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Selahattin Demirtaş, head of the left‐wing pro‐Kurdish People's Democratic Party (HDP) in Turkey, was arrested in 2016; his detention stemmed from fabricated charges, allegedly originating from his speeches, political statements, and purported involvement in the Kurdish riots of October 2014, known as the Kobani Protests, across northern Kurdistan. The following excerpts are derived from Demirtaş's extensive testimony before the Turkish court, spanning nine days between December 2023 and January 2024. He and his legal representatives facilitated the compilation of these statements and the subsequent exchange of edited copies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

After the rise of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) in 2014 and the fight of both Iraqi Kurdish Peshmerga forces as well as the Syrian Kurdish forces of the People's Protection Units (YPG, Yekîneyên Parastina Gel) and the Women's Protection Units (YPJ, Yekîneyên Parastina Jin) against them, Western journalists tried to gather information quickly. Locals were happy to share as much as possible, as ISIS was a great danger. As an often forgotten population under permanent occupation seeking visibility, the Kurds allow Westerners unparalleled access to the field and provide unpaid or underpaid labor, hoping that the world will see their struggle. This deepened the disparity between Kurdish journalists, academics, and writers and their Western counterparts. Using postcolonial theory on the mindset of colonialized peoples, this article shows how the fear of being forgotten, the material disparity between colonizers and colonized, and the coloniality of local political actors are obstacles for Kurdish professionals. Looking at a focus‐group discussion and two interviews with Kurdish journalists, fixers, and translators from Iraq and Syria, the comparison shows that both autonomous regions are projects that sought to end decades of occupation and now face challenges that show similarities and differences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores the author's personal and professional challenges as a feminist and the strategies employed to address them. It focuses on the interplay of knowledge production, positionality, and ethical considerations in contexts of conflict and trauma, and it explores the complexities of intertwining personal experiences with academic inquiry. After highlighting personal struggles of navigating two worlds, the author emphasizes the importance of a reflexive and ethical approach in feminist research that involves navigating power relations and positionality, managing expectations, and responding to the needs on the ground. It ends with addressing both a personal backlash the author experienced and critiques directed toward feminist work in the region. Drawing on her experiences in conducting PhD research with Kurdish women refugees in the UK, postdoctoral research on women survivors of the Anfal genocide in Kurdistan, and a comparative analysis of the experiences of women survivors of the Anfal and Yezidi genocides, the article provides insights into the intricate landscape of feminist research in challenging contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the intricacies involved in the process of decolonizing education. It draws on the author's first‐hand teaching experiences and observations as an activist scholar and a critical pedagogue at Bingöl University in Turkey from 2013 to 2016, during a period marked by intense political tension between security forces and Kurdish insurgencies. It elucidates a transformative pedagogical endeavor aimed at decolonizing education, with a particular focus on Kurdish students who endure colonial domination and oppression. Grounded in critical pedagogy, border thinking, and the principles of epistemic disobedience, this intervention represents a deliberate departure from traditional educational paradigms. It endeavors to cultivate a more inclusive and liberatory learning environment by drawing on theoretical frameworks articulated by renowned scholars such as Freire, Fanon, Mignolo, and Illich. At its core, this endeavor seeks to transcend the conventional boundaries of education by fostering critical consciousness, agency, and alternative worldviews among marginalized communities. Through prioritizing interactive dialogue, problem‐posing educational models, and participatory learning practices, the initiative empowers students to critically engage with their social, historical, and cultural contexts. Employing innovative pedagogical strategies like the marketplace of ideas and extracurricular reading groups, students are encouraged to reclaim their own forms of knowledge and challenge hegemonic narratives perpetuated by colonial structures. This initiative underscores the transformative potential of education in dismantling oppressive structures and fostering alternative visions of social change. By amplifying the voices of marginalized communities, the intervention not only challenges the status quo but also lays the groundwork for a more equitable and emancipatory educational landscape. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores the overlooked dimension of Ottoman colonialism through an analysis of resource extraction in the Keban and Ergani mines during the early modern era. Situated in the Kurdistan province, these mines played a pivotal role in furnishing essential minerals for the Ottoman state's fiscal and military exigencies. Departing from conventional narratives, which often emphasize discursive practices or focus solely on settler colonialism, the study adopts an extractive colonialism framework to reveal the intricate relationship between imperialism, resource exploitation, and i ndigenous resistance. Ultimately, it contributes to the burgeoning literature on the coloniality of Kurdistan by providing empirical evidence of economic exploitation, environmental degradation, and the erosion of local autonomy in the face of heightened state centralization, control, and economic expansion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) first appeared in Iraq, including the Iraqi Kurdistan region governorates, in March 2020. Methodology: 48,494 samples were collected from public hospitals in the Kurdish governates from February 2021 to May 2022. Viral RNA was extracted, and real time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) was used to detect the COVID-19 variants. Statistical analysis of patients' clinical data was performed. Results: The RT-PCR results identified the Alpha (B.1.1.7), Delta (B. 1.617.2), and Omicron (B.1.1.529) variants in the Kurdistan governorates. Young adults (20-39 years) had significantly higher rate of infection than children (1-11 months) and older adults (80-89 years). The Delta wave was more contiguous, spread more easily, and more fatal than the Alpha and Omicron waves. The highest number of COVID-19 cases was reported in Sulaymaniyah and Duhok; and the highest death rate was reported in Sulaymaniyah. The death rate in males was higher than in females, especially among older people. Fatigue, cough, and fever were common symptoms among the three variants. The phylogenetic tree revealed that the L-type of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) was a descendant of the S-type at an early stage of evolution. The L-type could spread faster in Kurdistan. Multiple sequence alignment (MSA) confirmed that all L-type variants in different countries were 100% similar in sequence, and all were mutated in the regions 8782: ORF1ab and 28144: ORF8 703. Conclusions: This study described the COVID-19 waves, pathogenesis, and evolution of the virus in the Iraqi Kurdistan region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Minorities are particularly vulnerable during times of emergency, particularly those that challenge the state. However, it is not understood how minorities can be targeted through emergency decrees despite the government agreeing they had nothing to do with the reasons for declaring the state of emergency. The Turkish emergency in 2016 highlights this little-understood tendency where the government constructed an emergency around a threat from coup plotters, but then much of the subsequent extraordinary legislation targeted the Kurdish minority. We argue that this was possible because the Turkish government engaged in modular emergency rule. Modular emergency rule combines modes of ordinary rule with emergency powers, thus blurring the boundaries between the two. Emergency measures were laid on top of already existing policies that sought to restrict Kurdish politics in public life. In this way, modular emergency rule became more than just a transient form of government. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In Turkey's Kurdish borderlands, smugglers occasionally entered insurgent corridors, the guerrilla-controlled mountainous passages, to bypass state control. This article takes insurgent corridors to frame sovereignty as monopolization of space-making and proposes space-making as a key analytic to examine the forms of sovereignty that facilitate or undermine specific extractive practices. As a spatial form, corridors are central to the claiming and exercising sovereignty and extraction without having complete territorial control across a bounded space or the whole population in that space, the territoriality identified with nation-states. By controlling corridor space and monopolizing the traffic in them, colonial empires, nation-states, corporations, and rebel movements exercised sovereignty and extracted value that is carried or generated by corridor traffic. The insurgent corridors further complicate corridor sovereignty as the Kurdish guerillas monopolized corridor-making without monopolizing and extracting the corridor traffic under a post-nation-state political vision that favors grassroots democratized organization of mobilities and livelihoods rather than centralized exclusive authority and biopolitical governance on them. The insurgent corridors constituted what I call countersovereignty, a practice contesting not only the existing state sovereignty but also political models of nation-state sovereignty and territoriality. While anthropologists understand refusal as disengagement from actors claiming sovereign superiority, the insurgent corridor countersovereignty entailed a distinct form of political refusal that rejects mimicking state sovereignty and associated forms of biopolitical governance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Kurds and Armenians are indigenous peoples of the Near East. Historically, Armenians resided in the Caucasus and Anatolia, while the Kurds inhabited Upper Mesopotamia and southwestern Iran. Although the places where Kurds and Armenians lived were close to each other, the question of when, where and how the relations between the two communities began has not been answered due to the lack of comprehensive research on the subject. Armenian historians were interested in Armenian-Kurdish relations in the early 9th century and conducted preliminary studies. Although some researchers, including N. J. Marr, found the Kurds to be closer to Georgians and Armenians than the Caucasian peoples, this view did not gain wide acceptance. Since the early 20th century, some Kurdish intellectuals have claimed that the two communities share the same religion, lineage, and culture, though these assertions were not supported by rigorous research. Moreover, Armenian chronicles provide limited information about any significant historical partnership between the two groups. Modern Armenian historians tend to dismiss these Kurdish claims as unreliable. This article seeks to answer the question of when, where, and how relations between Kurds and Armenians began during the Middle Ages. As there are no extant Kurdish sources describing the early history of the Kurds, Armenian chronicles, Islamic historical sources, and the works of modern scholars were consulted. According to the evidence found in Armenian chronicles and Islamic sources, Kurdish-Armenian relations appear to have originated in the 10th century. This conclusion is based on primary source material. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to the colonial continuities encoded in postcolonial nation-states, formal decolonisation reproduced new dominations rather than peaceful intergroup coexistence. Reflecting on the 'how' of decolonial politics, I argue that self-determination beyond the nation-state and spatiotemporally embedded decolonial imaginations are the undecomposable components of decolonial politics. I exemplify the failures of the nation-state through Southern (Iraqi) Kurdistan and illustrate Western (Rojava-Syrian) Kurdistan as a possible example of stateless decolonial coexistence, despite major geopolitical and socio-historical stalemates. The argument contributes to peace studies in International Relations by rethinking inter-group coexistence at the intersection of violent geopolitics and decolonial imaginations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Soil erosion poses a severe threat to water quality and soil health in semi-arid regions. Assessing soil erosion and sedimentation at the watershed-scale is crucial for managing water resources and soil. In Iran, empirical models, e.g., the erosion potential method (EPM), modified Pacific Southwest Inter-Agency Committee (MPSIAC), and universal soil loss equation (USLE), have drawn more attention than other models, due to the availability of input data and lack of reliable hydrometric station, especially for a long time span. In the present article, we evaluated the soil erosion intensity and sediment yield in the Chehelgazi mountainous watershed (western Iran) utilizing the EPM, MPSIAC, and USLE, combined with the sediment delivery ratio (SDR) module, and then compared them with the observations. The required input data for EPM, MPSIAC, and USLE models all were created in ArcMap 10.8 and ENVI 5.5. The sediment yield amount and soil erosion zonation map were then obtained by the models mentioned and validated by the hydrometric data. According to the results, most portions of the watershed were subject to moderate erosion risk. Moreover, the annual average sediment yield of 196.86, 99.30, and 84.84 kt year−1 assessed by EPM, MPSIAC, and USLE combined with SDR, respectively, suggested the superiority of USLE-SDR and MPSIAC. As compared with the observed amounts of 86.46 kt year −1, the efficiency of USLE-SDR was astonishing. Overall, we conclude that the USLE model coupled with the Boyce (1975) SDR formula is the best for estimating sediment yield at Chehelgazi mountainous watersheds, while MPSIAC is better suited for mapping soil erosion state. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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The shallow marine carbonate strata of the Lower Jurassic Sarki Formation are exposed at the northeastern limb of the Handreen and Spibalies anticlines in Rawanduz area, Kurdistan region, northeastern Iraq. The Sarki Formation is made up of light grey dolomitic limestone, dark grey dolomite, brecciated dolomite, grey brecciated dolomitic limestone, and thinbedded dark grey marlstone. Based on the crystal size and geometry, five dolomite textures are identified, Dolomite-1: fine crystalline, planar-s (subhedral); Dolomite-2: fine to medium crystalline planar-e (euhedral); Dolomite-3: medium to coarse, planar-e (euhedral) to planar-s (subhedral) dolomites; Dolomite-4: coarse crystalline, planar-s (subhedral) to nonplanar-a (anhedral) dolomites; Dolomite-5: planar (subhedral) pore-filling dolomite cement. The Sarki dolomites have depleted values of d 18O from Dolomite-1 to Dolomite-5. The notable decrease in d 18O is due to an increase in the temperature of the dolomitization fluid relative to the increase of burial depth. Fine to medium crystalline dolomite is associated with the early stages of dolomitization, whereas coarse crystalline dolomite is associated with the late diagenetic stage. The petrographic study, that is, stable carbon and oxygen isotope analysis, suggests a sabkha and mixing zone models of the Sarki dolomites. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the challenges of the world today is the water shortage crisis. With the occurrence of droughts and indiscriminate harvesting of water reserves, the livelihood of local communities has faced critical conditions. The purpose of this research was to know some crimes related to water and the main causes and factors of committing crimes and finally practical strategies to deal with them. In order to determine the amount of factors affecting the commission of water crimes by using the oral judgment of research experts and pairwise comparison of the main indicators measured in the region, the relative weight of each indicator is determined by Expert Choice software, then strategies to reduce the water crisis and achieve sustainable development was presented. The results showed that the economic index and then the management index with relative weights equal to 0.334 and 0.263 respectively have the most importance in committing crimes in the water area in Kurdistan province, Iran. Finally, management strategies and requirements were presented to reduce the effects of water crisis. The main emphasis of this research is on increasing investments and economic issues in the discussion of water resources.

