The political fortunes of the Kurds have ebbed and flowed over the decades. After a good run since achieving semi-autonomy in northern Iraq following the 1991 Gulf War, shifting Middle Continue Reading
The future stability of OPEC’s second-largest oil and gas producer could be decided by the end of 2017. Unrest is growing in Iraq as the Kurdish referendum grows nearer. Soon, Continue Reading
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu speaks during a news conference at the European Commission in Brussels, Belgium July 25, 2017. ANKARA (Reuters) – Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Continue Reading
The Kurds of Iraq are going through one of their most tumultuous periods of history. On the verge of finally seeing the much-heralded independence referendum, through Erbil is doing everything Continue Reading
Genel Energy Plc said it expected to book about $1 billion in impairment to the 2015 value of its Taq Taq oilfield in Iraqi Kurdistan, citing reduced estimate for recoverable Continue Reading
Iraqi Kurdish leaders plan to hold a referendum on the region’s independence by November, an official said on Wednesday, in a move that could lead to the break-up of OPEC’s Continue Reading
Work on one of Kurdistan’s major new power plants has stopped after a Jan. 6 attack that was sparked by a commercial dispute between foreign companies and a local Kurdish Continue Reading
The main border crossing between Turkey and the Iraqi Kurdistan region remains closed for a second day, as Turkey ramps up a military offensive apparently aimed at Kurdish militants in Continue Reading
Photographer: Vianney Le Caer/Pacific Press/LightRocket via Getty Images Yezidi refugees from Sinjar live beneath a motorway underpass located at the entrance… Read More After fighting the Turkish army for decades, the Kurdistan Workers Party is now confronting a foe that’s shared by its erstwhile enemy, strengthening the group’s hand in talks on a political settlement. Fighters linked to the PKK, as the group is known, are battling the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, according to Turkish and Kurdish officials and media. The PKK, branded a terrorist organization by Turkey, the U.S. and European Union, is also in talks with the Ankara government to end a 30-year armed struggle for autonomy. Moves toward Kurdish self-rule elsewhere in the Middle East have accelerated during the crisis spurred by the Islamic State advance. The Kurds who rule a semi-autonomous region in northern Iraq, are receiving U.S. and European weapons to aid […]
Kurdish Iraqi Peshmerga forces deploy on the outskirts of Kirkuk, near areas controlled by Sunni Muslim Jihadists from the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham. Agence France-Presse/Getty Images Erbil, Iraq—Brig. Halgord Hikmat, the spokesman for the Kurdistan Regional Government’s Peshmerga Ministry, made little effort to conceal his satisfaction on Friday. "Yes," he said with a cheeky grin. "It is a very nice time to be Kurdish." Only a few hours before, Kurdish soldiers known as Peshmerga were engaging Islamist insurgent fighters in Diyala Province, picking up the slack from hundreds of retreating Iraqi troops. On Thursday Peshmerga fighters moved decisively to occupy the nearby city of Kirkuk, easily expelling Islamist fighters who had sent Iraqi troops literally running for the hills. The Iraqi government in Baghdad has suffered a string of humiliating military defeats this week as insurgents from the al Qaeda-inspired Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham conquered […]
