.jpg)
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…
By Harem Karem: KT Exclusive Latest victims of the corruption and social-injustice that pervades the Kurdistan region are the 30 unfortunate individuals who were blinded as result of being given illegally imported and expired Avastin medicine at a Hawler public hospital. Nineteen of these patients were transferred to a hospital in Munich, Germany, for treatment….
By Dr Shorsh Hassan and Harem Karem: According to the retirement law – number (27) of the year (2006) – an employee of the government is entitled to a pension if he has worked for at least 15 years and been a member of the pension scheme, contributing between 7% and 12% of his salary…
By Kamal Chomani: Twitter: @KamalChomani The economic development of the Iraqi Kurdistan Region has been overestimated by partisan and some foreign media outlets to the extent that only a few talk about issues of having an established democracy, freedom of speech and human rights. However, many argue about transferring the Kurdistan Regional Government’s (KRG’s) model…
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…
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….
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raging between the health minister, Dr Rekawt Hama Rashid, and the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) over the use of outdated medicines by an Erbil hospital which has blinded around 30 patients.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…
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…
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…
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…
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,…
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…
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…
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…
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…
