Sulaymaniyah, also spelled Slemani, is a city in the east of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, not far from the Iran–Iraq border. It is surrounded by the Azmar (Ezmer), Goizha (Goyje) and Qaiwan (Qeywan) Mountains in the northeast, Baranan Mountain in the south and the Tasluja Hills in the west. The city has a semi-arid climate with very hot dry summers and cold wet winters.
The Peshmerga comprise the standing military of Kurdistan Region, an autonomous political entity within the Republic of Iraq. According to the Constitution of Iraq, the Peshmerga and their security subsidiaries are solely responsible for the security of Kurdistan Region, chiefly due to the fact that the Iraqi Armed Forces are forbidden to enter Iraqi Kurdistan. These subsidiaries include Asayish, Parastin û Zanyarî, and Zêrevanî. The Peshmerga's history dates back to the 18th century, when they began as a strictly tribal pseudo-military border guard under the Ottoman Turks and the Safavid Iranians. By the 19th century, they had evolved into a disciplined and well-trained guerrilla force.
Kurdistan Region is an autonomous administrative entity within the Republic of Iraq. It comprises four Kurdish-majority divisions of Arab-majority Iraq: the Erbil Governorate, the Sulaymaniyah Governorate, the Duhok Governorate, and Halabja Governorate. The KRI is bordered by Iran to the east, by Turkey to the north, and by Syria to the west. It does not govern all of Iraqi Kurdistan, and lays claim to the disputed territories of northern Iraq; these territories have a predominantly non-Arab population and were subject to the Ba'athist Arabization campaigns throughout the late 20th century. Though the KRI's autonomy was realized in 1992, one year after Iraq's defeat in the Gulf War, these northern territories remain contested between the Kurdistan Regional Government and the Government of Iraq to the present day. In light of the dispute, the KRI's constitution declares the city of Kirkuk as the capital of Iraqi Kurdistan. However, the KRI does not control Kirkuk, and the Kurdistan Region Parliament is based in Erbil. In 2014, when the Syria-based Islamic State began their Northern Iraq offensive and invaded the country, the Iraqi Armed Forces retreated from most of the disputed territories. The KRI's Peshmerga then entered and took control of them for the duration of the War in Iraq (2013–2017). In October 2017, following the defeat of the Islamic State, the Iraqi Armed Forces attacked the Peshmerga and reasserted control over the disputed territories.
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.
The Gorran Movement or just Gorran (Change) is a Kurdish political party in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. Formerly under the leadership of Omar Said Ali, it was founded in 2009 by Nawshirwan Mustafa. Gorran is the sixth largest party in the Kurdistan Region, having lost almost all of its voters (95%) since its foundation, and is now no longer represented in the Iraqi parliament, Nawshirwan Mustafa's sons Chya and Nma were the main cause of the Gorran Movements political and electoral obliteration.
Hikmat Muhammad Karim, known as Mala Bakhtiyar or Mala Bakhtiar, is a political leader and a Senior Iraqi Kurdish politician. He is a commander and General of the Kurdish PUK Peshmerga forces and is considered one of the most powerful people in Iraq. Mala Bakhtiar is the former chief of the Executive Bureau of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan. He is now the Joint leader of the Supreme political council of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), alongside Kosrat Rasul Ali. Mala Bakhtiar was awarded a medal for being the best national and intellectual figure of the middle east by the International Union of Economists and Managers in the European Union and was recognized as an international democratic figure in 2014. His power is on the rise after the PUK held its 4th congress on the 19th of December 2019, during which he was elected into the Supreme Political Council of the PUK. In November 2021, it was reported that he was being treated after being poisoned. On the 13th of November 2021, after receiving treatment in Berlin, Germany, he returned to Sulaimaniyah, Kurdistan, where he received a Hero’s welcome.
