What Should Trump Do About the Kurds?
By Michael Rubin On 10/1/17 This article first appeared on the American Enterprise Institute site. On September 25, Iraqi Kurdistan held an independence referendum not only in its recognized territory, […]
Last flight departs as Iraq imposes ban for Kurdish independence vote
Reuters International This content was published on September 29, 2017 The Erbil International Airport is seen empty of passengers in Erbil, Iraq September 29, 2017. REUTERS/Azad Lashkari (reuters_tickers) By Maher […]
Opinion: Independent Kurdistan Looks Like a Zimbabwe in the Making
The image of Kurdistan as a democratic, progressive, prosperous state is illusory. The Kurds should get their house in order before they get their state David Rosenberg Sep 28, […]
Time for Kurdistani Political Parties to Get Their House in Order
By DAVID ROMANO 23/12/2016 – Your humble columnist just spent the last four months living in Kurdistan. Although this was not, of course, my first stay in the region, […]
Kurdistan has voted overwhelmingly for independence – so what happens next?
The most pressing problem is funding. Much of Kurdistan’s domestic economy is dependent on Turkey, which has threatened to cut off the flow of goods and stop exporting oil because of the referendum Rebecca Richards, Robert Smith Thursday 28 September 2017 Over 92 per cent of votes were cast for independence […]
A more complicated situation
Sep 27,2017 – JORDAN TIMES – Michael Jansen Whenever the US attempts or effects “regime change”, disaster follows. North Korea is the latest country where Washington would like to oust the leadership, perhaps because its ruler, Kim Jong-un, called Donald Trump a “dotard”, a senile old man, after he dubbed […]
Iraqi Kurdish independence poll: How far will Turkey go?
By AFP – Sep 26,2017 – JORDAN TIMES A photographer takes photos as soldiers stand next to tanks bearing Turkish and Iraqi flags during a joint military exercise near the Turkish-Iraqi border on Tuesday (AFP photo) ISTANBUL — Turkey has reacted with unbridled fury to the independence referendum in Iraq’s […]
Iraqi govt asks KRG to hand over border posts, airports over referendum
COMPILED FROM WIRE SERVICES ISTANBUL A Turkish military helicopter flies near the Habur border gate between Turkey and the Iraqi Kurdish region in Şırnak province, Turkey. (AA Photo) The Iraqi government asked the Kurdish Regional Government on Sunday to hand over international border posts and its international airports, retaliating […]
As a Kurd, I can tell you why this independence referendum is so crucial
While their neighbours are busy building weapons, the Kurds are taking in refugees, yet many Middle Eastern countries as well as the UK and the US seem to be opposed to Kurdish independence Mohammed Ali The Kurds deserve a chance to speak up about their own independence Reuters Often enough […]
Iraq’s Kurdish region to hold independence vote on September 25
By Reuters – Sep 20,2017 – JORDAN TIMES KIRKUK, Iraq — Visitors to Kirkuk in northern Iraq are greeted by an imposing statue of a Kurdish Peshmerga fighter with a gun slung over his shoulder, a reminder of tensions building in the hotly-contested city ahead of a referendum on Kurdish […]
Why Israel supports a Kurdish state
Sep 19,2017 – JORDAN TIMES – Osama Al Sharif Amid tensions engulfing a planned independence referendum by the semi-autonomous region of Iraqi Kurdistan, on September 25, it was Israel’s blind support for a Kurdish state that added a dangerous twist to an already volatile situation. Last week, Israeli Prime Minister […]
KRG’s Barzani ignores calls to postpone independence referendum
DAILY SABAH ISTANBUL KRG leader Masoud Barzani attends a rally in support for the upcoming September 25th independence referendum in Zakho, Iraq September 14, 2017. (Reuters Photo) Iraq’s Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) President Massoud Barzani vowed Friday to go ahead with the planned independence referendum on September 25 […]
Iraq’s Kirkuk province to vote in Kurdish independence referendum
Reuters International AUGUST 29, 2017 Members of the Kirkuk Provincial Council vote on the referendum in Kirkuk, Iraq August 29, 2017. REUTERS/Ako Rasheed (reuters_tickers) By Raya Jalabi KIRKUK, Iraq (Reuters) – Iraq’s oil-producing region of Kirkuk will vote in a referendum on Kurdish independence on Sept. 25, its provisional […]
Iraq’s Kurds might put off independence vote in return for concessions from Baghdad – official
Reuters International AUGUST 20, 2017 www.swissinfo.ch Mala Bakhtiar, the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK’s) Politburo Executive Secretary speaks during an interview with Reuters in Sulaymaniyah, Iraq August 19, […]
Secret Russian-Kurdish-Syrian military cooperation is happening in Syria’s eastern desert
In the first of a series from Syria, Robert Fisk says that new connections, however tenuous, demonstrate that all sides are determined to avoid military confrontation between Moscow and Washington Robert Fisk Resafeh, eastern Syria @indyvoices Monday 24 July 2017 After a sweeping Syrian military advance to the edge of […]
Women recruits prepare to join Syria’s Raqqa battle
By Reuters – Aug 10,2017 -JORDAN TIMES A people protection unit (YPG) fighter takes a selfie in the old city of Raqqa, Syria, on Wednesday (Reuters photo) HASAKA, […]
Woe betide the Kurds of northern Syria when the war is over
One Syrian told me, ‘These Kurdish groups are liars. We gave them weapons to fight the terrorists – now we no longer give them weapons to protect themselves. We did not give them weapons so that they could make states. Now they are fully supplied by the Americans’ Robert Fisk […]
Iraq’s Kurds, seeking independence, call vote hoping to ease row
Reuters International JULY 20, 2017 FILE PHOTO: Kurdish Regional Government President Masoud Barzani speaks to the media during his visits in the town of Bashiqa, after it was recaptured from the Islamic State, east of Mosul, Iraq, November 16, 2016. REUTERS/Azad Lashkari (reuters_tickers) By Angus MacSwan ERBIL, Iraq […]
A view from Teheran: Is a new plot against Iraq being hatched?
By Hassan Lasjerdi Is a new plot against Iraq being hatched? June 18, 2016 As Iraqi forces along Popular Mobilization Forces also known as al-Hashd al-Shaabi are engaged in fierce clash with the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL/Daesh) terrorist group and have so far been able to […]
Tough road ahead, even as IS grip on Mosul and Raqqa falters
Reuters International JUL 10, 2017 Iraqi Federal Police celebrate in the Old City of Mosul. REUTERS/Ahmed Saad (reuters_tickers) By Warren Strobel and Fatima Bhojani WASHINGTON (Reuters) – With Islamic State all but ejected from one if its former capitals and surrounded in the other, members of a 72-nation coalition meet […]