Gulala Sharafkandi ran for vice president of Socialist International Women for the Middle East and won the confidence of her friends. Sharafkandi is a member of the Women’s Union of Iranian Kurdistan Democratic. 

Socialist international women congratulated its general secretary and deputies on its Facebook page. 

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez was named as the new SI president who promised to bring more women forward in the SI. Sanchez's cabinet includes many women, and he calls himself a feminist. 

Gulala Sharakfandi is the daughter of Sadegh Sharafkandi, former Secretary-General of the Kurdistan Democratic Party of Iran (PDKI), who was assassinated in 1992. 

Today, Saturday, a PUK delegation led by PUK diplomat Sadi Ahmed Pira met with the newly elected SI chief, Spanish PM Pedro Sanchez. Pira congratulated Sanchez on his election as presiding of the Socialist International grouping. The delegation also conveyed PUK President Bafel Jalal Talabani's wishes to the SI chief.  

Pira said, "the nomination of Mr. Pedro Sánchez is necessary for the unification of the Social International and the Progressive Alliance and the reunification of all the socialist parties under the umbrella of one public and active organization."

The two sides discussed ways to improve political, economic, and cultural ties between Iraq, Kurdistan, and Spain. 

The new SI chief recalled the late President Jalal Talabani's significant role and efforts in further developing Social International and spoke of president Talabani's charismatic role in bringing the organization together. 

PUK's Sadi Pira asked the SI president to work to reunite the Progressive Alliance and the SI. The Progressive Alliance split from the SI in 2013.  
The PUK also made clear to the Spanish PM that the PUK has always worked to bring different views in Iraq together. 

The 50-year-old Spanish PM takes over from former Greek prime minister George Papandreou as head of the SI, a movement grouping 132 political parties worldwide. The PUK has always been an active member of the organization, with the PUK's former general secretary Jalal Talabani serving as the SI deputy general secretary for over a decade. 

Pedro Sanchez chatting with Sadi Ahmed Pira, PUK top diplomat in Madrid, Spain

 

Today, Friday, PUK diplomat Sadi Ahmed Pira led a PUK delegation to participate in the SI congress in Spain’s capital. "The XXVI [26th] SI Congress will be held in Madrid, Spain, on 25-27 November, hosted by the Spanish Socialists Workers' Party, PSOE," the Socialist International (SI) said in a statement on its website.

The congress would last two days, with the participation of many socialist parties around the world. The PUK is a principal socialist party in Iraq. The PUK delegation is also scheduled to meet with the Spanish Prime Minister and then hold several meetings with the leaders of other participant political parties.

Former PUK General Secretary and Iraqi President Jalal Talabani served as IS deputy general secretary for over a decade and now President Jalal Talabani is the honorary president of the group, with the PUK being an active SI member.

 

 

The worship of the natural world manifests itself in Kurdish culture in various forms. A notable example is a veneration of old and sacred trees called Darê Mirazan or Dara Miraza, which translates into English as "The Tree of Wishes" or the Tree of Miracles. The sick visit them, believing that they have healing powers, and star-crossed lovers who feel the trees could help change their destiny or anyone who wishes their specific desires gets fulfilled. They tie a piece of their clothes onto the tree, with the idea that now the person has tied a part of themselves onto the tree for blessing or healing.

It was believed that inside the trees dwelled the guardian spirits called Dêw, meaning demon. The Dêw was associated with fertility, guidance, power, and protection. Therefore, the veneration of the trees was accompanied by sacrifices to the Dêw to ward off evil forces and bad luck.

Zoroastrians considered these practices evil; Zoroastrian clergy persecuted the followers of Mithraism for they were accused of demon worship, or following the God of darkness, instead of worshipping the God of light, Ahura Mazda. An accusation that is also directed against Kurds in early Christian and Muslim sources, as in medieval and late medieval accounts. In the 17th century, French traveler Pierre d'Avity went so far as to claim "the land of Curds, which is called the devil's country." The followers of Kurdish sects such as Yarsani, Reya Haqi, and Yezidi, remnants of Mithraism, are still accused of devil-worshipping.

In some places, usually in late autumn, specific sacrifice festivities are celebrated under Dara Miraza. The sacred character of these particular trees depends on the site where they grow, their age, size, or any other attributed features.

