Kurds should unite and declare for an Independent State! By Dana Berzinjy

Kurds should unite and declare for an Independent State!

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The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of the author

Kurds should unite and declare for an Independent State! 27.3.2011
By Dana Berzinjy for ekurd.net

March 27, 2011

It’s a good opportunity for the Kurds to unite and to liberate Kurdistan, by burying their differences and enemy conspiracy’s against our nation, (Medes Nation). All the political parties that are part of today’s Kurdish Regional Government share the corruption that is created in Kurdistan, and in today’s unrest situation of Sulaimaniyah (Berderki Sara/ Sara Squire and some towns in Sulaimaniyah province.
Kurdish Regional Government (South of Kurdistan/Iraqi Kurdistan) needs to eat less and Exercise more!

We can see and hear that many people are complaining at the Kurdish Regional Government for not delivering good services to our citizens. For instance electricity, clean water, unemployment and bad services in general, particularly in Sulaimaniyah. Electricity has been running short for over decades and the Kurdish Regional Government has not been trying hard enough to compromise this problem.
When I was in Kurdistan, I visited Koya’s Library which was in town, people were not able to borrow books directly, it was a hot summer and the library did not have electricity.

Dana Berzinjy, Sydney - Australia

There were no aircons or fans for the students or the readers to be able to cool themselves down. Everybody was sweating, and the facilities were not there. The library did not have computers for people to use. The service was completely bad.

I was a lecturer at Koya University from October 2008 until February 2009. The university did not have a clear program plan to teach the students. The University was lacking Over Head Projectors, internet connection, and computer labs which made it hard for students to achieve better outcomes. The University Library did not have enough resources for the students to be able to complete their research or projects. It also did not provide clean water for the students. Koy’s City Council did not bother to take this matter seriously; sometimes students had to get water from the neighboring houses.

Many students had kidney problems due to the lack of clean water that was available. The town of Koye still has no clean water. I used to use a kettle to boil water but after some time the kettle would got blocked with a white rocky substance, it was similar to hard concrete. Then I had to put salt into the kettle in order for it to dissolve and remove the hard substance, or I would have to purchase a new one and throw the other one away.
During winter all the roads inside the university and the surrounding areas were full of Mud and no one, not even from the university asked the Koya’s City Council to take action into fixing them. Some of the university lecturers were asked by the members of political parties to pass some University students in their exams despite of their failure.

In 2006 my qualifications were given to the Ministry of Higher Education through the Ministry of Education in Erbil for it to be recognized, and to be employed as an advisor to the minister of education. The recognition was delayed and I did not know the reasons behind it. Then I decided to visit Kurdistan in 2008 and to see them in person. I handed in certified qualifications which were stamped by the Kurdish Regional Government in Sydney. Then I stayed in Kurdistan until 18th February 2009 but during my visits to the Ministry of Higher Education, I was promised by Dr. Ahmad Dizei that everything was fine and the recognition was done,www.ekurd.netafter 2 weeks I contacted them again to get a copy of the recognition, and I was told that it has not yet been finished, and nobody told me what was wrong. I waited and waited until the middle of February 2009 and I was hopeless, and disappointed by the Ministry of Higher Education, then I left Kurdistan on 18th February 2009 back to Sydney/Australia.

After I returned to Australia, I sent another copy of my certified qualification through a friend, and then I contacted the Ministry of Higher Education from Australia. I asked if they have received my certified qualification by mail and I was advised from Erbil the KRG’s Capital Government Higher Ministry of Education, that they have not received my qualification, but they said even if we had received them, we were not going to recognize it, because they were certified by the Reprehensive of the Regional Kurdish Government, not the Iraqi ambassador.

I said to the manager, that I was not going to get a job in Baghdad; I want to be employed at Koya University. The manager of Qualifications insisted that my qualifications have to be signed by the Iraqi ambassador, but I was not told initially this is the case, through my visits to the Ministry of Higher Education in July 2008-February 2009. They told me that, after 3 and half years, so my qualifications were held with them without them being bothered to email me about this matter.

