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The pond turtle found at the ponds and springs is connected to the Kurdish goddess of waters, Ana, which has been residing in springs, rivers and lakes since the beginning of life on earth. Accordingly, the turtle symbolizes longevity and immortality.
The turtle motif on a Kurdish rug, 19th or early 20th century
Among Muslim Kurds, the goddess Ana is replaced with the prophet Khizir, an immortal spirit whose shrines are found in many places in Kurdistan next to springs and rivers. Accordingly, turtle motifs are common in Kurdish decorative and religious arts.
In many texts, Khizir or Khidr is described as a messenger, prophet, or angel who guards the sea, helps those in distress and imparts secret knowledge. Although not explicitly mentioned, Khizir is mentioned in the Quran.
Khizir visualized in a painting wearing a green overall. Scholars suggest his name was derived from the Arabic word Akhzar, meaning green.
One Kurdish legend is that the turtle was originally a wise human who was well-versed in the sea and eventually transformed into an animal, turning the sea or river it's an eternal home.
In Kurdish dream lore, a turtle could represent wisdom, good health and good luck. For instance, turtles seen in a dream indicate their will's emergence with wise people.
The turtle shell is believed to be a defense against the evil eye or malevolent witchcraft. When the harvest season begins, turtle shells are hung on poles and placed in the harvest field to ward off the evil eye. In some regions, the nomads, to parry fascination, carried a fragment of turtle shell fastened to a peg of oak wood.
In some ritual practices, turtle blood was applied on scars and skin infections, believing that turtles had the power of healing.
The mytheme of the cosmic turtle—a giant turtle supporting the world—found in many cultures has also made its way into Kurdish cosmogony, where we find a giant turtle carrying the world on its back.
A rare Kurdish rug with mysterious pond turtle icons associated with Kurdish mythology, 19th century
Today, Sunday, at 01:30 PM, a Khurmatu-based plower whose originally from Ozem in norther Baghdad, was going to plow a land in a remote area north of Khurmatu, and was kidnapped by three unknown gunmen on two motorcycles, suspected to be ISIS terrorists.
The abducted man was hired by an Iraqi military commander named Hussein Mardan to plough his land in north east Khurmatu, KurdSat reporter said.
The relatives of the kidnapped man filed a complaint in the Khurmatu Police Department this evening, the reporter said. Police have opened an investigation into the incident, according to police officers.
Many people in Kirkuk and disputed territories go missing, who are usually kidnapped by ISIS terrorists.
According to the bill, an ordinary citizen advocating for homosexuality would be fined between one to eight million Iraq Dinars (IQD). If government officials advocate for gay rights, they would be fined between 5 to 15 million IQD, around $10,000 US.
According to the bill, any government office, company or civil society organization that advocates for LGBT rights would face a heavy fine, ranging from 8 million to 24 million dinars.
In the Kurdistan region and Iraq, several social media figures that claim to have different sexual orientations have gathered a large number of followers, working to normalize homosexuality.
In November, over 70 Kurdistan Parliament lawmakers proposed a bill to ban homosexuality promotion. If the law passes, it will punish any individual or group who advocates for gay rights. According to the Bill on the “Prohibition of Promoting Homosexuality,” anyone who would call for gay rights would face imprisonment and a fine of over $3 000 US.
Today, Saturday, a mother of three children, a girl and two boys, died following a failed surgery in Kirkuk. Kurdsat English reporter said that the woman underwent a surgery 20 days ago at Dar al-Hikma private hospital in Kirkuk.
According to the relatives of the woman, they were told she would have a minor surgery, but she died shortly after being discharged from the operating room.
KurdSat English’s reporter noted that the woman's relatives filed a legal complaint against the hospital, but did not follow up the complaint properly, and have slept on it. They woman’s relatives seek justice through the media, thinking that legal charges would lead nowhere, KurdSat English has learned.
Leezengberg opened his statement by saying, "It is a great honor to win the prize." The philosopher apologized for only speaking Kurmanji Kurdish, as Kurdish Sorani is predominantly spoken in Sulaimani, where the ceremony was held.