Caring for children with different developmental trajectories brings various challenges, which are often exacerbated in low-resource settings. International research has shown that raising a child with autism strongly impacts family caregivers, particularly mothers. There is a dearth of information regarding caregiving for individuals with autism in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI) and for fathers as well as mothers. This study examined the similarities and differences in caregiving for mothers and fathers of a child with autism in KRI using validated rating scales to measure various aspects of their general well-being. Over two years, a sample of 118 parents of individuals with autism (81 mothers and 37 fathers) self-completed the rating scales, which were further discussed through individual interviews with service personnel mainly known to them. The findings indicated that mothers and fathers were similarly impacted. Although there were no statistically significant differences in the ratings of their general health, sources of stress, family functioning, and satisfaction with caregiving, the majority of parents had elevated ratings on all the measures. In addition, parents who rated their children higher on the Aberrant Behavior Checklist had significantly higher scores on their general health issues and were less satisfied with their caregiving role. Parents of female individuals with autism were also significantly more stressed compared to the male individuals with autism and parents of children who received a diagnosis before three years of age, reported fewer behavioral problems with their child compared to the parents who received a diagnosis when the child was older. In this sample, mothers and fathers seem to be similarly impacted by caring for a child with autism, which is contrary to findings from other countries. However, in this region, family bonds between couples and the wider family may have had an influence which further cross-cultural research in low-resource settings could help elucidate, notwithstanding the challenges this poses. The findings have policy implications for health authorities in the KRI to improve the support provided to both mothers and fathers who care for children with autism, which presently is rarely available to them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Kurdish smugglers have been targeted and killed by security forces in Turkey's Van borderlands systematically and with impunity. In response, the killed smugglers' families and their lawyers conducted what I call vernacular counterforensics—the forensic examination both of the killings and of the legal authorities' failure to investigate them properly. Associating the Kurdish borderlands with terrorism, the legal authorities often avoided collecting evidence on the killings to make potential perpetrators remain unknown or legally authorize the killings. By documenting this impunity work through their counterforensics, Kurdish complainants and lawyers demonstrated the judiciary's complicity in the systemization of state anti‐Kurdish violence. While anthropological studies show that criminal law operates by individualizing violation claims and perpetrators, vernacular counterforensics illustrates a distinct use of criminal law that reveals, rather than blurs, the state crimes' systematic‐collective aspects. Rather than differentiating technoscientifically produced crime scene evidence from the political circumstances of state crimes, Kurdish complainants and their lawyers used the selective production of such evidence to corroborate the killings' unlawfulness and their systematic‐collective character. This dual use of forensic evidence permits us to rethink analytical and methodological premises that view forensic evidence as fully verifiable and universally applicable and contrast it against contextual and contingent knowledge forms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explored the transition from paradiplomacy to protodiplomacy in Catalonia and Kurdistan, two regions at the forefront of this shift. Protodiplomacy involves the direct participation of subnational entities in diplomatic activities akin to those of recognized nation-states, challenging traditional diplomatic hierarchies and altering the global diplomatic landscape. Catalonia has greater autonomy in matters such as governance and economy, while Kurdistan has more limited autonomy in matters such as security and governance. As such, this research showed that paradiplomacy could serve as a means to increase regional engagement in international politics. This research provided an in-depth analysis of how the South Sulawesi Provincial Government's paradiplomacy initiative impacts the export of agricultural products to Egypt. Through a comparative analysis of Catalonia and Kurdistan, this study elucidated the motivations, consequences, and challenges associated with this transition. It emphasized the significance of effective paradiplomacy practices between central and local governments. Catalonia and Iraqi Kurdistan exemplified modern paradiplomacy, showcasing their capabilities on an international stage. The research identified high Iraqi Kurdish nationalism as a key driver of the shift towards protodiplomacy in Kurdistan. It also highlighted the internal structural factors within Iraq that propelled Iraqi Kurdistan's diplomatic efforts, culminating in a referendum that marked a peak in separatist interest. This research underscored the dynamic nature of protodiplomacy, highlighting the motivations behind subnational diplomatic endeavors and the transformative implications for central-local government relations.

Despite amphibians having the least number of families in comparison with other vertebrate classes, the digenean parasites within these host species are largely predominant. To date, no investigation has been conducted on the digenean fauna of frogs in western Iran. The helminths occurrence and morphological description of this study were analyzed for the first time. A total of 54 Levant water frogs, Pelophylax bedriagae, (n = 53), and a long-legged wood frog, Rana macronemis, (n = 1) were examined. Frogs harbor in total four digenean parasites. Three taxa were characterized based on morphological features as Gorgodera cf. asiatica, G. varsoniensis, and Pleurogenoides sp. within P. bedriagae, while Haematoloechus sp. was only found in R. macronemis. Pleurogenoides sp. exhibited a moderate prevalence (23%) and intensity (7.3 ± 6.3). Gorgodera cf. asictica can be distinguished from congeners based on the body and sucker size, the ovary and testes shape, and in G. varsoviensis by having lobulated caeca and transversely elongated testes. In addition, Pleurogenoides sp. mainly differs from all its congeners by the form of its body, genital apparatus shape and Y-shaped excretory vesicles. With regard to helminths in amphibians, the existing body of literature is extensive and complex. To accurately determine the species boundaries, both morphological and molecular data are needed. We report two new records of these parasites from the region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Competition in today’s corporate environment pressures organizations to develop creative employee behaviors to generate organizational success. This research aims to assess the reasons for innovative employee work behaviors (IWB) such as training, knowledge sharing, and knowledge hiding in the Kurdistan region of Iraq. Data were collected from 240 employees from various service organizations in the Suleymaniyah and analyzed using structural equation modeling (SEM). The results show that training improved both knowledge sharing and IWB. Furthermore, knowledge sharing significantly mediated the link between training and IWB. Nevertheless, knowledge hiding did not have any significant impact on employee IWB. These findings emphasize the importance of training and KS in improving IWB in businesses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aims to design an early warning system based on machine learning for short-term prediction of nocturnal frosts in Kurdistan Province in the west of Iran. Four models of artificial neural network (ANN), support vector machine (SVM), adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference system (ANFIS), and multiple linear regression were used to achieve this main goal. Hourly data of six variables of dry-bulb temperature, wet-bulb temperature, cloud cover, relative humidity, and wind speed and direction were selected as the inputs of these four models at 18:30 local time, and according to them, nocturnal temperatures were predicted for 21:30, 00:30, 03:30, and 06:30 local time. Comparing the outputs of these four models with observational data, all models predicted nocturnal temperatures both in the early hours (21:30 and 00:30 local time) and in the late hours of the night (03:30 and 06:30 local time) the same or less than the observational temperatures. Considering the different performance criteria of the models, such as mean absolute errors (MAE), mean squares errors (MSE), and root-mean-squares errors (RMSE), ANN with Posline transfer function, and Trainlm training function, has less error and better performance in predicting nocturnal temperatures compared to other models. When the main goal is predicting the temperature extremes, especially frost, it is concluded that ANN did not perform very well compared to other models. In addition, ANFIS and SVM models have a better performance in this area than other models. Finally, an early warning system for nocturnal frost was designed for Kurdistan Province in the west of Iran using these four models, and its ability was tested to make short-term nocturnal frost predictions. The results show that this system is suitable for the short-term prediction of nocturnal frosts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The increased securitisation of the borders bounding and intersecting Europe has led to the formation of makeshift tent