In the end I mailed them a certified qualification which was signed by the Iraqi Ambassador, and then this matter was not solved yet by the former Minister Idrees Hadi. This matter was solved eventually by the new minister of the Higher Education Dr. Dlawer, after I had complained about this matter through the Kurdish Regional Government Reprehensive in Sydney Kak Heval.

These people were involved in Higher Education Ministry’s corruption in Erbil, such as Dr. Ahmed Dizei, Qereni, and Dr. Kerim. This story of this corruption goes back to August 2006 first when I handed in my qualifications. It was finally solved in December 2010. This process took over 4 years. In addition to that, the University of Koya had written a formal letter to the Ministry of Higher Education in Erbil on 25th October 2009 in order for employment at the University as a assistant lecturer in the English Department, but I have still not heard anything from the Ministry of Higher Education, or the Council of Ministries, even after I went there several times in 2009.

In Baghdad any one that went back to Iraq was given airfare and more expenses, but I was not asking for anything but for fair treatment and justice. But unfortunately those people whom were mentioned above were not the right people for the right positions but They are corrupted people who did not get their positions based on merit, but because they are members of the ruling parties.

I escaped from Iraqi Kurdistan in 1987 from the University of Salahaddin in Erbil, due to arrest issue by the Arab Baath Socialist party in Erbil, because I was not listening to their orders and, I refused to join the Arab Baath Socialist Party and their Civil Army. But the person who had written a report on me (Goolchin) resulted into me being arrested by the Arab Socialist Party and I lost my job, now she enjoys her life and she has been employed in Sulaimaniyah. This person was a member in Arab bath Social Party and she was also responsible for the Labor Union at the Faculty of Education (Student Department/dormitory) in Hewler [Erbil] until 1987 when I escaped.

Another example about corruption is when one of the most known streets of Sulaimaniyah called 100 Metri, this street goes around Sulaimaniyah, and it has no lights which makes it very dark. This street has very big holes in it and Sulaimaniyah city council does not bother to improve the conditions of this street and other streets, or to improve its service in Sulaimaniyah at all. These are some of the bad and awful services and the corruptions that I had seen in Koya, Sulaimaniyah and Erbil.

Kurdistan lacks schools, thousands of schools in Sulaimaniyah, Hewler, other towns and villages have 2 or 3 shifts of schooling in order for students to be able to go to school for a short time not for a normal schooling time. But, unfortunately the Government has not paid full attention to education, but they have established hundreds of mosques in Sulaimaniyah, Duhok and more in Hewler in order to educate our students to serve Islam then finally to become outlaws as it’s happened now in the city of Sulaimaniyah and Halabja. For instance groups like Ansar-al-Islam, Komeleiy Islami and other groups have members in parliament. What do you call these types of policies except corruptions, wasting resources and public fund which are not necessary at all? Kurdistan does not want to be part of the Islamic Republic of Iran.

Even at this sensitive and critical time the Chancellor of Salahaddin University without getting permission from the Ministry of Higher Education asked the students who are from the city of Sulaimaniyah should leave and go back to were they are from. This act done by the Salahaddin Chancellor and Student Union is part of his corruption. It’s illegal and against the rules and regulations of the University. He gets his orders from his political Party but not from the Ministry of Higher Education.

I would like to say that these kinds of corruptions have been in Kurdistan for some time but evidentially no action is yet to be taken Kurdistan Regional Government and nobody has been taken to court for any these corruptions. People of Kurdistan have been complaining since the beginning of 2003 after the collapse of the Saddam’s dictatorship and even before that. Despite that 17 percent of the Iraqi budget is being received by the Kurdistan Regional Government unfortunately the city of Sulaimaniyah and the surrounding areas such as Koya, Erbat, Berzinje and many more and villages which have been ignored by the KRG, compare to Erbil and Duhok. The streets of Sulaimaniyah are the same as before when Saddam Hussein was running Iraq.
The KDP, PUK, Gorran and Islamic Political Parties.

All Political Parties that run Kurdistan without any exception has a hand in corruption and stealing public resources. In the city of Sulaimaniyah so many hectares of public lands have been controlled by PUK, KDP, Islamic and Gorrans Political parties.

