Hiwa Osman is an Iraqi Kurdish journalist and commentator. He served as media advisor to President Jalal Talabani between 2005 & 2008. He is a leading commentator and analyst on the politics and media of Kurdistan and Iraq. He is often quoted by the media about Iraq and Kurdistan. He runs the blog Thoughts from Iraq. His writings are also published in Arabic in the respected Baghdad-based newspaper Alaalem. [1]
Hiwa Osman is the CEO of mediawan.me [2] The first agency of its kind in Kurdistan Region that provides media, which later rebranded to Mediazan.org [3] which is the parent organization behind Iraqi news outlet +964 Media [4] creative and communications services. Osman was previously the Iraq Country Director for the Institute for War and Peace Reporting (IWPR), media advisor to Iraqi president Jalal Talabani and also worked as a writer and producer with BBC News. He is also the son of Kurdish Leader Dr. Mahmoud Othman.
In 2012, Hiwa Osman won the Outstanding Contribution to New Media Award at the International Media Awards in London on 5 May. [5]
The Patriotic Union of Kurdistan is a political party active in Kurdistan Region and the disputed territories in Iraq. The PUK describes its goals as self-determination, human rights, democracy and peace for the Kurdish people of Kurdistan and Iraq. The PUK is currently under the leadership of Bafel Talabani. The PUK was founded in 1975 by Jalal Talabani, Nawshirwan Mustafa, Fuad Masum, Adel Murad, Ali Askari and Abdul Razaq Feyli. All presidents of Iraq under the 2005 constitution have been from this party.
Jalal Talabani was an Iraqi politician who served as the sixth president of Iraq from 2005 to 2014, as well as the president of the Governing Council of Iraq. He was ethnically Kurdish.
Masoud Barzani is a Kurdish politician who has been leader of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) since 1979, and was President of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq from 2005 to 2017.
Qubad Talabani is an Iraqi Kurdish politician who has been the deputy prime minister of the Kurdistan Region since 2014. Formerly serving as the representative of Kurdistan to the United States, Qubad is the second son of former Iraqi President Jalal Talabani.
The Iraqi Kurdish Civil War was a civil war that took place between rival Kurdish factions in Iraqi Kurdistan during the mid-1990s, mostly between the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan and the Kurdistan Democratic Party. Over the course of the conflict, Kurdish factions from Iran and Turkey, as well as Iranian, Iraqi and Turkish forces, were drawn into the fighting, with additional involvement from American forces. Between 35,000 and 40,000 fighters and civilians were killed.
The Kurdistan Region parliamentary elections of 2009 took place on 25 July 2009. A total of 2.5 million citizens of Kurdistan Region were eligible to vote for the parliamentary and presidential elections. People currently living outside Kurdistan Region were not allowed to vote. The elections followed the 2005 Kurdistan Region parliamentary election. The parliamentary elections coincided with the direct election of the President of Kurdistan. Unlike the parliamentary elections in 2005, the president of Kurdistan was to be chosen directly through popular votes. A referendum to approve the constitution of Kurdistan Region originally planned for the same day was put back to 1 August.
Kosrat Rasul Ali is a Kurdish politician and the leader of the Supreme Political Council of Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), veteran Peshmerga military leader, former Prime Minister, and former Vice President of the Kurdistan Region.
Hawlati is an independent Kurdish newspaper, published in Sulaymaniyah, Iraqi Kurdistan and London. Tariq Fatih is the owner of the paper.
The Kurdistan Democratic Party, usually abbreviated as KDP or PDK, is the largest party in Iraqi Kurdistan and the senior partner in the Kurdistan Regional Government. It was founded in 1946 in Mahabad in Iranian Kurdistan. The party states that it combines "democratic values and social justice to form a system whereby everyone in Kurdistan can live on an equal basis with great emphasis given to rights of individuals and freedom of expression."
Nawshirwan Mustafa was an Iraqi Kurdish politician who served as the General Coordinator of the Movement for Change and the leader of the opposition in the Kurdistan Region from 1 April 2009 to his death on 19 May 2017.
Sardasht Osman was an Iraqi Kurdish journalist and student from Erbil who was kidnapped on 4 May 2010 outside the College of Arts Building where he studied English. On May 6, 2010, his body was found in neighbouring Mosul city. He was known in Iraqi Kurdistan for articles criticising the Kurdistan Region and Masoud Barzani. Some of his articles were published under a pseudonym on several Kurdish websites.
The 2004 Qamishli riots were an uprising by Syrian Kurds in the northeastern city of Qamishli in March 2004, which culminated in a massacre by the Syrian Arab Armed Forces.
The 2011 Kurdish protests in Iraq were a series of demonstrations and riots against the Kurdistan Regional Government in Iraqi Kurdistan. The autonomous region experienced protests that were concurrent with the 2011 Iraqi protests and the wider Arab Spring. The Iraqi Kurdish protests were also related to the 2011 Kurdish protests in Turkey and the 2011–2012 Iranian protests, as well as the civil uprising phase of the Syrian Civil War.
The Kurdistan Democratic Party of Syria, commonly known as KDPS or PDK-S, is a Kurdish Syrian political party founded in 1957 by Kurdish nationalists in northern Syria. The party is based in Hamburg, Germany and has various branches in France, United Kingdom, Sweden and the United States of America.
Muhammad Fuad Masum is an Iraqi Kurdish politician who served as the seventh president of Iraq from 24 July 2014 to 2 October 2018. He was elected as president following the 2014 parliamentary election. Masum is the second non-Arab president of Iraq, succeeding Jalal Talabani, also Kurdish, and was a confidant of Talabani.
Lahur Talabani, also known as Lahur Sheikh Jangi Talabani is the Co-President of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, and the former Director of the Zanyari Agency, and Former Director of the Counter Terrorism Group (CTG). Known commonly as Sheikh Lahur, Talabani was a leading figure in the fight against terror especially in the fight against the Islamic State.
Kurdistan Region–Syria relations are bilateral relations between Kurdistan Region and Syria. Kurdistan Region and Syria are neighbors, but Kurdistan Region only borders PYD-held Rojava since the Syrian civil war. Kurdistan Region and Syria share two border-crossings, and 237,364 Syrian refugees remained in Kurdistan Region in December 2023.
Bafel Jalal Talabani, known as Bafel Talabani, is an Iraqi Kurdish politician and current leader of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK). He is the older son of former PUK leader Jalal Talabani.
Ala Talabani is a Kurdish politician and head of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan bloc in the Iraqi parliament. She is a three-time member of the Council of Representatives of Iraq.
Jalal Sheikh Naji, known as Sheikh Jalal, is an Iraqi Kurdish politician and current Head of the Parastin and Zanyari / Zanyari Agency, and Member of Leadership Council Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK). Sheikh jalal was a leading figure in the fight against terror especially in the fight against ISIS.