 

A 19th-century traveler, in his account of Kuzulbash Koords, or Alevi (Rêya Haqī) Kurds in northern Kurdistan, noted that "they are known to worship stones and ancient trees. They say that some prophet or saint has doubtless sat beneath that tree; therefore, it's sacred! With their remarkable notions of defied prophets, it would not be strange if they fancy that by contact, they impart of their divine nature to the old tree." 

 

Armenian writer and priest Hovhannes Muradian wrote in the 1860s that "in Kurdistan, the worship of trees and water is immeasurable." More recently, among the Rêyā Haqî Kurds in Dersim, Ahmet Gültekin describes rituals at sacred, protected sites called Jiares, which include trees, forests, mountains, rocks, caves, rivers, lakes, fountains, fire, soil, wild animals, or the sun and moon. They also tie offerings to trees."

All of this evidence attests to the vast scope of Kurdish nature spirituality which powerfully holds nature to be sacred and sees it as connected to the Creator.

The Kurdish Jews also practiced similar customs in Kurdistan. According to Haya Gavish, in Kurdistan, Tu-bi Shevat was a unique festival that symbolized fertility. Many magical customs were practiced on this day. Women linked their fate to that of the fruit trees; they believed that the rainwater inseminated the trees and, therefore, they, too, would become pregnant that night. They used to scatter raisins and sweets around the trees to enhance their fertility, hug the tree trunks, and recite a particular poem."

These traditions were still widely practiced in the 20th century. The Christian missionaries, the Wigrams, observed that among the Kurds, "the oldest faith of the land, the aboriginal tree-worship, still lingers in the villages. And indeed, is only despised by the townsfolk when the foreigner is within hearing [...] A rag from the garments of any sufferer from any disease has only to be tied to one of its branches to secure relief infallibly." Orientalist G.C. Driver in the 1920s encountered "a few whole Kurdish tribes which worshipped the trees of the forest and had altars formed of blocks of stone, like dolmens or menhirs, in the secret recesses of their country, Kurdistan." Likewise, French orientalist Thomas Bois who traveled through Kurdistan in mid-20th, noticed the worship of the powers of nature and the persistence of ancient beliefs that the guardian spirits, whether good or bad, haunted certain trees and springs; he noted: "these beliefs [which were common in ancient times] have not altogether disappeared, and there is today in Kurdistan many trees and many springs which are considered sacred."

In Sulaimani and Kirkuk, Bois observed the magical rites in which the Kurds engage to bring rain or cause it to cease in the event of a drought "the women also do their part in combatting the drought. 

They also go together in a band into the country to an ancient and venerable tree in the shade of which they comfort themselves; after having donned their finest clothes and with necessary kitchen utensils and provisions, they dance around the saucepan until the meal is ready. After dinner, they pour water over the prettiest dress of the company and await the rain. Then, if no rain falls before it is time to return, they pour water over one another's clothes and return completely soaked to their homes."

 

The veneration of animals and trees is also reflected in traditional Kurdish clothes' designs; he noted, "the designs are varied and colors singularly fresh and bright. Among the motifs of decoration, animals, and trees, more or less stylized, figure largely. Tress and spiders frequently appear."

Knowledge of the Tree of Wishes among younger generations of Kurds is little. Such practices continue to disappear as fewer people are interested in them. 

The Director of the Health Surveillance Department in Kirkuk told Kurdsat English that after the Iraqi Ministry of Health removed Kurdish writing on health licenses in Kirkuk province, and only Arabic was available on them," the decision was overturned after public outcry and pressure from the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK).

KurdSat reporter in Kirkuk Omar Ghareeb noted that the Iraqi Health Ministry did not explain why it had removed Kurdish from medical licenses, and the head of the Kirkuk health department, who is a Turkmen, abided by the ministry's decree.

The reporter said that the decision to restore Kurdish would be effective today. The decision of the Ministry of Health states that both Arabic and Kurdish must be written per the Iraqi constitution and the law on official languages in Iraq.

General Board for Kurdistani Areas Outside the Region, a department dedicated to monitoring Kurds in the disputed territories, released a statement on the issue and said, "After the removal of the Kurdish language from the Kirkuk Health Directorate, we as the General Board of Kurdish Areas Outside the Kurdistan Regional Government immediately informed all Kurdish factions in Baghdad and all parties involved in this unconstitutional act." The board took the matter to Iraqi courts and demanded an explanation.