I have read an article which was written by a foreign journalist and it claimed while the Iraqi President 3 years ago was going to Iran on an official visit,
and during that flight, the Iraqi President gave out $110, 000 US dollars to the security guards and the group that companied him, including a foreign journalist. But when the foreign journalist opened the envelope and realized that there is money in it, he returned the money and refused to accept it, and said to them that, I have not done anything except to fulfill my duty, why I had to get paid for that?

In addition to that, I heard from a group of PUK high rank members in the city of Sulaimaniyah that the PUK leader gave $400, 000 US dollars to one of the members of parliament as a gift to build a house, the person was Kamal Shali. I want to say this honorable Member of Parliament should have borrowed that money from a bank and paid it off later like the other people, not to get that money as a gift.

PUK has been running the city of Sulaimaniyah for almost 20 years. The PUK leader has never penalized anyone for this corruption in the city of Sulaimaniyah or else where. For instance Dana Ahmed Majid was a governor of the city and the people of Sulaimaniyah knew that person was heavily behind the corruption and has not done many projects in the district of Sulaimaniyah, but the leader of the PUK did not ask him any questions then later on he was retired.

Then afterwards, the former governor of Sulaimaniyah joined the Gorran Party in order to cover his corruption and to get lost in the public eye. Then the Gorran movement has accepted him proudly as a member of Gorran. Is this a change? Shall we call this corruption as amendment by Gorran (Change) or it’s another corruption under different name? Another example, about corruption in regard to Dr. Faruq Rafiq who is a member of (Gorran (Change), he leads the protesters in the city of Sulaimaniyah. This person was running a program under a title of Philosophy on TV. Nobody thought that he is going to be part of the corruption. When Nechirvan Barzani was a Prime Minister of Kurdistan, he ordered his admin people to open an office for Dr Faruq in Erbil in order to run a philosophy program from Hewler. They had established and furnished his premises including his office. Then he was given $40,000 US dollars, which is almost equivalent to 40, 000, 000 million Iraqi dinners. In addition he had his own salary at least $2,500 US dollars a month, and he was given a house in Sheqlawe, which the Kurdish Regional Government paid $1200 US dollars. Even he had just used to live in it on weekends, cause its tourist area. They bought him a land Cruiser for $42,000 US dollars. Even after he evacuated the house in Sheqlawe according to eye witnesses which I saw from KT channel on Wednesday and Thursday 17th and 18th of March 2011 from Sydney, but he still he receives $1200 US dollars from (Democraty Komalaiaty/Democratic Community).

Now this person tells the KRG that it is a corrupted Government, but he thinks that he is not corrupted and leads the protesters to believe otherwise. He reckons he is innocent and not a thief. But I strongly believe that he is same as his counterpart Dana Ahmed Majid. These people are corrupted stealing public money and resources from KRG and the people of Kurdistan. These corruptions by (Gorran/Changes) are not serving anyone.

The KDP leader always appears on KDP TV as a KDP leader not the Kurdish President. The PUK leader also appears on KURDSAT TV as a PUK leader not the Iraqi President.

The KDP, PUK, Gorran and including the other small parties are still running their political TV channels, and newspapers not Kurdish Government media. Kurdistan still has two different Asayish and Departments, and two different Armies. Are not these corruptions? This is a big whole and a crack among our people and Kurdistan Regional Government. When these matters are going to be fixed? How long the Kurds have to wait for unity of our torn nation?

It’s a shame that the Kurdistan Regional Government has not got a TV channel or a newspaper in order for representation of the Government or the Kurdish people. The Kurdish authorities in Erbil and Sulaimaniyah, they do represent their Political Parties not the people of Kurdistan. Government can’t be run in this way and it’s absolutely a wrong way to run Kurdistan, they should represent the public not their Parties because Kurdish people voted for them. The above examples are some indicators of the corruptions that existed in Kurdistan. Over all, Gorran and other Islamic Political parties should stop their aggression against the Kurdish Regional Government and the people of Kurdistan. Because KRG was elected by the Kurdish people and only the people of Kurdistan can remove the Government and its Parliament. They have the majority of seats in parliament. Elections are the best scale to judge to day’s unrest by Gorran and Islamic group.

