Kurdistan Archives

ERBIL: Independent media fades in Iraqi Kurdistan

August 6, 2014 By administrator

By Kamal Chomani
Contributor, Iraq Pulse

ERBIL, Iraq — The independent media, one of the essential elements of Iraqi Kurdish democracy, is experiencing its worst days since its emergence in 2000. As private media outlets — especially satellite TV stations — proliferate, independent sources are being squeezed out of the picture.

The changing political and socioeconomic dynamics in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq have added tension to the conflicts among political parties. After the emergence in 2000 of Daily Hawlati, the first free Kurdish media outlet, the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) began establishing a number of media outlets to undermine the independent media. These outlets are widely referred to as the “shadow media,” as they claim to be independent but are subservient to their respective political parties.

Independent media, nevertheless, continued to flourish with outlets such as the weekly Awene and Lvin magazine. Many analysts believe that the opposition party Gorran would not have emerged in the 2009 elections without the assistance of Iraqi Kurdistan’s strong independent media.

Alarmed by their weakening grip on information, regional authorities moved to stifle independent media with force and intimidation. In 2008, Lvin reporter Soran Mama Hama was killed by unknown armed men for writing critically on the political situation in Iraqi Kurdistan. Independent journalists received death threats for reporting on corruption and other topics the authorities would rather ignore. In 2010, Sardasht Osman was killed for satirizing the political situation. Kawa Germyani was murdered outside Sulaimaniyah late last year after extensively documenting corruption in PUK territory.

In 2011, Kurdistan’s independent media entered a new era. NRT, a free satellite TV station, was founded in Sulaimaniyah by Shaswar Abdulwahid, CEO of Nalia Company. NRT was set on fire by armed men only 72 hours after its official launch.

Shwan Muhammad, editor-in-chief of SpeeMedia, a new free biweekly, said the decline of independent media is one of the greatest threats to Kurdish democracy.

“The free media revolutionized during the first decade of the 21st century, but entering the second decade, it has been challenged by emerging digital media, in particular new satellite TV stations that are funded by political parties. Unfortunately, free media has not been able to compete with them due to a lack of any economic resources,” he told Al-Monitor.

Muhammad still believes that an independent media is the only hope for Iraqi Kurdistan’s democracy.

Sirwan Najm, a newsagent in Erbil, said sales figures for independent newspapers are dropping by the day. He told Al-Monitor, “Before, I’d sell 300-400 copies of every issue of an [independent] newspaper, but now I hardly sell 15.”

Najm explained the reasons for the decline: “The KDP and PUK created many newspapers to undermine the free media. And they printed everything without any reliability. This has negatively affected the reputation of free media as well because readers have lost their trust in media in general.”

Despite the fact that independent media outlets, former opposition TV stations and the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) itself are facing financial crises, another pro-KDP satellite TV station is opening. Kurdistan 24 will soon start broadcasting, and sources state that it will be funded by KRG head Massoud Barzani’s son Masrour Barzani, reportedly in response to Nechirvan Barzani’s Rudaw Network, which strongly promotes Nechirvan’s policies. The PUK also opened Kurdsat News, a new satellite TV station in response to Rudaw, in March.

Sardar Muhammad, the editor-in-chief of Awene who was recently listed as one of the #100InformationHeroes by Reporters Without Borders, is concerned about the media situation. He underscored, “The decline of free media is the decline of democracy.”

“Free media has been a hope for strengthening democracy. Unfortunately, because of different reasons, free media has stopped developing,” he told Al-Monitor. “Four years ago, our circulation was much better than now as TV stations appeared, and they are paid well by the political parties. Rudaw, for example, gathered some good journalists because it can pay them well. In the meantime, some partisan outlets are distributed for free. This has also negatively impacted our performance.”

Former opposition TV satellite stations are struggling to keep up. The Kurdish News Network (KNN), the Gorran movement’s station, announced recently that it will dismiss some of its journalists for lack of funding. Following KNN, Payam TV, the Islamic Group’s station, announced that it will stop broadcasting unless its viewers support it financially.

Faruq Ali, Payam TV’s general manager, told Al-Monitor that the network is experiencing a serious financial crisis as its sponsoring party is unable to pay as well as before.

The situation has media advocates concerned.

