Fréderike Geerdink - independent journalist

Family business: Nechirvan Barzani takes over presidency of Kurdistan Region from uncle

11/06/2019/1 Comment/in Other /by Fanack

On 10 June 2019, Nechirvan Barzani was sworn in as president of Iraqi Kurdistan. He follows in the footsteps of his uncle Masoud Barzani, who held the post between 2005 and 2017.

The inauguration ceremony was attended by Barham Salih, Iraq’s president and the Barzani family’s main rival. He is, after all, a member of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK). The understanding between the PUK and the Barzani’s Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) is that the PUK can propose a candidate for Iraq’s presidency while the KDP can put forward a candidate for Iraqi Kurdistan.

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In Turkey, violence starts as hunger strikes end

03/06/2019/1 Comment/in Other /by Fanack

On 27 May 2019, the Turkish army launched a military operation against the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in the Hakurk area in northern Iraq. It was not just an air operation for a change but a seemingly limited ground operation as well, with soldiers dropped in the rugged mountains from helicopters.

Five days earlier, the Turkish state allowed lawyers to visit imprisoned Kurdish leader and PKK founder Abdullah Ocalan, the second of two visits since 2011, raising questions about Turkey’s intentions.

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A peaceful transition of power

29/05/2019/in Other /by Patreon

(This piece was published at my Patreon page, where I keep you updated about the news in Kurdistan that you won’t easily find elsewhere. You can support my work there with a donation. It helps me continue this work so don’t hesitate to click the Become a patron button!)

On 21 September 1966, the hope that Nechirvan Barzani (pictured) would one day rise to power in Kurdistan emerged. It was the day he was born into the Barzani family. As the nephew of Massoud Barzani, to be precise, who is in turn the son of the legendary Kurdish resistance leader Mullah Mustafa Barzani. The latter founded the Kurdistan Democratic Party, Kurdistan’s most powerful party, on 16 August 1946, the very same day that Massoud was born. Yesterday, on 28 May 2019, Nechirvan Barzani was elected President of the Kurdistan Region in Iraq.

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