Archive for the ‘Iraq War’ Category
Iraqi refugees wait for new lives in Istanbul’s ’Little Baghdad’
A neighborhood known as ’Son Durak’ (Last Stop) in Istanbul’s Kurtuluş area is a way station for Iraqis who have fled the Iraq war since 2003. The community, also called ’Little Baghdad,’ is mostly populated by Christian refugees from central and southern Iraq whose meeting-point is a café on the neighborhood square
Sitting inside the Genç Kardeşler Café behind the bus station in Istanbul’s Kurtuluş area, it is easy to see why the “Son Durak” (Last Stop) neighborhood is also called “Little Baghdad.” Read the rest of this entry »
Tensions Rising Between Kurds and Iraqi Government
Alter NET
A dispute over territory is raising fears that of ethnic clashes between Kurds and Arabs.
Tensions between Kurds and the Iraqi government over disputed territory have heightened recently, raising fears that they might lead to ethnic clashes between Kurds and Arabs at a time when the war-torn country is slowly recovering from years of sectarian violence between Shia and Sunni Arabs.
Last month, the Iraqi Army deployed units to areas under Kurdish control in volatile northern Diyala Province, as part of its “Operation Good Tidings” to expand government authority over the area.
The center of the controversial move was Khanaqin, 140 kilometers northeast of Baghdad. It is a small, largely Kurdish town that has oil reserves and is close to the Iranian border. Kurdish Peshmarga troops left their bases in the nearby districts of Jalawla, Saadiya and Qara Tapa in northern Diyala after receiving warnings from the Iraqi Army. Read the rest of this entry »