THE SHORT CUT NEWS KURDISTAN (CLICK HEADLINES FOR FULL TEXTS)

Turkish PM says talks with Kurdish militants possible

Chicago Tribune – Turkey’s intelligence agency may hold talks with Kurdish militants if the time is right, Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan said on Thursday, as his government grapples with an upsurge in separatist violence in the country’s southeast…

KRG and USAID embark on joint $18 million dollar health initiative

KRG – The Kurdistan Regional Government signed a memorandum of understanding with USAID on Tuesday aimed at improving primary health care throughout the Kurdistan Region…

Iraqi Political Divisions Spread to Kurdish Leaders

Al-Monitor – Mahmoud Othman, an independent MP in the Kurdistan Alliance, said yesterday [Sept. 25] that the relationship between Iraqi President Jalal Talabani and Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) President Massoud Barzani is strained as a result of Talabani’s opposition to a bid to withdraw confidence from Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, a move that Barzani supports.…

A Way Forward on the Disputed Territories Issue

Rudaw – In one of my columns earlier this month (“Iraqi Nationalists Should be More Careful What they Wish for”), I sounded a warning about Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki’s increasing monopolization of power in Baghdad. Since then, some better news emerged: Baghdad and Erbil appear closer to resolving their dispute over hydrocarbons. It seems that Baghdad is finally coming around to Erbil’s point of view on the issue…