Monthly Archives: May 2012

The construction boom across Kurdistan inevitably creates ugly building sites but they soon go and landscaping can blend the new build into the environment. Sadly other eyesores just seem to go on forever. Kurds are fiercely patriotic judging by all … Continue reading →

Some years back a young Iraqi Kurdish woman had to pass through Turkey but knew that talking Kurdish or mentioning Kurdistan could be awkward. The problem was that her first name was Kurdistan. When asked her name at passport control … Continue reading →

Robert Halfon is the Conservative MP for Harlow and a Vice-Chair of the APPG on the Kurdistan Region. Follow Rob on Twitter. The British Government should formally recognise historic atrocities against the Iraqi Kurds as genocide according to a report … Continue reading →

Have you heard the one about two Christians, two Jews and two Muslims in a hotel in Iraqi Kurdistan? None of us on the recent parliamentary delegation there devised a witty answer but we did establish that all are welcome … Continue reading →

We keep saying that UK Plc should help its economic prospects by exporting our goods and services and investing in places with a pent-up demand for quality. One such place, which has been impossible to access for many years but … Continue reading →

The recent inaugural Oil and Gas conference in Erbil, the capital of the largely autonomous Kurdistan region in Iraq, attracted 600 people including senior politicians and executives from across the world in what is likely to be a regular feature … Continue reading →

“There is another Iraq, buried under Iraq”. So said the head of the Kurdistan Mass Graves Commission as she explained to me her work during my recent visit to Kurdistan with the All-Party Parliamentary Kurdistan Group. Travelling around Iraq, her … Continue reading →

I’ve had a couple of weeks to reflect on the short time I spent in northern Iraq. I am one of those many Labour party members who backed Tony Blair over Iraq. In retrospect, I can see what all the … Continue reading →

Report Of The Sixth Fact-Finding Delegation To Iraqi Kurdistan – By The All-Party Parliamentary Group In February 2012. This report is released on 16 May. Click here to download the report