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Andi Siebenhofer | |
|---|---|
 Siebenhofer in 2010 | |
| Born | January 7, 1977 |
| Nationality | Austrian |
| Occupation(s) | General Manager and owner of The 7 Group LTD |
| Years active | 1995–present |
| Website | The 7 Group |
Andi (Andreas) Siebenhofer, born on 7 January 1977 in Knittelfeld, Styria, Austria is a former Austrian extreme sports athlete and entrepreneur.
Siebenhofer grew up in a working-class family in Kobenz, near the Styrian city of Knittelfeld. At the age of 16, he became an extreme sports athlete. He also began an apprenticeship and worked 7 years as an engineer/train driver for the ÖBB (Austrian Federal Railway).
2000, first world record: From 8 April until 22 May, he initially climbed the Huascarán without any outside help. With its 6,785 meters, it is the highest mountain in Peru. Instead of coming down, he flew with a paraglider to the valley, world record.
2004, 23 December: second world record, longest non-stop flight with a motorized paraglider, 850 km across the Mediterranean. After getting into a storm, [1] he landed just next to the military headquarters of North Egypt in Marsa Matruh and was imprisoned.
Early – 2005 – he became aware of so-called gyrocopters in Europe. He established the gyrocopter distribution and training headquarters in Austria, Hungary, Slovakia, Denmark and Spain. The foundation was the Meidl Airport [2] in Fertőszentmiklós, Hungary, where he also established a flight training school. [3]
Other manufacturers committed Siebenhofer as a test pilot. [4]
Today – since 2009 – he is the owner of “The 7 Group LTD”, Erbil, Iraqi Kurdistan. In this year,[ when? ] he will receive the assignment to establish the first training headquarters for Kurdish pilots in Iraq, from Kurdistan Regional Government in Erbil, Iraq, in cooperation with the US Army. Gyrocopters, as well as (as of 2011) helicopters, will be deployed.
2010 and 2011, further gyrocopters will be delivered to the Kurdish interior ministry and pilots will be trained. To prevent terroristic encroachments, the interior ministry will monitor the approach- and take off paths of the airports in Erbil and Sulaymaniyah.
Beginning in 2011, Siebenhofers company delivered helicopters of the type Eurocopter EC 120B for the traffic police in Iraqi Kurdistan. Just as with the gyrocopters, he will train the pilots as well as the ground crew.
14 January 2014 was a historic day in Kurdish history: For the first time ever, a Kurdish-only crew flew a helicopter (EC 120B) over Erbil. The crew were Brigadier Khalid Ali Barzinji and First Lieutenant Sarhang Barwari, both trained by The 7 Group.
During the advancement of the Islamic State towards Kurdistan, Siebenhofer did not leave Kurdistan, although he knows he is a target of IS. [5] He is still involved in training and coordinating the missions of the Kurdish police. [6]
In August 2013 7 Group LTD deployed two Eurocopter EC135 helicopters to Kurdistan for the Kurdistan CTU (counter terrorism unit). 7 Group LTD has re-equipped the helicopters. One (S/N 661) was prior owned by Roman Abramovich and the other one (S/N 681) was originally ordered by the Spanish police, but due to the financial crisis the Spanish government has to step back from the order. So The 7 Group took over the brand new helicopter from Airbus Helicopters, at this time still called Eurocopter.
During the run of the so-called Islamic state towards the capital of Iraqi Kurdistan, Erbil, the 7 Group assisted the Peshmerga. Although the helicopters so far on duty by the Kurdish Police are not equipped for Medevac missions, Siebenhofer personally and his company, The Kurdish Aviation Team, did their utmost and risk their lives when flying to the front line for evacuation of wounded Peshmerga fighters. On these missions, the helicopters were fired at twice and on one occasion a pilot was wounded in his leg. Fortunately and due to the excellent training provided, no total loss was recorded. In addition, an EMS squad was established in Dohuk. [7]
In June 2014 Andi Siebenhofer was awarded a contract by the Counter-Terrorism and Security unit of the Province Sulaymaniyah to establish a new aviation department. Since then, this department was continuously expanded. As of June 2016, 16 pilots and 8 aviation technicians were trained.
