Governor of Kirkuk Calls
for Stability Among Ethnic and Religious Group.
Washington, D.C., Oct. 15, 2004 - Abdul-Rahman
Mustafa, governor of Iraq's northern city of Kirkuk, today denied
allegations from Turkey and some Turkomen representatives that
any attempts have been made to change the demographic character
of Kirkuk or to "re-Kurdify" the city after the Arabization
program under the former Saddam Hussein regime.
Mustafa's comments came during the weekly
one-hour VOA Kurdish call-in show Hello Washington. Mustafa held
to his position that the entire
population of Kirkuk should collectively and jointly decide the
future of the city,"Kurds, Arabs, Turkomens and Assyrians
,Äî without any outside
interference. Mustafa said, "We shall do our best to improve
conditions in
Kirkuk. If we have not succeeded so far, it is because of lack
of sufficient funds and resources. Our aim is to turn Kirkuk
into a city of 'brotherhood' among all ethnic and religious groups
in the region."
Joining Mustafa in the discussion were
Kadir Hama Jan Aziz, president of the city council of Sulaimania
and Falakaddin Kakeyi, advisor to Kurdistan Democratic Party
leader Masoud Barzani. All three participants expressed optimism
for the future of Kirkuk and expressed optimism in being able
to solve most issues peacefully and through legal and political
processes.
VOA's Kurdish Service airs four hours
of radio programming daily to Iraq and other targeted areas.
Airshows are available for live and on demand listening via the
Internet at www.VOANews.com/kurdish.
The Voice of America, which first went
on the air in 1942, is a multimedia international broadcasting
service funded by the U.S. government through
the Broadcasting Board of Governors. VOA broadcasts more than
1,000 hours of news, information, educational, and cultural programming
every week to an estimated worldwide audience of more than 100
million people.
Programs are produced in 44 languages, including English and
Kurdish.
For more information, call the Office
of Public Affairs at (202) 401-7000, or E-mail publicaffairs@voa.gov.
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