A hospital in Turkey to help Kurdish journalists

The hospital will cut 50 to 70 percent of the cost.

Iraqi journalists are calling for more help, as a majority--including journalists in Kurdistan Region-are facing difficult financial issues.

The Organization of Writers Without Borders in Iraq has signed a deal with a big hospital in Ankara, capital of Turkey, to treat Iraqi and Kurdistan Region journalists, as well as their families, at a discounted cost.

"From the 25th of this month, journalists and their families can get treatment in the hospital," said Mam Burhan Qaneh, head of Writers Without Borders from the Suleimaniyah city office.

Qaneh pointed out that according to the deal, the hospital will cut 50 to 70 percent of the cost. Moreover, the organization will prepare visas for the journalists and their families. He requested that journalists visit their offices in Erbil, Suleimaniyah, and Kirkuk for more information.

Writers Without Borders in Iraq was established in 2005. It is a nongovernmental organization that aims to help Iraqi writers and journalists; its headquarters is in Kirkuk city.

Qaneh told "The Kurdish Globe" that since the organization announced the statement, in a very short time a number of journalists have contacted the organization and want to go to the hospital.

He mentioned that Iraqi journalists deserve more help and support from government and nongovernmental organizations. Ara Ibrahim, a journalist from Kurdish language "Hawlati," praised the efforts of Writers Without Borders.

Ibrahim said, "There is not so much help for Iraqi journalists including journalists in Kurdistan; we only have a syndicate, and the only thing they do is give us an identification--nothing more."

the article and photo by Qassim Khidhir

An Iraqi poet insults Kurds

During a poetry festival in Baghdad aired on Biladi satellite TV, which belongs to Ibrahim al-Jaffari, former Iraqi Prime Minister, poet Samir Sabih took the stage and started reading poems about attacking Kurdish people. “Soon we will burn down Kurds and drive them away from Kirkuk city," read Sabih.

The TV showed Iraqi Turkmen MP Fawzi Akram Tarzi from Sadr bloc continuously applauding and cheering as the poet constantly insulted Kurdish people. The scene, widely reported in Kurdistan Region, angered Kurdish people.

Kurdish MPs in Baghdad immediately demanded MP Tarzi and Sadr bloc apologize, but they haven't. Meanwhile, 32 Kurdish MPs have signed a petition and demanded Iraqi Parliament lift immunity on Tarzi.

After the incident, the Kurdish security agency in Kirkuk issued a statement. The statement read that on February 2, 2009, in a security operation, the agency arrested three insurgents; two of them were the bodyguards of Fawzi Akram Tarzi. Tarzi's bodyguards are responsible for killing U.S. soldiers, Iraqi police, and soldiers in Baghdad and Kirkuk, the statement added. "When we arrested them, they were in possession of sniper rifles and anti-tank weapons," read the statement.

Moreover, it pointed out that the two insurgents were able to pass checkpoints very easily, because they had identification made by the Sadr bloc MP. Biladi TV was established in 2006 and is funded by Iran.