Interview Barzani calls for enhanced air defense for Kurdistan Region to counter drone attacks Iraqi Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Masrour Barzani backs US-led regional economic integration efforts and lauds US partnership in an exclusive interview with Al-Monitor. Masrour Barzani KRG Prime Minister
Explainer Why Iran targeted Barzani family stronghold in Iraqi Kurdistan Iran’s Kurdish opposition groups have turned Iraqi Kurdistan into a frontline in the war. Iran
Analysis How Turkey's PKK amnesty law entwines Kurds' hopes with Erdogan's ambitions The first legislation to emerge from direct negotiations with Abdullah Ocalan offers a path to ending Turkey's war with the PKK while potentially giving President Recep Tayyip Erdogan the votes he needs to remain in power for a third term. By Amberin Zaman Reporting on geopolitics, minorities, human rights, culture
Iraqi Kurdish president’s meeting with Syria’s Sharaa signals shift in SDF dynamics KRG President Nechirvan Barzani’s meeting with Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa underscored the Kurdistan Region’s growing role in Syria’s Kurdish politics. Iraq
Interview PJAK leader mocks Iran’s claim Turkey spiked US Kurdish-backed regime-change plan Siamand Moeini PJAK Executive Council Member
Analysis Why Iran's Kurdish front is becoming a growing wartime concern By A correspondent in Tehran In Tehran, reporting on politics
Will new Iraqi government resolve Baghdad-KRG issues? The peaceful formation of a new government in Iraq has raised hopes that the outstanding issues between Baghdad and Erbil might be resolved, but a number of obstacles stand in the way of it actually happening despite amicable relations among the countries leaders. Iraq
Aynur Dogan gets Americans to sing her tune "In the US, unlike Europe, many in the audience heard Kurdish music for the first time," says Aynur Dogan, a Kurdish-Alevi musician from Turkey, after her tour. Turkey
Women at heart of Dahuk film festival From Nobel Peace Prize winner Nadia Murad to the film "Girls of the Sun" at the Cannes Film Festival, 2018 has been a year of Kurdish women. Iraq
IRGC masses troops on Iraq border amid rising tensions with Kurdish groups The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps is beefing up its control of Iran’s border with Iraqi Kurdistan a month after its missile strike on the headquarters of the main armed Iranian Kurdish opposition group. Iraqi-Kurdistan
Kurdish rebels join anti-Iran lobbying fray An Iranian Kurdish opposition group has registered to lobby Congress and the Donald Trump administration. Congress
Iraqi Kurds vote to elect new parliament Iraqi Kurdistan held its parliamentary elections one year after its failed bid for independence, but low voter turnout and claims of voter fraud are tainting the results. Iraq
Turkey chides US for failing to honor Manbij accord Ankara is caught between two superpowers that are pursuing their own agendas in Syria, while its efforts to implement its own agenda there only seem to be growing more difficult with time. Originals
Iraqi Kurds stuck between Iran, US The Iraqi Kurds are worried about the US-Iran rivalry in Iraq, as it will weaken their position in the country more than ever before. Iraq
Iran missile strike opens door to escalation with Kurdish armed groups An Iranian missile attack on Iranian Kurdish fighters in Iraqi Kurdistan has raised the risk of intensified fighting in western Iran while heightening the chances of localized confrontations taking on an international dimension. Iraqi-Kurdistan
Kurds put conditions for allying with Shiites to form government Shiite parties seek to gain favor with the Kurdish parties to include them in the majority charged with forming the new government, while the Kurds consider this a historical opportunity to impose their conditions on those wishing to ally with them. Iraq
Not everyone in Iraq welcomes peshmerga's possible return to Kirkuk As Iraq's central and Kurdish governments tentatively make nice again, the potential return of the Kurdish peshmerga to Kirkuk has some groups in the country on edge. Iraq