Michiel Leezenberg, born in 1964, is a professor of philosophy at the University of Amsterdam in the Netherlands. He is known as a philosopher and comparative linguist. He spent over half of his life exploring Kurdish history and language. "I have been studying the Kurds for the past 30 t0 33 years," the Kurdologist noted.
He is fluent in Dutch, English, French, German, and Italian. The linguist has an excellent command of Greek, Turkish and Arabic, Kurdish, and even extinct languages such as Greek, Ancient Chinese, Sanskrit and Latin. Leezenberg is fluent in Kurdish Kurmanji, a dialect of the Kurdish language spoken by most Kurds.
Michiel Leezenberg is speaking Kurdish at the Jamal Nabaz Golden Pen Prize ceremony wearing the Jamal Nabaz Golden Pen Prize necklace, the necklace thread is decorated with the Kurdistan flag, in Sulaimani, Kurdistan region, on December 3, 2022.
Michelle's acquaintance with the Kurds dates back to 1988 when he met several Kurds Turkey and Syria. In the same year, news of the horrific chemical attack on Halabja spread in Europe and significantly impacted Leezenberg. "I first came to Sulaimani in 1989, when it was under Saddam Hussein," Leezenberg said at the event.
Today, Saturday, under the slogan "freedom is preferred over independence", the ceremony to award the Jamal Nabaz Golden Pen Prize was held in Sulaimani with the presence of Kurdish linguists, scholars and Kurdologists; Dutch Kurdologist Michiel Leezenberg won the award and spoke in a fluent Kurdish Kurmanji in the ceremony, the Dutch linguist did not have an accent when speaking Kurdish. KurdSat Broadcasting Corporation (KBC) was the ceremony's media sponsor.
A year later, Leezenberg tries to learn Kurdish, begins reading about Kurdish society and history, and travels to the Kurdistan region. The Dutch Kurdologist's first publications on the Kurds date back to the late 1980s, focusing on human rights and minority groups. He is the author of six books, including Islamic Philosophy: A history, an English translation is due soon. One of his widely taunted articles is Urbanization, Privatization, and Patronage: The Political Economy of Iraqi Kurdistan included in "The Kurds: Nationalism and Politics", a book about Kurds published by Oxford University Press, is a comprehensive study of Kurds that provides an accurate account of Kurds and Kurdistan.
Michiel
has dozens of books and research on classical Kurdish literature, the Kurdish language and dialects, the history of Kurdish religions, and Kurds' economic and social situation at different stages.
The Dutch activist has always been a Kurdish advocate and raised the Kurdish question, leading Turkey to name him non-grata in 2018. As it is said, I am an undercover Kurdologist, the professor said at the Jamal Nabaz Golden Prize ceremony. Michiel Leezenberg has significantly contributed to the Kurdish language and culture and has participated in several conferences. Since 2010, he has tried speaking Kurdish in regional conferances, as he did at the Jamal Nabaz Golden Prize ceremony.
He last taught an online course on comparative Kurdish literature during the Covid-19 lockdown. The Dutch Kurdologist is preparing an article on Ahmad Khani's Mam and Zin. He has also translated the story into Dutch and plans to publish it soon.
Mohammad Taqi Osanluo, commander of Hamza Sayyid al-Shuhada base of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), overseeing the Kurdish areas of Iran, said in an interview that their borders were under control, but there were destabilizing movements on the border with Iraq. He was referring to the activities of Iranian Kurdish Opposition Groups.
The commander mentioned the American-Kurdish ties, saying they would not interfere in that matter but would not tolerate the presence of American forces on their borders, warning KRG of severe consequences in such a scenario. Osanluo claimed that the Americans are aware that we know everything about their whereabouts in the Kurdistan region.
The Revolutionary Guards commander spoke of cases against Iranian dissidents living in the Kurdistan region. "Iran had previously called on the Iraqi Kurdistan authorities to dissolve the terrorist groups, but unfortunately there was no cooperation," Osanluo said. Washington Post reported on April 2021, that Iran hit a CIA hanger in the Kurdistan region's Erbil.
IRGC commander for Iranian Kurdistan said they could strike a Kurdish leader, but they did as he was with his family. "We would bomb houses harboring terrorists' groups."
