KDP confirms government rotation - Kurdish Globe

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The Kurdish Globe No. 335, Saturday, January 07, 2012 14 Iran and Turkey divided by ‘Arab Spring’ Relationships in the region are changing By Salah Bayaziddi sbayaziddi@yahoo.com It was almost 18 months ago that a divided United Nations Security Council voted to tighten sanctions against Iran over its nuci clear program. It mostly failed because both Turki key and Brazil, non-permi manent members of the UN Security Council, resisted U.S.-led efforts to push through further sanctions over Iran’s failui ure to halt its uranium enri richment program. While it was not the first attempt by the international commi munity to curb nuclear proliferation in one of the most volatile regions of the world, it was alarming news for the West where one of the most trusted alli lies in the Muslim world and a member of NATO is siding with Iran. At the time, when Turkey voted against the further sancti tions of Iran on June 9, 2010, the policy makers in the region feared the possibility that the new Turkish policies were linked to a sharp break from its secular tradition and pro-Western stance. Nevertheless, there are many signs that the warm relations between these two neighboring counti tries is changing in nature and it is moving from a relationship of rivalry to one based on animosi ity and adversary. In line with such new developmi ments, an Iranian political official threatened to atti tack Turkey's NATO missi sile defense system if the U.S. or Israel attacks Iran, repeating a similar threat from a general a month ago. It was on Sept. 2 when Turkey’s Foreign Ministi try announced the counti try would host an early warning radar as part of a NATO defense system, which will help protect against ballistic missile threats and is part of a strategic initiative agreed upon in 2011. Then it was reported that a military installation in the Turkish town of Kurecik, about 700 kilometers west of the border with Iran, has been chosen as the radar site. Tehran has made clear its displeasure at Turkey's decision to depi ploy a NATO missile earli ly warning system, which Iran sees as a U.S. ploy to protect Israel from any counterattack, should the Jewish state target Iran's nuclear facilities. This war of words beti tween Iran and Turkey’s officials became more serious when Vice-Chairmi man of the Iranian Parliami ment's National Security and Foreign Policy Commi mission Hussein Ibrahim said Iran is making plans to finding ways to neuti tralize the NATO missi sile defense system to be installed in Turkey, and warned that in the case of any attack on Iran, it will definitely hit that system. In December, Isli lamic Revolution Guards Corps Aerospace commi mander Brig. Gen. Amir Ali Hajizadeh underlined Iran's crushing response to any enemy aggression, and warned that Tehran would target the NATO missile shield in Turkey if it comes under attack. "We have prepared oursi selves, if any threat is staged against Iran, we will target NATO's missi sile shield in Turkey and will then attack other targets," Brig. Gen. Haji jizadeh said, addressing a gathering of 10,000 Basij (volunteer forces) membi bers in the western town of Khorramabad in late November. However, there must more stories inside this new round of rivalry games between Iran and Turkey. As a clear indici cation, the rise of “Arab Spring” and the new Turki key’s policy toward the Syrian regime has played a major role in changing hearts of these once close friends. Indeed, Turkey and Iran, the Middle East's two major non-Arab Musli lim states, are vying for influence in the post-Arab Spring region and it was Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad shakes hands with Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davvutoglu at the presidential office in Tehran on January 5, 2012. enough to show its serioi ousness when Iranian Supi preme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's military adviser accused Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan of setti ting its foreign policy to please Washington. It was in the early stages of the anti-government protests across Middle East and North African countries when the Iranian regime clearly was trying to porti tray a different view, and in fact a more suitable one, to its political ideoi ology across the Islamic world. In the beginning, it was viewed that the Arab uprisings had been mainli ly secular in nature. But Khamenei claimed they represented an "Islamic awakening" against dictati torial, Western-backed regi gimes, inspired by Iran's 1979 Islamic Revolution. But it seems Tehran is fulli ly aware its own model of a purportedly democratic Islamic government has little appeal in the Arab world. Turkish pressure on Syria, Tehran's main ally in the Arab world, has angi gered the Iranian regime. Erdogan, with a vision of a moderate Islamic poli litical system, has taken a tough and proactive stand against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's bruti tal response to the ninemonth Syrian uprising. The Turkish premier predicted recently that the Syrian leader will be ousted "sooner or later,” and is set to impose its own sanctions on Damasci cus. Turkey is also harbi boring Syrian opposition groups and army defecti tors. Clearly, Iran has a huge interest in the survi vival of Assad's regime. His removal could sever Iran's umbilical cord to Hezbollah, Tehran's coreli ligionist ally in Lebanon, which gives the Islamic republic a cherished presei ence on Israel's northern ATTA KENARE/AFP/Getty Images border and enables Iran to project its power in the region. Making the situation worse was Turki key's decision to deploy the NATO missile early warning system, which has the potential to cause more difficulty to already troubled relations of these rival countries. Now with the new devi velopments in hand, and with the arrival of this new phase of post-sancti tions of the UN Security Council, the prospect of future diplomatic efforts are more uncertain then ever before but most impi portantly, the role of Turki key will become more crucial toward Iran’s nuclear crisis. At the momi ment, it seems also all options in responding to Iran's nuclear ambitions are wide open, and the further intensification of this problem will lead the entire region to the edge of a full-scale regional confi flict. Further complicating the crisiss, it is crucial to remember that Israel has long viewed Tehran as its greatest strategic threat because of Iran's nuclear program and its current president, who frequently has predicted the destructi tion of the Jewish state. Until now, both Israel and the U.S. have refused to rule out a military option to halt Iran's nuclear capi pabilities. At these histori ical moments, the policy makers are reviewing this crucial question: How will Turkey respond to any military strike against Iran? It was not long ago when, following the appi proval of more sanctions against Iran, the Turkish government announced its refusal to accept any militi tary action against Iran because it would create another Iraq and this time result in a wider regional war and bleak future for the entire region.
