Recent Developments in Iraq and Turkey

The demonstrations that started in Iraq in 2019 led to the resignation of the government. Thus, early parliamentary elections were held in Iraq for the first time after 2003. The fact that the President of Iraq could not be elected after the elections held on 10 October 2021, failure of forming of a new government, affected not only Iraqi domestic politics, but also regional and international politics. In this context, in Iraq's domestic policy such as Baghdad-Erbil relations are being reshaped and political formations are seeking various alliances due to the efforts to form a government. On the other hand, the developments that took place after the Iraqi Supreme Federal Council declared the Kurdish Regional Government’s (KRG) oil/gas law null and void. This incident in particular to the KRG, caused tensions between political parties, especially the KDP and PUK. On the other hand, PUK's intra-party problems, KRG elections planned election in 2022, KRG President Nechirvan Barzani's visit to Kurdish political parties other than the New Generation Movement, and UN Secretary General's Special Representative and UNAMI Head Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert bringing Kurdish political parties together are widely discussed. In addition, the topics such as the activities of terrorist organizations PKK and ISIS, which directly threatens to Iraq and the Turkey, the armed militia groups actions beyond the authority of the Iraqi state from time to time, which is important for both Iraq's national security and regional security, is being debated in the public.

With these items in mind, Conference titled ‘Recent Developments in Iraq and Turkey’ will be organized by ORSAM with the participation of Kurdistan Islamic Union Head Selahaddin Bahaddin as the speaker under the moderation of ORSAM Iraq Studies Coordinator Bilgay Duman.

Simultaneous translation will be available in Turkish, English and Arabic.

Date: 8 June 2022

Time: 16.00-17.30

Venue: ORSAM Conference Hall