On April 22nd, 2026, on the 128th anniversary of Kurdish journalism, Metro Center in coordination with the French CFI and the Kurdistan Journalists’ Syndicate/Sulaimani Branch, organized an open discussion for several media personalities, journalists, media agency owners and legal personalities titled, (News and Information: Between Press Freedom and the Guidelines of Kurdistan Regional Government Institutions).

The meeting was chaired by Hiwa Osman, Director General of +964 media agency, Dr. Saman Fawzi, legal personality and University Professor, Diyaree Mohammed, Director of Metro Center, Shirwan Abdullah, Director General of Media and Publishing, Qassim Khidhir, CFI Media Consultant in Iraq.

The discussion focused on several important issues related to the current situation of Kurdish media, including issues such as decisions and guidelines between protecting the public interest and freedom of work, then important questions were raised such as, what can be done to ensure that the guidelines do not become a precedent for restricting media freedom? How can the media balance adherence to decisions with professional coverage?

Afterwards, CFI Representative and Media Advisor in Iraq, Mr. Qassim Khidhir introduced the work and activities of CFI to the participants and presented several international measures that can be used in the Kurdistan Region.

Finally, the door of opinion was opened to the participants of the discussion and many different and important ideas that can serve to improve the situation of freedom of the press were presented.