TODAY’S KURDISTAN SHORT CUTS (CLICK HEADLINES FOR FULL TEXTS)

Turkey Renews Focus on Peace With Kurds

The New York Times – When three prominent Kurdish women activists were murdered in Paris in January, analysts worried that the killings would derail the fledgling peace talks, begun late last year. Just the opposite appears to have happened, as both sides have moved forward with more determination to end one of the region’s most intractable conflicts, which has claimed almost 40,000 lives over nearly three decades….

Iraqi Kurds set for role in Turkey’s peace bid

Hurriyet Daily News – The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), the autonomous administration in northern Iraq, is ready to lend support the ongoing Turkish process of finding a peaceful solution to the Kurdish issue, KRG Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani said in a press meeting in Arbil yesterday…

Barca or Real? Iraqi Kurdistan’s big football faultline

BBC – Noisy celebrations in the middle of the night, fights, even stabbings – this is the scene in one northern Iraqi city, after a match between Spanish football giants Barcelona and Real Madrid. Spain is thousands of miles away, but when the teams play – as they will on Saturday – passions in Erbil run very high…