MPs join 109th anniversary celebration of Turkmen journalism

Kurdistan Parliament Deputy Speaker Hemin Hawrami, Secretary Muna Kahveci and several MPs on 25 February joined the celebration of the 109th anniversary of Turkmen Journalism at the Rotana Hotel in Erbil.

The KRG Minister of Culture and Youth Mohammad Said Ali, the Second Deputy Speaker of the Iraq Council of Representatives Dr. Bashir Haddad, consuls, political party representatives and the media attended the event.

Secretary Kahveci, who is a member of the Turkmen Reform Party, in her speech said that unity and cooperation between political parties and the Turkmen component of society is very important, as well as improving relations and collaboration to protect the rights of all ethnic and religious communities in Kurdistan Region.

Ms. Kahveci said that Turkmen are one of the original components in Kurdistan, and have endured all the hardships as well as good times that the Kurdistan Region has witnessed.

She referred to Law No. 1 of 2020 passed by the Kurdistan Parliament, designating the official national holidays of the Turkmen in Kurdistan. One of these is the anniversary of the first Turkmen newspaper in Kurdistan, Al- Hawadith, which was first published in 1911 in Kirkuk, but unfortunately closed after eight years due to the British occupation. This history, Mrs. Kahveci said, shows Turkmen’s long engagement in the media.