Since the Zhina Mahsa Amini protests have swept across the Islamic republic, Iran has increased its attacks on the Kurdistan region, and at times threatening ground invasion in the Kurdistan region, Iranian opposition groups remain in the region.
Today, Saturday, the head of the group of lawyers defending Badinan prisoners, Bashdar Hassan, said, "Badinan prisoners believe that their rights are protected in Sulaimani Correctional Facility." Earlier the Badinan prisoners asked to be moved to Sulaimani prisons from Erbil prisons, citing discomforting treatment at Erbil jails.
"Badinan inmates believe that their rights are protected in Sulaimani Correctional Facility," the lawyer head said. Although necessary procedures were done, their transfer has been stalled for political reasons. "It is not the first time they have been punished; it is the fourth time they have been punished," Hassan explained. According to the lawyers, the new charges pressed against the prisoners are because they asked to serve the rest of their time in a Sulaimani prison.
The new charges follow PUK President Bafel Jalal Talabani's remarks in an interview that went rival, who said that the Badinan prisoners have asked to be moved to Sulaimani but were denied. It was because of the conditions in Erbil jails, as the prisoners have no knowledge of prisons in Sulaimani.
Representative of Badinan prisoners Ayhan Saeed said in a statement, "journalist Sherwan Sherwani has been sentenced for the fourth time without any reason and is deprived of any normal rights of a prisoner."
The inmates are denied contact with the outside world, even though Kurdistan region reform law gives them the right to contact their kin outside, according to the lawyer, who added that the measures against the prisoners were to break their will and mentally "disturb" them.
On October 7, 2020, Erbil Security Forces (Asaysh) detained Sherwan Sherwani and his activist and journalist friends, leading to a widespread outcry in the Kurdistan region.
On February 16, 2022, the detainees were indicted with several "wrongdoings" by the Cassation Court of Erbil and sentenced to six years in prison. Though some prisoners had served their time, new charges were brought against them every time public pressure mounted for their release.
Youths in Ahvaz, Ardabil and Kirkan have also called for a general strike and called on people to boycott unnecessary goods, a reference to things unnecessary for survival, during the three days, according to local telegram channels.
Students at Tehran University and Kurdistan University in Sanaa have also decided to join the general strike and boycott class.
The nationwide unrest in Iran erupted in Iranian Kurdistan’s Saqqez city, the hometown of Zhina Mahsa Amini, the 22-year-old student who died in the custody of Iranian morality police, whose death led to the largest and lengthiest since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
Few individuals are as important to the development of the Kurdistan region's gas sector as Bafel Talabani, the president of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), which controls the territory in Sulaimaniya province where the most prolific fields lie.
Talabani is also a central actor in the ongoing struggle between the PUK and the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), its longtime rival and nominal partner in the Kurdistan region's governance. Their deteriorating relationship has left the regional government hamstrung as it navigates renewed tensions with Baghdad that threaten its ability to continue independently managing its oil and gas sector.
In an interview with Iraq Oil Report at the Baghdad residence of his late father, former Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, the PUK leader criticized the KDP for withholding funding from Sulaimaniya. The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) is currently “very politicized,” he said — “a de facto twin administration, because Suli is expected to fund Suli.” President Talabani was referring to the lack of funds in Sulaimani, as tens of megaprojects are under construction in the KDP-controlled territories, even though Sulaimani governorate is home to half of Kurdistan region’s population.
One casualty of this antagonistic atmosphere has been the KRG's plans to build new gas pipelines to bring additional feedstock to power plants in both PUK and KDP-controlled territory — a network that could also be used to facilitate future exports to Turkey. After the KRG Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR) awarded the contract to the Iraqi-Kurdish company KAR Group, which is close to the KDP, security forces controlled by the PUK prevented the company from accessing key territory, effectively putting the project on ice.
Talabani confirmed he is personally opposed to the project, arguing the contract was granted KAR Group with “no process” and “no tender.”
“Kar Group was not awarded [the contract]. Kar Group was given it,” he said. “It is an insult to the people of Kurdistan and Iraq for these things to happen.”