The Kurdish Globe No. 335, Saturday, January 07, 2012 15 Erbil football club in crisis Financial and coaching problems threaten club After failing to keep its title in the Iraqi football league and showing poor performances in several matches in this year's games, Erbil FC announced the resignation of head coach, Ayoub Odisho. The club said the coach was the main reason behind the results. The club’s officials were reported to have been uni impressed with the trainer and poor performances in recent weeks. As a result, Odisho decided to resign and club officials accepted his resignation. "Odisho resigned beci cause he felt he was incapi pable of leading the team successfully anymore and the team's results under his supervision were going to worsen," said Mahmud Aziz, Erbil club secretary. Under Odisho's manai agement, Erbil played six matches. It won three of the matches and the other three were draws. Asked if Erbil’s board members forced Odisho to resign, Aziz said, "I don't want to hide that Erbil club officials wanted him to quit, but nobody put pressi sure on him to resign from his post; he decided to quit by himself." Another problem Erbil FC has been suffering from since the beginning of this season is insufficient budgi Erbil FC endures a training session at Franso Hariri Stadium in Erbil. get for player salaries and new signings. "Our club is in a big fini nancial crisis. During this season we haven't received any funds from the regionai al government so far. We are only using the budget the government allotted for all the sports clubs in Kurdistan," Aziz noted. In previous years, Erbil FC was paid a better attenti tion by high-ranking offici cials from the government. During the time of Nechirvi van Barzani, former prime minister, the club had an open budget. "For this year's activiti ties, we have requested 3 billion Iraqi dinars from the government, but we haven't heard anything yet. If things go on this way, I don't think the club will compile good records in Iraqi premier league and the Asian Football Confedei eration Cup," Aziz said. Although people in Kurdi istan think Erbil is still well-funded, as the club still tries to sign top playei ers, Aziz said the club borri rows money from wealthy fans. According to Aziz the club received 3 billion ID from the government last year, but it had to spend most of it to repay previoi ous loans. "The clubs can be run successfully only when there is a good amount of money. A club like Erbil spends a lot of money on trip expenses since it parti ticipates in AFC Cup," expi plained Aziz, who hopes the government will be more responsive to the club’s financial needs. What worsened Erbil's finances were player conti tract costs and monthly salaries. Player contracts cost 60-100 million ID anni nually and each footballer gets 1 million ID a month as salary. In Kurdistan, the governmi ment generally provides better financial support for clubs that participate in Asian tournaments. Erbi bil claims it doesn’t get enough to cover expenses. Hoping to get back on track, Erbil FC is looking for a title-winning coach to replace Odisho. The club has said it is looking at Mukhtar Mukhtar and Emad Khankani. Muhktar is an Egyptian trainer, who coached Tibini FC in the Egyptian league last year. Syrian coach PRESS PHOTO Khankani has trained the Syrian Olympic team. In addition, according to Sami man Brifkani, Erbil club media manager, Erbil has also received a resume from a German coach. "We haven't decided yet as to who is going to be the coach of Erbil. We are in the process of studyi ing their capabilities. We know that the coaches are experienced but the one who has better skills and abilities will be appointed as the coach," Brifkani said Since Odisho left, Erbil has played matches against Shargat and Kahraba'a and won both of them, but with modest results. Omer Maji jeed, who was assistant coach under Odisho, is acti ing as interim head coach. Brifkani also said Erbi bil is thinking of signing the Iraqi national team midfielder Hawar Mulli lah Muhammad, whose contract with Iranian Zob Ahan FC, recently ended. Muhammad is now traini ing with Erbil and has deci cided to play for Erbil if he doesn't receive offers from abroad. ‎Erbil, known as Yellow Castle, is a sports club founded in 1968 in the city of Erbil. It has won the Iraqi premier league three times. Zakaria Muhammed Erbil zakaria.kurdishglobe @gmail.com Duhok basketball starts season with a victory The new season of Iraqi baski ketball premier league started on Jan. 2, 2012, with several strong matches. Duhok, last year's champions, was able to please its fans in the New Year, defeating South Oil 113-71. Duhok controlled the game from the beginning and kept up the pressure until the last minute. It finished the first period at 31-11. For the othei er three periods, South Oil played disappointingly while Duhok played with confidi dence and high morale. It ended the other periods with scores of 34-19, 25-18 and 24-23. Most of the points were scored by the three star playei ers: Qutaiba Abdullah, Omer and Rezan Haji. Each played an outstanding game, contribui uting to the team's victory. One player who showed a strong performance in the match and had a huge influei ence upon his team's victory was Rezan Haji. After the match Haji said, "I am so happy to win the first match in the new league. I believe this is a good start and hope we will play in the same manner in the rest games of the league. We need to conti tinue training, as we have to prepare also for the West Asian Basketball Championsi ships." Duhok player Hikmat Abid said, "We didn’t face any diffi ficulties in the match but that doesn't mean we will win all the matches this easily. We are champions and if we want to remain as champions, we need to work hard." South Oil coach Aqeel Naji jim said, "It is normal to be defeated by a team like Duhok with this result. Most of the Duhok players are Iraqi nati tional team players and have more experience than my players do. We try to work on the weak points so we don’t repeat the same mistakes in coming matches." Unlike other Kurdish clubs in the past decade, Duhok has paid great attention to baski ketball. It has won the Iraqi league title three times. In 2011, it was at the top of the league throughout the season and had 18 points after beati ing Karkh in the final game. PRESS PHOTO A view of Duhok VS South Oil match at the Iraqi basketball league run in Sports Educattion indoor hall in Duhok on Jan. 2, 2012 PRESS PHOTO
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KDP confirms government rotation - Kurdish Globe

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