The Kurdistan no-fly zone: 25 years on
Today I suggest we praise a prime minister from the 1990s. No, not Tony Blair but John Major. You may think I am referring to his pioneering work on the peace process in Northern Ireland but I want to...
View ArticleA domain of one’s own
Kurdistan achieved its independence last week but you may not yet have noticed it. It now has a separate domain in cyberspace – Krd. The next question is whether or when that can become a two-letter...
View ArticleTurkey, Iraq and the possibility of ‘regional war’
Iraqi prime minister Haider al-Abadi has said that Turkey’s decision to maintain its troop presence in Iraq could lead to a ‘regional war’. Al-Abadi alluded to military confrontation with Turkey, as...
View ArticleHobbesian brutality in Mosul
Last week I was fifty miles from Mosul in Erbil, the capital of the Kurdistan Region in Iraq where life was fairly normal and safe although its calm was occasionally pierced by the sirens of ambulances...
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A new order is forming in Mosul
Last week British members of parliament visited a Christian suburb of Mosul where Iraqi officers told us of the unprecedented unity between the Iraqi and Kurdish armies which once fought each other but...
View ArticleA post-Daesh Marshall plan
With our support, the pro-western Kurdistan Region could be a magnet for decent, secular and progressive change in the Middle East, writes Gary Kent The Kurds in Iraq have been less visible recently...
View ArticleKurdish independence on the ballot
With a referendum looming, Kurdistan stands on the cusp of independence – but it would be unwise to think a ‘yes’ vote is already in the bag, writes Gary Kent The announcement that the Kurds are...
View ArticleTime to repay our debt to Kurdistan
With some imaginative, practical and humane support, Britain can deter threats to Kurdistan’s safety in the wake of its independence referendum, reports Lewis Baston I am interested in elections, and...
View ArticleWe must support the Kurds to find their way
The Kurds’ desire for independence is understandable but that does not mean we should be dogmatic, writes Gary Kent The British have an historical habit of telling the Kurds they must stay in Iraq....
View ArticleMaking Kurdistan possible
The Kurds are a vital ally in the Middle East. Isolationism would mean turning our backs on them, writes Gary Kent This week marks the first anniversary of the peaceful referendum for the negotiated...
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