to know this foreign phenomenon. I motioned to the basketball in my hands, and then pointed to him and me, ask-ing if he wanted to play 1-on-1. He nodded vigorously, suggesting that he didn’t play bas-ketball with others all too often. I suppose that’s because many peo-ple would discount him as a short skinny kid with no ability. I shot first, for posses-sion of the ball, and made it. He passed me the ball and nodded in recognition of the nice shot. My first possession was not so pretty, however, as I tried to drive to the basket. My thinking was that since I stood about 18 inches taller than my opponent, I had better take it

inside and get an easy layup. He did not like that idea. The minute I started dribbling, he practi-cally dove through my legs and, with ease, swiped the ball. In one smooth motion, he proceeded to cross the 3-point line, bring the ball up just above his head, and hoist a picture perfect shot from downtown. Swish. It was going to be a long game. Drenched in sweat, we sat on the bleachers after a hard-fought game to 21. Though I had managed to beat him, I had a tre-mendous amount of respect for his level of play. Here was some-one, a child really, who was able to seriously compete against an athlete twice his size (and per-haps twice his age). Suddenly I realized, the merit in this coura-geous young man’s actions was not so much rooted in his talent on the basketball court, although that alone was certainly admira-ble. No, what impressed me more was that this boy taught me never to underestimate others based on appearance. He taught me that an-yone is able to excel regardless of age or size. He taught me that by being persistent in reaching out to those less fortunate, we can our-selves be blessed even more than those to whom we are reaching out. Most of all, however, that boy on the hard court taught me that anyone can teach a life lesson, and sometimes the only medium worth using is silence.

The 2010/11 soccer sea-son in Europe has come to an end. It was a year filled with exciting matches. We have witnessed many astonishing games in high-profile competitions between the teams. It was a season full of surprise, in-cluding five El Clásico games and several record-breakings by the clubs and players. As usual, some of the clubs were successful in the transfer market and got many benefits from their signings, while others spent fortunes without any success. All of the major leagues are over, with the winners re-vealed. In the Premier League, Manchester United F.C. won the title for the 19th time in their his-tory. FC Barcelona won the La Liga for the 21st time, and for the third consecutive year. In Germa-ny, Borussia Dortmund earned its seventh Bundesliga title after nine years of waiting. In Italy, A.C. Mi-lan won the Series A for the 18th time and ended a seven-year title drought. People all over the world were in high spirits concerning these results and their teams’ ef-forts. As usual, there were also

tears of heartbreak from others. As for the bigger Euro-pean competitions, F.C. Porto won the UEFA Europa League by beating Braga 1-0 in the final on May 18. But all eyes will be on the mouth-watering clash of the sea-son, the Champions League final between Barcelona and Manches-ter United on May 28. Each of the finalists had had the honor of be-ing the champion three times be-fore and was eager to add another glorious victory to their history. It was Barcelona who emerged as the new champion in an out-standing match where they won

3-1, courtesy of goals from Pedro, Messi, and Villa. It was a joyous day as players and fans celebrated their fourth European title. Although the leagues have just ended, the clubs are already in search for new players to improve their teams for the new season. Soccer has always been a remark-able source of entertainment, lay-ing upon us mixed feelings. Fans are already anticipating the start of the new season and the massive matches accompanying it. So let us wait for the endless surprises the beautiful game holds for us!

One of the reasons why I was delighted to be invited to write this article is that it supports a vision on the part of the editors of this newspaper to stimulate thought and begin conversations across many different topics of in-terest to young people. As a teach-er of information and knowledge technologies at the American University of Iraq-Sulaimani, I applaud this effort. I have the privilege of mostly witnessing -- but also assisting where I can -- the process where young people begin to accumulate knowledge and unpack their own personal blueprints for the future. They ac-complish this by taking courses in a wide variety of subjects; but arguably they learn more outside class through activities like start-ing newspapers and immersing themselves in an array of new technologies, all of which are connected to the Internet. They

do this in a natural and intuitive way; unknowingly building a set of intellectual assets and skills that will help them in the future. These experiences help them es-tablish meaning in their lives and recognize their role in this coun-try’s growth and development. It is almost a cliché to point out that today’s youth are this country’s future. They drive change and always have. Wiki-pedia describes the northern re-gion of Iraq as having a “young” population, and various sources indicate that approximately 40 percent of the population is under the age of 15. Youth and technol-ogy have a natural affinity and will unlock the region’s great potential, I believe. Knowledge is like water. It is life affirming, and everyone is naturally thirsty for it. Following the many tributaries that make up the Web, knowledge follows a path of least resistance and flows willingly to those who seek it. Over time I have learned not to be surprised at the amazing things young people can accom-

