Central Kurdish

A bride has received a total of 3 kilograms of gold as a gift at a wedding of a Kurdish tribe in southeastern Turkey. Click through for the story in photos...

The countdown has started and the clock is ticking very loudly to warn the Iraqi Kurds that their referendum vote for independence, scheduled to take place on Sept. 25, is loaded with a potential disaster not only for northern Iraq but a bigger geography spanning Iraq, Turkey, Syria, Iran and probably beyond. 

The labeling of the collective attempts in the last half-a-decade on many fronts to bring Kurds more freedoms and rights, to bring an end to the war in the southeastern Turkey that has left its mark in the area for the last three decades and to help ending some deeply-rooted separatist notions has been called the Kurdish Initiative (or the Kurdish Opening), and later the Peace Process.

Anticipation is growing about a breakthrough on the Kurdish issue this Nevruz amid intense talks between the government and militants, but President Recep Tayyip Erdo?an turned back the clock several years on March 15 to claim that Turkey does not have any ?Kurdish problem,? arguing that Kurds have equal rights with the rest of the country.

Deals regarding Iraqi oil were some of the most significant developments in the last year for Turkey's economy.