Kurdistan
A Kurdish opening
Gorran, a new political coalition in Iraqi Kurdistan, has done better than expected against the PUK and KDP in regional elections. Discontent with the two ruling parties has been brewing for years, as I found during my trip to the area in March 2006. Pre-election reporting in this round told of the two parties resorting to slimeball tactics (freezing salaries
A comment
This response to my YouTube video “Dancing in Iraqi Kurdistan” just came in: hallah hallaaa 333333iiiiiiiiiiiiiww esh esh esh yallaah yallah!!! Anyone?
Video links
Finally got around to posting short YouTube vids from Istanbul, Suleimaniya and Dakar. Enjoy.
Turkey-Kurdistan-PKK
In light of continuing Turkish attacks against the PKK in Iraqi Kurdistan, one could do worse than read Marko Attila Hoare’s clear-eyed policy prescriptions. In short: yes, the PKK is a terrorist gang. But Turkey has created its Kurdish problem and can end it. It should grant the Kurds full, unconditional political freedom and recognize Kurdish as an official language,
No friends but the mountains, and…
I have great regard for the Kurds of northern Iraq (go here to read my Turkey-Iraq travelogue from last year). For a long time, the Kurdish authorities have been forced to grab support wherever they can get it — from Iran and Israel, for instance, in different circumstances and for different reasons. You’ve heard it before: politics makes for strange
Happy Newroz
The Kurds (and others) are celebrating Newroz, the new year. The LA Times has a nice photo essay here. I was in Iraqi Kurdistan exactly a year ago, during the holiday. Read here and here.
Sharia law in Kurdistan?
See below… — Please send letters to support our campaign to remove Article No. 7 from the proposed constitution for Kurdistan. To all women’s group, secularist organisations, trade unions and political activists, we need your help to prevent Islamic Sharia law being implemented in Kurdistan. In December, we declared a campaign to repeal Article 7 from the proposed constitution of
Israel/Kurdistan
Wow, I guess it just became a lot more dangerous for American Jews like me to travel to Iraqi Kurdistan.