Heidi Sherzad – Erbil
Following the closure of the third congress of the Kurdistan Journalists ‘Union, which was adjourned on July 7, 2011, it did not hold any other congresses, due to the lack of necessary budget, and the fourth congress of the Kurdistan Journalists’ Union.
Regarding the delay in the congress of the Kurdistan Journalists ‘Union, Hakim Azad, the president of the Kurdistan Journalists’ Union, stated:
“The Isis war and other problems related to the closure of the Fourth Congress and the lack of necessary budgets have been caused by the delay in this Congress,” he said.
In Erbil on November 11, the Kurdistan Journalists’ Union held a preparatory meeting for the fourth congress of the union. Hakim Azad has another word, saying: “At the moment we don’t know whether to hold the congress first, then the branch and office conferences, or the branch and office conferences before the congress.”
According to a journalist, the congress should be a function of the Journalists’ Union and the implementation of the Press Law No. (35) of 2007 (2007).
Avan Jaf, a journalist and a member of the Metro Center for Advocacy for the Rights of Journalists, says:
He asserted that his confession had been obtained through torture, and that his confession had been obtained through torture. And failed to put as much pressure on the executive as needed.
Mustafa Qadir, a journalist, believes that the agreement reached by the parties has led to the suspension of the Congress of the Journalists’ Union, which “has caused the union to be weak and unable to become a newspaper for Kurdistan.”
“How should the congressional hearing about that be exactly where the money was coming from? Why would the union wait for the government to come up with something out of the ordinary?”
Some journalists believe that the Journalists’ Union is weak in the face of the violations against journalists due to the influence of the parties, but the union’s spokesman denies that they are under pressure from any party, and that we are doing our job: “The police union is not going to go to war for journalists. These statements are politically motivated and have nothing to do with journalism.”
Regarding the influence of both major parties in the Kurdistan Region, the PUK and the PUK, on the closure of the Fourth Congress and the unification of the union’s post, whether it will be a free election or a political consensus, the judge said, “It simply came to our notice then. Although the president of the union did not hide the fact that he could not fully determine the date of the congress of the Kurdistan Journalists’ Union, as he mentioned, they had decided to close the congress this year and have a serious and different congress.
“Their main goal is to differentiate between journalists and non-journalists, we want to bring only those who come to Congress, who live on the journalism profession, because we have a problem with that.
The participation of all national structures, such as Turkmen, Chaldeans and Syrians, was also made possible by the Arabs on the condition that the Congress succeed.
