On 17 July, the Consul General of Germany in Krakow, Dr Michael Gross, held a farewell reception to mark the end of his term. The event was attended, among others, by representatives of the city of Krakow, the Malopolska Voivodeship and the diplomatic corps, including the representative of the Kurdistan Regional Government in Poland, Ziyad Raoof.
The Transatlantic Awards Gala organised by the Polish Book Institute took place on Friday 16 June in Krakow. This award is presented every year to the most important ambassadors of Polish literature abroad. This year’s laureate was Hatif Janabi, and one of those delivering the laudation in his honour was the Representative of the Kurdistan Regional Government in Poland, Ziyad Raoof.
On the fifth of June, a scientific conference ’20 years after the overthrow of Saddam Hussein – lessons from the military operation and the process of building a new Iraq’ was held at the Jagiellonian University, organized by the Jagiellonian University Institute of the Middle and Far East and the student African and Middle East Scientific Circle. One of the speakers at the conference was Ziyad Raoof- Representative of the Kurdistan Regional Government in Poland.
In May 2023, the Representative of the Kurdistan Regional Government in Poland, Ziyad Raoof, visited the Kurdistan Region. The main occasion of the visit was the opening ceremony of the Barzani Memorial Center, to which all foreign representatives of the Kurdistan Regional Government were invited.
From 24 to 27 March, the most famous Kurdish director Bahman Ghobadi visited Poland. Bahman Ghobadi spent the first two days in Bydgoszcz. The local Orzeł cinema hosted a screening of his film ‘If Turtles Could Fly’, after which he answered questions from the audience. The director also watched the exhibition “Kurdistan. Images of Existence’ at the Leon Wyczółkowski District Museum.
The Newroz-Kurdish New Year celebrations took place in Bydgoszcz on Saturday 18 March. The event was jointly organised by the Kurdistan Regional Government Representation in Poland and Leon Wyczółkowski district Museum in Bydgoszcz, which since November 2022 has hosted the exhibition ‘Kurdistan. Images of Existence”-the largest exhibition of Kurdish contemporary art in the world.
On February 22 in ‘Panorama’ Gallery in Tomaszowice took place vernissage of the exhibition ‘Art Beyond Borders’ and discussion panel about situation of refugees on Polish-Belarusian border. The event was organized by ‘Wolno Nam’ Foundation, Fine Arts Academy in Kraków and KRG Representative Ziyad Raoof.
On February 9, Kurdistan Regional Government Representative in Poland Ziyad Raoof took part in annual Diplomatic Opening of the Year organized by Polish Chamber of Commerce. In the official part of the event speeches were given by president and chairman of Polish Chamber of Commerce, representatives of chancellery of Polish president and Polish prime minister, minister of development as well as representatives of Podkarpackie, Śląskie, Podlaskie and Mazowieckie voivodeships.
On January 10, in Silesian Governor’s Office in Katowice was held annual, new-year meeting of Silesian Governor with diplomatic corps. The event was attended also by Ziyad Raoof KRG Representative in Poland.
During the opening of Kurdish art exhibition in Paris KRG Representative Ziyad Raoof met with professor Joyce Blau- a prominent French linguist and academic teacher who specialize in Kurdish language and literature. Professor Blau has been involved in the activities of the Kurdish Institute in Paris from the beginning of its existence and still remains active in its structures.
