Related Research Articles
The Patriotic Union of Kurdistan is a Kurdish nationalist political party in Iraqi Kurdistan. 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 co-presidents Lahur Talabany and Bafel Talabani. The PUK was founded in 1975 by Jalal Talabani, Nawshirwan Mustafa, Fuad Masum, Adel Murad, Ali Askari and Abdul Razaq Feyli.
Human rights in post-invasion Iraq have been the subject of concerns and controversies since the 2003 invasion. Concerns have been expressed about conduct by insurgents, the U.S.-led coalition forces and the Iraqi government. The U.S. is investigating several allegations of violations of international and internal standards of conduct in isolated incidents by its own forces and contractors. The UK is also conducting investigations of alleged human rights abuses by its forces. War crime tribunals and criminal prosecution of the numerous crimes by insurgents are likely years away. In late February 2009, the U.S. state department released a report on the human rights situation in Iraq, looking back on the past year (2008).
The Peshmerga, are the military forces of the autonomous region of Kurdistan Region of Iraq. Since the Iraqi Army is forbidden by Iraqi law to enter the Kurdistan Region, the Peshmerga, along with their security subsidiaries, are responsible for the security of Kurdistan Region. These subsidiaries include Asayish, Parastin u Zanyarî and the Zeravani (Gendarmerie). The Peshmerga predates Iraq, starting out as a strictly tribal pseudo-military border guard under the Ottomans and Safavids and later changing to a well-trained, disciplined guerrilla force in the 19th century.
The Kurdistan Region is an autonomous region in northern Iraq comprising the four Kurdish-majority governorates of Dohuk, Erbil, Halabja and Sulaymaniyah and bordering Iran, Syria and Turkey. The Kurdistan Region encompasses most of Iraqi Kurdistan but excludes the disputed territories of Northern Iraq, contested between the Kurdistan Regional Government and the central Iraqi government in Baghdad since Southern Kurdish autonomy was realized in 1992 in the aftermath of the Gulf War. The Kurdistan Region Parliament is situated in Erbil, but the constitution of the Kurdistan Region declares the disputed city of Kirkuk to be the capital of the Kurdistan Region. When the Iraqi Army withdrew from most of the disputed areas in mid-2014 because of the ISIL offensive in Northern Iraq, Kurdish Peshmerga entered the areas and held control there until they surrendered the city to Iraqi government forces in October 2017.
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. Barzani was born in the self-declared Republic of Mahabad, and succeeded his father Mustafa Barzani as leader of the KDP in 1979.
The Parliament of Kurdistan-Iraq, also called the Iraqi Kurdistan Parliament (IKP), is the parliament of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. It is made up of representatives from the various parties, lists or slates that are elected every four years by the inhabitants of the provinces of Kurdistan Region currently governed by the Kurdistan Regional Government. In 2009 an amendment was applied to the Kurdistan Election Law of the year 1992, and since then the body was referred to as Kurdistan Parliament instead of its previous name the Kurdistan National Assembly.
Asayîş or Asayish is the Kurdish security organization and the primary intelligence agency operating in the Kurdistan region in Iraq. The organization was established in September 1993 and has been often referred to as an "intelligence agency", "security force", "security service", "security", "secret service", "secret police", or just "Kurdish police." Asayesh coordinates and shares information with Parastin and Zanyari, the investigative arms and intelligence gatherers operating in the Kurdistan region in Iraq.
The Iraqi Kurdish Civil War was a military conflict 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 Iranian and Turkish Kurdistan, as well as Iranian, Iraqi and Turkish state forces, were drawn into the fighting, with additional involvement from American forces. Between 3,000 and 5,000 fighters and civilians were killed.
Masrour Barzani is a Kurdish politician serving as prime minister of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq since June 2019. He is also the chancellor of the Kurdistan Region Security Council and a member of the Kurdistan Democratic Party. He was sworn in as prime minister of the KRG’s ninth cabinet on 10 July 2019, after receiving 87 votes out of 97 legislators in the Kurdistan parliament.
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.
The Gorran Movement or just Gorran (Change) is a Kurdish political party in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. Under the leadership of Omar Said Ali, it was founded in 2009 by Nawshirwan Mustafa. Gorran is the third largest party in the Kurdistan Region Parliament.
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 claims it exists to combine "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."
The Zerevani are the militarized police force are operated by the Kurdistan Regional Government of Iraq.
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 language. 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 1983–1986 Kurdish rebellions in Iraq occurred during the Iran–Iraq War as PUK and KDP Kurdish militias of Iraqi Kurdistan rebelled against Saddam Hussein as part of the Iraqi–Kurdish conflict, in an attempt to form an independent state. With Iraqi government forces occupied by the Iran-Iraq War, Kurdish Peshmerga succeeded in taking control of some enclaves, with Iranian logistic and sometimes military support. The initial rebellion resulted in stalemate by 1985.
The Iraqi–Kurdish conflict consists of a series of wars and rebellions by the Kurds against the central authority of Iraq during the 20th century, which began shortly after the defeat of the Ottoman Empire in World War I and lasting until the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003. Some put the marking point of the conflict beginning to the attempt by Mahmud Barzanji to establish an independent Kingdom of Kurdistan, while others relate to the conflict as only the post-1961 insurrection by the Barzanis. The conflict lasted until the US invasion of Iraq in 2003, though tensions between the Kurdish autonomy and the central Iraqi government have continued.
The Internal Security Forces, also known as the Asayish in the Jazira, Euphrates, and Afrin Regions, is the police force of the autonomous regions of Rojava. Formed in the early stages of the Syrian Civil War, it had initially been established to police areas controlled by the Kurdish Supreme Committee. In October 2013, the Asayish claimed to have 4,000 members; by 2017, the number had reportedly risen to over 15,000.
Lahur Talabany, born 1976; also known as Lahur Sheikh Jangi Talabany is Co-President of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) and the Former Director of the Zanyari Agency, one of two intelligence services in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq operating within the framework of the Kurdistan Region Security Council, and Former Director of the Counter Terrorism Group (CTG) special forces group. Known commonly as Sheikh Lahur, Talabany is a leading figure in the fight against terror especially in the fight against ISIS.
Bafel Talabani, in Kurdish Bafel Talebanî بافڵ تاڵەبانی is an Iraqi Kurdish politician and an emerging political figure and dealmaker in the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK). He is the older son of former PUK leader Jalal Talabani.
References
- 1 2 3 4 "Caught in the Whirlwind: Torture and Denial of Due Process by the Kurdistan Security Forces: V. The Kurdish Security Forces (Asayish)". Hrw.org. Retrieved 2016-02-29.
- ↑ Cockburn, Patrick. "PKK tactics may drive Turkey into a reluctant invasion | Middle East | News". The Independent . Retrieved 2016-02-29.
- ↑ "Mew". Hrw.org. 1993-03-31. Retrieved 2016-02-29.
 | This Iraq-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
 | This Government agency-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |