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Who Gets What in the Next KRG Cabinet? Inside the Stalled KDP–PUK Talks

More than six months have passed since the Kurdistan parliamentary elections, yet the formation of the next Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) cabinet remains uncertain. Despite recent meetings between the Kurdistan…
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Iraq’s 2024 Import Profile: UAE Leads with $31B, Gold Tops Commodity List

Iraq in 2024 imported goods and commodities valued at approximately $65.293 billion from the United Arab Emirates, China, Turkey, India, Brazil, and the United States. The highest value of imports…
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Shiite Factions Clash Over PMF Legislation Amid U.S. Pressure and Iraq’s Election Year

In an election year marked by mounting pressure from the new Trump administration, internal rifts among Iraq’s Shiite factions over legislation governing the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) have escalated. Ostensibly,…
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Why Iran is Suddenly Embracing Kurdish Newroz Celebrations?

Newroz 2025 marks the first time in decades that Kurds across the region have been able to celebrate their traditional new year holiday on a massive scale and largely without…
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What Does the Barzani–Waltz Call Reveal About US Strategy on KRG Oil?

Masrour Barzani with Mike Waltz and three other members of the U.S. Congress, March 2024.
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Kurdistan Region Marriage and Divorce: The Data Behind a Decade of Change

New data from the Kurdistan Region Judicial Council shows Sulaimani province leading in both marriages and divorces, with divorce rates continuing to climb region-wide over the past decade. The comprehensive…
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Peace with PKK, Crackdown on CHP: The AKP-MHP Strategy to Rule Past 2028

Yesterday’s arrest of the popular opposition Istanbul mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu appears contradictory when viewed through the lens of recent peace talks with the PKK and its leader Öcalan—talks that emphasize…
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KRG’s 24-Hour Electricity Pilot Shuts Down 485 Generators, But Backup Plan Remains in Place

The KRG claims that its 24-hour electricity pilot project has led to the shutdown of 485 neighborhood generators across the Kurdistan Region, out of more than 6,500 in operation. Of…
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KRG-Iraq Budget Dispute: A Battle of Interpretations

One of the most interesting issues in the ongoing Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG)-Iraqi central government budget conflict is not merely the disagreement over financial figures, but the competing interpretations of…
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Why More Kurds Seek Asylum Despite Lower Poverty Than the Rest of Iraq?

New data on poverty in the Kurdistan Region and Iraq and the trend over the last decade helps us examine a puzzling migration trend: according to a Home Office report,…
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