Talabani said he wants to be involved in strategic decision-making about the energy sector but claimed the KDP has frozen its political rivals out of the process. Absent a viable partner in Erbil, he suggested, cooperation with Baghdad looks increasingly attractive.
“I do not understand the unwillingness to work with Baghdad,” he said. "Basra is 1,000 times richer than the entirety of Kurdistan. Just Basra. And if the prime minister came to me and said, ‘Hey, Bafel, put your little teapot on this table, and you can be a part of the huge table, including Basra’ — to me, that sounds like a bloody good deal."
Following Saladin Ayyubi's capture of Jerusalem eight centuries ago, the Kurdish footprint is still visible in the city. Every street in the city carries a story about the Kurds, one of which is Al-Hakkari Street.
The road lies in the Old City of Jerusalem, decorated with ancient stones and narrow alleys. It is the only known street named after a Kurd outside Kurdistan.
When Saladin went to war with the Crusaders, a significant number of Hakkari region tribes in Kurdistan joined his army. Prominent among them was 'Isa ibn Mohammed Hakkari, who played a significant role in the capture of Jerusalem, according to Ibn Aseer's Whole History, Ibn Kaseer's Beginning and End, and several other sources.
Isa bin Mohammed Hakkari was one of the most prominent scholars and jurists of his time and a senior advisor to Saladin Ayyubi, a Kurdish leader that rose to unite Muslims of the Middle East after years of division and domestic conflict.
Saladin's uncle Assasadeen Sherko recommended Hakkari to serve alongside Saladin. When Saladin captured Jerusalem in 1187, Hakkari was one of the prominent figures in the war. Hakkari was killed in Acre, modern-day Israel, in 1189 and was buried in Jerusalem.
Kurds are one of the largest Middle East native nations who have fought alongside their brethren nations for justice but are still denied their own geography.
The Sulaimani General Directorate of Electricity said that the purpose of reducing electricity amperes was to "control of electricity and reduce power outages and pressure on electrical feeder in the winter."
The ministry also asked people to avoid using additional electrical appliances to evade having their "smart power meters" turned off, as the smart meters have ampere limits programmed into them. The KRG installed a smart electricity meter to control better and distribute electricity but has failed to provide around-the-clock electricity, as power in homes is available only 8 to 10 hours a day.
Power consumption increases two or three folds in the winter as people rely on it for heating their homes, cooking, and other necessities; with a recent spike in fuel prices, electricity consumption is expected to rise further in the coming winter, even though the government has failed to provide accessible and cheap electricity. Power outages are filled by electricity generators that spill hundreds of tons of carbon dioxide into the air in a region where air quality is already low.
Today, Wednesday, Iraqi Ministry of Foreign Affairs Spokesperson Ahmad Sahaf said, “Two Iraqi migrants have frozen to death on the Belarusian Polish, and the Iraqi Foreign Ministry has formed a committee to investigate and bring back their bodies.” The two migrants are not the first to lose their lives on the freezing borders between Poland and Belarus.
“The migrants died in Belarus because Iraq does not have an embassy in the country,” Sahaf added.
The Iraqi Embassy in Moscow is working to bring back the bodies of the migrants, and a committee has been formed to follow up and get back their bodies, according to the foreign ministry.
In autumn 2021, after covid19 restriction was loosened, thousands of Iraqis took to the borders between Belarus and Poland to cross into Europe; among them were 4000 Kurdish migrants who were trapped on the border as most still are almost two years on, when the Polish government mobilized its army and fortified its borders, preventing and migrant from stepping into its country.
Poland described the migrants as Belarusian agents aiming to disturb peace and security in the country.
Many migrants trapped in the freezing border forests have no access to shelter or food, and some have either disappeared or died in Belarus. Some reports suggest that migrants detained were also tortured by the polish border guards.
Today, Wednesday, Sulaimani Department of Combating Violence against Women Sarkawt Ahmad Omar told Kurdsat English after they were informed of a 25-year-old woman detained and tortured by her brothers in their home in Sulaimani, they rescued the girl and arrested her brothers.
Ahmad added that the brothers were investigated and put behind bars, as their sister sued them. The official said the woman had issues with her husband and was about to separate; she had been imprisoned several times before by her brothers. Ahmad noted that her brother detained her for a month at his house.