“Some media outlets are paid well on the public budget and this has made some pro-political parties and partisan media outlets do well, whereas independents can’t develop, all at the expense of democracy and free speech,” Rahman Ghareeb told Al-Monitor. He is the general coordinator of Metro, a Sulaimaniyah-based independent organization for defending freedom of speech.

Independent media outlets urgently need a plan. Harem Karem, a co-founder and editor of The Kurdistan Tribune, has proposed some regulations to invigorate and professionalize the media in Iraqi Kurdistan.

“Regrettably, thelack of an effective regulatory body has paved the way for chaos. There is more echoing of one another, misinformation and unnecessary attribution to anonymous sources than grassroots journalism,” he told Al-Monitor. “Political parties as well as powerful individuals have established their own media outlets with large budgets, not only to have a favorable voice but also to defend themselves.”

Karem described his idea, saying, “An independent [nonpartisan] regulatory body — including a road map and organizational structure — would be based on the reality on the ground. The body will be set up and managed by the industry to organize and regulate the media and ensure that public interests are protected. The body’s primary objective would be to regularly examine the culture, practice and ethics of the domestic media; provide guidelines, code of conduct and training; enforce regulations and provide pre-publication advice to the media industry. I have spoken to the industry leaders, who are ready to support the project, but the question is: Will Prime Minister Barzani approve such a project?”

Al-Monitor asked Farsat Sofi, head of the KDP bloc in the Iraqi Kurdistan parliament, whether there are any projects in parliament to fund all media outlets without prejudice. Sofi said, “There are no projects, but parliament will support such initiatives.”

According to the Kurdistan Syndicate of Journalists, over 800 media outlets have been registered in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. Of them, 153 are satellite TV stations, local TV stations and radio stations, while the remainder are daily and weekly newspapers and magazines.

Muhammad, Ghareeb and Ali unanimously agreed that the Iraqi Kurdish parliament should pass a bill granting funds to all media outlets unconditionally. Otherwise, independent media will continue to suffer.
Kamal Chomani
Contributor, Iraq Pulse

Kamal Chomani is a Kurdish journalist writing on the political affairs of the Kurdistan Regional Government and covering Kurdish politics in Iraq, Iran, Syria and Turkey for leading impartial Kurdish media outlets. Chomani has had a regular column for The Kurdistan Tribune since 2010. On Twitter: @KamalChomani
Original Al-Monitor Translations

Iraq crisis: Kerry in Irbil for talks as fighting rages (Video)

June 24, 2014 By administrator

The US secretary of state is in the northern Iraqi city of Irbil holding talks with Kurdish leaders as Sunni rebels continue their offensive, the BBC reported.

John Kerry’s central aim is to assist the formation of a new, more inclusive Iraqi unity government.

Mr Kerry said Iraq faced a moment of great urgency as its very existence was under threat.

The Sunni rebels say they have fully captured the country’s main oil refinery at Baiji, north of Baghdad.

Meanwhile, a United Nations human rights team in Iraq has reported that at least 1,075 people have been killed in Iraq in June, most of them civilians.

The UN said the figures, which include a number of verified summary executions, should be viewed as an absolute minimum.

Mr Kerry’s meetings with Kurdish leaders come as the Kurdish region’s President Massoud Barzani strongly suggested that it would seek formal independence from the rest of Iraq, a move the US would regard as destabilising in the current circumstances.

In a CNN interview, he said: “Iraq is obviously falling apart… The time is here for the Kurdistan people to determine their future and the decision of the people is what we are going to uphold.”

Massoud Barzani says ‘the time is here’ for self-determination (Video)

June 23, 2014 By administrator

By Mick Krever, CNN

Iraqi Kurdish President Massoud Barzani gave his strongest-ever indication on Monday that his region would seek formal independence from the rest of Iraq.

“Iraq is obviously falling apart,” he told CNN’s Christiane Amanpour in an exclusive interview. “And it’s obvious that the federal or central government has lost control over everything. Everything is collapsing – the army, the troops, the police.”

“We did not cause the collapse of Iraq. It is others who did. And we cannot remain hostages for the unknown,” he said through an interpreter.

“The time is here for the Kurdistan people to determine their future and the decision of the people is what we are going to uphold.”

Iraqi Kurdish independence has long been a goal, and the region has had autonomy from Baghdad for more than two decades, but they have never before said they would actually pursue that dream.

