Kurds in Iraq

A coincidence or not, Turkish Foreign Minister Feridun Sinirlio?lu's first visit abroad immediately after the parliamentary elections was to northern Iraq, where he held meetings with senior Iraqi Kurdish leaders, including Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) President Masoud Barzani. 

Political parties in Iraq's Kurdish region, whose president's mandate expired in August, should respect democratic principles, the top UN envoy said on Oct. 14. 

Iraqi Kurdistan president Massud Barzani's extended term expired on Aug. 20, leaving the autonomous region in a "legal vacuum" that Kurdish political parties are still trying to resolve.

It would be great fun and entertainment to write and speak about Turkish showbiz stars? highly documented, high-drama divorce cases these days. All of a sudden, women with six-digit incomes have become ?women-against-domestic-violence? crusaders. But let?s pencil them in for another week. The divorce we are talking about is in Iraq. And it could easily get messy.

The first Gulf War in 1991 introduced the concept of Northern Iraq to Turkish political jargon. For the two decades that followed the Gulf War, not a day went by without a Turkish official underlying the importance of Iraq?s territorial integrity and warning Iraqi Kurds against their aspiration for independence and even autonomy. Turkish officials avoided using the terms ?Iraqi Kurdistan?