I would like to ask a leader of Gorran a question, where you have been from 1991 to 2007? Why didn’t you do any amendment among PUK members? You know very well that corruption has gone to the roofs particularly in Sulaimaniyah, why did you keep blind eye in the situation? Or it was your plan to demolish the KRG, and destroy Kurdistan economically and politically again. Why don’t you ask yourself this question? Who is going to benefit from this situation? Its shame on you, that you call yourself an opposition leader and you have never been in the Kurdish parliament. You are outside of the Kurdish Parliament and you try to use you members like a TV and the remote control is in your hand in order to change the channel, it does not work like that, and you have no legitimacy at all. If you are really an opposition leader you have to change your policy in Parliament not from (Berderki Sara/Sara Squire). Some of your Iraqi Parliament members gone to university of Sulaimaniyah to encourage the students to protest against KRG, without having permission from university or Government to do that.

Dadwer (judge) Letif in the Iraqi Parliament in Baghdad told the Iraqi Parliament that the Peshmerge forces of Kurdistan are militia. But you were one of them for such along time Mr. Nawshirwan Mustafa. These kinds of acts and behaviors, which you and your members do, show an act of dictatorship. There is no difference between you and the former Iraqi Government and its executed Dictator Saddam Hussein. Due to undemocratic acts and the way to tackle the matters in Kurdistan.

Now you have allied with Islam, groups such as Ansar-al-Islam, Bzootnawe and Komeli Islami, and you know well that for the last 1300 years Islam has done nothing for the Kurds except genocide and Anfal campaigns. Before the USA liberated Iraq, the Ansar-al-Islam had killed 43 Peshmerge in inhuman and in a brutal way around Khoormal in 2002. Franso Heriri the high rank of the KDP member was assassinated in Erbil by Tewheed/unite Islamic group, but still you make yourself naïve and participating with the enemy of the Kurds. Someone like Mullah Hemid Seeweili called for jihad on Friday from Sulaimaniyah mosque or Berderki Sara (Sara Squire), according to the people that reported him and talked to KTV Reporter Abdulwehab on Sunday afternoon, according to eye witnesses, that Mullah has a political connection to Turkey and he was seen by the people that companied him in a trip to Turkey and he was seen by his friends when he visited Turkish embassy in Turkey and he did not return to Iraqi Kurdistan with his friends and he stayed behind alone in Turkey.

These kinds of witnesses, will tell that, which I am sure a strong hand such as Iran, Turkey even the Iraqi Government are behind this scenario as well.
But I believe all of these cards will be revealed one by one.

Do you have a plan to fix corruption? Why did not you discuss in the Parliament to inform the people about these corruptions? Or you wanted to do it by yourself in public demonstrations and then encourage people to stone and burn public premises. This is not an act of an opposition leader but this is an act of outlaw people. You can not compare Kurdistan with Egypt, Syria, Libya and the other Arab and Middle Eastern dictators.

The Kurds and Kurdistan has started to liberate since the fall of Saddam Hussein in 2003, even at the present time our disputed cities and towns under occupation by Baghdad. East of Kurdistan (Iranian Kurdistan), West of Kurdistan (Syrian Kurdistan) and North of Kurdistan (Turkish Kurdistan) are still under the control of the worst dictators in the world. Is not time to support them? It is time to unite and liberate Kurdistan, not a time to damage our unity and reputation as a nation. It is a golden time to declare our Independent State.

Dana Berzinjy, a freelance writer, Sydney/Australia, is a regular contributing writer for eKURD.NET © All Rights Reserved. You may reach the author via email at: dara_dar@yahoo.com.au

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About the Author: Master in TESOL from University of Western Sydney in 1995. Bachelor of Teaching (Secondary) Faculty of Education {University of Western Sydney macarthur} 2001-2002. Postgraduate Diploma in Adult Education (Teaching English of Speakers Other Languages) Faculty of Education {University of Western Sydney macarthur} 1999-2001. Postgraduate Diploma in Business ( Employment Relations Law) Faculty of Business ( University of Technology Sydney) 1997-1999. Bachelor of Business (Commerce and Human Resource management) ( Southern Cross University) 1992-1996 Lismore.

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The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of the author

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