"Fortunately, after the efforts of the Kurdish factions and the new Iraqi government, the Ministry of Health decided to restore the Kurdish language to official documents," the board added. The board also noted that the decision is a way to settle the remaining issues between the central government and the government in Erbil. 

"We hope the joint struggle of all our factions in Baghdad will achieve the last terms of al-Sudani's [government] agenda." The PUK participated in the al-Sudani government by placing some terms for implementing its government agenda, guaranteeing the constitutional rights of the Kurdish people in the disputed territories.

The Kurds lost control of the disputed territories and later some of their rights to their language, property, and freedom following the 2017 independence referendum in which the Iraqi militia attacked Kirkuk.

Today, Thursday, PUK President Talabani chaired a summit that included all parties of the Kurdistan region except the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP).

Director of PUK Bureau of Kurdistan region diplomatic affairs, Salar Sarhad, said in a statement that "his bureau has invited the first person of all political parties in the Kurdistan Region to meet and discuss the situation in the Kurdistan region."

Leaders of the Goran Movement Omar Said Ali, Kurdistan Justice Group Ali Bapir, Islamic Union of Kurdistan Salahadin Bahadin, and Kurdistan Socialist Democratic Party Mohammed Haji Mahmoud were greeted by President Bafel in Dukan, in Sulaimani.

Sarhad said the leaders discuss disputes between the Kurdistan region and Iraq; the PUK works to join efforts with the parties in the region to resolve the problems per the constitution to serve the people's interests.

"The topics under discussion are all national and topics concerning the public," KurdSat English reporter Rebaz Hiwa in Dukan said.

PUK efforts led to the overturning of some decisions against Kurds in the disputed territories; yesterday Kurdish language was restored to medical licenses following calls from PUK MPs and leaders. 

In the past years, Erbil authorities, after public outcries, have shut down some restaurants and hotels that played Saddam Hussein praising songs as back background music. But they were only closed for several days, failing to prevent its repetition. On November 10, a mall in Erbil was shut down for having played a song admiring former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein.

Many Erbil restaurants have only Turkish, Arabic and English on their menus even though the majority of the city speaks Kurdish, causing concern among activists.

“In fact, it needs time until we can have all businesses to use the Kurdish language, and a large number of businesses have begun to use the Kurdish language,” Mayor of Erbil Nabaz Abdulhamid told KurdSat English. The mayor also noted that places that serve the people would be obliged to have the Kurdish language on their advertisements and menus when renewing their licenses, because if they don’t have Kurdish language on their front billboard and menu, they would not be allowed to do business. “We continue to monitor these places,” Abdulhamid added.

Bashdar Hassan, an Erbil-based lawyer says that a Turkification process is ongoing in Erbil, while not much is done to stop it. “There is a Turkification campaign underway in Erbil in particular, and the Kurdistan region in general, I am aware that [in Ebril] services in cafes and restaurants are done in Turkish rather than in Kurdish.”

KurdSat English reached out for many places that have Turkish on their menus but refused to comment. The streets of Erbil are filled with commercials in English, Turkish and Arabic languages, while the least are in Kurdish.

Erbil is home to a large number of Arabs from Iraq and other places of the Middle East, also a significant number of Persians have also moved to the city in search of jobs, although instead of learning Kurdish, Kurds have to learn their languages.

Today, Wednesday, deputy chairperson of the PUK parliamentary group in the Iraqi Council of Representatives Karim Shukr told KurdSat English that "we as the PUK have had our card regarding the disputed territories when we negotiated taking part in the Al-Sudani government, and other allies with some terms regarding Kirkuk and the disputed territories." Traditionally, the PUK has gained majority of the votes in Kirkuk and disputed territories, and has come to represent a large majority of the people in the areas. 

"Some demands that we put into the government agenda have been bringing back the high committee for article 140, that was ignored for a while," Shukr said. The article 140 of the 2005 Iraqi Constitution requires holding a plebiscite for the disputed lands between Baghdad and Erbil and have their people decide if they want to join Erbil or Baghdad. 

