Do the Kurds Deserve a State? (By Abboud al Jazairi)

Following WWI, a number of key Arab figures and tribesmen who had joined the Allied war effort took over the administration of former Ottoman territory in what is today’s Syria and Jordan. Led by recently coronated King Faisal of the Hashemites, they proclaimed

Dreams of Independence: Reflections on the Eve of Kurdish Referendum (By Heather Miller)

I first came to Kurdistan in late July of 2014. My first month was colored with constant conversations and anxiety surrounding ISIS and it’s seizure of Kurdish land. My television was fixed on news stations as my colleagues and I watched more and

The Post-Genocide Plight of Iraq’s Yazidi Community (By Yousif Kalian)

On April 24, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan followed through with his promise to move against Ankara’s nemesis: the leftist, Kurdish nationalist Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) and its affiliates. Airstrikes that hit various locations throughout Syria also targeted a mountain in Northern Iraq

From Dream, Initiative, Action and into Reality… (By Yeghia Tashjian)

On the 18th of June 2017 , the Political Forum of the January 19 Initiative conference was organized and, initiated by the NCWA and co-hosted by the ADL Party. The initiative was the first bone for the foundation of the Asia Minor People’s

The end of the PKK in Sinjar? How the Hashd al-Sha’bi can help resolve the Yazidi Genocide (By Matthew Barber)

Sinjar is at a pivotal moment of transition and the next phase of its future will likely be determined by what happens over the next few weeks. This environment of change offers the US, UN, and EU a significant opportunity to help resolve

Western Conservatives Are Wrong on Christians in the Middle East (by Eldar Mamedov)

This week the European Parliament gears up for a debate on the situation of Christians in the Middle East. The horrific Palm Sunday bombings at two Egyptian churches on April 9 that killed at least 45 people have spurred the discussion. The so-called

Turkey’s Lost Treasure: Story of a Soldier and Lebanese Turkmen Community (By Joe Hammoura)

It wasn’t until 1989 when a Lebanese soldier was overheard speaking Turkish words by his commander that Turkey found out about the existence of a Turkmen community in Lebanon. The soldier coming from the small village of Qawashra in Northern Lebanon and identified

In Turkey, the Victims Change but the Regime Remains the Same (By Uzay Bulut)

Some 51.4 percent of the more than 58 million Turks who turned out to vote on April 16 said yes to the ruling Justice and Development Party’s (AKP) constitutional amendment package. With that vote, they decided to shift to an executive presidential system.

As Turks Vote…(By Uzay Bulut)

Voters went to the polls April 16 to vote on a new draft constitution that would officially increase the powers of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The opponents of the bill including the Republican People’s Party (CHP), the main opposition party in Turkey’s

The KRG’s Relationship with the Yazidi Minority and the Future of the Yazidis in Shingal (By Matthew Barber)

Following the closure of Yazda, a Yazidi humanitarian and human rights organization, by the KDP asa’ish (security police affiliated with Kurdistan’s largest political party, the Kurdistan Democratic Party) on January 2, 2017 in Dohuk, people have been asking many questions about why this