settlements along established routes of irregular migration. Built at permeable border points, illegalised migrants live in these informal camps while they attempt to cross into a neighbouring country. One such camp, Dankix, lies on the northern French coast in the outskirts of Grande-Synthe. While its Kurdish inhabitants aim to cross the Channel to the United Kingdom, some return to Kurdistan using the state’s programme of retour volontaire, or ‘voluntary return’. I examine the affective economy of state-assisted return through the experiences of one family as they move between the social and juridical categories of illegalised and legalised. As they simultaneously cross borders thousands of miles apart, they circulate affective energies that contain particular material, spatial, and temporal dimensions. This affective economy both reveals and transforms the relationships between emplacement, belonging, and illegalisation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores the interaction between Syrian refugees’ entrepreneurship and the social contract of Kurdistan Region of Iraq using qualitative method. The findings confirm that the low level of social contract’s recognition of refugee resources as property rights had a negative effect on their entrepreneurship activities. In contrast, the provisions provided by the government, as part of the social contract helped refugees utilize their resources, which played a positive role in motivating refugee entrepreneurship. Regarding the impact of refugee entrepreneurship on the social contract, there was no top-down change, even with indications of change agency. This can be explained by the low level of participation, in the social contract, and the weakness of entrepreneur associations. For bottom-up change, refugee entrepreneurs tended to challenge the exclusiveness and clientelism in the social contract by increasingly deviating from standard processes, which lead to some de facto change. This research enhances our insights of refugees’ entrepreneurship and integration in the context of the social contract and its change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Land suitability assessment, as an important process in modern agriculture, involves the evaluation of numerous aspects such as soil properties, climate, relief, hydrology and socio-economic aspects. The aim of this study was to evaluate the suitability of soils for wheat cultivation in the Gavshan region, Iran, as the country is facing the task of becoming self-sufficient in wheat. Various methods were used to evaluate the land, such as multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM), which is proving to be important for land use planning. MCDM and machine learning (ML) are useful for decision-making processes because they use complicated spatial data and methods that are widely available. Using a geomorphological map, seventy soil profiles were selected and described, and ten soil properties and wheat yields were determined. Three MCDM approaches, including the technique of preference ordering by similarity to the ideal solution (TOPSIS), gray relational analysis (GRA), and simple additive weighting (SAW), were used and evaluated. The criteria weights were extracted using Shannon's entropy method. Random forest (RF) model and auxiliary variables (remote sensing data, terrain data, and geomorphological maps) were used to represent the land suitability values. Spatial autocorrelation analysis as a statistical method was applied to analyze the spatial variability of the spatial data. Slope, CEC (cation exchange capacity), and OC (organic carbon) were the most important factors for wheat cultivation. The spatial autocorrelation between the key criteria (slope, CEC, and OC) and wheat yield confirmed these results. These results also showed a significant correlation between the land suitability values of TOPSIS, GRA, and SAW and wheat yield (0.74, 0.72, and 0.57, respectively). The spatial distribution of land suitability values showed that the areas classified as good according to TOPSIS and GRA were larger than those classified as moderate and weak according to the SAW approach. These results were also confirmed by the autocorrelation of the MCDM techniques with wheat yield. In addition, the RF model showed its effectiveness in processing complex spatial data and improved the accuracy of land suitability assessment. In this study, by integrating advanced MCDM techniques and ML, an applicable land evaluation approach for wheat cultivation was proposed, which can improve the accuracy of land suitability and be useful for considering sustainability principles in land management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this article is to study the conspicuous impact of the changing historical and political situation in Iraq on the Kurdish intellectual and literary production with particular attention to Kurdish women’s position and perspective on these changes. Focusing on the hectic periods of the Kurdish history and national movement in Iraq, the article answers such intriguing questions as how do the social and political discourses in Iraq shape Kurdish women’s roles and contributions and how has the interplay between Kurdish nationalism and women’s participation developed within the different literary, intellectual and political circles. Chronicling the various socio‐political dimensions of Kurdish national movement and investigating the ways in which Kurdish women’s participation has been relegated both by the Iraqi regimes and within the Kurdish national movements, the article presents a content analysis of different intentions, oversights, and insights of Kurdish and non‐Kurdish political, literary and intellectual actors regarding Kurdish women’s changing roles and desires in Iraq and of the images by which Kurdish women have been presented, thereby positioning itself within a socio‐political studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study comparatively analyzed the migration policy of the Ottoman Empire inherited from the reign of Ab dülhamid II to the Second Constitutional Period, with a special focus on Kurdish muhajirs (migrants, coined from the Arabic word meaning "one who migrated from Mecca to Medina") and refugees. In this regard, it was observed that the arrival of a significantly large Muslim muhajir group to the Ottoman lands was not viewed negatively during the reign of Abdülhamid II, as it would lead to an increase in the Muslim population. The reason behind this was that these muhajirs, the majority of whom came from the Caucasus, would be settled in the lands left by Armenians who had migrated due to war, famine, attacks by Kurdish tribes, or economic difficulties, and thus a safer region could be created in the east. Although this approach was maintained for an extended period of time after the proclamation of the Constitutional Monarchy, certain changes occurred over time, and the Islamic perspective was replaced by a more nationalist-oriented understanding in the resettlement of Muslim muhajirs, especially as the Turkist idea became dominant in the bureaucracy. Thus, attempts were made to settle many Kurdish refugees fleeing from the war zones during the First World War on the axis of nationality. The main purpose of such a policy was to ensure that the Kurds, who led a nomadic or semi-nomadic life, were settled in Anatolia, where Turks were the majority. In this way, it was envisioned that they wouldfulfill certain obligations, such as taxation and military service, and that by changing their identities and lifestyles, could become a useful element. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This study employs the One-Dimensional Vertical Electrical Resistivity technique to elucidate the subsurface stratigraphy and structures beneath the axis and abutments of the suggested Smaquli dam, situated to the east of Erbil City in Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI). Three traverses were conducted using a Schlumberger array. Data interpretation was performed using the Russian commercial software, IPI2WIN. Each measurement point featured a maximum total electrode spread ranging from 400-600m, reaching an investigation depth of 130m to 150m. The inter-distance between successive measurement points varied from 16m to 17.5m. Geo-electrical sections were generated by interpreting the data, revealing three distinct lithological groups: alluvial deposits (upper first group) with a thickness ranging from 3 to 10 meters, marl and marly limestone of the Shiranish Formation (second group) with thickness ranging from 18 up to 110 meters, and dolomitic limestone of the Bekhme Formation (third group) which its thickness is not defined. These lithological groups exhibited significant resistivity contrasts, rendering the resistivity method effective for delineating their interfaces. The resistivity of the upper horizon ranged from 18 to 136 Ω·m, the second horizon exhibited values between 19 and 304 Ω·m, while the lower third horizon showed high resistivity values ranging from 97 to over 50000 Ω.m.. The relatively low resistivity values of the lower horizon (Bekhme Formation) are interpreted as fractured and water-saturated limestones, whereas the high values are indicative of bituminous material. A correlation was established between the geo-electrical sections and borehole geologic columns, demonstrating consistency in indicating the presence of two rock units within the uppermost 20m, which corresponds to the borehole depth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Honey represents the reflection of the surrounding environment and it is used as a biomarker for pollutants in the environment. It is noteworthy and necessary that the food be free of heavy metals and toxic compounds. In this research, a comprehensive survey of essential and non-essential elements along with heavy metals was carried out for honey samples collected from honey-rich areas in Iraqi Kurdistan region. The biochemical properties of honey and 20 elements were studied. The honey samples showed pH values ranged between (3.66 – 7.05 ), acidity (9 – 35 meq/kg), moisture percent (12-16.1% ), conductance ( 0.203 – 1.063 mS/m), diastase enzyme activity ( 11.1 - 65 IU), HMF (1.46 – 48 ) and the average of sugar content ( 3.14, 27.2, 39.2, and 77.8) for sucrose, glucose, fructose and total sugar percentage, respectively. The mean values of the analyzed elements (Pb, Sb, As, Zn, Cu, Ni, Co, Fe, Mn, Cr, V, Ti, Mg, Al, Sr, Ba, Cd, Se, Mo and Be) were (0.050, 0.037, 0.005, 0.916, 1.096, 0.257, 0.034, 6.977, 1.232, 2.309, 1.355, 0.033, 0.0, 74.803, 61.565, 1.300, 0.178, 0.008, 0.366 and 0.039 mg/kg), respectively. A single sample from Erbil governorate showed a high quantity of aluminum, and the highest value for Pb was found in honey samples from Sulaymaniyah governorate. Additionally, the highest concentration of all the other important nutrients was detected in Sulaymaniyah honey samples. The final findings demonstrated that the honey from Kurdistan region is not contaminated with heavy metals (HM) and contains sufficient essential nutrients that are necessary to human health, supporting the high quality of the region’s honey [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