Sulaimani authorities handed the woman over to her parents after she received care from the hospital, the Department for Combating Violence against Women in Sulaimani said.
The Kurdish parties said in their seven-point memorandum that the presence of a large number of military bases in the city without any legal excuses is an "uncivilized phenomenon" and has disturbed normal life in the city.
"The continuous raids on Kurdish neighborhoods at night have displaced Kurds in Kirkuk," the parties said in a statement. Since the 2017 Kurdistan region independence referendum, Peshmerga forces lost control of Kirkuk to Iraq security forces, and they have often caused trouble for Kurds in the city. Military intervention in Kirkuk administration departments has left hundreds of Kurdish officials removed from their jobs.
The memorandum also states that the military intervention [popular mobilization forces PMF] in support of a particular ethnic group to deprive Kurds of their agricultural land that falls within the premises of article 140 of the Iraqi constitution has caused ethnic conflict among village farmers.
Iraqi security forces have prevented many Kurdish farmers in the disputed territories from watering or farming their lands, with many stripped of their property and its ownership relocated to Arabs and Turkmens.
The Kurdish groups also described violations against the Kurds and policies aiming to alter Kirkuk's demography against the Kurds as intolerable and explained that such acts were against the conditionally supported committee to carry out article 140.
To dilute Kirkuk's majority, records of Arabs born and residents elsewhere in the country are transferred. The maneuver has allowed authorities to confiscate and hand over to Arabs and Turkmens huge tracts of Kurdish-owned land.
Shikar Mardan, a lawyer for agricultural land in Daquq and a member of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) Legal Center told KurdSat English, "after 2017 resettled Arabs have tried to occupy agricultural lands belonging Kurds in Kirkuk." Kurds demanded the return of their land, and took the case to Kirkuk and Baghdad courts.
The lawyer explained that they had provided enough evidence to the courts and proved that their ownership belonged to the Kurds, leading the Daquq Court of Appeal to rule in favor of the Kurds and return their property.
On November 2, the same court in Daquq passed a decision to resort ownership of over 1300 acres of land back to their owners, with Baghdad’s Rasafa Court of Appeal ruling a return of 837 agricultural lands to Kurds in Kirkuk.
Kurdish, Turkmen, and Arab farmers dispute over 300 hectares of farmlands in Kirkuk’s southern Laylan subdistrict, most of which remain unsettled and are a source of contention between the different minority groups.
Since the 2017 Kurdistan region referendum, Arabs and other minorities have tried to occupy land farmed by Kurds in the disputed territories; however, efforts by the PUK have led to restoring their rights and property. PUK’s efforts in reviving the long-dead High Committee for Implementing article 140 would settle most problems in the disputes between Erbil and Baghdad.
Iraqi Minister of Justice Khalid Shwani said on his Facebook page that he thanked PUK President Bafel Jalal Talabani for reviving the High Committee for Implementing article 140, suspended in 2014 following an escalated dispute between Baghdad and Erbil.
"I would like to thank the President of PUK Bafel Jalal Talabani for always prioritizing the issue of the disputed territories in his meetings with the parties, and for constantly following up on the matter, and supporting us," the justice minister said.
Speaking to KurdSat English, a former member of the Iraqi House of Representatives Jamal Shukur said," President Jalal Talabani has always placed particular importance on the deprived territories [ a reference to the disputed territories] especially Kirkuk, and President Bafel Jalal Talabani now follows his footsteps."
Per the 2005 Iraqi constitution, the implementing committee is tasked with settling the disputes territories between Baghdad and the Kurdistan region. The constitution states that a committee shall carry out a plebiscite in the disputes lands to decide who would govern them, Erbil or Baghdad.
The minister also explained that reviving the committee has been part of the agreements made for participating in the Al-Sudani government. "The prime minister re-established the High Committee for the Implementation of Article 140, which was dissolved in 2014," Shuani added.
The minister also added that the committee would meet within ten days to prepare an estimated budget to compensate those covered by Article 140 and submit it to the Council of Ministers to be included in the general budget. His statement reveals that the committee members are chosen and ready to begin work.