- During a television interview with KNN and NRT, Kirkuk Governor Najmaldin Karim called on the Iraqi Parliament and Cabinet to hold provincial elections in Kirkuk. Dr. Karim told KNN “Kirkuk local elections must be held without any conditions.” He described the provincial elections as “constitutional rights for Kirkuk’s citizens.” He told NRT that Kirkuk will have “other options if the local elections are not held”. Despite elections recently occurring across Iraq, Kirkuk’s elections have been delayed for more than a decade. Iraq’s electoral commission announced that the provincial elections will be held in Septemeber of 2017.
- In a press conference, Jabar Yawar, the spokesperson for the ministry of Peshmerga, said that the U.S. will provide arms to two newly created Peshmerga Brigades to face the ISIS terror group. www.mesop.de