De facto states are widely seen as temporal anomalies of the international system, and, in state-centric literature in particular, as entities lacking 'real' sovereignty that are simply putting on a show, pretending to be something they are not in the hope that faking it may one day lead to international recognition. Critically engaging with recent literature on de facto states as well as debates on performativity/performance, this article rejects as misguided the dichotomous ontologies of fake versus real. Instead, I argue that the most prominent examples of de facto states, that possess both internal and arguably also a considerable degree of external sovereignty, demonstrate that statehood is not the linchpin of the international system it is made out to be. Drawing on Bergson and Deleuze, I suggest that the sovereignty – of de facto states and beyond – should be understood as virtuality, where past and present are contemporaneous, and where sovereignty as virtual may or may not be actualised in statehood, thus posing for discussion a novel framework that elegantly disentangles sovereignty and statehood. The analytical promise of such an approach, in conclusion, is illustrated in a brief discussion of Iraqi Kurdistan and Taiwan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the colonial homogenising policies of the Syrian Ba'ath regime and the subsequent decolonisation processes that led to the emergence of Rojava as a pluriverse. In 1963, the Ba'ath regime implemented nation-state colonialism in the predominantly Kurdish region, using agricultural modernisation as a tool for its colonisation efforts. This modernisation bolstered the central state, perpetuated the underdevelopment of the region as a periphery, and asserted control through the settlement and distribution of land to Arab families loyal to the regime. Following the regime's collapse in Rojava in 2012, the communities that comprise the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES) dismantled the colonial agricultural system. They developed a decentralised governance and agrarian development approach, referred to here as the decolonisation of agriculture. Based on interviews and fieldwork in the region, this article explores the interplay between agricultural development and colonial politics, as well as the critical role of agriculture in the broader struggle for decolonisation. We conclude that in the anti-colonial struggle, people and the rhizomatic governance structures they develop challenge colonial submission to the central state, exploring life beyond the nation-state, which is crucial for a decolonial shift. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study underscores the importance of considering the age of rice when evaluating its nutritional and chemical properties for various applications. The first research rice samples, with an age range of 3 to 6 months, were gathered from the Harir subdistrict. The proximate analysis results revealed nine distinct compounds, with vitamin C recording as the most abundant compound, ranging from 1693.5 ppm at 3 months of harvest age to 523 ppm at 6 months of harvest age. Antioxidant compounds came in second, with values ranging from 33.3 ppm at 3 months to 50.9 ppm at 6 months of storage. There were significant (p 0.05) differences in the amount of polyphenol content in rice at various ages. Among the discovered chemicals, chlorogenic acid had the greatest concentration (800.8 ppm) at a harvest age of 3 months. The rice samples included in this investigation contained 26 distinct fatty acid compounds; the most unsaturated fatty acids (33.51%) and least saturated fatty acids (65.7%) were found in rice at 3 months. Significantly more Na and Se were present in the rice at 3 months (97 and 12 ppm, respectively) than at 6 months (67 and 6 ppm). Our research supports the fact that rice samples from the Harir sub-district consist of phytoconstituents and their potential for use as functional foods and in the further development of natural health products. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) are considered the leading factor of morbidity and mortality across the world. This study aimed to identify the modifiable risk factors of CVDs in the Kurdistan Region. In this retrospective cross-sectional study, the patients who visited and were diagnosed with any type of CVDs and treated in a main private cardiac center in Duhok governorate in Kurdistan Region were included between the years 2018 and 2023. The study found a similar percentage of male and female patients. The percentage of old patients was significantly increased from 18-19 to ≥70. The most preventable modifiable risk factors among cardiac patients were hypertension (86.17%), physical inactivity (60.59%), diabetes (40.15%), and dyslipidemia (56.31%). The less preventable modifiable risk factors were alcohol (4.01%) and cigarette smoking (14.43%). Males had a higher prevalence of cigarette smoking (24.63% vs. 4.38%; P<0.0001) and female patients had a higher prevalence of hypertension (91.25% vs. 81.02%; P<0.000), diabetes (44.43% vs. 35.80 %; P=0.0007) and dyslipidemia (59.15% vs. 53.43%; P=0.0257). In terms of family history of heart disease, the middle age group had a higher prevalence compared to younger and older age groups. Diabetes and cigarette smoking was more prevalent among older age groups, while dyslipidemia was more prevalent among younger and older age groups. Alcohol, physical inactivity, and hypertension were similar among age groups. Hypertension, diabetes, dyslipidemia, and physical inactivity were the most prevalent risk factors for CVDs in this region. The older patients had significantly higher rates of some of these risk factors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Globally, burns are the most devastating injuries, causing more than 120,000 deaths annually, particularly in low- and middle-income countries. This study investigated the epidemiologic and clinical characteristics and outcomes of burn patients. This retrospective study was conducted at the Duhok Burn and Plastic Surgery Hospital between 2014 and 2023. The data collected included demographic characteristics of the patients, burn etiology, location of burn, degree of burn, and hospitalization duration. The study included 713 cases, with the majority (41.37%) in the 0-17 age group. Mortality increased with age, and housewives had the highest mortality rate (54.91%). Urban residents had a higher mortality rate (40.81%) than rural residents (28.80%). Winter and spring had higher rates of burn patients (31.84% and 29.17%). Most burns occurred at home (90.88%), with flame (70.97%) and scald (25.11%) as the primary causes. Hospitalizations were mostly 1-14 days (83.73%), and second and third-degree burns were common (47.27% and 50.07%). About 75.74% of patients suffered upper limb injuries. In 2023, there was a slightly higher burn rate (16.27%) compared to previous years.Burns were most frequently suffered by children, particularly during winter and spring at home. The primary causes were flame and scald injuries. Females were more prone to flame injuries, while males experienced a higher incidence of scald injuries. Among the affected groups, housewives had the highest mortality rate, and this elevated risk was linked to their advancing age. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A two-seasonal experiment was conducted in a plastic house at the protected cultivation department in Zakho Technical Institute, Dohuk Polytechnic University, Kurdistan region/ Iraq for autumn seasons (2021- 2022) and (2022-2023) to examine the effect of azotobacter, compost and humic acid on growth, and mineral composition of lettuce cv. (Alfajr). The study encompassed azotobacter (with and without), soil addition of compost with three levels (0, 1, and 2) ton.donum-1 and foliar spraying of humic acid at four concentrations (0, 2, 4.and 8) ml.L-1 and their combinations compared to control. The experiment was designed according to randomized complete block design (RCBD) with three replicates. The results displayed that the individual dose and dual interactions of all studied factors significantly improved foliage attributes [head length (cm), leaf area (cm2), chlorophyll content (SPAD)] and leaf mineral content of N, P, and K in both seasons with the superiority for the second season over the first season. The highest ever values of all investigated attributes were measured for plants given azotobacter and compost at (2) ton.donum-1 plus humic acid at concentration (8) ml.L-1 in comparison with control. The azotobacter with compost and humic acid is recommended for organic production of Alfajr cultivar of lettuce. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

