politics

“The changing geopolitics of the Middle East” was the complex and timely topic of the first Sulaimani Forum, which gathered more than 130 international experts, academics, politicians and journalists at the ballroom of the American University of Iraq in Sulaimani. For an Iraqi Kurd and someone who has attended many such events around the...
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By meeting urgently and issuing a statement Iraq’s Kurds, who are part of the coalition government in Baghdad, sent a strong message to Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki after he recently forced the budget through parliament. But questions remain over how long and to what extent the Kurdish position will last. Almost a week before...
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The new law passed by the Iraqi parliament limiting the premiership to two terms is meaningless if the current political paralysis that is sweeping Iraq continues. It is meaningless because Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, who is the target of the legislation, has become too powerful to be contained by such a law. He is...
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For the younger generation of readers, whose history books may not have been very tempting, 67 years ago the first Kurdish republic was established in Mahabad in eastern Kurdistan under the leadership of Qazi Muhammad. On December 15th of the same year, Iranian forces entered Mahabad. They closed down the printing press, banned the...
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The people of Iraq should be reminded that demonstrations taking place in the country’s Sunni regions are not for them. They are meant to remove one political bloc and replace it with another that is not necessarily better. Those who are supporting these demonstrations are not really serious about improving Iraq’s situation. They see...
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After decades of regarding the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) as a terrorist organization, Turkey is finally ready to accept that its jailed leader Abdullah Ocalan is the key to disarming the rebels. While this is a step in the right direction, Ankara should go the extra mile and recognize the PKK leader as...
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