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Kurdish Language Satellite TV network goes
on air
3.3.2007 |
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March 3, 2007
Erbil, Kurdistan region (Iraq), March 2, --
As part of a declared drive to promote free and
independent media, Kurdistan's regional government
has launched a global Kurdish language satellite TV
station, Newroz, comprising three main channels.
The first covers the regional government and
parliament's activities, the second is dedicated to
children's programmes and the third is for young
people, regional culture minister Halkurd Abd al-Wahhab
announced.
The network began broadcasts on Thursday via the
European Hotbird communications satellite, which
transmits across Europe, North Africa and the Middle
East.
Some doubt how much real freedom of manoevre Newroz
will have given the firm grip on the region's media
exercised by its two main parties: the Kurdish
Patriotic Union and the Democratic party.
'Newroz' meaning new day is the festival of the
spring and coincides with the Spring equinox as
celebrated by some Kurds on 21 March. The festival
is said to have special significance for Kurds'
struggle for human rights in Turkey.
'Newroz' is the traditional Kurdish new year, The
year 2007 corresponds to the Kurdish year 2619.
The Kurdish calendar starts at 612 BC. This is the
year that Cyaxares, the grandson of Deioces (Díyako),
the first king of the Medes' empire, occupied
Nineveh and put the end to the brutality of the
Assyrian empire in the lands under its occupation.
Although the ancient Greek historian Herodatus
credits "Deioces son of Phraortes" (probably 715 BC)
with the creation of the Median kingdom and the
founding of its capital city at Ecbatana (modern
Hamadan), it was probably not before 625 BC that
Cyaxares, succeeded in uniting the many Median
tribes into a single kingdom. In 614 BC, he captured
Ashur, and in 612, in alliance with Nabopolassar of
Babylon, his forces stormed Nineveh, putting an end
to the Assyrian Empire.
Now the Kurdish solar system calendar is normally
365 days with the remaining natural few hours being
marked by a leap year every fourth year. It starts
with exact first day of spring according to the
Gregorian calendar (March 20 or 21).
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