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Kurdistan Region-Iraq News in brief
12.12.2006
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December 12,
2006 - Sulaimaniyah,
Erbil, Duhok, Kirkuk, Kurdistan Region (Iraq)
Holland consulate to be opened in Erbil
The aim of opening this consulate is for the sake of
relations between KRG and government of Holland.
Local media is reporting that Holland plans to open
a consulate in Kurdistan Region.
"The aim of opening this consulate in Erbil is for
the sake of strengthening relations between the
Kurdistan Regional Government and the government of
Holland," said Shamam Shauqi, who works in the Iraqi
embassy in Lahai. According to Shauqi, around 45,000
Iraqis are currently living in the Netherlands, out
of which 64% are Kurds.
Sulaimaniyah: Shorsh to receive $2 million for
service projects
$2 million have been allocated for clean water and
sewage system projects in the town of Shorsh.
Dara Yara, President Barzani's representative on the
panel to fulfill the people's requirements in Sulaimaniyah,
has reported that $2 million have been allocated for
clean water and sewage system projects in the town
of Shorsh. Many survivors of Anfal families reside
in the town of Shorsh, located 70 km south of Sulaimaniyah.
New U.N. envoy takes up job in Iraqi Kurdistan
Erbil, – The United Nations new political envoy
arrived in the Kurdistan region (Iraq) the city of
Erbil on Tuesday to take up his job in Kurdistan.
“I came to announce officially my appointment as an
envoy in the region of Kurdistan,” he told
reporters.
“My main task is to carry proposals and views from
different parties in the region to the United
Nations
representative in Baghdad and from there to the
highest levels,” he added.
Kwan said he would stay in Erbil and open an office
“to raise the political file of Kurdistan region
with UN
organizations in Iraq
More parents choosing Kurdish names for their
children
Some even choose foreign names like those of famous
soccer players and singers.
Statistics in childbirth registration, supplied by
the Erbil Health Department, show that last October,
2,125 children were born in Erbil and its outskirts:
1,608 were given Kurdish names; 483 children were
given Arabic, mostly Muslim names; and 34 children
were given foreign names.
In Kurdistan, a new generation of young people head
to the Erbil courthouse daily to change their names
for different reasons. Some simply do not like their
names; others want a nice, more popular name.
"My name was Salih and I changed it to Bestoon for
two reasons: First, I did not like my name because
only old men have it; second, my name was Arabic and
I wanted to have a Kurdish name," said Bestoon Omer,
24.
At the same time, in the central Iraq people change
their names to stay alive, because of sectarian
tension, every day a lot of people change their
names because they don't want to be identified as
Shiite or Sunni, stated by Iraqi interior ministry
department.
"People nowadays prefer Kurdish names over others,
especially for girls," said Tahssin Ibrahim Mustafa,
a registrar in the childbirth registration division
at the health department. Mustafa said that people
like to choose names that reflect nature and
happiness. "I want to choose a Kurdish name for my
kid because we have a lot of beautiful and
meaningful names, like names of mountains and
flowers in Kurdistan," said Fatima Ahmad, a mother.
Youths avoid marriage due to expensive dowries
Traditionally, a groom would buy a symbolic wedding
ring and earrings for his bride and that would
suffice.
Judge Muhammad Sharafany, in Duhok, says expensive
dowries have almost become a tradition in Kurdish
society, and believes the best way to put a stop to
it is to implement laws such as dowry taxes. He adds
that such a law could clear the way for society to
abandon this unhealthy practice.
"Would you ever on earth believe that I just
recently certified a marriage contract for 2
kilograms of gold?" he says in disbelief. New
legislation might deter fathers from asking for a
lot of money and gold. "Dowries hurt communities and
impel youths to turn their backs on marriage," he
says.
Saeed Khalaf, a university graduate who works as a
store teller, has been working since 2002 to collect
enough money to afford his marriage, but has not
been able to do so. "Day by day, I realize that I am
not going to be able to make the amount I need to
get married because of the high dowries being
demanded," he says. The father of the first girl he
wished to wed asked for US$15,000. The second
demanded $6,000, and the third requested $7,000 and
a separate house for the daughter. Saeed says that
he is seriously thinking of never marrying.
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