But the latest crisis, in which Sunni extremists have captured a large swath of Iraqi territory on the border of Iraqi Kurdistan, seems to have pushed the Kurds over the edge.

“Now we are living [in] a new Iraq, which is different completely from the Iraq that we always knew, the Iraq that we lived in ten days or two weeks ago.”

“After the recent events in Iraq, it has been proved that the Kurdish people should seize the opportunity now – the Kurdistan people should now determine their future.”

Barzani said that he would make that case to U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry when they meet in Erbil Tuesday; America is a close Kurdish ally, but opposes independence for the region.

“I will ask him, ‘How long shall the Kurdish people remain like this?’ The Kurdish people is the one who is supposed to determine their destiny and no one else.”

Fractious relations with Baghdad

A reconciliation, Barzani said, could be possible “if there was understanding between Shias and Sunnis, and if there is a guarantee of a true partnership in the authority.”

“But the situation has been very complicated. And the one who’s responsible for what happened must step down.”

Amanpour asked if Barzani meant Prime Minister al-Maliki.

“Of course. He is the general commander of the army. He builds the army on the ground of personal loyalty to him, not loyalty to the whole country. And he monopolizes authority and power. He led the military, and this is the result.”

Iraqi Kurdistan has long had a fractious relationship with Baghdad; the region has had autonomy from the rest of Iraq for more than two decades.

Kurdistan even has its own military forces, the Peshmerga, which are now busy fighting ISIS extremists; next to the Iraqi military, which has looked awkward and unprofessional defending the country, the Peshmerga seems remarkably skilled.

Amanpour asked Barzani whether Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki had asked for Kurdish military support.

“The prime minister has not asked us. On the contrary, he rejected every offer to assist.”

Indeed, Barzani said, he warned al-Maliki about the impending ISIS threat long before they toppled the major Iraqi city of Mosul, near the Iraqi Kurdish border.

“I did warn Mr. Prime Minister not only a couple of days, but a few months before the fall of Mosul. I did warn him but he did not take the warning seriously. And I have many witnesses to that effect that I did warn him.”

Not everything that has happened, he told Amanpour, was done by ISIS; but because the extremists have the organization and the resources, they are seizing upon general discontent with al-Maliki.

“People in those areas found that the opportunity was there to revolt against that wrongful policy.”

“That is the public anger. And it’s important to distinguish between what are legitimate rights and what terrorists are trying to accomplish.”

The United States, ‘a true friend’

Iraqi Kurdistan and the United States have a close relationship, cemented by the American no-fly zone enforced over the region during the 1990s to protect the Kurds from Saddam Hussein.

When Barzani meets with Secretary of State Kerry on Tuesday, he will no doubt be hoping that that relationship – and America’s investment in Iraqi Kurdistan – will help convince Kerry of the need for independence.

“The United States has been a true friend and we Kurds have shown that we deserve that friendship.”

“The success of the region of Kurdistan was the only success that resulted from American policies.”

“And the United States has given opportunity to all Iraqis to build a modern, democratic state; pluralistic state; federal state. But, unfortunately, the others were not able to seize the same opportunity.”

Amanpour asked Barzani whether he thought the 300 military advisers the U.S. is sending to Iraq “can change the balance of power on the ground?”

“I do not believe so. I do not believe that this will change the balance of power. And this issue cannot be resolved by military means.”

“It’s a political issue that has to be dealt with politically. And after that, a military resolution can be easier to accomplish if there was a political agreement and political power.”

An uncertain future for Kirkuk

In defending Iraqi Kurdistan from ISIS, Barzani may also have seized on an opportunity. The Peshmerga have recently taken control of Kirkuk, an oil-rich region that the Kurds consider to be an integral part of their territory.

“We never had any doubt at any time that Kirkuk is part of Kurdistan,” he said.

The Iraqi constitution sets out a very specific process whereby the future of Kirkuk – whether in Kurdistan or the rest of the country – should be determined, involving a census of the area and then a referendum.

“For the last ten years, we have been waiting to have that article applied, but we haven’t seen any seriousness from the central government. And since we have new developments in Iraq now, this is what brought about the new situation with Kirkuk coming back to Kurdistan.”

