By Saman Shali, Ph.D., former President of Kurdish National Congress in North America (KNC): One could reasonably say that many countries of the Middle East, especially, Iran, Turkey and Saudi Arabia, have recently been enjoying a period of political and economic peace and tranquility. It can also be said that these states have enjoyed a…
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Category Archives: Iraq
Sykes-Picot: An Agreement That Should Never Have Been (Part II, Eastern & Southern Kurdistan)
By Hiwa Nezhadian: In Part I the Sykes-Picot agreement and its impact in Northern Kurdistan was discussed Eastern Kurdistan (Iran): In 1917 Serdar of Maku, who established the first Kurdish school in 1913, was invited to Tabriz for negotiations but was poisoned and killed. His abundant wealth was confiscated by the Iranian parliament. By summer…
Politics of Demography: Worldwide Total Kurdish Populations Approaching 41 million in 2015
By Dr. M. Koohzad Preface We need to forcefully press on the accuracy of fact and figures related to the abuse of statistics in politics as bargaining chips. Perhaps, you have heard Staffan de Mistura, the UN Rep. for Syria, has recently said that ONLY five percent of Syria’s population is Kurdish. Unfortunately, nobody has asked…
Is The World Saying We Cannot Curb Terror Without Dictators?
By Chiman Salih: Mr.Tony Blair, the former UK prime minister, said in his statement about the Chilcot Report: “I will at the same time say why, nonetheless, I believe that it was better to remove Saddam Hussein and why I do not believe this is the cause of the terrorism we see today whether in…
Did The Iraqi Government Say Iraq Is Safe Enough To Return To?
By Razbar Sulaiman: An Islamic State suicide car bombing in the Karrada district of Baghdad early Sunday morning ripped through the neighbourhood busy with shoppers preparing for this week’s Eid Al-Fitr holiday, killing at least 250, wounding hundreds more, and further shredding the credibility of Iraqi government. A suicide bomber blew up an explosive-laden pickup…
IS Can’t Be Defeated by Military Means Only
By Manish Rai: The Islamic State stormed Iraq and whole world in 2014 with its takeover of major Iraqi and Syrian cities by exploiting Sunni Arab grievances in Iraq and chaos in neighbouring Syria. But the militant group is now steadily losing ground in both these countries. The so-called Caliphate is on the back foot….
Will the Yezidi Persecution Lead to Their Cultural Extinction?
By Przha Bahaddin Salih: This is an edited extract of a paper written for the AUIS which you can download in full below. Genocide in the History of the Yezidis Yezidis have faced genocide – the mass killing of a race or group of people – multiple times through the centuries. Every time they face…
Women Sex Trafficking in Iraq
By Rusul Hamed Muhammed: The abuses of Daesh, especially against Yazidi women and girls, have gained world attention. But the overall problem in Iraq pre-dates Daesh and has grown especially since 2003, as Rusul’s paper explains. Women sex trafficking is a very important and broad topic that concerns all cultures around the world. Iraq, as a…
Kurds Must Be Part of the New Middle East: Interview with Dr. Mehmet Gurses & Dr. David Romano
Interview by Benjamin Kweskin: Mehmet Gurses is an Associate Professor of Political Science at Florida Atlantic University. He received his doctorate from University of North Texas and his research interests include democratization, ethnic and religious conflict, post-civil war peace building and democratization, Kurdish politics, and Political Islam. David Romano holds the Thomas G. Strong Professor…
Iraq: What is the Next State of Euphoria?
By Muhamed Hassan – Immersed Thinking: Iraq’s prime minister, Haider al-Abadi, had raised people’s expectations for an end to the country’s political impasse when he presented to parliament (March 31) a new list of ministers that could form a new dawn. But there are already voices who are in disagreement with his choice, raising concerns…
Peshmerga and the Ongoing Fight against ISIS
By Dr Simon Ross Valentine: One of the most significant “players” in the fight against ISIS (the Islamic State), is the Peshmerga, the Kurdish army of the semi-autonomous region of Iraqi-Kurdistan. “The Peshmerga are brave fighters who punch above their weight”, stated .Lt. Gen. Barbero, the former Head of US Training of the Iraqi Army….
28 Years After the Attacks on Halabja: ISIS Uses Chemical Weapons Against Civilians in Iraq
Jiyan Foundation for Human Rights Press Release: There is growing evidence that the terrorist militia “Islamic State” (ISIS) has used mustard and chlorine gas against Kurdish fighters and civilians in Iraq. The Jiyan Foundation condemns the use of chemical weapons and stands in solidarity with the victims. ISIS terrorists recently attacked civilians with mustard gas…
Escaped Yazidi Girl Pleads with UK Parliamentarians to Rescue Kidnapped Women and Children
By Dr. Amy L. Beam: Salwa Khalaf Rasho, an 18-year-old Yezidi who escaped Islamic State captivity after eight months, met today in London in several private meetings to plead for help in rescuing over 3100 Yezidis still kidnapped by ISIS. She was accompanied to the meetings with activists Jemal Bailoz Shaveshyan, Dr. Amy L. Beam,…
Iraq: The Obscenity of Chemical Weapons
By Muhamed Hassan – Immersed Thinking: With the firing of mortars containing a chemical agent at the Iraqi town of Taza, south of the city of Kirkuk, and the death of a 3-year-old girl from the exposure, Daesh is undoubtedly escalating the war a few notches. The little girl died of respiratory complications and kidney…
Iraq: Establishing Security is the Biggest Challenge
By Muhamed Hassan – Immersed Thinking: Casualty figures in Iraq are a grim reminder of the government’s inability to protect its citizens. It is a failure that should be one of the principal factors behind any prospective state reforms. It should take precedence over any other domain because, without sustaining security, it would be far…
