Iraqi Kurdistan News in brief – June 15, 2017

PUK MP says party officials divided over Kurdistan parliament reactivation

Sulaimani: Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) senior officials are divided within the party over an agreement with the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) on how to break Iraqi Kurdistan Parliament stalemate, a PUK lawmaker said on Wednesday. Arez Abdullah said that the PUK leadership council is set to hold a meeting on Thursday to discuss suggestions submitted by the party’s leading officials over parliament reactivation. The PUK added that the KDP agreed to reactivate the Kurdistan Parliament with its recent presidency staff. PUK Politburo member Saadi Ahmed Pira said parliament would be reactivated with its recent staff for the first session, but that the staff would be changed in the second session. nrttv.com

Masum: Kurdistan referendum may have world’s green-light, but neighboring countries matter most

Baghdad: The Iraqi president says that on the question of Kurdistan Region’s referendum for independence the stance of the neighboring countries matter. Fuad Masum told Rudaw “The question of independence isn’t only about holding a referendum. There are other things which you should take into account. Neighboring countries don’t seem to support it yet.” Ekurd.net

Electoral commission: U.N. not involved in Iraqi Kurdistan’s referendum

Erbil: Iraqi Kurdistan Region’s Independent High Electoral Commission has said that the United Nations will only help the Kurdistan Region through advice and technical help with elections, refusing U.N. involvement in the referendum process. Spokesman for the region’s electoral commission Shirwan Zirar rejected that the council’s head had said that U.N. observers would participate in the referendum process. “Head of the council talked about the United Nations role, [and] that they would never be involved in referendum and [that they] are impartial. But they assist us in the elections technically and through advice,” Zirar added. nrttv.com

Yazidis return to Kocho school where Islamic State killed men, enslaved women

Some residents of Kocho have returned to their village and the school where Islamic State [Daesh] famously gathered some 1,200 of the village on August 15, 2014 and separated the men from the women and children. The men were killed and the women and children enslaved. “They took our honor and dignity from us in this place,” said one woman, adding that it is difficult to even look at the school now. The fate of many of the villagers is still unknown nearly three years later. ISIS was defeated in Kocho village by the Shiite force the Hashd al-Shaabi on May 25. Kocho’s most well-known resident, ISIS survivor and UN Goodwill Ambassador Nadia Murad, returned to her hometown on June 1. rudaw.net

Kurdish fruit farmers struggle for survival against insects, fewer markets

Erbil: In a quiet valley about an hour out of Erbil, farmers trying to make a living are struggling with insects, climate change, and fewer markets to sell their produce. Last year, farmer Mutalib Sabir made 6 million IQD ($5,100) from seven tons of pomegranates. He works alone, harvesting his hectare of trees by hand because he cannot afford to hire help. This year, Sabir estimates that the harvest will be just half that. His income supports seven people. Sabir’s crop is threatened by an unknown insect, a white moth about a centimetre long, that the farmers call shoka. It damages the leaves, flowers, and fruit of the trees and secretes a sticky substance that is getting into the soil. rudaw.net

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