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By Amy L. Beam, Ed.D: Since Sept 3, 2014, Dr. Amy L. Beam has visited with hundreds of Ezidis in 12 refugee camps in Turkey. While camp directors and international media continue to say the Ezidis will return to Shingal “when it is safe,” she has not found one Ezidi refugee who agrees. To the…
By Glenn M Stewart B.A. M.A. Oxon: The approval given by the Turkish parliament to allow Turkish troops to conduct military operations against the Islamic State should be seen as a complex and disingenuous policy. Several political considerations will pull Turkey in different directions. Their support of the US led coalition will not be straightforward…
By Glenn M Stewart B.A., M.A. Oxon: The political and strategic ramifications of the remarks made yesterday by General Martin Dempsey, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff about the possibility of using US advisors in support of both Kurdish and Iraqi government forces to attack IS forces in Iraq have clearly not been thought…
By Arian Mufid: The main blame for today’s disaster in Iraq lies with former prime minister Nuri Maliki and his hostile policies towards the Kurds and Sunni Arabs. The terrible price of his sectarian rule was the explosive rise of IS which has in turn forced Mailiki to stand down. After several weeks of negotiating,…
By Amy L. Beam, Ed.D: I was planning on attending a wedding, not a funeral, this week in the village of Hilal. A Kurdish wedding is a grand, carnival-like, three-day community event with outdoor music, dancing, and eating from morning ’til midnight. But the wedding was cancelled. It would be an affront to flaunt a…
KT News: Peshmerga forces made an important strategic advance yesterday by recapturing Mount Zartak in a battle that left more than 30 ‘Islamic State’ (IS) gunmen dead. The mountain overlooks the Nineveh province plain stretching to Mosul. IS terrorists who recently occupied nearby villages are now within reach of Kurdish firepower. Bookmark on Delicious Recommend…
By Arian Mufid: To understand what IS is about, one must also know who they are and their true identity. How did the world come a point that is, I think, similar to September 11th, 2001? The complex network of IS (also known as ISIS, the Islamic State of Iraq and Sham) was born following…
By Aras Ahmed Mhamad: A wave of demonstrations has started once again in many cities and towns, especially in Sulaimaniya province. After the increase in gasoline prices from 500 Iraqi Dinars to 900, locals are outraged and demand that Kurdistan Regional Government’s (KRG) officials act effectively and decrease the price. Bookmark on Delicious Recommend on…
By Shakhawan Shorash: The rebuilding of the Iraqi state was a difficult and complicated process, and the transitional steps were without reliable solutions to the underlying negative factors that had previously caused the conflict and war. The key problems were marginalized and there were several inadequate solutions to them. One of the mistakes was the…
By the Central Council of Yezidis in Germany: A lot has been done so far to help the suffering people in Northern Iraq. Today we know that most of this help does not get to the refugees. Some needs of the refugees have yet to be considered and as of yet, nothing has been done…
By Arian Mufid: As the Islamic State of Iraq and Sham (IS) built up its strength, critically it sought to accommodate the Sunnis of Iraq. It found an increasingly receptive audience because the Sunnis were being repressed to the point where many of their leaders were being jailed or expelled from Iraq, as happened to Tariq…
By Kamal Mirawdeli: Kurdish writer Kamal Mirawdeli has written a strongly-worded letter to British Prime Minister David Cameron: In his letter Mirawdeli says: I write in these strong words because I have nothing but words and know that words weigh up to nothing in your wonderful civilized world. I am proud to be Kurdish and…
By Shenah Abdullah: These days, one’s identity is of great significance and, wherever you go, people’s ethnic and religious backgrounds are emphasized. “We are Arab-Shabak and Shi’a from Telkif,” “We are Kurdish-Shabak and Shi’a from Bartilla,” “We are Yezidis from Shexan,” “They are Yezidis from Shangal” , etc. Each group and each family tries to…
By Amy L. Beam, Ed.D: On August 20, 2014, The Wall Street Journal carried a photo of the outlawed (in Turkey) Kurdistan flag atop Mosul Dam which was recaptured from the Islamic State (IS or ISIS). The WSJ has been reporting on a near daily basis on Kurds and Kurdistan in Iraq, more frequently in…
