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One cold Canadian
morning, I woke up, had a cup of coffee as usual and
decided to watch Kurdistan TV to see if anything new
was up. I was watching the news on my computer,
during which my cold day soon brought me a
heartwarming feeling! I saw Barzani and Talabani on
the screen, ready to give a speech, and the caption
at the bottom of the screen read that the two
administrations had unified. I couldn’t believe it;
I thought it was April Fool’s Day!
Following what seemed like decades of negotiations
and deal exchange, the two Kurdish administrations
in Erbil and Suleimaniya had finally become one, I
said to myself that day. And what great news it’s
been ever since for the Kurdish populations in the
four parts of Kurdistan, and what a tear-jerking
event it must have been for their foes!
When I learnt of this breaking news, I went to check
out some international news websites to see if they
had anything to say about the occasion, and sure
enough, all headlines were evolving about the
unification of the two administrations, who were
once opponents of one another. Websites like
Kurdistan Observer, The Association Press, along
with a number of other Kurdish and non-Kurdish ones
were chewing on the same refresh gum – they were all
talking about a newly unified Kurdish government.
That is when I really came to wonder, what a
blessing and promising day this must be for the
Iraqi Kurds and the rest of the Kurds helplessly
awaiting the same, next door.
That same evening, I received a number of greeting
emails from a few of my friends from the US, Canada
and the Netherlands congratulating me about the good
news. They were all non-Kurdish friends who were as
contented about the news as I was, if not more.
These individuals were good friends who have always
been in support of Kurdish rights and keeping an eye
on what’s happening to Kurds in Iran, Syria, Turkey,
and sometimes even in Iraq.
The interesting thing about them is that neither one
of them is a journalist, nor a reporter. They are
ordinary individuals who are always on alert waiting
to discuss anything that comes up in Kurdistan and
talk about ways to find solutions for Kurdish
concerns. Perhaps, one of these friends of mine, who
is an American Jew, is planning to come for a visit
to Kurdistan this summer solely for self-interest.
One of the emails that were sent to me had an
attached link to a news report written by the
Associated Press regarding the unification. I read
on, and I see the report says, “However, the
agreement (between the two administrations) does not
merge the PUK’s and KDP’s departments of interior,
finance, justice or Peshmerga forces.” That is when
I began having doubtful thoughts. Not to sound so
pessimistic, because I still do consider this
unification a victorious achievement for the Kurds,
but why the four separate departments? I somewhat
understood preserving two different finance
departments, because as they say in Kurdish, “Bira
biraye, kisey cudaye,” meaning, “Brothers may be
alike; but their pockets are always unlike.” That is
what kind of gave me a reason to digest that
decision, but now what about the three other
departments?
I questioned myself: Do the two sides really mean
unification? If so, then why not join the interior
departments? Are there still two different internal
components of Kurdistan, Erbil and Suleimaniya that
will never become one? Why have two detached justice
departments? Is one of them more just than the other
in its rulings or is one of them more legitimate
than the second? And last but not least, why two
divorced departments of Peshmerga forces, could they
possibly be fighting for different principles and
goals? Let’s hope this big baby step will soon be
followed by a fully developed adult’s one.
http://vladimirkurdistan.blogspot.com/
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