Kurdistan Observer

The Freedom Life Party attacked the Iranian military positions in Piranshahr and Sardasht areas in Eastern Kurdistan during the last few days. The Iranian military returned fire but news about casualties is not known. The Iranian army continued shelling the area intermittently, reported PUK's Kurdistani Nuwê ----------------- Yesterday, in the Jamasa District in Mosul, terrorists fired at and killed Abd-al-Aziz Mizuri, an employee of the Mosul branch office of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan and Badran Jirjis a PUK sympathiser, reported PUK's Kurdistani Nuwê

June 28, 2005

• The Islamic Republic of Iran’s Presidential Elections

June 27, 2005

• President Of Southern Kurdistan Chairs a Meeting Between PUK and KDP

• Nechirvan Barzani Says Security Forces Arrest Terrorists in Arbil

• News Snapshot

Kirkuk Police Captain Farhan Faisal was assassinated by gunmen who cut off his car on the way to work, Kirkuk police Lieutenant General Yadker Mohammed said, reported Reuters Five Turkish soldiers were killed in clashes with the Kurdish fighters in Cizre and Guclukonak, Northern Kurdistan. According to the statement issued by the HPG Press and Liaison Centre, the HPG guerrillas set a trap to a military unit which belonged to the Zeve division in Guclukonak and which was deployed to ensure road safety, reported Roj TV The Iraqi minister of public works Nasrin Barwari said that the Iraqi government is reluctant to solve the problem of Kirkuk. She criticized the government for not allocating enough funds to solve the problems of Kirkuk. She added that the most difficult and pressing problem was the resettlement of the displaced people who were forcibly expelled by the former regime and that the government failed to take any action to deal with their economic and social situation.

June 26, 2005

• Five Turkish Soldiers Killed In Northern Kurdistan

• The Wonder of Kurdistan!

• Kurdish Official Says Militants Infiltrate Iraqi Security Forces

• News Snapshot

The governor of a Kurdish province in Southern Kurdistan offered Saturday to send Kurdish peshmerga to help restore security in neighbouring areas ravaged by the persistent Sunni Arab insurgency. "We are ready to send peshmerga members to Diyala, Salaheddin and Kirkuk provinces if we are asked to help out with the security situation," said Dana Ahmed Majid, governor of Sulaymaniyah province. "We respect provincial boundaries but we are offering our help to bring out peace and security," reported AFP Turkish Security forces arrested 10 persons in Istanbul when a group of people gathered and started chanting slogans in favour of the Kurdish leader Ocalan, reported the Turkish TV station TRT1 yesteday. Kurdish contractor was shot dead and another wounded in a drive-by shooting south of Kirkuk city in Southern Kurdistan, a police officer said Saturday. Asu Ahmed died late Friday and Khalil Mohammed was seriously wounded after gunmen sprayed their car with automatic weapons fire in the village of Al-Salsah, Kirkuk province, Colonel Khaled said. The men worked for a US company installing concrete blast walls, reported AFP

June 23, 2005

• Respect For Human Rights In Southern Kurdistan

• Furor Over Kirkuk Police Sacking "Order"

• Turkish Writer Picks up German Peace Prize

• Thousands Of Peshmerga Drafted Into Army

June 20, 2005

• Suicide Bomber Kills 15, Wounding 125 In Arbil

• Kurdish President Disputes Report of Arab, Turkomen Abuse

• Syrian Regime Arrests 60 Kurds

• Barzani Wants Kurdish Recognition

June 19, 2005

• Turkey: Sharp Increase In Human Rights Abuses Reported

June 18, 2005

• News Snapshot

The senior United Nations envoy to Iraq has updated Massoud Barzani, the new President of Southern Kurdistan Government, on the world body's activities in the country. Ashraf Qazi also congratulated the President on his recent inauguration during their talks on Friday, according to the UN Assistance Mission in Iraq, reported UN News Centre

