washingtonpost.com | By Thomas S. Kaplan, Bernard-Henri Lévy | January 3, 2019

Thomas S. Kaplan and Bernard-Henri Lévy are the co-founders of Justice for Kurds.

“Our only friends are the mountains.” So goes the fatalistic Kurdish proverb, encapsulating the catalogue of duplicity and betrayal by allies that has punctuated and ultimately defined the history of this valiant people. The stateless ethnic group, numbering approximately 30 million, straddles the borders of Iran, Iraq, Syria and Turkey. It is the Kurds in Syria who suffered the most recent treachery, when President Trump on Dec. 19 announced the complete withdrawal of U.S. troops from Syria, where the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, or SDF, were among America’s most faithful and effective partners in the fight against Islamic State terrorists.

nytimes.com | By Eric Schmitt and Maggie Haberman | 2019/01/02

WASHINGTON — President Trump has agreed to give the military about four months to withdraw the 2,000 United States troops in Syria, administration officials said on Monday, backtracking from his abrupt order two weeks ago that the military pull out within 30 days.

Nytimes.com | By Carlotta Gall

ISTANBUL — President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey has kept the case of Jamal Khashoggi alive through a steady drip of leaks, forcing the Saudis to admit that the columnist and dissident was killed more than a month ago in their consulate in Istanbul.

After the review of all appeals and disputes, on Tuesday, 30 October, the Supreme Court of Kurdistan released the final results of the parliamentary elections in Iraqi Kurdistan that took place on 30 September 2018.

The New York Times | Oct. 8, 2018

No end is in sight in the fight over control of the oil-rich region of Iraq.

In an election that did not capture the attention of most of the world, residents of the semiautonomous Kurdistan region of Iraq voted in a parliamentary election last Sunday — a year after a failed vote for independence. The election, whose results have been hotly debated, is the latest chapter in the long and tortured struggle over control of the oil-rich region.

nytimes.com | By Aliza Marcus | Sept. 26, 2018

 If the United States really wants stability in Syria, it needs to back the Kurds politically and practically, not just with weapons.

Ms. Marcus is the author of “Blood and Belief: The P.K.K. and the Kurdish Fight for Independence.

al-monitor | Makram Najmuddine |September 26, 2018

The most recent name to surface as a likely candidate for Iraq's premiership is Adel Abdul Mahdi, a former head of the Ministry of Oil and Ministry of Finance and a one-time vice president of the country. Following negotiations said to have involved Hezbollah, Mahdi now appears to have the support of two on-again, off-again rival parliamentary coalitions: the Sairoon Alliance of Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr and the Fatah Alliance of Hadi al-Amiri.

Rudaw | 23/09/2018 |

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – The KDP has nominated Fuad Hussein, former chief of staff to the KRG presidency, for the position of president of Iraq.

A native of Khanaqin, Hussein has lived much of his life in Baghdad and the Netherlands. He has a doctorate in international relations and speaks Kurdish, Arabic, English and Dutch. 

After the fall of Saddam Hussein, he was put in charge of revamping the country’s education curriculum. 

Rudaw.net

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – US Vice President Mike Pence has condemned Iran’s missile strikes on the headquarters of Iranian Kurdish parties in Koya which killed and injured several political leaders and refugees on Saturday.

Foreignpolicy.com | By Peter W. Galbraith

Iraq’s Kurdish kingmakers used to side with Washington. Now, Tehran seems like a more attractive partner.