“We haven’t done this referendum yet, but we will do and we will respect the opinion of the citizens even if they refuse to have Kurdistan as an independent state.”

Life’s work

“Do you feel,” Amanpour asked, “that your life’s work is about to be accomplished?”

“I really hope this is the case,” he said.

Baghdad sues Ankara over shipment of Kurdish oil

May 24, 2014 By administrator

The Iraqi central government has announced that it plans to take legal action against Turkey over a shipment of oil from the Kurdistan region of northern Iraq in a statement from Iraq’s Oil Ministry on Friday.

The first shipment of oil from the Kurdistan region of northern Iraq has been shipped to Europe, according to a statement from the autonomous region on Friday.

This has created concern for the US, which does not publicly support exports without the approval of Iraq’s federal government, according to US State Department Spokesperson Jen Psaki, speaking to the press on Friday in Washington, D.C.

The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) said sales from the Turkish port of Ceyhan would continue despite opposition from the federal government in Baghdad, which had threatened legal action against any company involved in “smuggling” Iraqi oil.

“A tanker loaded with over 1 million barrels of crude oil departed last night from Ceyhan towards Europe,” read the KRG statement. “This is the first of many such sales of oil exported through the newly constructed pipeline in the Kurdistan region.”

The statement added that the oil revenue would be treated as part of the region’s share of the Iraqi national budget, which Baghdad has partially withheld since the start of the year as punishment for the Kurds’ moves to export crude independently. It did not specify the buyer or provide additional details regarding the completion of the sale.

The revenue from the sale was deposited into an account of Turkey’s state-run Halkbank. The KRG said it remained open to negotiations with Baghdad and would comply with United Nations obligations by setting aside 5 percent of the revenue in a separate account for reparations for Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait in 1990. Turkish Energy Minister Taner Yıldız said on Friday that the first cargo was sold in to the Mediterranean spot crude market.

In 2009, the northern Kurdish region attempted to ship its oil to the international market via a pipeline controlled by Baghdad connected to Ceyhan; however, the shipments were halted amidst payment disputes. Last year, the KRG began building a separate pipeline to Ceyhan, skirting Baghdad’s control. Iraq has the fourth-largest proven oil reserves in the world, and oil revenues account for just under 95 percent of the country’s budget.

Washington concerned over shipment

The shipment has created concern in Washington. “We don’t support exports without the appropriate approval of the federal Iraqi government, and certainly we do have concerns about the impact of those continuing,” said US State Department Spokesperson Psaki.

“Our most immediate concern is for Iraq’s stability. We’ve had a longstanding position on this issue; as you know, that has not changed. And Iraq is facing a difficult situation. We’ve been clear that it’s important for all sides to take actions to help the country pull together and avoid actions that might further exacerbate divisions and tensions. So we’ll be in touch with both sides.”

Psaki added that the State Department had not spoken to Baghdad regarding the matter, but that they would likely be in touch soon.

Several Kurdish students including a son of an official in Iraqi Kurdistan join ihadists ISIS in Syria

March 27, 2014 By administrator

March 27, 2014

ERBIL-Hewlêr, Kurdistan region ‘Iraq’,— A high-level Kurdish source revealed on Thursday, the enrollment of young Kurdish students including the son of a known official to Islamic-jihadists to fight in Syria.

According to Kurdish sources spoke previously for Shafaq news, eight young Kurds from Kurdistan Region have been killed so far in fighting in Syria.

The source, who asked for anonymity said that “7 Kurdish students at the Islamic Institute of the Ministry of Endowment joined fight in Syria after joining Islamic-jihadists from the ISIS (Islamic State of Iraq and Sham) linked to al-Qaeda terrorist organization.

According to the obtained information, one of the students is the son of a senior official in Kurdistan Ministry of Endowments.

He added that these students are all from Erbil province.

Since the intensification of the civil war in Syria, reports talk about enrollment of young Kurds from the cities of Kurdistan to Nusrah front and the ISIS to fight the Syrian government forces.

The Ministry of Endowment in Kurdistan Regional Government has accused the regional intelligence of recruiting young Kurds and urging them to go to fight in Syria.

The ministry also issued instructions to the imams and preachers in the region, calling to advise young people not to go to any place under the name of “jihad”.

Source: shafaaq.com | Ekurd.net