Kurdistan

A group from Prime Minister Ahmet Davuto?lu's inner circle will pay a visit Arbil, the capital of Iraq's semi-autonomous Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), in order to attend meetings to discuss the ongoing peace process, according to a report in pro-government daily Yeni ?afak.

The Cizre district in the southeastern province of ??rnak has witnessed a series of deadly clashes over the past month, threatening the ongoing Kurdish peace process and becoming a point of bitter dispute between President Recep Tayyip Erdo?an and Peoples? Democratic Party (HDP) co-chair Selahattin Demirta?.

It is unbelievable. The president of the country is speaking and sending everyone into shock. Can elements within the state plot against the state, plant bombs with the state's armored cars and murder people in cold blood?

Turkish Energy Minister Taner Y?ld?z has said he will visit Baghdad on Jan. 18 to discuss new projects with Iraqi ministers.

The central government in Iraq has begun constructing a new oil pipeline from Kirkuk to Arbil to increase oil exports from region, an official from the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) said on Jan. 11.

Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) militants have killed at least 24 members of the Kurdish security forces in a surprise attack in northern Iraq, Kurdish officials said, in one of the deadliest single battles for the Kurds since last summer.
   

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

Kurdish oil has been shipped by 39 oil tankers from Ceyhan but Iraqi Kurdish authorities have not yet paid all payments to Turkey's Halkbank, Energy Minister Taner Yıldız has told journalists.

Iraqi Kurdistan plans to strengthen its relationship with Iran, the prime minister of the semi-autonomous region said yesterday in an acknowledgement of the deepening ties between Arbil and Tehran.

The two leading Iraqi Kurdish parties have been removed from the United States terrorist list, a senior U.S. official has announced.

The Kurdistan Democratic Union (KDP) and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) have been recognized as Tier III terrorist group under the Patriot Act of the U.S. since 2001, although both organizations are long-time U.S. allies.