SUN, 3 DEC 2017 12:30 | KRG Cabinet

The delegation also included the Chief of Staff at the Kurdistan Region Presidency Fuad Hussein, KRG Spokesperson Safeen Dizayee, and the KRG Acting Representative in France, Ali Dolamari.

reuters.com | Michel Rose, Ahmed Aboulenein

PARIS/BAGHDAD (Reuters) - French President Emmanuel Macron on Saturday called on Iraq to dismantle all militias, including the government-sanctioned, Iran-backed Popular Mobilisation Forces (PMF), a rare public call to do so by a major Western leader. Macron’s call, which followed a meeting with Iraqi Kurdish leaders in Paris, underscores the tough balancing act Baghdad has to perform between its allies in the war on Islamic State, Iran and Western powers, which do not see eye to eye.

wsj.com | Ben Kesling
Reporter, The Wall Street Journal.

FALAH MUSTAFA BAKIR, THE HEAD OF FOREIGN RELATIONS FOR THE KURDISTAN REGIONAL GOVERNMENT, SAYS IN INTERVIEW, ‘WE FEEL WE ARE UNDER A HUGE THREAT’

KRG Cabinet | gov.krd | 21 NOV 2017

Erbil, Kurdistan Region, Iraq (cabinet.gov.krd) – In a press conference, Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani stressed the importance of the full implementation of the Iraqi Constitution as the key to stability of Iraq.

Al-monitor.com | Mahmut Bozarslan

"Had the civilization here dated back 70,000 years instead of 7,000, the same thing would have happened," said Serefhan Aydin, the president of the Chamber of Architects in Diyarbakir. Aydin looked resigned as he gazed around the ancient town that resembled a building site.

nybooks.com | David L. Phillips (*) | November 20, 2017

When he started investigating General Michael T. Flynn, Special Counsel Robert Mueller concentrated on his income and undisclosed contacts with Russian officials. Now, however, Mueller’s investigation has broadened to include Flynn’s business with Turkey. Flynn faces possible fraud and money-laundering charges for failing to disclose a payment of $530,000 from the Turkish government. (The Foreign Agent Registration Act, FARA, requires disclosure of work for foreign governments, including details about compensation.) Flynn could also face conspiracy and kidnapping charges for allegedly negotiating a payment of $15 million to deliver to Turkey Fethullah Gülen, an Islamic cleric and political foe of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. Gülen has lived in exile in the United States since 1999; he was granted permanent residence in 2008. The Turkish government accuses him of orchestrating the coup attempt in July 2016 and imprisoned thousands of his followers.

gov.krd | KRG Cabinet

The Kurdistan Regional Government calls upon the international community to intervene with the Government of Iraq to end its collective measures against the people and government of the Kurdistan Region.

The restrictive policies adopted by Baghdad against Erbil are in violation of Iraq’s obligations and responsibilities under international and humanitarian law, and its duty as a state to respect and protect its citizens, including those displaced, and to promote and protect the human rights and fundamental freedoms of individuals and groups.

foreignaffairs.com | By Emma Sky (*)

In July 2017, Iraqi soldiers, backed by U.S. air strikes, liberated Mosul, the city where Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the leader of the Islamic State (also known as ISIS), had declared a caliphate just three years before. It was a hard-won victory. For nine grueling months, Iraq’s Counter Terrorism Service, an elite group of U.S.- trained forces, suffered heavy losses as they fought street by street to uproot ISIS fighters, who used the local population as human shields. Thousands of civilians were killed, and a million or so were displaced from their homes. Mosul’s historic monuments have been destroyed. And the city’s infrastructure lies in tatters.

rudaw.net | WED, 15 NOV 2017 | KRG Cabinet

Erbil, Kurdistan Region, Iraq (cabinet.gov.krd) - Kurdistan Regional Government Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani today received the UN Secretary General’s Special Representative to Iraq, Mr. Ján Kubiš, who handed Mr. Barzani a letter from UN Secretary General, Mr. Antonio Guterres.

reuters.com | BY Ahmed Rasheed, Dmitry Zhdannikov, Bozorgmehr Sharafedin | November 14, 2017

BAGHDAD/LONDON (Reuters) - After helping Iraq stifle a Kurdish push for independence, Iran is now positioning itself to take control of oil exports from the region’s giant Kirkuk field, with the first deliveries expected within days, officials and trading sources said.