Gov.krd (KRG Cabinet)

Erbil, Kurdistan Region, Iraq (cabinet.gov.krd) – In a press conference, Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani talked about the powerful earthquake which hit the Kurdistan Region and Iranian Kurdistan last night, Iraq’s 2018 Draft Budget bill and other issues related to the current situation in the Kurdistan Region.

al-monitor.com | Bryant Harris — November 10, 2017

Congress put the Iraqi Kurds on notice this summer against going forward with their independence vote. In the aftermath of Baghdad’s heavy-handed response, however, congressional ire is falling squarely on the central government.

Newyorker.com | By Luke Mogelson - Letter from Syria

Kurdish revolutionaries helped the U.S. expel the Islamic State from its capital city. Will we soon abandon them?

The Iraqi Federal Court announced on Thursday 01 November 2017 that the court cannot express its opinion on whether the Kurdistan referendum was unconstitutional or not before hearing the other party (Kurdistan Regional Government)

Rudaw 4/11/2017

Former French Prime Minister Manuel Valls says that France and the international community must take a stance on the Iraqi attacks on Kurds and send a message to Iran that its meddling in Iraq and the region must be stopped. Valls told Rudaw in an interview that the Kurds have been allies of the West and fought together against terrorism, therefore leaving them to their own devices now is a crime.

rudaw.net 3-11-2017

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani and US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson both emphasized the need for political negotiations to begin between Erbil and Baghdad in a phone call on Friday, according to a statement from Barzani’s office.

nybooks.com | Peter W. Galbraith | November 2, 2017, 4:45 pm

Najmaldin Karim, the governor of the Kirkuk governorate, was at his official residence on October 16 when American special forces showed up. They warned him that the Popular Mobilization Forces, an Iraqi Shiite militia controlled by Iran, was on its way to the building. Karim, an ethnic Kurd who had twice been elected governor of this ethnically mixed province, understood that they were not coming to oust him or even to arrest him. They were coming to kill him.

theatlantic.com | By ROBERT FORD(*) — Oct 30, 2017

As the Kurdish crisis continues to spiral, a former diplomat laments a history of missed opportunities.

brookings.edu ⎢ Ranj Alaaldin — Friday, October 27, 2017

U.S. relations with its long-standing, historical ally the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) took a hit this month when Iraq’s security forces and the Shiite militias of the Popular Mobilization Force (PMF) launched an offensive against the Peshmerga in the disputed territory of Kirkuk, with U.S. acquiescence. Washington’s tacit support for the offensive stemmed from its policy of upending Iran-aligned factions in Iraq in the forthcoming parliamentary elections, namely by empowering Iraq’s so-called moderate prime minister, Haidar al-Abadi. The idea, as it currently stands in Washington, is that the stronger Abadi looks to the electorate, the greater his chances of winning forthcoming elections. But the elections are a long, volatile, and unpredictable six months away, and it may already be too late to sideline the Iran-aligned factions that dominate the PMF. Those groups are lionized by broad sections of the Shiite community, experiencing a meteoric rise following their role in the war on ISIS. Abadi, who came into office only three years ago without a popular and political base, cannot singlehandedly stop their ascendancy.