Free Republic

The incident occurs after a meeting between Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Ankara on Tuesday. ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Turkish warplanes have conducted airstrikes in the Yezidi (Ezidi)-populated city of Shingal in northern Iraq; sources told Kurdistan 24 on Wednesday. According to the sources, there were some airstrikes to the west of Baraa village, located close to the border with Syria. Snip- In April 2017, Turkish airstrikes supposedly targeting the PKK-affiliated YBS killed five Peshmerga soldiers and wounded nine others, as well as causing extensive damage to the area, resulting in condemnation from...

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – The US Ambassador to Iraq, Douglas Silliman, along with the Kurdistan Region’s Prime Minister, Nechirvan Barzani, on Monday announced the start of constructing a new US Consulate in the capital of the semi-autonomous region. In a statement delivered at a ceremony in Erbil, Barzani said that the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) welcomes the construction of the compound, one of the largest in the world, and that “it is a sign of US confidence and trust in the Kurdistan Region, now and in its future.” He mentioned that the project is an indicator that Washington wants to...

The United States is concerned by reports of violent clashes around the town of Altun Kupri in northern Iraq. We are monitoring the situation closely, and call on all parties to cease all violence and provocative movements, and to coordinate their activities to restore calm. In order to avoid any misunderstandings or further clashes, we urge the central government to calm the situation by limiting federal forces’ movements in disputed areas to only those coordinated with the Kurdistan Regional Government. We are encouraged by Prime Minister Abadi’s instructions to federal forces to protect Iraqi Kurdish citizens and to not provoke...

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the Turkish border may soon be closed to the Kurdistan Region on the condition that Baghdad continues to provide the needs of the Region.  “Our talks [with Iraq] on what we can do are continuing. If they [the Iraqi Kurdistan Regional Government] hand over the border gate to the central government, we’ll set the condition [that the central government] must meet all the needs of the people under the northern Iraqi administration,” Erdogan told reporters late Tuesday night during a return trip from Poland. “We have not yet closed...

Kurdish journalist Noreldin Waisy explains why Britain should recognise an independent Kurdistan in the upcoming referendum Relations between Kurdistan and Britain go back nearly a century. However, it is a tragic and sorrowful history. Kurds hold Great Britain, more than any other party, responsible for their inclusion in the state of Iraq. We hope that the United Kingdom will support us: that you will correct an old, hoary mistake, when the better judgement of men such as Churchill was circumvented through determined bureaucratic manoeuvre.

Turkey is concerned that in "one night" all of the gains made by the Kurdistan Region since the overthrow of the Baathist regime in 2003 could be lost, if the independence referendum is held and could lead to an Iraqi "civil war," a senior Turkish presidential advisor revealed. "We feel that Iraq has made a lot of gains in the past so many years since 2003; and these were rightful gains, the Kurdish people deserved those gains," said Ilnur Cevik, a senior advisor to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Regarding the Kurdistan Region’s independence referendum scheduled for September 25, Turkey’s Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu has said that the United Nations and Ankara can “be guarantors of their rights.”

Ankara "will not refrain from using its natural rights"

Link Only. In one word, "unacceptable" by Turkey

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – The Iraqi Oil Ministry is ready to legally challenge oil exports from the Kurdistan Region from a tanker ship that has headed into the Atlantic Ocean, reported a provider of commodity information. “A senior Iraqi Oil Ministry official told S&P Global Platts that the ministry has been authorized to challenge the legality of the shipment and any other tankers, marking increased tension following recent warming between Baghdad and Erbil,” the UK-based S&P Global Platts reported in a statement on Tuesday. The Kurdistan Region sends oil through a pipeline terminating at Turkey’s Ceyhan port to ship to...

KDP forces have detained 4 internationalist fighters that crossed from Rojava into Southern Kurdistan. It is not known yet where the fighters have been taken. According to reports, KDP peshmergas detained Swedish fighters Jesper Soeder and Andreas Charalabos, and British fighters Andrew Johnwoodhead and Lee Egerton at a checkpoint in Akre city, Southern Kurdistan. The driver accompanying the fighters was also taken into custody and it is not known yet where the fighters and their driver have been taken.

The first reaction to KDP’s referendum decision came from the Turkish state as expected. The Turkish Foreign Ministry’s statement on the issue threatened KDP and said, “We won’t allow for faits accompli” and “It would be a historic mistake”. The first reaction to KDP Leader Masoûd Barzani deciding on a date for the “independence referendum” came from their “ally” Turkey. The Turkish Foreign Ministry issued a written statement that threatened KDP and said, “it would be a historic mistake”. The Turkish Foreign Ministry’s statement also protested the Kurdistan Region flag in official institutions in Kirkuk and said, “We won’t allow...

Foreign YPG volunteers seen in the vicinity of Jarablus. Photo: ARA News At least nine foreign volunteers, who had joined the ranks of the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) to combat ISIS in Rojava-Northern Syria, were arrested by the Asayish security force in the Kurdistan region of Iraq, media sources reported on Thursday.Foreign volunteers are increasingly becoming victim of the problems between the Kurdish parties.“Internationalists Callum Ross (Rizgar Çiya), Ozgan Ozdil (Dêrsim Agir), Anthonî Degatto (Rustem Fist), Justin Schnepp (Şervan Agir), Mirko Bruna (Mirko Cûdî) from Italy, Paola Andolina (Azadî Raperîn) from Italy, Damien Rodriguez (Şêrzad Azad) from the US, Fernando...

BAGHDAD — Iraqi Kurdish troops on Thursday encircled Turkish soldiers in northern Iraq and threatened to open fire in the most serious standoff between the two nation's forces since Turkey threatened late last year to go after guerrillas from the Kurdistan Workers Party sheltering in Iraq . ADVERTISEMENT The standoff began when Turkish troops in tanks and armored vehicles left one of five bases they've had in Iraq since 1997 and moved to control two main roads in Dohuk province, Iraqi officials said. Kurdish soldiers from the peshmerga militia, which is loyal to the Kurdish Regional Government, moved to stop...

Turkish tanks were seen advancing towards the Iraqi borders on a background of Turkish threats to raid northern Iraq to hunt down fighters of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) holed up in mountainous areas on the Iraqi side of the joint frontiers, border guards and witnesses in Duhuk said on Friday. "More than 17 Turkish tanks drew near three kilometers from the district of Zakho, close to the Iraqi-Turkish borders," Col. Hussein Tamr told the independent news agency Voices of Iraq (VOI). Eyewitnesses from the village of Qargula, western Zakho, said they saw Turkish tanks near the borders where...

Iraqi Kurdistan's autonomous government will take charge of security in its mountainous northern region this week in a transfer of command from the US-led coalition, officials said. At a ceremony Wednesday in the regional capital Arbil the commanders of the peshmerga - former anti-Baghdad guerrillas and now staunch US allies - will be handed responsibility for three northern provinces.

IRAQ POLL: Kurds Grateful for U.S. SupportA delegation of Iraqi Kurdish officials is currently traveling through the United States right now. The mission is to build upon the great friendship between the Kurdish people and the United States of America.Most specifically, the people of Iraqi Kurdistan wish to invite American businesses to come and help invest in the rebuilding of Kurdistan. It's a win for the people of Iraqi Kurdistan to have help in building a brighter future, and it's a win for American businesses seeking promising new opportunities.We have launched an advertising campaign called "The Other Iraq" because...