plish if given the tools and op-portunity. Occasionally, however, I still am. At the American Uni-versity I see many students doing amazing things as they embrace technology and relish the knowl-edge they are acquiring. Recently, a group of students participated in a KRG\Microsoft-sponsored soft-ware competition called Imagine Cup. I was hoping for a respect-able showing. We ended up tak-ing first and second place. The top team will be going to New York City in July to compete with con-testants from over 120 countries. They have developed an extraor-dinary application that may very well win the top prize. We will see. I think that knowledge and its great facilitator, technol-ogy, can leverage Iraq’s future into something great. Everyone can and must have a hand in it. Thomas Friedman in his book, The World is Flat, describes the

Internet and rapidly evolving technologies as “the great leveler.” Regardless of skin color, gender or ethnicity, where you have been or where you are now, the bot-tom line is “what do you know and what can you do? “Connect-ed technologies and their natural outgrowth, knowledge, are be-coming ubiquitous in this region and all over Iraq. I am reminded of a young member of the school’s staff who, among other things, makes coffee and tea for every-one. Based on the average salary for these kinds of jobs, I doubt if there are many dinars left over after the bills are paid. However, he keeps a laptop computer in his kitchen that makes a wireless con-nection to the Internet, and he has a Nokia smartphone that allows him to cruise the Web, watch TV, and play music. And of course he keeps totally current on Facebook. He does his job well, mind you, but

in between brewing tea and mak-ing Turkish coffee, he stays con-nected to the rest of the world. In

my opinion, just this action alone gives him a better perspective on how this country can build its future, and in his own small way he contributes to the collective intellectual growth of the region.

Scream 4 or presented as (SCRE4M), is an American hor-ror film and the fourth install-ment in the series of Scream. Wes-ley Craven, the original creator of the series, has directed the movie once again. It is due to come out this month. The movie now, fo-cuses on a new idea, new rules, and a re-creation of the elements of the previous movies. This time,

the killer (Ghostface) focuses on a new threat, only to make an impact on more-to-come killers of the legend. Wes, himself, has thought that giving it the boring taste of chasing one another is just like any other scream movie, that’s why he intended this movie to be more of a changed reason. Scream is a cliché of hor-rors and the best of its kind, it is a new style that had the terror feel-ing mixed up with the scheme of a “movie inside a movie”. If your not scared and you won’t scream good news, this month, it hits City Cinema!

Scream 4 The cheerleaders walking through the halls in all their glo-ry, the tall hunky football players bringing home the trophy, and of course the brace faced, eye glass wearing nerd; elements that make the life of an American teenager, the source of fascination and wonder for kids all around other parts of the world. So one has to question, does America really live up to all this fascination and wonder swirling around it and its grand white picket fence? I sup-pose so. On the outside looking in, life in an American high school is

great. You have the freedom to be who you choose to. Individualism is appreciated and you choose friends depending on how well you get along and not how famous your parents are. So many Kurd-ish kids watch American shows and movies and are so quick to judge our culture and heritage for all that it lacks in comparison to the easy, fun lives of Ameri-can teenagers. We despise the re-straints that our “narrow-minded, backward thinking” society plac-es on us at an age where our main concerns should be enjoying our youth. But what each and every single one of the TV shows and movies fail to show us is all of the doubts and insecurities in each American teen, the pressure of al-

cohol and drugs, and the difficul-ty of constantly being bombarded with images of what we should look like. What the media also does not show us are the benefits of our society and our heritage. The family values, the knowledge of our nations past, and the drive to make our country and our peo-ple stronger than it was: these are traits that are almost universal to Kurdish teens but are lacking in many teens in countries we idol-ize. So the question is this. Are we willing to trade in our ambi-tion, our patriotism, and our love for one another for a pair of pom poms, the ability to date publicly, and the freedom to wear short skirts?

I had almost completely lost hope in having a genuine meal out in Sulaimani before Roma res-taurant was opened. It is fair to say that there are several good dining places in the city that serve good food but whenever I dined at any of them, I always felt like some-thing was missing. What make Roma stand out are its mouthwa-tering food, healthy and fresh in-gredients, quite generous portions for an affordable price, and deli-cious Italian food with a Kurdish touch. Situated at the left end of Tuy Malik Street, Roma restaurant has a romantic and lively atmos-phere where you can have a quiet and enjoyable time with your fam-ily and friends. The restaurant has an elegant air-conditioned setting complemented by two beautiful aquariums on the walls which give the restaurant a soothing and de-lightful look. Moreover, you can have your meal in the cozy home-ly garden decorated especially to make you feel like you are sitting

