In the presence of his Excellency the Minister of Endowments and Religious Affairs, Dr. Pishtiwan Sadiq, the president of the University of Duhok, Dr. Dawood Atrushi, students, professors and the employees of the university of Duhok, in addition to other guests from outside the University, the first cultural season was launched at the University of Duhok, on the 30th of March at the Convention Center.
In the opening speech, the president of the university of Duhok welcomed the attendees, indicating the crucial of launching the first cultural season saying: “ The University of Duhok continuously conduct various activities, but we never conducted any activities under the name of cultural season before, therefore, we have decided to revive a cultural season every year aiming to create a bridge connecting University students with the cultural activities, in order the University students and professors be in constant contact with cultural events outside the university.’’
On the first day of cultural season, His Excellency the Minister of Endowments and Religious Affairs presented a seminar “Relationships between Kurdistan Regional Government and the Federal Government: land, division of power, and natural resources.” At the beginning of his speech, Dr. Pishtiwan talked about the history of division of Kurdistan after the first World War by the alliance, he described the Kurdish people as persecuted because they exceed forty million worlds wide and yet they don’t have an in depended state. Furthermore, he talked about the Sykes-Pico agreement which was signed among Russia, Britain and France in 1916, the region was divided among these three powerful countries, and the Sever agreement in 1920, it was a glimmer of hop for the Kurds. After that, this hope was faded after the Lausanne Agreement in 1923, and then the Kurdish people destiny was linked to the state of Iraq.
During his speech, Dr. Pishtiwan Sadiq talked about the establishment of Iraq state and the events that took place in it, from the beginning of its establishment until 1958, along with the uprising of the spring in 1991, preparing the Resolution of 688 of the United Nations, that was in the benefit of the Kurds, which considered the greatest achievement for the Kurdish people. He also added “After the Sever agreement, the name of Kurds was mentioned for the first time in 1991 on the international level when the Resolution 688 was issued. Later on, the line 36 was founded for the air ban, which is also considered an achievement not less crucial than what preceded it in the history of the Kurdish liberation movement.
His Excellency the Minister of Endowments and Religious Affairs, continued his speech about the status of Kurdistan Region and Iraq after 2003, regarding the relations between regional government and the federal government, he indicated that there are unsolved issues with the federal government on the top of these issues is the lack of trust. Also, the Iraqi constant retreat from its covenants since long time was the most important reason for not reaching any agreement between two parties.
At the end of the seminar, the students asked questions related to the topic presented by Dr. Pishtiwan Sadiq and he answered their questions. Dr. Hawar Khalil, Dean of College of Political Science and head of Cultural Season Body, expressed his deep gratitude to Dr. Pishtiwan for his seminar. Finally, the president of the university of Duhok presented an appreciation present to his excellency for his effort.
One of the participated students in the cultural season, named Me’ad Abdulsalam from the college of Political Science, described the cultural season vital crucial since it contributes in raising students’ awareness, he also added that students need to enrich their knowledge in different fields and the various aspects of life, not only in their scientific or university specialization. Moreover, he mentioned that the presented seminar by Dr. Pishtiwan was very useful to enhance the national responsibility of the Kurdish youth especially in the shallow of the past and the current political problems that the region go through.
The cultural season is planned to be continued after its first launch until the thirteen of May, a weekly seminar will be provided every Thursdays, by an authorities influencing figures selected and hosted by the University of Duhok. The beneficiaries of these seminars mainly will be students, then university professors and the guests from outside the university. The first cultural season was named under (Strong Youth Build a Strong Country). Accordingly, different topics will be presented to empower the youth and to enhance the sense of patriotic and national affiliation for the young students, along with the topics related to the effect and risks of the drugs on the life of young people, also the impact of media on Kurdish language, in addition to the participation of university teachers in political decisions, scientific research, government and community services and others. The main purpose behind the cultural season is to educate youth in different fields including (political, social and intellectual aspects), this is as important as the knowledge they are acquiring during their studies the university.
UOD Media; March 30th 2023
Report: Mahir Kestayi, Firmesk Haso and Fatima Mahmood
Photo: Mohammed Abdelkarim