An Iraqi commentator on political and social issues told Kurdpress in an interview that former Kurdistan Region President and the Leader of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) Masoud Barzani is seeking to mend ties between the Kurdistan Region and the central government in Baghdad.

The President of the Standardkurd Institue of Media Studies told Kurdpress in an interview that the interests of the Kurds in Iraq are better achieved if they are within and in line with the politics of the Islamic Republic of Iran.

Masrour Barzani, head of the Kurdistan Regional Government's Security Council, speaks during an interview with Reuters in Erbil, Iraq, Nov. 6, 2016.

Following the disastrous decision by the autonomous Kurdistan region of Iraq to hold an independence referendum last year, relations between Arbil and the central government in Baghdad nearly collapsed. More than 92 percent of the Kurdish population of Iraq backed secession, but Baghdad rejected the referendum as illegal, imposed economic penalties and seized the disputed Kirkuk oil fields, halting Kurdistan’s controversial oil exports. Major powers in Iraq’s neighborhood — which are grappling with their own restive Kurdish minorities — also took a dim view of the vote.

Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) leader Massoud Barzani visited Baghdad Nov. 22. With that visit, he ended an entire year of accusations and threats between himself and federal authorities that followed the September 2017 referendum on the independence of the Kurdistan Region.

As the Gulf crisis continues with the rivalry between Saudi Arabia and Qatar, with no sign of a resolution, each country deems it necessary to seek a rapprochement with Iraq and win the country over to its own economic and political camps.

In large part because of the Syrian civil war that began in 2011, today there are 3,585,738 Syrians in Turkey, according to official numbers.

The Iraqi parliament lifted the freeze on the Independent High Electoral Commission (IHEC) Nov. 10, over two weeks after provincial elections were scheduled to be held. Now, the fate of the provincial councils is once again at the center of debate in Iraq.

They keep the story of the Kurdish people alive, strengthening Kurdish unity by recognising its struggle through its history and legends.

An Iraqi Kurdish politician believes the presence of the forces of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) in Shingal and other parts of Kurdistan Region is illegal and the forces should quit Iraq.

Looking back one year on, the September 25, 2017 Kurdistan independence referendum and the October 16, 2017 Iraqi overrun of Kirkuk were disastrous setbacks for U.S. national security interests.

Over the summer the Kurdish-led Autonomous Administration (AA) focused on strengthening its hand in talks with the Syrian government, in an attempt to win concessions on self-rule before a potential withdrawal of US support. Among other escalatory actions, the AA inserted itself into service provision initiatives previously left to the state, and arrested dozens of candidates for local elections organized by Damascus.  

A very modest warm breeze appears to be wafting over Turkish-American relations after several disagreements cooled them in the years of the Obama administration. 

 A Turkish court has overturned a conviction against a former Wall Street Journal reporter in a rare victory for the country’s beleaguered press, boosting hopes the government would relax its clampdown on the media as it seeks to repair relations with Western allies.

<p style="text-align:left">After pausing operations last month because of Turkish shelling, the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) are resuming the fight against the Islamic State (IS) in eastern Syria.</p>