Kurdistan Observer

Kurdish guerrillas raided a military station in Eruh district of Siirt, Northern Kurdistan last Friday, killing 20 and wounding several of Turkish soldiers, said a statement by the Kurdish HPG guerrillas. However, Turkish regime said only one soldiers was killed and 4 wounded.

• Sectarian Protest Rocks Mosul

• Rizgar Ali: Kirkuk is Part Of Kurdistan As Washington D.C. Is Part Of U.S.

Kurdish political leaders said the repatriations are designed to correct the policies of ousted President Saddam Hussein, who replaced thousands of Kurds in the region with Arabs from the south. The Kurdish parties have seized control of the process, they said, because the Iraqi government has failed to implement an agreement to return Kurdish residents to their homes. More......

• Kurdish MP attends World Bank Conference

• EU To Pressure Ankara On Kurdish Language Schools

Oct 29, 2005

• Doubts cast over Kurdistan Vote

• Facing Threats, Syria Weighs Steps to Rally the Home Front

• The Arrival Of The First Direct Flight From London To Erbil

• Saddam Accepted UAE Exile Plan

• News Snapshot

A Turkish army reservist and a Kurdish rebel were killed late Friday in a rocket attack by rebel forces against a military post in Northern Kurdistan, the Anatolia news agency reported Saturday. Four soldiers were slightly wounded in the strike at Erenkaya Koyu, a village in Siirt province, the agency said, adding that a search operation had been launched to track down the rebels of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which has been blamed for the attack.

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Two chickens in Southern Kurdistan have been found to have a strain of avian flu but experts said it was not the deadly H5N1 strain, a regional government official said on Saturday, reported Reuters

Oct 28, 2005

• Easily Angered Turkey is Shaken by Recognition of President Barzani in Washington

• First Case Of Bird Flu Confirmed In Southern Kurdistan

• Barzan Tikriti Urges Talabani To Save His Life

Oct 27, 2005

• Demonstration In Mahabad Against Execution Of A Kurdish Detainee

• Syria Aims To Resolve Kurd Issue And Pass Law On Parties

• In a Reclaimed Village Kurds' Future Unclear

• Iraqi Shiites, Kurds Agree Unified Poll Lists

• Massoud Barzani Appears At The National Press Club For Press Conference

Oct 26, 2005

• President Bush Meets with President Barzani of Kurdistan Regional Government

• A Kurdish Vision of Iraq

• For Kurds, sovereignty easily beats out the Iraqi constitution

• Kurdistani Islamic Union Enters Elections, Independent From The Kurdistani Alliance

It clarified that the reasons for that are "the illegitimate use of the governmental financial and administrative facilities for the interest of the two governing parties and the lack of giving an inclusive role to the elected institutions in Kurdistan (…) in the revival of the political life and expanding diversity." More....

Oct 25, 2005

• Bush Meets Kurdish President

• Car Bombs Kill 13 In Sulaimani, Southern Kurdistan

• News Snapshot

Sulaimani administration minister of culture Fattah Zakholli will be dismissed from his job because he did not vote in the referendum, reported the Kurdish paper Aso. According to the media in Sulaimani the PUK minister has resigned from his post today. Mr. Zokholli was also active in the Kurdistan Referendum Movement which issued a communiqué before the referendum on the constitution, urging people of Southern Kurdistan to vote no for the constitution.

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A Turkish court has fined 20 people for using the letters Q and W on placards at a Kurdish New year celebration, under a law that bans use of characters not in the Turkish alphabet, rights campaigners told. The court in the southeastern city of Siirt fined each of the 20 people $75.53 for holding up the placards, written in Kurdish, at the event last year. The letters Q and W do not exist in the Turkish alphabet, reported Pravda

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Iraq's constitutional referendum has passed, according to final results from Iraqi election officials.

Oct 24, 2005

• Talabani: Visit Of Barzani To White House Is Recognition Of Identity of Iraqi Kurdistan

• Unrest, Arrests, Amid murder Trial of Turkish Police

Oct 23, 2005

• Barzani In Washington For Formal Talks With Bush

Massoud Barzani, President of Southern Kurdistan, traveled today to Washington following an official invitation by the Bush administration. In Washington, Barzani will conduct formal talks with the American president and members of Congress. More...

Oct 22, 2005

• News Snapshot

Media reports in Southern Kurdistan indicate that fuel shortages in the town of Akre have led to demonstrations by citizens of Akre. The protesters condemned the bad services offered by the KDP administration and the lack of fuel especially gasoline. Demonstrators burnt two gas stations in the town and walked to the administrative district building, where they were intercepted and scattered by military forces from Erbil.

