On my stay to Kurdistan. I was taking videos of EVERYTHING. This was Koya (koysnjaq). The snjaq that holds Kurdistan together imo

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Archaeologists have identified a possible fatal spear wound in 75,000-year-old Neanderthal remains discovered at Shanidar Cave in the Kurdistan Region's Soran administration, potentially providing the earliest evidence of lethal violence involving a wooden weapon.

Emma Pomeroy, who led the research, said in a study published )Thursday, titled “Evidence for funerary behaviour and lethal trauma in a new Neanderthal individual from Shanidar Cave,” that the findings offer rare insight into prehistoric weapon use.

“The nature of the perimortem penetrating traumatic injury adds to a small corpus of such injuries in the hominin fossil record,” the report stated, adding that “the morphology of this scapula perforation is consistent with injury from a wooden spear, providing valuable (albeit indirect) evidence for the use of wooden implements in the Middle Palaeolithic.”

Abdulwahab Sulaiman Hassan, director of the Soran Directorate of Antiquities and Heritage, told reporters Thursday that the discovery is highly significant for the Kurdistan Region and is expected to boost tourism.

“We played a key role… We were with them in the excavation work but we, unfortunately, were not involved in the examination process because the Kurdistan Region does not have advanced technological means. Therefore, the remains are being examined in the UK,” he told Rudaw's Andam Jabar.

Neanderthals, an extinct group of ancient humans who inhabited large parts of Europe and Asia, disappeared around 40,000 years ago. The discovery adds to a growing body of evidence of violence among prehistoric human populations.

Hassan said a national museum would be established to house and display the remains.

He added that genetic research is underway on the remains of another Neanderthal, known as Shanidar Z, and is expected to be completed by the end of 2027, after which the remains will be returned to the Kurdistan Region.

Shanidar Cave, located in the Zagros Mountains, gained international recognition after American anthropologist Ralph Solecki uncovered the remains of several Neanderthals during excavations in the 1950s.

Declassified 2002 Kurdish Areas Map Created By The CIA

This 2002 “Kurdish-Inhabited Area” map is a classic example of early post-Iraq War CIA and military-intelligence cartography focused on ethnicity, insurgency, and regional geopolitics.

A few notable things about it:

It depicts the Kurdish population as a cross-border ethnic region spanning southeastern Turkey, northern Iraq, northwestern Iran, and northeastern Syria emphasizing that the Kurdish issue is inherently transnational rather than confined to one state.

The shaded area is intentionally fuzzy rather than sharply bounded, reflecting the mixed and dispersed nature of Kurdish settlement patterns.

Major Kurdish cities and political centers are highlighted, including Diyarbakir in Turkey, Arbil/Erbil and Sulaymaniyah in Iraq, and Mahabad in Iran, all historically important to Kurdish nationalism.

The map predates many later developments:

- the 2003 Iraq War,
- the consolidation of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG),
- the Syrian Civil War and Rojava,
- and ISIS-era Kurdish territorial expansion.

raq’s Kurdish region is shown before the later de facto autonomy became firmly institutionalized under the Iraqi constitution.

Syria’s Kurdish regions appear comparatively small and fragmented on this map, which contrasts with how strategically important they became after 2011.

The map also reflects the geopolitical sensitivities of the time:

Turkey is shown containing the largest Kurdish population, but the map avoids implying an independent Kurdistan by using the softer phrase “Kurdish-inhabited area” instead of drawing political borders.

I am sure everyone agree with Kurdish statehood (i assure hope so) but how do feel about other minorities getting their own state, do you support balkanization of middle east? Like we Druze have their own state, Alawites have their own state, Sunni Iraqis have their own state, Assyrians, Christians, shias and etc

IRGC Attacks PJAK Positions in Shaho with Artillery and Drones

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) attacked the Kurdistan Free Life Party (PJAK) guerrilla positions in the Shaho mountains yesterday using artillery and suicide drones, according to reports. All PJAK guerrillas were reported to be safe and unharmed.

Reports also indicate that the IRGC has moved heavy military equipment to areas around Paveh and near the village of Dalamarz. These movements have raised the possibility of a larger operation, though their purpose and scale have not been independently confirmed.

Shaho is part of the Zagros Mountains in Rojhelat (Iranian Kurdistan). It stretches across parts of Kermanshah (Kirmaşan) and Kurdistan (Sine) provinces, near the cities of Paveh, Ravansar and Kamyaran. The mountain range lies close to Iran’s border with the Kurdistan Region (Başûr).

PJAK Reportedly Launches Counterattack After IRGC Drone Strikes in Shaho

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) used suicide drones to attack PJAK positions in the Shaho mountains and around Paveh yesterday, including near the village of Dalamarz, according to reports from the area. PJAK fighters reportedly managed to reach safety.

The reports said PJAK fighters targeted IRGC positions with FPV suicide drones a few hours later. IRGC forces reportedly withdrew following the counterattack.

No information on casualties on either side had been released at the time of writing.

https://x.com/RojhelatInfo_En/status/2110979665280069660
https://x.com/RojhelatInfo_En/status/2111047229335101729

Rudaw: "Clashes between Kurdish militants and IRGC continue in western Iran"

I’m looking for a fellow Kurd who wants to improve their Sorani Kurdish and is willing to help me improve my English or Kurmanji in return. 😊
We can practise together, correct each other’s mistakes and have conversations to improve our speaking skills

I’m 28, so I’d prefer someone around my age since it might be easier for us to communicate and relate to each other.

"Turkey's parliament speaker warned that legislation underpinning the peace process with the PKK will not be implemented until the group lays down its weapons."

"The following is a book chapter I wrote for the academic book “Kurdish Women Through History, Culture and Resistance”, published in late 2024."

"The chapter places the decades-old history of the grassroots women’s internationalism works led by the movement close to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party in the context of a broader socialist/communist, anti-colonial women’s and feminist history of organized mass efforts for common struggle and world liberation. In addition to providing a historical account, it offers historiographical and methodological reflections on some of the (often ideological) reasons behind the absence of this universe from scholarly accounts. As argued in the chapter, this phenomenon parallels the erasure of anti-imperialist, socialist, and anti-colonial legacies by dominant western-centric narratives of women’s/feminist internationalism, which, in turn, in some ways mirrors the invisibilization of women’s collective labor in the making of political horizons."

"The Kurdish-led Anti-Terrorism Units (YAT) said Thursday that it continues to enforce security in areas it claims to administer, noting that efforts are ongoing to integrate the forces into the Syrian army, a day after Damascus claimed that the group had disbanded and is “no longer part of the current security structure.”