Latest news with #Faili
Rudaw Net
04-04-2025
- Business
- Rudaw Net
Court orders Genel Energy to pay KRG $26.8 million in costs
Also in Kurdistan Gorran's rival factions announce different dates for party congress Kurdish leaders urge compensation for Faili genocide survivors Cold weather, lack of rain devastate Kurdistan's wheat farmers NGO slams Kurdistan MPs for drawing salaries without parliament sitting A+ A- ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Genel Energy said on Friday that an arbitration tribunal has ordered its subsidiary to pay nearly $27 million in legal costs to the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) in connection with a case about terminated contracts. The Genel subsidiary, Genel Energy Miran Bina Bawi Limited, was ordered by the London Court of International Arbitration to pay the KRG $26.8 million plus interest, the oil company said. The amount 'is less than the sum of approximately $36 million originally claimed by the KRG,' it added. The case began in 2021 when the KRG canceled Genel's contracts for the Bina Bawi and Miran gas fields arguing that the company had failed to develop the blocks as per the terms of their contract. The UK-listed company contested the termination and took the case to international arbitration. In December 2024, the court ruled in favour of the KRG. The two fields have large natural gas reserves. The Bina Bawi field holds an estimated 8.2 trillion cubic feet of natural gas and 37 million barrels of oil. Volume estimates at Miran are 6.6 trillion cubic feet of raw gas and 93 million barrels of oil and condensates. Genel Energy operates four fields in the Kurdistan Region – Taq Taq, Sarta, Tawke, and Peshkabir – with total reserves of some 117 million barrels of oil.
Rudaw Net
04-04-2025
- Politics
- Rudaw Net
Gorran's rival factions announce different dates for party congress
Also in Kurdistan Kurdish leaders urge compensation for Faili genocide survivors Cold weather, lack of rain devastate Kurdistan's wheat farmers NGO slams Kurdistan MPs for drawing salaries without parliament sitting UNAMI condemns attack on Assyrian Christians in Duhok A+ A- ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The two feuding factions of the Change Movement (Gorran) have announced different dates for the party's congress, with each questioning the legitimacy of the other as their internal rift deepens. 'Today, we received an official letter from the [electoral] commission to hold the party's congress on April 10,' Rovan Sarwat, Gorran's representative at the Sulaimani office of the Independent High Electoral Commission (IHEC), told Rudaw in an interview on Friday. He is a member of the Kurdsat faction of the party. Gorran is now split between two camps: one headquartered on Zargata Hill and led by the sons of the party's late founder, Nawshirwan Mustafa, and the other based in Sulaimani's Kurdsat neighborhood under the leadership of Dana Ahmed Majid, the acting general coordinator. Nizar Mahmood, a member of the Gorran's national assembly, a senior body in the party, and part of the Zargata Hill faction, dismissed the April 10 announcement as 'untrue and baseless.' 'The Movement will officially hold its congress tomorrow [Saturday], and nothing has changed,' he told Rudaw. A letter issued in late March by the political parties' affairs department of IHEC confirmed April 5 as the date for Gorran's congress, following a request from the Zargata-aligned general committee. Sarwat countered that April 10 is now the 'official date' and that the earlier arrangement has been annulled. He said that the congress will take place 'outside Zargata Hill under the supervision of IHEC.' The rift in the party emerged after the death of its founder and repeated poor electoral performances. Gorran emerged on the scene and made history in 2009 by winning 25 seats in the Kurdistan Region's 111-seat parliament, becoming the first opposition party to make significant electoral gains, campaigning on a platform of reform and transparency. The party, however, has suffered a steep decline in popularity, particularly after controversial decisions such as handing power to the sons of founder Mustafa following his death, and entering into alliances with the ruling Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK)—moves many viewed as a betrayal of its reformist roots. In Iraq's 2021 parliamentary elections, Gorran failed to secure a single seat. In the aftermath of the loss, all members of the party's governing body, including then-leader Omar Sayyid Ali, resigned. Last September, Ali formally handed over leadership to Majid in a public ceremony held in a park in Sulaimani after Mustafa's sons blocked access to the party's Zargata Hill headquarters in protest of Majid's appointment. Just ten days before the Kurdistan Region's October 2024 parliamentary elections, Majid announced Gorran's withdrawal from the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) and local administrations. In that vote, Gorran secured only one seat.
Rudaw Net
04-04-2025
- Politics
- Rudaw Net
Kurdish leaders urge compensation for Faili genocide survivors
Also in Kurdistan Cold weather, lack of rain devastate Kurdistan's wheat farmers NGO slams Kurdistan MPs for drawing salaries without parliament sitting UNAMI condemns attack on Assyrian Christians in Duhok Landmine blast kills tradesman in Soran A+ A- ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - On the 45th anniversary of the genocide committed against Faili Kurds, Kurdish leaders called on the Iraqi federal government to compensate victims and their families who were stripped of their citizenship, deported, and executed under the former Baath regime. 'Today marks the 45th anniversary of the horrific genocide of the Feyli Kurds, who were subjected to killings, arrests, deportations, enforced disappearances, and the loss of their citizenship and property during a ruthless campaign orchestrated by the Iraqi regime of the time, solely because of their Kurdish identity and support for the Kurdistan Revolution,' read a statement from the Kurdistan Region Presidency on Friday. Faili Kurds have historically settled across the Zagros Mountain range and speak a distinct dialect of Kurdish, a sub-dialect of Luri. Unlike other Kurds who are mostly Sunni Muslims, Failis are Shiites, and they have been exposed to persecution, especially when the Baath party was in power in Iraq. In the 1980s, Faili Kurds were stripped of their citizenship, their properties were confiscated, and many were deported to Iran. Over 22,000 Faili youth were executed. The presidency's statement called on the federal government 'to compensate the Faili Kurds in all aspects, restore their citizenship, property, and assets, and resolve their issues.' In 2006, the Baathist-era decree was repealed and Faili citizenship was restored. The Iraqi Supreme Court in 2010 ruled that the crimes committed against Faili Kurds constituted genocide. In early January, the Iraqi government designated April 2 as a day to commemorate the Faili Kurds killed by the former regime. 'We honor the memory of the victims of the Feyli Kurds genocide, who were killed in a horrific wave because of their Kurdish identity,' Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Masrour Barzani said in a post on X, adding that 'After 45 years, it is time the federal government compensates the families.' Deputy Prime Minister Qubad Talabani also issued a statement, using the opportunity to call for unity. 'The Kurdish people not only remember the genocide and deportation of Faili Kurds by the former Baath regime, but also use the memory of this heinous crime to strengthen the shared destiny and unity among the diverse communities within Kurdistan. Furthermore, on this anniversary, we remind the Kurdish representatives in Baghdad to make every effort to secure compensation and the restoration of the rights seized from the Faili Kurds,' he said. Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) leader Masour Barzani paid tribute to the thousands of Failis who were killed. 'On the 45th anniversary of the genocide against the Faili Kurds, we salute the pure bodies of the Faili martyrs and all martyrs on the path to Kurdistan's freedom. Our Faili sisters and brothers played a significant role in the Kurdistan liberation movement and our people's national cause. The genocide against the Faili Kurds was part of the former Iraqi regime's systematic plan aimed at annihilating the people of Kurdistan,' he said. Today, an estimated 1.5 million Faili Kurds live in Iraq, according to the Minority Rights Group. There are no confirmed numbers on how many have had their property returned to them or have obtained renewed citizenship documents.