IntroductionBean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) (Fabaceae) is one of the most cultivated plants of legumes in most countries. Several of insects with piercing-sucking mouthparts such as thrips, leafhopfa, aphids, and plant bugs are as pest on beans. Thrips can attack beans from the seedlings emerge through to flowering, but it is the damage some do during flowering that has the greatest impact. Thrips tabaci Lindeman 1889, the onion thrips is a cosmopolitan species. It has hundreds of host plants but of these, the economically most important crop plants are onion, cabbage, tobacco, pepfa, bean and tomato. Here, population fluctuation and spatial distribution of thrips was investigated in the bean fields of Sanandaj county (Kurdistan province, west of Iran).Materials and MethodsSampling was done from bean leaves from two leaves stage until ending growing season in the bean fields (bean Canyon variety) located in Arandan village (N 35° 23' 10.96', E 46° 54' 53.16', alt. 1660 m), Sanandaj county during the years 2022 and 2023. Bean leaf was selected as sampling unit. Sampling was done weekly and four rows were sampled each time. A systematic sampling pattern was used to collect the samples. In this way, in the selected rows, 24 plants at the beginning and end of each row were ignored, and the 25th plant of each row was the first plant on which thrips were counted. After that, 24 plants were left and counting was done on the 25th plant after the first plant. In this way, 25, 50, 75, 100, 125, 150, 175, 200, 225, 250, 275, 300 and 325 plants were sampled in each row. Weekly sampling was done in a similar style, but each time, different rows of crops were selected for sampling. Sampling was done weekly, and for this purpose lower, middle and upfa leaves were selected from each bean and the leaves were shaken on a white tray and then the thrips were put into Eppendorf containing ethyl alcohol 75%. In order to accurately count thrips, by using a stereomicroscope, some samples were separated and microscopic slides were prepared from some samples and finally the number of samples was recorded. Spatial distribution of adults of thrips was estimated using Taylor's power law and Iwao's patchiness regression methods.Results and DiscussionThe results showed that the population of onion thrips was observed from July and gradually increased and in 2022 its maximum was in the first week of August with an average of 11.65 ± 0.14 thrips and in 2023 its maximum was in the end of week of August with an average of 11.29 ± 0.23 thrips at the sampling unit. In addition, the highest mean number of onion thrips was observed with a significant difference in the lower leaves compared to the middle and upfa leaves. The results of the spatial distribution of the pest showed that based on the variance-to-mean ratio, Taylor's power law and Iwao's patchiness regression methods, the spatial distribution of onion thrips was clumped, randomized and clumped, respectively. In general, the results showed that the peak of population of onion thrips reaches in early of August. Furthermore, based on goodness of fit, the Iwao's patchiness method was more suitable than the Taylor's power law method for estimating the spatial distribution of the pest.ConclusionIt can be concluded that, at the beginning of the growing season of beans in the field, a low population of onion thrips was activated, and gradually with the warming of the weather and the change of the growing stages of the beans, the population of the pest in the field increased, so that the largest population of onion thrips were observed in the first week of August. In addition, based on the sampling, the highest average number of onion thrips was observed in the lower leaves of beans compared to the middle and upfa leaves. The relationship between population fluctuations of onion thrips with average positive temfaature was obtained. In examining the spatial distribution pattern with the Iwao's patchiness method, it was found that the spatial distribution of onion thrips is uniform. Considering the high activity and damage caused by onion thrips on various crops, especially on beans, it is necessary and important to conduct more studies on its various characteristics in various regions and crops of Kurdistan province so that a suitable management plan can be developed to control this pest.AcknowledgementThis pafa is extracted from part of the master's thesis of the senior author, who was financially supported by research vice-chancellor of Razi University, Kermanshah, Iran. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to assess how effective information systems are, end-user computing satisfaction (EUCS) is essential. This study evaluates EUCS among 354 employees of the Iraqi Kurdistan Region's (KRI) Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research. Through factor analysis, the findings indicate 16-item instrument measuring five core components: content, accuracy, format, ease of use, and timeliness. The results show important patterns and connections, emphasizing how important it is to improve these parts in order to increase user satisfaction. Accuracy had the highest impact on user satisfaction (Standardized Beta = 0.347, p < 0.001), and timeliness were particularly important, while format and ease of use had a direct impact on usability. This study gives useful information for improving IT infrastructure and user support. This will help the Ministry create a better, more efficient, and easier-to-use computer environment that meets the needs and expectations of the workforce. In the end, this will lead to higher productivity and user satisfaction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nutrition and lifestyle factors have an enormous impact on students' academic performance. However, there is a shortage of machine learning models to predict students' academic performance based on their nutrition and lifestyle. This paper intends to fill those gaps based on an extensive dataset of various attributes, underlining the capabilities of advanced machine learning models in uncovering the complex relationship between nutrition, lifestyle factors and student's academic performance. A cross-sectional study was conducted in Kalar Technical College, Garmian Polytechnic University in Kurdistan region - Iraq, that involved 500 undergraduate students whose ages range from 18 to 22 years old; the dataset contains demographic characteristics, dietary intake, physical activity, and anthropometric measurements. Various Techniques, tools, and machine learning algorithms such as logistic regression and decision tree classifiers were employed using Python's Scikit-Learn library; finally, Pre-processing of the data was carried out to ensure its suitability for analysis. The machine learning model that the authors developed showed promising prediction results. While the logistic regression model had an accuracy of 70.4%, the decision tree model excelled with an accuracy of 98.55%. Furthermore, exercise, BMI, and dietary intake notably impacted students' academic performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current research aimed to estimate the evolutionary relationships of ten Centaurea L. species growing naturally in the Duhok City, Kurdistan region of Iraq. The combing Start Codon Targeted (SCoT) markers with Internal Transcribed Spacer (ITS) gene region barcode were performed. To detect the DNA sequence variations and phylogenetic tree reconstruction, the Dice similarity matrix, the unweighted pair group method with arithmetic mean (UPGMA) clustering and Maximum Likelihood (ML) methods were applied. 104 polymorphic bands were scored with an average of 10.4. The Polymorphic Information Content (PIC) and Resolving Power (Rp) values ranged between (0.24 to 0.36) and 3.4 in primer (SCoT1) to 12 in primer (SCoT53) with an average of 0.319 and 5.74 respectively. The lowest similarity value was 0.52 between C. behen L. and C. solstitialis L., while the highest was 0.82 between C. balsamita and C. rigida. The reconstructed polytomous dendrogram was as follows: clade one; C. solstitialis L.; clade 2, C. balsamita Lam. and C. virgata Lam.; clade three subdivide into two subclades: C. iberica Trev. ex Spreng., C. hayalolepis Boiss., C. brugueriana (DC) Hand. Mazz. and C. gigantea Sch. Bip. Ex Boiss., C. regia Boiss., C. rigida Banks & Sol., C. behen Lam. Furthermore, C. brugueriana (DC) Hand. Mazz., C. iberica Trev. ex Spreng, C. behen L., C. solstiotialis L. and C. balsamita Lam. were nested with National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI). In contrast, the remaining taxa were mixed with other closely related species. Thus, ScoT markers and ITS DNA barcode were considerably effective for investigating the evolutionary relationships of Centaurea taxa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines how the self-organized social formations of Kurdistan’s Jews in Jerusalem and the non-Jewish Kurdish diaspora in Berlin engage in self-governing cultural production practices that they establish to regulate their communities’ cultural, emotional, and social affairs, address their challenges, and meet their objectives. The paper further analyzes the impact of cultural production on communities’ everyday lives. Specifically, self-organized social establishments embrace cultural production objects, including ethnic food, circle dances, music, and religious melodies, to stimulate cultural spaces in which community members interpret and consume cultural production’s symbolic meanings for a variety of objectives. These include, but are not limited to, the restoration of lived or ancestors’ narrated memories, the promotion of collective identities, and a sense of belonging. They also foster community formation and social cohesion, seek to surmount social and structural obstacles in their integration process, and advocate for their homeland-related politics and interests. However, these meanings and their consumption within both communities vary depending on their homeland ties and needs, barriers, and political conditions