KT Comment: Known as the White House of Erbil, this is the headquarters of the PUK (Patriotic Union of Kurdistan) and special residence of its leader, Jalal Talabani. It is also a symbol of corruption and despotism. The White House was built for Talabani by the KDP (Kurdistan Democratic Party) to compensate him for the…
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Category Archives: Corruption
Karzan Karim kept in jail after serving his sentence
KT News and Comment: Karzan Karim, an independent journalist who was working as a security officer at Erbil airport, was charged last year with divulging sensitive information to a third party and sentenced to two years imprisonment. Karim was jailed after the Kurdistan Post published articles in which he accused security agency authorities of corruption….
Outdated medicine blinds elderly patients in Erbil
By Mufid Abdulla: A row is raging between the health minister, Dr Rekawt Hama Rashid, and the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) over the use of outdated medicines by an Erbil hospital which has blinded around 30 patients. The expired medicine was brought to the Kurdistan Region by a Turkish businessman who supplied it to a…
Kurdish law makers should tax individual higher earners
By Mufid Abdulla: This article flows from the recent local news that there are 30,000 dollar millionaires in the south of Kurdistan. First of all we must ask ourselves what Kurdistan produces to create such a high-calibre rich class, or what innovations has the region seen in the past decade to justify this? In the…
KIE report on media coverage of corruption in the Kurdistan Region
KT News: The Kurdistan Institute for Elections (KIE) monitored local media coverage of significant corruption issues during the months of July and August and it has published a report on its findings. It says key objectives of this exercise were to: Bookmark on Delicious Recommend on Facebook Share on Linkedin Tweet about it Subscribe to…
Open letter tells the President of Kurdistan some facts
KT News and Comment: The young Kurdish citizen and writer Alan Sahibkran has sent an open letter to the president of Kurdistan which begins: “I am sending you this letter, staying away from slander or libel, to advise you on several issues concerning our region of Kurdistan”. The letter, published in Hawlati, goes on to…
Campaign for a Democratic Constitution for Kurdistan – have your say
By the Editors: The glorious ‘Arab Spring’ toppled some dictatorships and haunted others with the sceptre of people power. It also reverberated across Kurdistan, raising now the prospect of self-rule for Kurds in west Kurdistan and last year inspiring citizens in semi-autonomous south Kurdistan to revolt against our unjust rulers. Following the horrors of Saddam,…
Proposed amendments to the 2009 Draft Constitution – have your say
By the Editors: These proposed amendments are partly based on proposals made by the Kurdistan Institute for Elections, combined with our thoughts. They are offered here as a basis for discussion. Let us know what you think about them and any other aspects of the Draft Constitution. Introduction to the Campaign for a Democratic Constitution…
Detained journalist Karzan Karim was ‘about to expose corruption at Hawler airport’
News and Comment by KT: Friends of the detained Hawler journalist Karzan Karim have refuted government claims that he is being held for national security reasons and compared his case to that of murdered journalist Sardasht Osman. Karzan Karim is a young freelance journalist who was kidnapped from his home during November last year by…
PKK is under the spotlight in Syria
By Hamma Mirwaisi: Today PKK (Kurdistan Workers’ Party) organizations are the largest organizations in Kurdistan. They are enjoying wide support in Turkey, Syria, Iraq and Iran because they are fighting for Kurdish people rights – without ruling them yet. The civil wars in Syria are giving Kurdish people there an opportunity to become free from…
Corruption in Southern Kurdistan: Its origin, how to challenge it!
By Kaiwan Bahroz: There are a variety of crimes against humanity and a lack of basic human rights in Iraqi Kurdistan. One other concern which has been affecting civil people and has become a significant obstacle to democratization is corruption. Corruption is an issue that creates a major burden to economic growth and social development. In Iraqi Kurdistan…
Nokan Group and the PUK business empire
By Mufid Abdulla: Since 1991 the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) leaders have considered themselves bound to an economic model which enables them to monopolise the Kurdish market, especially in Sulaymani and the surrounding areas. The major sectors of the Kurdish economy which today provide a good mark-up and return comprise the telecommunications and construction…
Kurdistan Tribune’s relentless first year
By Mufid Abdulla: It is a year since we launched this website. From the first we told our readers and colleagues that this was not going to be an easy mission. Our fundamental message was that we wanted to establish a new way of journalism for the overall purpose of siding with and representing our…
KRG responds anonymously to Mansur Barzani casino story
Comment by The Kurdistan Tribune: On Monday we published a report that President Barzani’s son Mansur recently lost $3.2 million in a Dubai casino. This story was then referred to by Michael Rubin – a resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, senior lecturer at the US Naval Postgraduate School and occasional KT columnist –…
President’s son Mansur Barzani loses $3.2 million in a casino
News and Comment by The Kurdistan Tribune: President Masud’s Barzani’s recent visit to Dubai was cut short because his son Mansur had lost $3,200,000 in a Dubai casino. This news has been exploited by Barzani’s enemies and is now all over the Iraqi press. It is very important for the president of Kurdistan to issue…
