SANANDAJ, Kurdestan Province President Mohammad Khatami said in Qorveh on Monday that coexistence between Kurds and the Azari people both Shia and Sunni living in the provincial town of Qorveh has presented a nice picture of unity.
Addressing a large public gathering to welcome the president, he said diversity of the ethnic groups in Qorveh and their coexistence have served the cultural, social and political development in the town.
"The people living in Qorveh have always defended freedom, independence and dignity of the country whose examples we have witnessed during the years of sacred defence," the president said.
He said Qorveh Azad University will accept students as soon as its building is completed while Payam-e Nour University will also take in the students in the near future.
Also Khatami inspected the construction of the Kurdestan Steel Mill Complex in the city of Qorveh.
While visiting various sections of the complex, the president and his entourage were briefed on the construction activities underway at the plant.
President Khatami underlined the need for a movement in deprived regions to pave the way for economic activities there.
Also addressing residents of the city of Bijar Khatami praised the brilliant history, culture and civilization of the western city yesterday.
President Khatami also expressed regret that the city, despite its shining culture and civilization, still lacks sufficient higher education facilities. He said that Bijar has been granted special financial assistance to complete its university.
He also said that only 6.3 percent of the city's agricultural lands are devoted to wet farming while the rest are still under dry farming. He said a change in the ratio was necessary in order to raise the city's agriculture produce.
The president also informed the residents that the Islamic Development Bank (IDB) has agreed to finance the building of two silos in the country one in Urumieh and the other in Bijar.
Construction of the latter is to begin soon.
Also, addressing another gathering of the youth, the president on Sunday night said that the present generation cries out for freedom, adding that democracy is a principle enshrined in the Constitution and the ground should, therefore, be prepared for its enforcement or implementation.
"In the same manner that the West has applied its own version of democracy, we, too, as a nation with our distinct civilization and values can apply our own special version of democracy," remarked the president.
President Khatami, who also heads the High Council for the Cultural Revolution, said that if the kind of democracy that is ethical and humane can be realized in this country, the result will be far more encouraging than the Western type that is lacking in moral values.
The chief executive further stressed that the youth are entitled to the freedoms stipulated by the law and are right in insisting on their rights and in refusing limits to such freedoms. However, he cautioned, freedoms should not be enjoyed at the cost of harming values.
In the meantime, visiting the city of Marivan, Khatami spoke highly of the defiant struggle of the people of the city during the eight-year Iran-Iraq war, and paid tribute to the martyrs of the city.
President Khatami told the local residents his administration was reviewing Marivan's potential in such areas as tourism and fish farming, and said he would look into the means by which the city could be developed along these areas.
Several military and security officials of Kurdestan Province Sunday evening met the visiting the president at his residence in the province.
The president was briefed by the said officials of their activities in regions under their control.