in nature. The selection of meals offered range from tasty Italian pasta dishes to pizza and Greek cuisine sizzling when served. My favorite food so far has been a dish they call Napoleon which can be cooked with either beef or chick-en in a specially prepared sauce served with rice and salad which is absolutely delicious and insatia-ble. And if you are in a hurry and wish for a tasty mouthful, their hamburger is just perfect; it is so good that it makes you feel like there is a party in your mouth. Being warmly welcomed by the waiters and cordially greet-

ed by the chef, one instantly feels that they are going to be served great food. The waiters are really friendly and very polite and are al-ways there to make sure that you are satisfied with the service. Their determination to use fresh, organic, and locally sourced meats and vegetables is very comforting to their customers and make them keep going back for more. You can top it all with a glass of their fresh fruit cocktails which make your evening even better. I highly recommend this restaurant and I guarantee you will have a memo-rable dining experience.

The NBA playoffs of this season had many surprises for us. The reigning champions of the last two years, The LA Lak-ers, were eliminated in the first round against the Dallas Maver-icks. The Dallas Mavericks won 4-1 in the Western conference finals against the surprise pack-age in this year’s NBA playoffs,

The Oklahoma City Thunder. They will now face the Miami Heat – who own stars like Leb-ron James and Dwayne Wade – and are playing one of their best seasons. Miami Heat won the Eastern finals against Chicago Bulls, the club for which the great Michael Jordan played. Chicago Bulls lost 4-1. So the two victors of each con-ference will face each other to determine this year’s NBA championship winner.

Vol. 1, Issue 3 SportsVol. 1, Issue 3

Kurdish teens’ view of ‘Xarij’

Roma Restaurant: More than Dinner

Kurdistan 2.0

Graphics by Marwan Muhammed

Soccer Has No Limits!Entertainment & Technology

Photo courtesy of Creativecommons.com

NBA Play offs 2011

Photo courtesy of Creativecommons.com

Wednesday, June 1, 2011 Wednesday, June 1, 2011

Photo by Rebaz Kamal Amin

“Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement. Nothing can be done without hope and confidence.

8

”Helen Keller

Vol. 1, Issue 2 Leisure

Photo by Marwan MuhammedCreated by Marwan Muhammed

Cartoon by Sarmad Kinany

Photo of the month

In this issue and the up-coming ones we will explain the8 parts of speech: verb, noun,adjective, adverb, pronoun, con-junction, preposition, and inter-jection. Each part of speech ex-plains not what the word is but how the word is used. In fact, the same word can be a noun in one sentence and a verb or adjective in the next.We will begin with the verb:The verb asserts something aboutthe subject of the sentence andexpresses actions, events, orstates of being.The verb has many tenses and weneed to know how and when touse them. We will present two tensesin this issue: present simpleand present continuous.The Present SimpleWhen it is used?- To talk about regular activities,routines, and habits.- We start work at 9.am every day.- Mary eats fish on Fridays.- To talk about facts.- The sun rises in the east.

- Authors write books.- To talk about tastes.- Ahmad likes Chinese food.- Hanar doesn’t like fish.The Present ContinuousWhen it is used?- To talk about continuous activi-ties:1) at the time of speaking:- I am reading this page now.2) around now, in amore general sense:I am learning English this year.- To talk about plannedfuture arrangements:- Next month I am spendingmy holidays in Australia.- Our neighbors are coming todinner tomorrow.Most commonly confused words:- LOSE--verb, to misplace or notwinex: You should not lose the videogame.- LOOSE--adjective, to not betight; verb (rarely used)--to re-leaseex: The burglar’s pants were soloose that he was sure to lose therace with the cop chasing him.

Learning English with Awat

Wednesday, June 1, 2011

Reported by Ranj Ahmed, Translated by Razhan Kawa

“I have come back to Su-laimany for the purpose of arrang-ing a concert in the Arts Palace on the 3rd of June. I would be very glad to see an audience there. At-tendance is for all. “I will go back to the West soon. This trip to Sulaimany is only temporary; I will go back once I finish the job I came here for. “I have not produced new music since several years now. The distance from my

homeland has separated me from music performances and the love of the community that taught me music. Other than this concert, I am currently working on a CD that will be released by August. “Kamal Muhammad and I have many songs together. But we have not talked about releasing an-other piece together. “I warmly welcome your newspaper. I truly appreciate sev-eral young people like you all who concern themselves with important matters and interview artists and singers.”

Salar Mahmud on his Recent Trip back to Kurdistan

Photo by Ranj Ahmed

The death of a murderer.