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By Arian Mufid: For many decades the Kurds have been fighting for self-determination and an independent Kurdish state. It’s worth listening to the young generation of Kurds living in the diaspora who are greatly affected by having no state at all. I was reading the winning submission for the Orwell Youth Prize 2016, which was…
By Arian Mufid: Since the Gorran movement was expelled by the KDP from the Kurdistan parliament in October 2015 it has never recovered. Gorran’s MPs and their ministers left Erbil and have never returned to their senses. Gorran has been in a long-term struggle with the KDP; it seems to me as though Gorran was…
By Manish Rai: The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) is all set to carry out a referendum on Kurdistan independence, thus closing a circle which was opened 56 years earlier in the “September revolution” against the Iraqi central government, headed by Abd al-Karim Qassim. The feeling of attaining full independence is getting stronger by each passing…
By Arian Mufid: If it wasn’t for Churchill’s UK election defeat in 1945, Indian independence would not have been realised two years later. As it was, at midnight on 14-15 August 1947, India gained its freedom and “the Union Jack, emblazoned with the Star of India, began its final journey down the flagstaff”*. If it…
By Rauf Naqishbendi: Originally Published October 27, 2003 Rauf Naqishbendi’s address to the Kurdish community in North California. The gathering was sponsored by the Kurdish National Congress Of North America and Kurdish Relief Aid. We have gathered today to discuss the future of our people. In light of the recent U.S. occupation, and the disturbing…
By Hogar Hadi Hasan: Referenda, from the perspective of political philosophy, are manifestations of direct democracy and since people vote directly they are a clear-cut legitimacy indicator. Very often, though, referenda are swayed by transient impulses rather than by deep and careful analysis and calculation. These very transient whims can be carefully manipulated by demagogues….
By Arian Mufid: Nawshirwan Mustafa, politician, warrior, writer and historian has died aged 73 after a long battle with chronic illness. He was one of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan’s (PUK) six original founders in 1975 and the founder of Gorran in 2009. Born in 1944 in the city of Sulaymani to an intellectual family,…
By Dr. Rashid Karadaghi: What happened in Kerkuk this week has helped restore my faith in the ability of our people to build the future that they so deserve. We must all salute the bravery of Dr. Najmaldeen Karim, the Kerkuk Governor, and his supporters for doing the right thing, which is raising the Kurdistan…
By Dr. Amy L. Beam: Human rights advocate and author of forthcoming book “The Last Yezidi Genocide”; Founder and Executive Director, AAJ humanitarian organization in Kurdistan, Iraq The Yezidis are a non-Muslim religious minority who were brutally attacked in Shengal, Iraq, by the Islamic State (ISIS or Daesh) on August 3 and 15, 2014. The…
By Abdul-Qahar Mustafa: Iraqi Kurdish politicians from different political parties have recently negotiated with one another to work out their differences over the inactive parliament and presidential issues, with the hope to put an end to the political crisis in Kurdistan. However, the results of their meetings were not made public in detail and all…
By Diliman Abdulkader: The first modern Kurdish civil war took place in southern Kurdistan, in what is now the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) territory, between Jalal Talabani’s Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) and Masoud Barzani’s Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP). The conflict took the lives of nearly 5,000 Kurdish fighters and civilians, dividing the autonomous region between…
By Ramiar Bilbas: In the aftermath of the Thirty Years War (1618-1648) between the European powers, through the Treaty of Westphalia it was multilaterally contracted that no state would be allowed to intervene in the internal affairs of another. This is regarded as one of the most important elements of that treaty. When it comes…
By Amy L. Beam: CONUNDRUM: a dilemma without a solution. Since the genocidal attack by Daesh (Islamic State) upon Yezidis in August 2014, I have asked every Yezidi whom I meet what he or she thinks is the solution for their future in Shengal. Their demoralized answer is unanimous: “There is no solution. Shengal can’t…
By Abdul-Qahar Mustafa: The rivalry between Turkey and Iran over dominating the Middle East is not something new. It is in fact the legacy of the historical conflict between two empires, the Persians and Turks who dominated Middle East several times and under different names and ideologies in history. However, these two ethnicities have developed…
By Arian Mufid: In light of what is happening in the Middle East generally and in the city of Mosul especially, the whole world’s attention is now focused on events in these areas and, indeed, if there is insufficiently serious consideration by advisors and supervisors in Europe this will result in severe consequences. The events…