Turks demonstrated on Saturday outside the Incirlik Airbase in Turkey, demanding the closure of the US airbase. Spokesman for the protestors Mehmet Ates said that the U.S. military is currently using the airbase to carry out a massacre in the Middle East Some 88 percent of the Turkish people are against extending the US right to use it as a logistical hub for operations in Iraq, reported Xinhua • Turkmen Divided Over Report Of Mass Arrests In Kirkuk • Kurdish Rebels Claim Responsibility For Attack On Oil Pipeline • News Snapshot A first lieutenant and a second lieutenant were killed, and four soldiers were wounded when a Turkish military vehicle hit a mine in Hakkari, Northern Kurdistan today, reported Turkish TRT TV. Commenting on the recent attack against the Turkish flag in Lebanon, Turkish general Buyukanit said that the attack against the flag during Erdogan's visit to Lebanon was very ugly, adding: There are circles in every part of the world that systematically engage in anti-Turkish activities. It is impossible for them to achieve their aims. The Turkish nation is powerful enough to overcome them. After his swearing-in as president of Southern Kurdistan, Massoud Barzani arrived in Baghdad yesterday evening. The aim of his trip is to hold bilateral talks with the Iraqi officials, the political and administrative representatives and the National Assembly of the federal Iraq, reported KDP media June 17, 2005 • Kurdish Rebels Reject Appeal To Lay Down Arms • A Murder Stirs Kurds In Western Kurdistan June 16, 2005 • Turkish Military Operations In Northern Kurdistan • Rioting Erupts In Iranian Hotbed of Kurdish Nationalism June 15, 2005 • President Massoud Barzani's Inaugural Speech The new president of Southern Kurdistan, Massoud Barzani, was sworn in today. In his inaugural address Barzani called on the Kurds to seize the "golden opportunity to benefit from our mistakes and futile attempts of the former regimes and bring about a brighter future". More • Turkish Aircraft Support Army Attack In Northern Kurdistan • News Snapshot A suicide bomber struck outside a bank as elderly men and women waited to cash their pension checks Tuesday, killing 23 people and wounding nearly 100 in the Kurdish city of Kirkuk , reported AP. The Kirkuk attack were coincided with the swearing in of veteran guerrilla leader Massoud Barzani as the first president of Southern Kurdistan. ----------------- The senior United Nations envoy for Iraq today congratulated Masoud Barzani on his inauguration as President of Kurdistan Regional Government, and assured him that the UN was committed to helping Kurdistan and the Baghdad Government establish good relations, reported www.un.org June 14, 2005 • Kurds Threaten To Leave Iraq Government • Kurdish Official, US Envoy Discuss Development, Ties • KONGRA-GEL leader Ask Massoud Barzani For Support • Speaker Of Kurdish Parliament Advocates Federal Regions In Iraq • News Snapshot A Kurdish woman human rights activist has been kidnapped by armed men in the city of Kirkuk, an official from the KDP said Monday. "Kurdish official and human rights activist Shiman Ahmad Kader was kidnapped by unknown men in the Kurdish city of Kirkuk (on Sunday)," said Najat Karim, reported AFP ----------------- Syria's state security court on Sunday sentenced two Kurds to prison terms for belonging to "a secret organisation attempting to annex part of Syrian territory to a foreign country," a lawyer said. The two Kurds, Mohammad Ali Bakr and Abdel Kader Kader, are members of the Democratic Union, said human rights lawyer Anwar Bunni, reported AFP June 12, 2005 • The Son of the Kurdish Legend to be Sworn in as President of Southern Kurdistan • Turkish Army Prepares Operations In Northern Kurdistan, Kurdish TV • Govari Gulan: Shi'i Tyrannical Islamic Agenda' Sidelines Kurds • Turkey Is Not The Strategic Partner Of The United States • Yawar Says Fire In Kirkuk Will Burn Iraq, Calls For Strong Central Government • Kurdish Official Says Iraqi Forces Pushing Kurds To Revolt, Carry Arms • Dr. Ma'sum Denies Wish To Secede From Iraq, Views Kirkuk's Status • Absence of policies makes it hard to speak about Iraq June 10, 2005 • Kurdish Parliament Endorses Barzani as President of Southern Kurdistan • Kurdish Official Says Against Ruling To Expel Police Officers • Bush Won't Help Turkey With Kurds June 9, 2005 • Kurdistan Medical Association Meeting Report • News Snapshot Turkish Foreign minister Abdullah Gul said yesterday that there is no truth to reports that Turks harbor anti-American feelings. "There is no such thing," he said. It seems that Mr. Gul is in a state of denial as recent polls indicate that the majority of Turks are anti-American and anti-Semitic. June 8, 2005 • Barzani Says Kurds support relations with Israel • Ocalan Sees No chance Of Fair Retrial, Boycotts Meetings With Lawyers • Kurds in Western Kurdistan, Spurred by Peers in Southern Kurdistan, Seek Their Rights • US consul welcomes Kurdish parliament session in meeting with Kirkuk governor June 7, 2005 • Iraq Shiite Faction Opposes Key Kurdish Demand • News Snapshot Thousands of Kurds took to the streets in the city of Qamoshli, Western Kurdistan last Sunday to protest the killing of Sheikh Khaznawi. The protestors were met by Syrian internal security gangs who first fired in the air, then at the demonstrators. The preliminary toll are three injuries with bullets and multiple women beaten over the head with batons. Many arrests were also reported, reported AFP Turkish Justice Minister Cemil Cicek said Sunday he was opposed to a retrial of the Kurdish leader Abdullah Ocalan taking place in a foreign country, Anatolia news agency reported. Cicek said he had not received any request to move the trial overseas and that such a move was "inconceivable." Kurds have broken into the Syrian embassy in Vienna and replaced the Syrian flag with a Kurdish flag, the police said on Monday. Embassy staff arrived at work on Monday morning to find that a wooden door had been forced open and the red, white and green Kurdish flag was flying from a balcony, a spokeswoman for the Vienna police said. June 4, 2005 • Kurdish parliament Opens UN envoy Ashraf Qazi addressed the parliament, saying Kurds must show "wisdom, restraint and an abiding respect for human rights. Now Kurdish leaders have the opportunity, capability and dare I say obligation to provide a beacon of hope, to provide an example to the rest of Iraq." More • Ocalan Says No Possibility Of Fair Retrial In Turkey Ocalan has said that he refuses to play the main role in a play orchestrated by Turkey," she added, pointing out that Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul had said that the Kurdish leader was likely to receive the same sentence if judged "100 times". More • Ibrahim Parlak Released On Bond June 3, 2005 • News Snapshot No assassination attempt. Barzani's special spokesman told The New Anatolian in a phone interview yesterday that reports that Barzani had been wounded in the leg by a would-be assassin are completely false. The spokesman said Barzani appeared at a public gathering in Erbil to prove the reports were wrong • Syria Names 'Killers' of Kurdish Religious Leader Amid Skepticism • Kurdish Dream Of Independence Spurs Militant Youth • Barzani To Lead Kurdistan region For four Years June 1, 2005 • Syria Blames ’Criminals’ For Murder Of Kurd Religious Leader • PKK Offers New Ceasefire, Peace Talks With Ankara • Kurdish Parties Agree To Convene Parliament

What's The Turkish For Genocide?

Inaugural Speech