Tuesday, October 16, 2007

PRAGUE, October 16, 2007 (RFE/RL) -- Kamran al-Karadaghi, a former chief of staff for Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, says that Iraq's political climate will not improve until the country's leaders find the political determination to make "very hard decisions." He also discussed the current tensions between Turkey and Iraq's Kurds, as well as the issue of "normalizing" the disputed region of Kirkuk.

October 17, 2007 | By ALISSA J. RUBIN

BAGHDAD, Oct. 16 - With tensions high along the Iraqi-Turkish border as the Turkish government seeks parliamentary approval for military raids into northern Iraq, the Turkish prime minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, said today that the approval would not necessarily immediately be followed by military action.

October 16, 2007

Deborah Haynes in Matin Mountains
The Turkish rockets streaked out of the night sky and slammed into the mountainside next to a village in northern Iraq, setting fire to a swath of grassland and forcing families to dive for cover.

October 15, 2007 | Hasmik Hovhannisyan

Approximately 40 million Kurds live in the world; about 20 million live in Turkey, 9 million in Iran, 6 million in Iraq, 3 million in Syria. And the rest are scattered all over the world. Almost any European country has a Kurdish Diaspora; the largest community is 1 million people and is registered in Germany.

Monday, October 15, 2007

Mehmed Uzun, a Kurdish novelist who was prosecuted for criticizing Turkey's former ban on the Kurdish language, was commemorated by thousands Saturday at his funeral in Diyarbakır.

By BEN LANDO | UPI Energy Editor

WASHINGTON, Oct. 11 (UPI) - The Kurdistan Regional Government is offering the global oil industry its first and, so far, only chance at entering the Iraqi crude sector. Despite anger in Baghdad, the KRG plans to sign even more controversial oil deals and is waving the "Open For Investment" sign proudly.

Thursday, October 11, 2007  | The Associated Press

ANKARA, Turkey: Mehmed Uzun, a Kurdish novelist who was prosecuted for criticizing Turkey's ban on the Kurdish language, died on Thursday, a friend said. He was 54.

10 October 2007 | White House |  By Scott Stearns

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan says his government will submit to parliament plans for a possible military operation against Kurdish rebels in northern Iraq. VOA White House Correspondent Scott Stearns reports, the Bush administration says cross-border security concerns can be better addressed by working with the government in Baghdad.

October 11, 2007

If Turkey’s Army is to be taken at face value, it has 140,000 troops and substantial detachments of heavy armour massed along the country’s southeastern border. It has the Government’s approval in principle for cross-border incursions into Kurdish Iraq.

October 10, 2007 (RFE/RL) -- Just one week after concluding a security agreement with the Iraqi government to combat terrorism, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on October 9 that he would call on parliament to grant permission for a military incursion into Iraq to pursue Turkish-Kurdish rebels from the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) holed up in Iraq.