Womensvoicesnow.org by Eva Bernard

In Turkish public opinion and media, and according to certain studies, the Kurdish regions of Turkey are often deemed the most patriarchal and traditional.  Yet, since the late 1970s, the Kurdish guerrilla movement and Kurdish political parties have been the most openly progressive proponents of women’s rights. This paradox became evident to me during the year I spent in Turkey in 2010, and led me to explore the impact of the denial of minority rights by the Turkish state on women’s lives within that minority group, and the potential influences of the Kurdish nationalist movement on Kurdish women’s rights.

Al-monitor.com

Massoud Barzani, Iraqi Kurdistan president, said that regional authorities are awaiting the results of US mediation with the government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, who made the decision to cut off the region's [federal] budget. He stressed that if he becomes hopeless about the mediation, the region will have to rely on its own resources, holding Maliki responsible for any rupture [between Erbil and Baghdad] that may occur. He said that "cutting off the region's livelihood is almost as dangerous as the bombing of Halabja [in reference to the chemical weapons attack by Saddam Hussein in 1988]."

AFP

Washington (AFP) - Google said Thursday it saw a big jump in early 2013 in the number of requests from governments around the world to remove online content, in many cases for political reasons.

The Kurdish Institute of Paris | By Kendal Nezan

The loss of Nelson Mandela has aroused great feelings in Kurdistan, where people remember with gratitude his stands in support of the Kurdish people in the 1990s.

(Reuters) - French investigators trying to solve the murder of three Kurdish activists in Paris have collected evidence about the chief suspect's connections to Turkey, four sources with knowledge of the investigation told Reuters.

Rudaw.net

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – Shravn Muslim, the son of Syrian-Kurdish leader Salih Muslim, has been killed in fighting with al-Qaeda’s Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), the group said.

Rudaw.net - By Tessa Manuello

When Kurds fled the Middle East in large numbers after Turkey’s crackdown on its large Kurdish minority following the 1980 military coup and during the 1980-88 Iraq-Iran war, it was the Kurdish Institute of Paris that helped many of the intellectuals in the fleeing crowds settle in France.

Rudaw

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Many Iranian Kurds, who put their faith in Iran’s newly-elected President Hassan Rohani to push for greater rights for Iran’s minorities, are surprised at his recent TV interview, in which he said, “There is only one nation in Iran and that is structured by Islamic system.”

Al-monitor.com | Mustafa al-Kadhimi

Kurdistan Region of Iraq President Massoud Barzani's visit to Baghdad on July 7 carries many connotations. It also reflects an Iraqi environment favorable to dialogue, not only to resolve the problems between Erbil and Baghdad, but also to address the ongoing Iraqi crises at various levels.

Rudaw.com

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – For the past decade Kirkuk has remained one of Iraq’s deadliest cities, but its governor says that since his election two years ago much has changed, including better security, more jobs and longer hours of electricity.