• Youth Poll Boycott Worries Kurdish Leaders

• After Sistani, Arab League Chief Mussa Woos Kurds In Southern Kurdistan

• Turkish Author Pamuk Calls For Turkey To Guarantee Human Rights

Oct 21, 2005

• Galbraith Explains Choices in Iraq

• Senior Chinese official meets Kurdish Delegation

• Ninevah and the Constitutional Referendum

Oct 20, 2005

• News Snapshot

A Kurdish public figure who asked not to be named told the Kurdistan Observer that George Bush has informed Barzani that he wishes to see that Southern Kurdistan has one administration ahead of his upcoming visit to Washington. According to media reports in Southern Kurdistan, high officials of both the KDP and PUK, including Mr. Barzani and Talabani, have met in Salahiddin. The agenda of the meeting covered Barzani's upcoming visit to Washington and the unification of two Kurdish administrations.

• German Court Lifts Ban On Ozgur Politika Newspaper

• News Snapshot

A source from the control centre in the ministry of health’s transmitted disease division reported that some birds died in Hawler, Southern Kurdistan. The source said samples were sent to the World Health Organization in Egypt and tested positive for viruses unrelated to a dangerous epidemic (such as bird flu.) According to the source, teams were formed to follow up on the incident, reported Mada

• Kurdish Judge Steps Forward In Saddam Trial

• Iranian Regime Sentences Editor Of Kurdish-Language Weekly To 18 Months In Prison

Oct 18, 2005

• Turkey's Patience Running Out over Iraqi haven for Kurds, Says PM

• A Petition For Kurdish Education Punished

• News Snapshot

After leaving the electoral center, Massoud Barzani announced, "I respect the opinion of everyone, whether they voted with 'Yes' or 'No'. The brothers and sisters in Kurdistan should know that it is impossible to obtain a better constitution," reported Al Riyadh

Oct 17, 2005

• Remains Of Massacred Kurds Returned Home

• Kurds Get Moment Of Closure On Eve of Saddam Trial

• Human Rights Activists Confirm Gross Violations In Kurdish Provinces

Oct 16, 2005

• Two Kurds Jailed In Syria: Lawyer

• We have civil war, says ex-PM

• Iraq Vote Fails To Thrill Kurds

Oct 15, 2005

• Kurds Flock To Polls To Back Charter

• Not All Kurds Support Constitution

• President Of Southern Kurdistan Urges Large Turnout

• Unifying force - or just a peace treaty?

• Syria, Turkey, Iran Leery of Kurdish Gains In Southern Kurdistan

• Two Turkish Soldiers Killed In Fresh Clashes With Kurdish Rebels

Oct 14, 2005

• Kurds Embrace New Charter

• SkyLink Airlifts Home Remains of 300 Kurdish Victims of Saddam

Oct 12, 2005

• Kurds Ambivalent On Charter

• Editorial: Say NO to Arab Iraqi Constitution

• Kurd Rebels kill 5 Turk Soldiers, Clashes Continue

• News Snapshot

Talabani is a proud man today. "We have the right to be proud in saying that today was a day of national consensus," President Jalal Talabani said. "So congratulations to our people for their constitution," reported AP. The amendments made some key concessions to Sunni Arabs, starting with the first article underlining that Iraq will be a single nation with its unity guaranteed. Assure the preservation of Iraq's Arab identity.

Good for Talabani. Good bye to Voluntary Union. 1

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A court sentenced Democratic People's Party (DEHAP) Sanliurfa deputy leader Resit Yardimci to six months imprisonment and a fine of YTL 1,640 on Monday for beginning a speech at a local party convention by saying "good-day" in Kurdish.

Oct 11, 2005

• News Snapshot

Muhammad Qadir, a KDP political bureau member told media in Southern Kurdistan that the KDP and PUK reached an agreement to postpone the next election in Kurdistan until Article 58 in Iraqi constitution concerning Kirkuk is implemented in December 2007.

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Arab authorities are preventing displaced Kurdish families from returning to Kirkuk, the PUK media reported Monday. “Elements of Iraqi army in Kirkuk checkpoints are continuing the chauvinistic policy adopted by Saddam's regime,” Kirkuk polic brigadier Sarhad Qadir said Monday.

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Following his trip to Turkey, Barham Salih said that Turkey agreed to the opening of another border gate near Shinawa Village, five kilometers west of Ibrahim Khalil gate. “The aim of opening this new gate is to reduce crowding of trucks at the gate in Ibrahim Khalil,” This commercial project is to be funded by the Iraqi and Turkish governments. The Kurdistan Government is also providing necessary facilities in executing the project.

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The General Secretary of the Iraqi Turkmen Front (ITF) announced Saturday his withdrawal from the Front along with a number of other members. “We believe the rights of the Turkmen people can only be achieved through the elected Kurdistan Parliament and Government since we are an inseparable part of the Iraqi Kurdistan people. We have decided on our departure from the ITF and to join the democratic movement in Kurdistan", Mr Elikhani said, as reported by Peyamner .

• European Mission Unearths Torture Claims In Turkey