"[we] have worked to transfer services of teachers serving in the disputed territories to the Federal Ministry of Education." The PUK MP added. 
Most ministry education employees are serving with the Kurdistan Regional Government Ministry of Education, but for the past seven years the Kurdistan region has failed to properly pay for its employees, causing a set back for the Kurdish language education in the disputed territories. 

Earlier this week, PUK President Bafel Jalal Talabani met with Iraqi Education Minister to address the problems facing Kurds in the disputed territories and issues effecting the people of the area, the education minister promised to followed up on PUK demands on Kurdish language education in the disputed lands. 

"We also worked to return lands [that belonged to the Kurds] distributed to migrant Arabs in Kirkuk and disputed territories that were granted to Arabs by the Revolutionary Command Council (RCC),” the PUK MP noted. The RCC was set up after the 1968 Baathist coup and tried to Arabize people of the disputed territories.  

Since the 2017 Kurdistan region independence referendum, Peshmerga forces have lost control of the disputed territories, and Kurdish rights in the area took a large hit, and many of their constitutional rights are ignored, such restricted use of the Kurdish language and its education, preventing Kurdish farmers from working on their fields and giving lands belonging to Kurds to other minorities.

Kurdsat English reported in Erbil’s Prde subdistrict said that the pounding took place at 2:33 am, today, with three missiles, which were fired from Sardasht, and landed in in a remote area without any people or structures.

Videos published online showed missiles flying over Qaladiza in Sulaimani towards Prdre in Erbil. 

The missiles caused no casualties, but the offices and schools in Prde were evacuated and work was canceled for the rest of the day, the reporter added.

Iran frequently bombs bases of Kurdish opposition groups that fight against Iran. Although, since the unprecedented recent protests that has swept across Iran, Tehran has launched some large-scale attacks on the bases of Iranian Kurdish opposition groups that have been in the Kurdistan region for the past two or three decades.

The September 29 missile and drone attack that hit several locations in Erbil and Sulaimani left many dead and injured, and caused hundreds of refugees. Iranian authorities have been told repeatedly to hold off their attacks.

Earlier this morning, around 2 am, a gas cylinder exploded at a bakery in Duhok city’s Grebase neighborhood, the upper floors of the bakery were a dormitory, the blast destroyed the second and third floors, leaving two students and three police officers dead, and damaged nearby property with vehicle glasses shattered around.

One of injured whose body was burned by 95 percent, today, November 25 lost his life in a hospital in Turkey. 

Lieutenant Colonel Ali Barwari, deputy director of Duhok emergency police was among the killed, while thirty-two were injured from the explosion with some in critical condition, one of the injured lost his life at hospital today.

For several days students have complained of gas leaks as the gas cylinder was on the dormitory floor. According to witnesses, students and other inhabitants of the building reported irritating gas leaks and called on the police, as many left the building fearing a blast, tens of students, police and other residents gathered in front of the building went the gas went off. Front windows of the building was pushed out as scaringly bright flames burst through them, the moment that blast goes off was posted online.

Director of Duhok Civil Defense Hasib Khurshid told KurdSat English that immediately following the incident they had warned people to turn off their Natural Gas Heating Systems and use alternative heating sources, the calling was in the light of the recent gas leak blasts that have killed many people in the Kurdistan region.

PUK President Bafel Jalal Talabani sent his condolences to the victims, and the said “the major incident in Duhok tonight, brough great sorrow to our hearts,” and declared PUK’s readiness to offer relief. Deputy Prime Ministry of the Kurdistan region Qubad Talabani also expressed his sympathy with the victims and wished the injured speedy and full recovery.

Sulaimani sympathized with Duhok and its top officials expressed their wishes to help the people of Duhok. KurdSat Broadcasts Corporation (KBC) blackened its logo to honor the victims.  Governor of Duhok declared two days of mourning and said they had launched an investigation into the incident.

Kurdistan Region Government (KRG) Prime Minister Masrour Barzani called on the authorities and the people to “totally” cease using Natural Gas Heating Systems in the Kurdistan region until further notice.

In just one week, gas leak explosion has killed 21 people and injured 43 others. Experts say that the explosion are caused due to negligence in maintenance, installment and poor-quality equipment, as the Kurdistan region lacks enough regulations regarding these new gas furnaces that run off natural gas, are usually supplied from already filled gas cylinders positioned on rooftops without proper safety measures.   

