Archive for the ‘Arbil’ Category
Blast kills scores in northern Iraq
Hurriyet
A suicide bomber struck yesterday inside a popular restaurant in northern Iraq where Kurdish officials were meeting with Arab tribal leaders, killing at least 55 people and wounding about 120, police said.
Women and children were among the victims of the attack on the “Abdullah” restaurant, which is located on the main road to Irbil and is popular with Kurdish officials traveling to and from the Kurdish self-ruled region.
Police Brig. Gen. Sarhad Qadir, who gave the casualty figures, told The Associated Press that the blast occurred in the Abdullah Restaurant just north of the contested oil city of Kirkuk. A Kurdish official said Arab tribal leaders were having lunch with members of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, the party of President Jalal Talabani. Read the rest of this entry »
The Turkmen of Erbil:Captives in their city
Turkmeneli Europe Friendship Blog
William R. Hay, an English political officer, ruled the Erbil region from 1918 to 1920. He commented on the population of the city as follows:1
“The only two Turkish speaking populations which concern us closely are Erbil and Altun Kopri”. “One mahalla or quarter of the town (Erbil) is purely Kurdish, and in the rest the lower classes resemble the Kurds in appearance and dress. All can speak Kurdish fluently, but the language of their homes is Turkish. In the upper town which contains 6000 inhabitants, the purest Turkish element is found” “Starting from with the Nebi Yunus on the bank of the Tigris opposite Mosul, and running down through Erbil, Altun Kopri, Kerkuk, Kifri and Kizil Rabat to Mendeli we find a line of towns with Turkmen speaking inhabitants” Read the rest of this entry »
Turkmens, Turkmeneli and the Musul Region
By Orhan Ketene
Northern Iraq or the Musul Region is home of the Iraqi Turkmens for over a millennium. The economic and strategic importance of this land, had made it one of the most sensitive parts of the Middle East in general and of Iraq in particular. Read the rest of this entry »