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 Region parliamentary elections of 2013 took place on 21 September 2013. It was the fourth legislative election in Kurdistan Region since 1992. The candidates were competing for a total of 111 seats out of which 11 seats were reserved for minorities. According to the Iraqi High Electoral Commission, there were 366 female and 736 male candidates for the elections. A total of 2,653,743 people were eligible to vote throughout the three provinces of Erbil, Sulaymaniyah and Dohuk of which 74% cast their ballots.
Rudaw Media Network, is a major media broadcaster in the Kurdistan Region, Iraq.
Halabja Governorate is a governorate in the autonomous region of Kurdistan Region in Iraq. The governorate was established in 2014, splitting off from Sulaymaniyah Governorate and becoming the fourth governorate in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. Its capital is the city of Halabja. Halabja Governorate is the least populated governorate.
There are a number of Iraqi beauty pageants. Miss Iraq is one of the national beauty pageants in Iraq. Others include miss World Iraq and Miss Earth Iraq.
Kurdistan 24 (K24) is a Kurdish broadcast news station based in Erbil, Kurdistan Region of Iraq, with foreign bureaus in Washington, DC. The service was launched on 31 October 2015. Noreldin Waisy is the founder and former general manager of Kurdistan 24.
The Battle of Kirkuk was a battle in the city of Kirkuk in northern Iraq between Iraqi Kurdistan and the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant. On the night of January 29, around 150 ISIL fighters attacked positions south and west of the city of Kirkuk, Iraq, which were temporarily under the control of the Peshmerga. The ISIL offensive began under the cover of dense fog and succeeded in overwhelming Peshmerga positions and seizing the towns of Mala Abdullah, Maryam Beg, Tel Ward and the Maktab Khalid crossing. Parts of the Khabbaz oil fields were also captured, taking 24 workers hostage. At least 25 Peshmerga fighters died including Brig. Gen. Sherko Shwani, commander of the 1st Brigade and the highest ranking head of Peshmerga forces in Kirkuk. Gen. Sherko Shwani was killed after being trapped and shot by attackers, according to another Peshmerga commander. Around 16 other Peshmerga fighters were captured by ISIL, and later killed in a staged execution.
The al-Hasakah Governorate campaign was a multi-sided military conflict between Syrian government forces, Kurdish forces, armed Syrian opposition groups, and Salafist jihadist forces, including al-Qaeda's Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant and the al-Nusra Front in the al-Hasakah Governorate as part of the Syrian Civil War. The clashes began with the People's Protection Units (YPG)'s entrance into the civil war in July 2012 and spread across the governorate.
Mohammed Haji Mahmoud is an Iraqi Kurdish politician and leader of the Kurdistan Socialist Democratic Party. He is widely known in Kurdistan as 'Kaka Hama' and gained a reputation for bravery fighting against Saddam Hussein's forces in the 1980s. More recently, he has led a Peshmerge force in the fight against Islamic State.
Omed Abdulrahman Hassan known as Omed Khoshnaw is an Iraqi Kurdish politician of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (K.D.P). Khoshnaw is the current Erbil governor. He succeeded former governor Firsat Sofi, who died on 18th Nov 2020 due to COVID-19. During 2013 to 2021, Omed was member of parliament and head of the KDP Parliamentary block at Kurdistan Region Parliament.
Miss Sulaymaniyah is part of an official national beauty pageant of Iraq and the only pageant recognized by the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Iraq. The contest will be held annually in Baghdad, the capital of Iraq.
Nazar Ghazali, is a professional Kurdish, Iraqi Bodybuilding, The first Kurdish athlete in the field of bodybuilding, holds high certificates in the field of bodybuilding and the owner of the highest championships in the region, and is a personal trainer for President Nechirvan Barzani, President of the Iraqi Kurdistan region.
Miss Grand Kurdistan is a female beauty pageant title awarded to Kurd representatives competing at the Miss Grand International pageant. The title was first awarded in 2014 to a Swedish-Kurdish, Dalia Rebwar Hassan, who was also a finalist of Miss Kurdistan 2013. Dalia later competed at the Miss Grand International 2014 pageant in Thailand.
