Posts Tagged ‘ Iraq ’

Two weeks ago, Kurdistan Region President Massoud Barzani signed into law a landmark legislation passed by parliament that guarantees the right to information. According to the legislation, failure by public institutions and officials to provide information is punishable by the law. Although the penalties are inadequate, the legislation itself provides strong incentive for institutions...
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Iraq’s volatile security situation and the central government’s failure to resolve ethnic and religious tensions are dividing the country into three de facto regions: The autonomous Kurdistan Region in the north, a turbulent “Sunni triangle” in the middle and a Shiite center and south. Every development on the political front is followed by security...
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The phased withdrawal of Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) guerrillas from Turkey into Iraq’s autonomous Kurdistan Region must be followed up with serious moves by Ankara to settle the Kurdish issue. Otherwise, it will create many problems. The peace agreement, which is hoped to settle a three-decade conflict in Turkey, seems to have been made...
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Much has been written about the 10th anniversary of the Iraq war, the US-led invasion, the liberation from Saddam Hussein’s dictatorship, and the reconstruction and rebuilding of the nation. Most of the debate still centers around a specific event: The war, and its aftermath. The discussion still revolves around the question of whether the...
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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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