Irbil, Iraq News

Ahmet Davutoglu, Turkey's foreign minister, is credited as the driving force behind the decision to embrace its neighbours in trade.

The famous Lebanese artist Najwa Karam will be hosting two live concerts in Northern Iraq in the cities of 'Irbil and Al Sulaimanyah' on the 3rd and 4th of December 2009.

IRBIL, Iraq -- Iraq's Kurdish parties have announced the creation of a new Kurdish political bloc ahead of the January general election, RFE/RL's Radio Free Iraq reported.

Date : Fri, 13 Nov 2009 18:41:48 +0400 TURKEY'S IDENTITY CRISIS: WHERE IS ANKARA HEADING? Khaleej Times Nov 13 2009 UAE 13 November 2009 There have been many questions raised in recent months regarding Turkey's position on a number of issues which have been viewed in the West, particularly in Washington, with trepidation.

Page 1 of 2 The rise of Rimland? By Robert M Cutler MONTREAL - Recent energy and other developments in Southwest Asia, particularly involving Turkey, Iran and Iraq, sketch the outline of an imminent reorganization of international relations in the region.

This undated file photo, released by freethehikers.org, Aug. 20, 2009, shows Americans Shane Bauer, left, and Sarah Shourd.

Iraqi Kurdish leader Masoud Barzani says the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party must make dramatic changes if it doesn't want to be rejected by the masses of Kurdish people.

MAKHMOUR, Iraq: Fifteen years after they were driven out by bloodshed, thousands of Kurdish refugees living in a camp in northern Iraq dream of returning to Turkey, but say they will not move unless Ankara grants extensive political and cultural rights to Kurds.

NO SALES This image made from a July 29, 2009 video released Tuesday, Oct. 27, 2009 by Shon Meckfessel and the families of Shane Bauer, Sarah Shourd and Josh Fattal, shows Shourd dancing in an unfinished cinder block building in the Kurdish city of Irbil, Iraq.

Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu and State Minister for foreign trade Zafer Caglayan will travel to Iraq on Friday.

The president of Iraq's Kurdish region demanded Wednesday that oil-rich Kirkuk be incorporated into his autonomous area, as parliament prepared for a showdown on the contentious issue of which of the northern city's residents can vote in upcoming elections.

Video clips being released today of a Minnesotan and two other Americans shortly before they were captured in Iran nearly three months ago "will prove to Iran" that the three errantly crossed into Iran as mere hikers and did not have political motives in their travels, said one of the captives' mothers.

"The 'other' Kurdistan seethes with rage By Derek Henry Flood IRBIL - The Qandil Mountains in Iraqi Kurdistan have maintained a reputation for relative tranquility and stability in a diagonal belt across northern Iraq while much of the rest of the country has burned with sectarian nihilism and anti-occupation insurgency." More: Asia Times Online :: ...

The 'other' Kurdistan seethes with rage By Derek Henry Flood IRBIL - The Qandil Mountains in Iraqi Kurdistan have maintained a reputation for relative tranquility and stability in a diagonal belt across northern Iraq while much of the rest of the country has burned with sectarian nihilism and anti-occupation insurgency.

Oil fields in the autonomous Kurdish region of northern Iraq have been pumping oil into Iraq's national pipeline system for export to the world market since June.

Three defendants in Iran's mass trial of opposition figures accused of fueling the country's postelection unrest have been sentenced to death, an Iranian news agency reported Saturday.

The first death sentence has been passed against a defendant accused of involvement in the mass protests in Iran against President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's disputed re-election, prompting fears of a wave of executions against opposition activists.

" Majlis Speaker Ali Larijani stated that the Majlis will file a suit against the United States for its behavior towards the Iranian diplomats who were held captive by U.S. forces in Iraq.

Iraq: 1 hour, 26 minutes ago New Zealand-based Atconz Real Estate Development has said that it plans to spend $100m to build a housing project to the north of the Kurdish region's capital Irbil, the Associated Press has reported.

Seeds of change in Iraqi Kurdistan By Derek Henry Flood IRBIL - The political sphere in Iraq's Kurdistan region was, until recently, in a state of suspended animation.