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By Aram J Sabir: Strange! Even Anfal didn’t teach anything to those freedom fighters of yesterday. As result of practicing self-governance after 1991, the political atmosphere in the Kurdistan region (KR) was different to other parts of Iraq. This paved the way for journalism to develop further in the KR than in other parts of…
Peace In Kurdistan Campaign press release: Margaret Owen, a well-known human rights lawyer and women’s rights advocate has returned to the UK from a solidarity visit with women’s groups in Rojava, northern Syria. Ms Owen spent eight days in the region, which is also known as Western Kurdistan and is currently under the administration of…
Translated by Yasin Aziz: Taimoor Ahmad was 12 in 1988 when Saddam’s Anfal campaign began in Garmyan/Calar. This is a translated summary of his interview with the Kurdish journalist Aref Qurbani which appeared in Kurdish in the book, ‘Taimoor, Only Survivor of the Anfal Campaign’. My name is Taimoor Ahmad. I was born on 1st January 1976. My mother’s…
KT News: One woman died and several were injured today in a fire in the Ali Naji district of Suli at a centre for women seeking refuge from violence, reports Awene. The deceased was a 24 year old Arab from Baghdad who had fled domestic violence and ended up sleeping rough on the streets of Suli…
By Dr Aland Mizell: Gülen and his followers are accusing Prime Minister Recep Tayip Erdogan of not being transparent and accountable, but also of being authoritarian and dictatorial. The question is how transparent is Gülen and his organization? Recently, the Machiavelli in Pennsylvania revealed his authentic character by cursing the Prime Minister and causing hate…
By Michael Rubin: In April 2013, a Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) delegation consisting of Falah Bakir, Fuad Hussein, Qubad Talabani, and Ashti Hawrami visited Washington, DC, for a series of meetings at universities and think tanks. While the KRG press release exaggerated attendance—both in terms of audience numbers and their own presence (often only one…
The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) prime minister Nechirvan Barzani and Iraq energy minister Hussain Shahristani yesterday reached an agreement in Baghdad that oil from the Kurdistan region will be exported through the Iraq State Oil Marketing Organization (SOMO), with revenues distributed according to the agreed annual budget share. The Iraqi government will decide on the…
KT News: A conference of the Gorran movement is taking place in Erbil, the capital of the south of Kurdistan, with the participation of 1100 members who have travelled from all over the region. This is the first conference held by Gorran, almost five years after its foundation, but it is not expected to elect…
By Mufid Abdulla: The Gorran movement’s first conference opens tomorrow in Erbil, the capital of south Kurdistan. The main challenge facing Gorran is to limit the power of its leader, Nawshirwan Mustafa, Otherwise the future of this movement may be no brighter than that of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK). Jalal Talabani, the PUK…
By Momen Zellmi & Harem Karem: In a recent report, we focused on the historical aspect of ‘Kurds and Jihadi groups’ and posed the questions: how do Kurds join Al Nusrah in Syria and who are they? In this report, we aim through our conversations with some of them to consider two different questions: how do they…
By a Correspondent: The identity of the author of this report must remain anonymous. A Turkish court has banned journalists in Turkey from writing about the Roboski massacre. Over 50 Kurdish journalists and editors are in prison in Turkey, accused of associating with a terrorist organization for their reporting on Kurdish issues. On December 28,…
KT News: Thousands joined rallies yesterday called by the Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) and marched to the Turkey/Syria border – from Mardin’s Nusaybin district and Şırnak’s Cizre district – to show solidarity with Rojava Kurds and protest against the ‘walls of shame’ that Turkey is building along the Kurdish areas of this border. BDP co-chair…
KT News: Kawa Germyani’s widow Shereen has given birth to a baby boy at Kalar hospital this morning at 9.30 am local time. A crowd of supporters was waiting outside the hospital to support the family and Kawa’s brother told local reporters that mum and baby are fine. The baby boy will be called Amed, which…
By Halsho Abdulfatah: Amoda Primary School is 20 kilometres from Slemani and accommodates 355 Syrian refugee children aged six to fourteen at the Arbot refugee camp. This is a fraction of the total number of children at the camp who need education. The school is managed by the Education Department of Slemani Directorate (EDSD) which has appointed…
Interview by Mohammed Hussein: Dr. Denise Natali – Senior Research Fellow, Institute for National Strategic Studies, National Defense University, Washington DC – talks about the problems of Kurdistan-Turkey oil contracts, rentierism and chances that an oil dependent economy can lead to dictatorship. MH: What is wrong with the (Kurdistan-Turkey) oil contract and pipe, and why…
