Kurdistance · Global Voices
Deborah Ann Dilley

Onnik Krikorian from Oneworld Multimedia has written a series of wonderful articles about the Yezidis, ethnic Kurds, who live in Georgia and Armenia. Traditionally, information gathered about the Yezidis focus on those that live in Southern Kurdistan/Northern Iraq, which makes Onnik's article an incredibly valuable cultural resource.
Rasti writes this week about the “spin” in the Turkish media about the prowess of the Turkish Military:
This spin on alleged Turkish military prowess is only going to work on the ignorant. Think about it; when was the last time the TSK was involved in a real war? That would be Korea. Since then, the only military prowess exercised by the TSK has been against unarmed Kurdish civilians under Turkish occupation, or against a few thousand Kurdish gerîlas, or against unarmed Cypriot civilians in Turkish-occupied Cyprus. The TSK specializes in fighting civilians, but there's no way it's going to get into a real fight. That's why the pashas are only going to send 800 to 1,000 Mehmetciks to Lebanon–out of an 800,000 strong army, second largest in NATO–and, since everything has hotted up in Afghanistan, that's why the pashas are balking at sending more Mehmetciks for that “peacekeeping” mission.
Hiwa from Hiwa Hopes notes the increase of Kurds living in Northern Kurdistan/Southeast Turkey heading to Southern Kurdistan/Northern Iraq to enroll in Kurdish Universities.
The Is-Ought Problem gives a detailed explanation behind the recent decision of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) to fly the Kurdish flag instead of the Iraqi flag:
As a result, the decision not to fly the flag of Iraq, but instead to fly only the flag of the Kurdistan Regional Government is much more than a statement of national independence. It is a statement of cultural autonomy and rejuvenation. A statement of religious tolerance and pluralism. It is, more than anything, an affirmation that Kurdistan is, and shall remain, different.
Bit of a shorter week I'm afraid, see you next time!