Based on an agreement between UNDP and the Kurdistan Regional Government, the latter arranged for the printing of 600,000 copies in Kurdish by 12 October, in addition to the 304,520 copies printed in Baghdad.

Since the fall of Saddam Hussein, the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) in northern Iraq has effectively established de facto autonomy vis à vis the central government in Baghdad. Regional and domestic developments could push the Kurdish authorities in Erbil, their capital, toward declaring formal independence.

On 12 June the inaugural session of the Kurdistan National Assembly elected Massoud Barzani to a four year term as President of the Kurdistan Regional Government.

At the same time, the Turkish government is pursuing a separate path of negotiations, through a rapprochement with another Kurdish authority the Kurdish Regional Government (KRG) in northern Iraq. The grand vision is to integrate Iraqi Kurdistan into the Turkish economy.

The south and Kurdistan have been the regions least affected.

Christians who have fled rebel controlled areas live peacefully and with equal rights in Kurdish areas. Indeed, these areas have become safe havens for all religious and ethnic groups escaping the war.

I would like to convey the greetings of the people of Iraqi Kurdistan, which is part of Iraq, to the Assembly.

Confronted with the debacle in the rest of (Arab) Iraq, the question has to be asked why the US led coalition should not hold a referendum in the Kurdish region, asking the population how they would like to be ruled. After all, the Kurds have, by any internationally accepted standards, a right to self determination.

Every province in Iraq can now benefit from Kurdistan's experience.

Moreover, the chances that Iraqi Kurdistan will achieve de facto or de jure independence are greater than ever. Iraq s Kurds may even be able to extend their influence into Kurdish populated northern Syria, thereby becoming a more influential regional player than the Iraqi government in Baghdad.

UNHCR also included in its activities other institutions, such as the Iraqi Property Claims Commission and the Kurdistan Regional Government, as well as NGOs and other partners.

The Working Group was informed about the situation of the Turkmen minority in Iraq, including in areas controlled by Kurds.

The Government replied that the couple had been detained on suspicion of participating in PKK activities.

Government of Spain and Autonomous Government of Murcia Region

Erdoğan s plan, however, depends on ending Turkey s 30 year conflict with its own Kurdish population. As a result, the Erdoğan government has decided on negotiations with Abdullah Ocalan, the jailed leader of the Kurdish Workers Party (PKK), the armed Kurdish resistance movement.

With all that in mind, this latest move by Turkey s parliament should be seen more as an ultimatum to Iraq s Kurdish Regional Government to expel the Turkish Kurds and an attempt to persuade the US to use its considerable influence there. That s hardball politics, not a declaration of war.

10. Contrary to the Special Rapporteur apos s allegations, his Government had not forcibly relocated Kurds or Turkomen in the areas of Kirkuk and Khanaqin.

Kurdish

shahr e Kord

The Government replied that Faruk Dürre had been arrested on charges of assisting the Kurdish Workers apos Party (PKK).

On 5 November 1996 the Government replied that he had been detained on charges of assisting the PKK.

While defending ourselves, we have also established our own government in Syria s Kurdish regions, the only areas that enjoy both order and democracy. The streets of Qamishli, Amuda, and Malikiyya are calm and safe.

Hundreds of anti Erdogan protesters many of them Kurdish also made their voices heard, condemning both Erdogan's policies and the German government's decision to welcome him to the country.

Turkey has no desire to serve as a strategic counterweight to Iran and believes that only a territorially intact Iraq can continue to play that role. Furthermore, Turkey is concerned about the possibility of civil war in Kurdistan between the two largest Kurdish factions.

Erdoğan s Kurdish Gambit

Kurdistan

The Government replied that Leman Çelikaslan had been detained on charges of participating in PKK activities.

64. With respect to the Kurds of the north, he recalled that the central Government did not effectively rule that part of the country it was controlled by the military and security forces of the United States and the United Kingdom.

Serious concern was expressed that in the conflict between the Government and the PKK, civilians not directly involved in the combat were becoming targets of both the Turkish security forces and the PKK guerrillas.

Nor is it clear that the West is capable of compensating the Kurds with full fledged statehood. The geostrategic constraints that have prevented Kurdish independence for centuries are even more acute today.

Victims included Kurdish villagers, students, journalists and members of political parties.

From Turkey s perspective, a confederation of Syria s northeastern region with the KRG might be favorable to continuing domestic Kurdish unrest, much less rule by the anti Turkish Kurdish Workers Party (PKK) along its border with Syria. In contrast, any attempt by the KRG to establish a Kurdish corridor to the Mediterranean would certainly meet resistance, not only from Turkey, but also from other warring factions in Syria.

Mr. Hamid also printed 1,000 copies of a calendar showing a map of what purports to be Kurdistan, with the intention of distributing it among Kurdish students at Damascus University.

Sounds like Kurdish. I don't understand it.

The uncertainty this time around is attributable to the predominantly Kurdish Peoples Democratic Party (HDP). Kurdish political parties shied away from contesting past elections, owing to their fear of failing to clear the 10 popular vote threshold needed to enter the parliament.

The majority of these cases reportedly occurred in south east Turkey, where a state of emergency is in force, particularly in the context of clashes between Kurdish Workers apos Party (PKK) guerrilla and government security forces.

The lack of public authority in certain areas of the Middle East, in particular in northern Iraq during the last decade, has caused certain terrorist groups, mainly the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), to take part in all stages of illegal trafficking of drugs.

The worst problems were found in the Tukums, Ventspils, Gulbene and Jekabpils Districts.

Government of Spain and Autonomous Government of Murcia Region contribute to relocation expenses of Secretariat

Syria s Kurdish Hope

A Referendum For Kurdistan?

San Miguel de Tucumán

On May 15, two small independent energy companies (Turkey s Genel Enerji and Canada s Addax Petroleum) became the latest foreign firms to begin drilling in Kurdish controlled territory under an agreement with the regional government. Kurdish politicians within the new parliament have good reason to protect these lucrative deals as debate begins over constitutional changes.

On 18 September 1996 the Government replied that he had been detained on 3 July 1996 during operations against the PKK.

Turkey accuses Iraqi Kurds of harboring between 3,000 and 3,500 of Turkey s most active Kurdish militants the PKK separatist guerillas who are blamed for the deaths of 80 Turkish soldiers so far this year. The trouble reached the boiling point on October 7, when Kurdish fighters killed 13 Turkish soldiers near Turkey s border with Iraq.