Several hundred Iraqi Kurds protested on Sunday against repeated Turkish military bombardments of their region, two days after an attack near Sulaymaniyah airport.
The attack on Friday caused an explosion near the airport wall while the commander of the Kurdish-led and US-allied Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) was present. US troops were also in the area but there were no casualties, the Pentagon said.
About 400 protesters marched in the centre of Sulaymaniyah on Sunday, the second city in Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan region.
They waved the flag of Iraqi Kurdistan and held a banner denouncing the airport bombardment as a terrorist act.
Organised by activists and former parliamentarians, the demonstrators voiced their opposition to “dictator” President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey by shouting and chanting, AFP reported.
“This is not the first Turkish aggression against civilian targets in the region,” said Ali Amine, 66, a retired civil servant.
“It has become a permanent attack. Sometimes it's villages, sometimes civilian targets — agricultural land, water or electricity installations.”
Another protester, Fatma Hamid, 55, denounced “the lax positions” of authorities in the region, which has been autonomous for three decades.
Turkey has long maintained military positions inside northern Iraq, where it regularly launches operations against Turkish Kurdish fighters from the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).
The PKK, which Ankara and its western allies classify as a terrorist organisation, operates rear bases in Iraq's north.
A source at the Turkish defence ministry denied any involvement by the country's military in the bombardment of Sulaymaniyah airport.
Since 1984 the PKK has waged an insurgency in Turkey that has claimed tens of thousands of lives.
Turkey regards the main component of the SDF, the People's Protection Units (YPG), as an offshoot of the PKK.
On April 3, Ankara halted flights to and from Sulaimaniyah until at least July 3, blaming increased PKK activity in and around the airport.
Iraqi President Abdel Latif Rashid on Saturday condemned Turkey's “military operations against the Kurdistan region, the last being the bombardment against Sulaimaniyah civilian airport.”
Globalization and its Discontents Revisited
Joseph E. Stiglitz
W. W. Norton & Company
Labour dispute
The insured employee may still file an ILOE claim even if a labour dispute is ongoing post termination, but the insurer may suspend or reject payment, until the courts resolve the dispute, especially if the reason for termination is contested. The outcome of the labour court proceedings can directly affect eligibility.
- Abdullah Ishnaneh, Partner, BSA Law
The Outsider
Stephen King, Penguin
The specs
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Volvo ES90 Specs
Engine: Electric single motor (96kW), twin motor (106kW) and twin motor performance (106kW)
Power: 333hp, 449hp, 680hp
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The specs
- Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
- Power: 640hp
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Where to buy
Limited-edition art prints of The Sofa Series: Sultani can be acquired from Reem El Mutwalli at www.reemelmutwalli.com
What can victims do?
Always use only regulated platforms
Stop all transactions and communication on suspicion
Save all evidence (screenshots, chat logs, transaction IDs)
Report to local authorities
Warn others to prevent further harm
Courtesy: Crystal Intelligence
Directed: Smeep Kang
Produced: Soham Rockstar Entertainment; SKE Production
Cast: Rishi Kapoor, Jimmy Sheirgill, Sunny Singh, Omkar Kapoor, Rajesh Sharma
Rating: Two out of five stars
'Shakuntala Devi'
Starring: Vidya Balan, Sanya Malhotra
Director: Anu Menon
Rating: Three out of five stars
Joker: Folie a Deux
Starring: Joaquin Phoenix, Lady Gaga, Brendan Gleeson
Director: Todd Phillips
Rating: 2/5
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Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
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Zombieland: Double Tap
Director: Ruben Fleischer
Stars: Woody Harrelson, Jesse Eisenberg, Emma Stone
Four out of five stars
Florida: The critical Sunshine State
Though mostly conservative, Florida is usually always “close” in presidential elections. In most elections, the candidate that wins the Sunshine State almost always wins the election, as evidenced in 2016 when Trump took Florida, a state which has not had a democratic governor since 1991.
Joe Biden’s campaign has spent $100 million there to turn things around, understandable given the state’s crucial 29 electoral votes.
In 2016, Mr Trump’s democratic rival Hillary Clinton paid frequent visits to Florida though analysts concluded that she failed to appeal towards middle-class voters, whom Barack Obama won over in the previous election.
Who is Allegra Stratton?
- Previously worked at The Guardian, BBC’s Newsnight programme and ITV News
- Took up a public relations role for Chancellor Rishi Sunak in April 2020
- In October 2020 she was hired to lead No 10’s planned daily televised press briefings
- The idea was later scrapped and she was appointed spokeswoman for Cop26
- Ms Stratton, 41, is married to James Forsyth, the political editor of The Spectator
- She has strong connections to the Conservative establishment
- Mr Sunak served as best man at her 2011 wedding to Mr Forsyth
The Sand Castle
Director: Matty Brown
Stars: Nadine Labaki, Ziad Bakri, Zain Al Rafeea, Riman Al Rafeea
Rating: 2.5/5