During this time four gyroplanes (type Autogyro MTO Sport) where deployed to be used as a basic training equipment. At the same time three Airbus Helicopters AS350B3+ (new designation: H125; S/N 4636, 4743 and 8063) as well as one Cessna Caravan EX (S/N 5043) were delivered to add up to the fleet of the Ministry of Interiors. While the EC135 are stationed in Erbil, the AS350 operate out of Sulaymaniyah.
In July 2016, Andi Siebenhofer met the Federal Minister for Europe, Integration and Foreign Affairs of Austria, Sebastian Kurz, in Erbil.
On July 17, 2016, Andi Siebenhofer and his company 7 Group LTD were awarded by minister Karim Sinjary a new contract for the provision of services, maintenance and training of the complete aviation fleet of the Kurdish Ministry of Interiors. At this time, the fleet comprises 39 aircraft: 2 MD902, 2 EC135, 4 EC120B, 3 AS350B3, 12 MD530, 1 MD500, 1 Cessna Caravan EX, 12 AutoGyro MTO Sport and 2 AutoGyro Calidus.
In 2003 Siebenhofer became internationally known. [8] [9] [10] In the course of a protest action and with 2000 signatures in his baggage, he flew with his paraglider in five days 900 km from Seckau Abbey in Styria to the Vatican City, where he landed on St. Peter's Square on the 28 March. He wanted to hand over signatures to Pope John Paul II. He was arrested due to violation of airspace, but released the following day.
Sulaymaniyah or Slemani, is a city in the east of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, not far from the Iran–Iraq border. It is surrounded by the Azmar (Ezmer), Goizha (Goyje) and Qaiwan (Qeywan) Mountains in the northeast, Baranan Mountain in the south and the Tasluja Hills in the west. The city has a semi-arid climate with very hot dry summers and cold wet winters.
The Eurocopter EC135, now Airbus Helicopters H135, is a twin-engine civil light utility helicopter produced by Airbus Helicopters, formerly known as Eurocopter. It is capable of flight under instrument flight rules (IFR) and is outfitted with a digital automatic flight control system (AFCS). First flying in February 1994, it entered service in 1996. 1,400 have been delivered up to September 2020, to 300 operators in 60 countries, accumulating over 5 million flight hours. It is mainly used for air medical transport (medevac), corporate transport, law enforcement, offshore wind support, and military flight training. Half of them are in Europe and a quarter in North America. The H135M, certified under the name Eurocopter EC635, is a military variant. So the overall design is known as the Airbus Helicopters H135 and the military version, as the Airbus Helicopters H135M. The EC135/H135 is a development of the older Messerschmitt-Bölkow-Blohm (MBB) Bo 105.
Kurdistan Islamic Union, colloquially referred to as Yekgirtû, is a Kurdish Islamist party in Iraqi Kurdistan.
Humanitarian League Organization which formerly known as The Islamic Kurdish League, is a Kurdish Islamic Sunni Charity organization, in Iraqi Kurdistan.
Kurdistan Region is an autonomous administrative entity within the Republic of Iraq. It comprises four Kurdish-majority divisions of Arab-majority Iraq: the Erbil Governorate, the Sulaymaniyah Governorate, the Duhok Governorate, and Halabja Governorate. The KRI is bordered by Iran to the east, by Turkey to the north, and by Syria to the west. It does not govern all of Iraqi Kurdistan, and lays claim to the disputed territories of northern Iraq; these territories have a predominantly non-Arab population and were subject to the Ba'athist Arabization campaigns throughout the late 20th century. Though the KRI's autonomy was realized in 1992, one year after Iraq's defeat in the Gulf War, these northern territories remain contested between the Kurdistan Regional Government and the Government of Iraq to the present day. In light of the dispute, the KRI's constitution declares the city of Kirkuk as the capital of Iraqi Kurdistan. However, the KRI does not control Kirkuk, and the Kurdistan Region Parliament is based in Erbil. In 2014, when the Syria-based Islamic State began their Northern Iraq offensive and invaded the country, the Iraqi Armed Forces retreated from most of the disputed territories. The KRI's Peshmerga then entered and took control of them for the duration of the War in Iraq (2013–2017). In October 2017, following the defeat of the Islamic State, the Iraqi Armed Forces attacked the Peshmerga and reasserted control over the disputed territories.
Sulaymaniyah International Airport is 14 kilometers west of the city of Sulaymaniyah in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. The airport encompasses an approximate area of 13.5 square kilometers. The combined capacity of the airport terminals is currently set at 1.5 million passengers per year and can be expanded to accommodate up to 3 million passengers annually.