Last Friday, a gas cylinder exploded in Sulaimani’s Kaziwa street, leaving 14 family members and a gas furnace technician dead, causing people and authorities to be more vigilant regarding gas systems installed on households and buildings.

Although the Sulaimani blast drew public scrutiny to what government official have done to improve safety standards, it was not enough to prevent its repetition.

Videos published online show villagers in the Soran district in Sulaimani cutting down healthy well-aged trees to use them as firewood to heat their homes for the coming winter.

Life in the mountainous areas of the Kurdistan region could prove challenging especially in the winter as temperatures drop far below zero, although the government prioritizes subsidizing white kerosine to the mountainous region, the people have refused to buy the kerosene at 103,000 IQD, a price that many cannot afford.

People in other areas of the Kurdistan region has refused to buy the fuel at the set price and have also turned to firewood to heat their homes. Some villager have turned tree logging into a business, as demand for firewood has increased, with a load of wood costing between 500 to 600 USD.

The Kurdistan Region Government provides people only one 220-liter barrel of kerosene, even though an ordinary household burns over four barrels to get through the winter.

Since 2020, the price of KRG-subsidized kerosene has increased from 39,000 IQD to 103,000 IQD, as per capita income has decreased due to the Covid19 pandemic and Baghdad’s refusal to spend the KRG-budget share which is mostly to pay salaries of KRG employees.

Iraq is a crisis-hit country with mounting environmental challenges. Just over 1 percent of Iraq is forested and decreasing at an alarming rate, per the Sixth National Report of Iraq to The Convention on Biological Diversity, a state-funded report.

 

 

Reports of air raids on the Kurdistan region’s mountains areas from south in Haabja to north in Duhok were posted at midnight. Close to twenty Turkish warplanes resumed bombed many regions in the Kurdistan region and Rojava, leaving 47 casualties.

Today, Sunday, Turkey announced Operation Claw-Sword against the PKK in the Kurdistan region and Rojava, an area that stretches over a thousand kilometers, in retaliation of the Istanbul blast that killed six people in an Istanbul thoroughfare. Ankara accused PKK for being behind the perpetrator, a woman who was captured following the attack.

“[it is to] retaliate for any treacherous attack on our country,” Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar said while supervising the night operation.

Turkish warplanes bombed a forest and Meshtenur Hill near the city of Kobanê three times, injuring a journalist.

In today's air strikes on the Kurdistan Region, Turkey bombed the mountains of the villages of Endze, Zargali, Qalatukan, the slopes of Mount Assos and Mount Kurtaki in the Qandil mountains, and bombed the Garawan village in Akoyan Valley.

Meanwhile, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said that Turkey carried out 28 attacks with 14 warplanes in Rojava, bombing residential areas in the center of Kobanê, Gree Spi, Derk, Shahba, Zrkan and Tel Rafaat, killing a journalist, nine Hezbollah fighters and six Syrian soldiers were killed and about 30 Syrian fighters, soldiers and civilians were wounded.

Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) spokesman Farhad Shami said NATO and the International Coalition against ISIS were tipped before Ankara’s extensive air campaign.

SDF Commander-in-Chief Mazloum Abdi said in a statement that at the Turkish attacks have nothing to do with the Istanbul bombing and that the bombing has been used as an excuse to “take revenge” on the Kurdish people.

Turkey has repeatedly threatened to invade parts of SDF-Kurdish controlled Rojava, citing security concerns that the SDF has denied.

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanani said in a statement that he extended his condolences to the families of the victims, officials, the people of Sulaimani and the Iraqi government and wished a speedy recovery to the injured.

In addition to Iranian officials, regional and international leaders of previously sent messages of condolence to the people of Sulaimani and the families of the victims.

On November 18, at 7.38 pm, a gas leak explosion levelled a three-story building in Sulaimani's Kaziwa street, killing 15 family members and injuring 12 others. The inhabitants were busy celebrating birthday of one of their sons. During the birthday party, a house gas plumbing mechanic was attempting to fix a leak but ended up exploding the entire building, according to the Sulaimani Civil Defense Department. The gas cylinder explosion damaged nearby homes and vehicles in the residential area.