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raging between the health minister, Dr Rekawt Hama Rashid, and the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) over the use of outdated medicines by an Erbil hospital which has blinded around 30 patients.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…
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Category Archives: Corruption
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…
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…
How to end corruption in Kurdistan
By Heyrsh Abdulrhman: Corruption has greatly increased in Kurdistan for the past few years, posing a very serious problem. The governmental authority has not had a serious strategy to combat corruption and this has discouraged the people. What has caused the flourishing of corruption in Kurdistan is the two ruling parties. They have frequently been…
Nichervan Barzani: ‘Corruption is the culture’ – what do you think?
By Mufid Abdulla: In its final effort, perhaps the KDP leadership offered Gorran’s leaders incentives to take posts in the new cabinet. But their efforts were in vain, making the KDP leadership something of a laughing stock in south Kurdistan. As we reported, the Gorran party has continued to refuse these overtures. Like all good…
Gorran party assumes beacon position
By Mufid Abdulla: In an unprecedented step, the leader of the Gorran party, Nawshirwan Mustafa, has called on four Gorran MPs involved in corruption – who have resigned their positions and left the Gorran parliamentary group – to apologise to their supporters. Earlier this month it was revealed to the media that these MPs had requested…
Money not morals rules some Gorran MPs
By Mufid Abdulla: According to the local weekly newspaper ‘Hawlati’, Kardo Mohamed, leader of the Gorran MPs in the Kurdistan parliament, rented out his house in Erbil and moved into an apartment that he was given by the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG). Since this MP resides in Erbil, arguably he has no need for additional accommodation…
Can Kurdistan be the new Dubai?
By Michael Rubin: Almost two decades ago, I made my first trip to the Persian Gulf. It was a starkly different place than it is now. Dubai International Airport was a single terminal. My Dubai hotel cost $25 a night, and old, traditional buildings still existed among high rises which are mere shadows of those…