The Eurocopter EC635 is a multi-purpose light helicopter developed by Eurocopter as a military version of the Eurocopter EC135. It is a twin-engined aircraft and can carry up to 8 people, including the pilot, and a range of military equipment or armaments. The helicopter is marketed for troop transport, medical evacuation, cargo transport, reconnaissance and surveillance and armed combat support missions.
The Iraqi Kurdish Civil War was a civil war that took place between rival Kurdish factions in Iraqi Kurdistan during the mid-1990s, mostly between the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan and the Kurdistan Democratic Party. Over the course of the conflict, Kurdish factions from Iran and Turkey, as well as Iranian, Iraqi and Turkish forces, were drawn into the fighting, with additional involvement from American forces. Between 35,000 and 40,000 fighters and civilians were killed.
The Iraqi vehicle registration plate is a license plate used for official identification purposes for motor vehicles in Iraq.
The Kurdistan Democratic Party, usually abbreviated as KDP or PDK, is the largest party in Iraqi Kurdistan and the senior partner in the Kurdistan Regional Government. It was founded in 1946 in Mahabad in Iranian Kurdistan. The party states that it combines "democratic values and social justice to form a system whereby everyone in Kurdistan can live on an equal basis with great emphasis given to rights of individuals and freedom of expression."
Nawshirwan Mustafa was an Iraqi Kurdish politician who served as the General Coordinator of the Movement for Change and the leader of the opposition in the Kurdistan Region from 1 April 2009 to his death on 19 May 2017.
The Battle ofSulaymaniyah was one of the greatest battles fought during the 1991 uprisings in Iraq. Sulaymaniyah, a mostly Kurdish city with a population of over 100,000, was the first to be liberated by the rebels and the last to fall back to the Iraqi army. The city was then recaptured by Kurdish rebels, after the Peshmerga launched a new offensive on 20 July.
The 2011 Kurdish protests in Iraq were a series of demonstrations and riots against the Kurdistan Regional Government in Iraqi Kurdistan. The autonomous region experienced protests that were concurrent with the 2011 Iraqi protests and the wider Arab Spring. The Iraqi Kurdish protests were also related to the 2011 Kurdish protests in Turkey and the 2011–2012 Iranian protests, as well as the civil uprising phase of the Syrian Civil War.
The Kurdistan Brigades, also known as al-Qaeda in Kurdistan or al-Qaeda's Kurdish Brigades, are a militant Islamist organization, primarily active in the northern Iran–Iraq border. It is the Kurdish branch of al-Qaeda that has launched several attacks on the Kurdistan Regional Government in northern Iraq. After 2010, the group largely faded into obscurity, and there is little verifiable information about its current activities.
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The Kurdistan Region parliamentary elections of 2013 took place on 21 September 2013. It was the fourth legislative election in Kurdistan Region since 1992. The candidates were competing for a total of 111 seats out of which 11 seats were reserved for minorities. According to the Iraqi High Electoral Commission, there were 366 female and 736 male candidates for the elections. A total of 2,653,743 people were eligible to vote throughout the three provinces of Erbil, Sulaymaniyah and Dohuk of which 74% cast their ballots.
Nalia Radio and Television (NRT) claims to be the first ever independent media network in the Kurdistan Region. The corporation claims to be independent, It was formed in 2010 by freelance journalists who launched the first ever independent media network, funded by Nalia company.
Parliamentary elections took place in Kurdistan Region on 30 September 2018 to elect Parliament. The election came a year after a failed bid for independence and left the ruling Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) with 45 seats, that positioning it to lead the next regional government. Announcement of the results was delayed for three weeks. The KDP's historic rival and junior coalition partner in government, the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), was in second place with 21 seats. The results suggest that Masoud Barzani’s KDP will take a dominant position in Kurdish politics.
Italy–Kurdistan Region relations are bilateral relations between Italy and the Kurdistan Region. Italy has a consulate general in Erbil, while Kurdistan Region has a representation in Rome. Relations are described as "strong" and Italy has a military presence in Kurdistan Region. About 800 Italian soldiers were present in Kurdistan in 2018.
Shwan Kamal was born in the city of Sulaimaniyya in Iraqi Kurdistan in 1967. He is a Kurdish and German artist and sculptor.
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