in new environments. Kurdistan’s Jewish initiatives capitalize on cultural production as a dynamic vehicle to reconstruct ancestral identities, evoke a sense of belonging, preserve ancestors' cultural heritage, reconnect with their ancestral roots, and promote social cohesion. However, non-Jewish Kurdish diaspora establishments in Berlin harness cultural production as a sociopolitical strategy to maintain the Kurdish identity, address refugees’ integration difficulties, form their cohesive and political community, and engage in homeland politics. My findings, based on ethnographic fieldwork, 87 in-depth interviews with cultural actors and community members in Jerusalem and Berlin, and participant observations over a seventeenmonth period, illustrate how self-organized formations play a vital role in the self-governing cultural production process and how they impact their communities’ affairs, challenges, and objectives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Between 2009 and 2011, the Kurdish sculptor Hadî Ziaoddînî created a statue of poet Mestûre Erdalan (1805–1847), in the city of Sine (Sanandaj, Iranian Kurdistan or Rojhelat). A woman standing, carrying a book in her hand, the figure of Mestûre is unique in the Islamic Republic of Iran. She is not wearing the obligatory hijab but a Kurdish kofî. This paper presents the evolving representation and reception of Mestûre, the first Kurdish female poet and chronicler. The existing research on heritage in Iran focuses mainly on the policies of Pahlavi and Islamic regimes, tourism and conservation. This paper reveals the dissonant heritage-making that inspires Kurdish ethnic and national identity and the empowerment of women in Iran. The latter gained momentum, especially after the killing of the Kurdish woman, Jîna (Mahsa) Amînî, by the morality police in 2022. The multi-layered heritage performance engages identity politics, artistic creation and the new practice of visiting the statue of Mestûre. Starting from Ziaoddînî’s work as the focal point of discussion, the study identifies various links between the statue and other artistic products, as well as investigates the contemporary relationship between Mestûre and the inhabitants of Sine. The relationship is mediated by the sculpture and the moral imagination it stirs in empowering Kurdish women. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Nurses, comprising the largest profession in healthcare, play a significant role in the identification and management of mental health disorders in hospitals. Objectives: The study assessed the knowledge and attitudes of non-psychiatric nurses and their encounters with depressive patients throughout their careers. Methods: This was a cross-sectional descriptive study with 400 non-psychiatric nurses from different hospitals in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq during October and November 2022. The independent Student's t -test, one-way analysis of variance, and binary logistic regression were used to assess possible factors associated with knowledge and attitude toward depression. Results: In this study, 400 non-psychiatric nurses were examined, revealing a mean age of 31.57 ± 8.59 years. Their mean scores for knowledge and attitude toward depression were 5.41 out of a maximum of 11 (standard deviation 1.15) and 5.15 out of 18 (standard deviation 1.83), respectively. Notably, differences in mean knowledge scores were observed concerning participant marital status (P =.044), while disparities in mean attitude scores are related to participant gender (P =.010). Upon binary logistic regression analysis, none of the independent variables exhibited an association with good knowledge. Nevertheless, gender emerged as a significant factor influencing attitude toward depression (odds ratio: 0.51; 95% confidence interval: 0.30–0.86; P =.012). Subsequently, in the multivariate binary logistic regression analysis, gender sustained significance (adjusted odds ratio: 0.573; 95% confidence interval: 0.348–0.942; P =.028) as the key variable impacting attitudes toward depression among non-psychiatric nurses. Conclusion: Based on the results of this study, nurses have insufficient awareness and management skills for depression. It has been experienced and reported that nurses lack knowledge and an attitude toward depression management. The study highlights a significant gap in nurses' skills for managing depression, urging the immediate improvement of training programs. Customizing these programs to enhance nurses' abilities in identifying and managing depression is crucial. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Around 6,000 civil society organisations (CSOs) have been registered by the autonomous Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) in Iraq since 2011. Many of them work in the fields of human rights, women's and youth capacity empowerment, law, and the environment, while others monitor the work of the Kurdistan government, parliament, and elections. CSOs in Iraqi Kurdistan face many challenges that place serious constraints on their work and limit the socio-political and economic roles that they can play. This article explores these challenges in order to make some recommendations to improve CSOs' functionality within the democratisation process of the KRG. A historical descriptive and case study method was utilised for the studies. In-depth interviews with relevant stakeholders from CSOs, academia, and the government were used to generate qualitative data that was thematically analysed. The research findings revealed that CSOs in Iraqi Kurdistan are faced with political, financial, legal, and religious challenges, as well as the impacts of corruption and government interference. The article argues that CSOs are paramount institutions for the development of Iraqi Kurdistan, and only when these challenges are overcome will CSOs be effective in contributing to society's democratic development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

What shapes the host population's willingness to accept refugees into social, economic, and political life in their country? We argue that refugees' ethnicity plays a key role—both directly and indirectly—in shaping support for having refugees as neighbors and for granting them a work permit or citizenship. Fielding a conjoint experiment in Turkey (N  = 2,362), we find that locals discriminate against Syrian Arab and Kurdish refugees compared to Turkomans. Although a university degree, social ties with locals, and knowledge of language boost prorefugee attitudes, ethnic bias may attenuate their effect. For example, local language knowledge increases support for Arab refugee profiles, but only when it comes to granting them a work permit, but not having them as neighbors or granting citizenship. In contrast, it increases support for profiles of Turkomans and Kurds in all the three domains. Thus, strategies such as learning the local language may not advance all refugees in all domains. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article challenges both methodological nationalist and decolonial approaches to 'integration' by drawing attention to how transnational factors—including trans-state diaspora networks and geopolitical relations between European states and Kurdish 'homelands'—have direct impacts on the integration trajectories of newly arrived Kurdish displaced populations in Europe. Based on over 200 interviews with Kurdish immigrants, including refugees and asylum seekers across seventeen sites in rural and urban regions in six European countries, our research suggests the need to move beyond local and national-level understandings of integration to one which is also transnational, diasporic, and multi-scalar, taking account of the enduring effects of homeland politics on integration determinants. Such a model of integration does not throw out the concept, but recognizes both the protective and empowering role that local and national policies can play in enabling refugee and diaspora populations to function autonomously in a broader transnational and global context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Though displaced populations face exacerbated challenges that are associated with increased rates of child marriage, little research has elucidated the reasons behind such phenomena. The present study qualitatively explores the drivers and consequences of child marriage among Syrian refugee, Iraqi internally displaced, and host communities in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. Specifically, it explores how vulnerabilities in displaced groups impact child marriage decision-making and how the host communities respond to and interact with shifting child marriage customs. Qualitative results demonstrated how child marriage drivers intersect on socioecological levels with a prominent undercurrent of gender inequality that affects marriage expectations. Though participants discussed similar drivers and consequences of child marriage, there was discordance in how those drivers influence child marriage in displaced and host populations. Integration of humanitarian sectors around prevention of child marriage, along with support for married girls, is necessary considering the current context of protracted displacement in the region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Since the working conditions have a significant impact on one's health. Because of their line of work, traffic cops are continuously exposed to health risks all over the world. Aim: To assess the health status of traffic police in Duhok Governorate and common health issues that arise from their line of work. Methods: In the province of Duhok, a cross-sectional study was carried out between September and December of 2023. Using a non-probability convenient sampling technique. Interviews were conducted using a pretested questionnaire following informed consent. Data pertaining to the physical health profile and sociodemographic profile were gathered. Results: In all, 150 traffic police who were older than 25 were included in the study. Of the total population, 100% were men, and 49.333% had completed secondary school. Of the respondents, 45 (or 30%) had diabetes, 88 (or 58.667%) had hypertension, 12 (8%) had respiratory issues, 43 (or 28.667%) had headache issues, 68 (or 45.333%) complained of musculoskeletal pain, and 32 (or 21.333%) had eye issues. Of the traffic police, 79 (52.667%) were smokers. The majority of the study's sample, comprising 99 traffic cops with over 15 years of experience, and 92 traffic cops with over 6 hours of work, are included in the study. Conclusion: We came to the conclusion that the majority of police officers experience fatigue from their jobs and that these conditions are brought on by their jobs. The majority of police officers disregard physical examinations and do not wear any protective gear. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During the extermination process of the Armenians of the Ottoman Empire in the World War I, there were two related, but dynamically different forms of violence at work. The first of these can be termed "top-down" violence, in the form of government policies put into practice by the ruling Union and Progress Party through the decisions of its Central Committee. The other form, "bottom-up" violence, was perpetrated by local forces who took advantage of the possibilities and opportunities created by wartime conditions and central government decisions. The target of both types was the population of Ottoman Christians, and the Armenians, first and foremost. The origins of the "top-down" violence are to be found in the century of "accumulated experience" of the Ottoman regime in dealing with various Christian populations within its European territories and their demands for greater economic, social, and political rights, as well as the Great Power intervention on their behalf. Against this background, the Armenian genocide can be seen as a "preventive measure". Its main purpose was the search for "permanent security", and in this sense the article acts as a case study based on the theses found in Dirk Moses' book The Problems of Genocide. As for the phenomenon of "bottom-up" violence, the article also presents a number of previously unpublished documents that give hints as to the role played by different groups—especially the Kurds in the Armenian genocide. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study aims to identify the reality of extension works in the Directorate of Agricultural Extension and Agricultural Researches in the Kurdistan region of Iraq, and the study area included all governorates of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (Germian, Erbil, Sulaymaniyah, Dohuk). The research community included all workers in agricultural extension, agricultural research, and agricultural directorates in all governorates, there were 215 respondents. The sample of the respondents includes (71) representing 33% of the population, taken by a simple random sampling method. The data were collected through personal interviews; questionnaire was prepared for this purpose. To confirm the validity, the questionnaire was reviewed by some experts. In general, the reality of extension work was described by the respondents (extension workers and agricultural engineers working in the Agricultural Research and Extension Directorate) as weak. Conducting training courses for agricultural extension workers regarding methods and methods of communication to work with farmers, emphasizing the importance and necessity of linking and coordinating between agricultural extension and education (universities) to graduate a qualified agricultural guide. Cooperation with other research agencies that work on producing and generating agricultural scientific information and practices approved by the Ministry of Agriculture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In Iraq generally and Kurdistan region especially, goats are an important resource for meat and milk production. It is well known that growth hormone (GH) is involved in a variety of biological activities in livestock animals, including reproduction, growth, lactation, metabolism etc. The goal of this research was to reveal the polymorphism of GH gene in different Capra hircus breeds (native, Shami, Meriz and Kamori goat) and in wild mountain goat (Capra aegagrus) via PCR-RFLP technique and direct seqencing. GH1 (exon 2 and 3) and GH2 (exon 4) polymorphisms on the GH gene were investigated. In all breeds, GH1-Hae III/RFLP revealed only two genotypes (homozygous AA and heterozygous AB), with absent genotype BB. The genotype frequency was 0.886 for the AB genotype and 0.114 for the AA genotype; the allelic frequency was 0.558 for the A allele and 0.442 for the B allele. The average of observed heterozygosity was 0.882 and observed homozygosity was 0.118, indicating that the GH1 was polymorphic. The sequence data of GH1 gene of Meriz and wild goats revealed a SNP at the position 58 (C to T) of the wild goat that has led to a change in amino acid proline to serine. GH2 digestion by Hae III, on the other hand, was monomorphic with the CC homozygous genotype. The results of PCR-RFLP and SNP experiments from this investigation were evaluated as very useful in genotype analysis of local goat breeds/populations. Thus, DNA polymorphisms in the growth hormone gene could be used as reliable genetic markers in breeding programmes in this region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction Bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) (Fabaceae) is one of the most cultivated plants of legumes in most countries. Several of insects with piercing-sucking mouthparts such as thrips, leafhopper, aphids, and plant bugs are as pest on beans. Thrips can attack beans from the seedlings emerge through to flowering, but it is the damage some do during flowering that has the greatest impact. Thrips tabaci Lindeman 1889, the onion thrips is a cosmopolitan species. It has hundreds of host plants but of these, the economically most important crop plants are onion, cabbage, tobacco, pepper, bean and tomato. Here, population fluctuation and spatial distribution of thrips was investigated in the bean fields of Sanandaj county (Kurdistan province, west of Iran). Materials and Methods Sampling was done from bean leaves from two leaves stage until ending growing season in the bean fields (bean Canyon variety) located in Arandan village (N 35° 23' 10.96", E 46° 54' 53.16", alt. 1660 m), Sanandaj county during the years 2022 and 2023. Bean leaf was selected as sampling unit. Sampling was done weekly and four rows were sampled each time. A systematic sampling pattern was used to collect the samples. In this way, in the selected rows, 24 plants at the beginning and end of each row were ignored, and the 25th plant of each row was the first plant on which thrips were counted. After that, 24 plants were left and counting was done on the 25th plant after the first plant. In this way, 25, 50, 75, 100, 125, 150, 175, 200, 225, 250, 275, 300 and 325 plants were sampled in each row. Weekly sampling was done in a similar style, but each time, different rows of crops were selected for sampling. Sampling was done weekly, and for this purpose lower, middle and upper leaves were selected from each bean and the leaves were shaken on a white tray and then the thrips were put into Eppendorf containing ethyl alcohol 75%. In order to accurately count thrips, by using a stereomicroscope, some samples were separated and microscopic slides were prepared from some samples and finally the number of samples was recorded. Spatial distribution of adults of thrips was estimated using Taylor’s power law and Iwao’s patchiness regression methods. Results and Discussion The results showed that the population of onion thrips was observed from July and gradually increased and in 2022 its maximum was in the first week of August with an average of 11.65 ± 0.14 thrips and in 2023 its maximum was in the end of week of August with an average of 11.29 ± 0.23 thrips at the sampling unit. In addition, the highest mean number of onion thrips was observed with a significant difference in the lower leaves compared to the middle and upper leaves. The results of the spatial distribution of the pest showed that based on the variance-to-mean ratio, Taylor’s power law and Iwao’s patchiness regression methods, the spatial distribution of onion thrips was clumped, randomized and clumped, respectively. In general, the results showed that the peak of population of onion thrips reaches in early of August. Furthermore, based on goodness of fit, the Iwao’s patchiness method was more suitable than the Taylor’s power law method for estimating the spatial distribution of the pest. Conclusion It can be concluded that, at the beginning of the growing season of beans in the field, a low population of onion thrips was activated, and gradually with the warming of the weather and the change of the growing stages of the beans, the population of the pest in the field increased, so that the largest population of onion thrips were observed in the first week of August. In addition, based on the sampling, the highest average number of onion thrips was observed in the lower leaves of beans compared to the middle and upper leaves. The relationship between population fluctuations of onion thrips with average positive temperature was obtained. In examining the spatial distribution pattern with the Iwao’s patchiness method, it was found that the spatial distribution of onion thrips is uniform. Considering the high activity and damage caused by onion thrips on various crops, especially on beans, it is necessary and important to conduct more studies on its various characteristics in various regions and crops of Kurdistan province so that a suitable management plan can be developed to control this pest. research vice-chancellor of Razi University, Kermanshah, Iran. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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