Recap of Kurdistan Region’s major events in 2025

Rudaw

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - From drone attacks on energy facilities to landmark diplomatic gains, 2025 unfolded as one of the most eventful years for the Kurdistan Region in recent years. 

KRG formation 

Kurdistan Region entered 2025 with some unresolved issues, including the failure to form a new government following October 2024 parliamentary elections. Despite some progress between the main winners - the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) - in summer, campaigning for the federal elections caused an impasse. 

Despite calls from international missions in Erbil, both ruling parties have yet to reach a final agreement. 

Protests over unpaid salaries 

Social unrest persisted throughout the year, driven by a decade-long civil servants' salary crisis. In January and February, teachers in Sulaimani staged hunger strikes and attempted protests over delayed and unpaid wages.

“We, as teachers, as a people stripped of their rights, as intellectuals we want to raise awareness in our society,” protesting teacher Awat Azad said during a strike.

Although Erbil and Baghdad later announced an agreement to resolve their financial disputes, frustration among public employees remained a defining issue, as civil servants have yet to receive their November and December salary payments amid the ongoing standoff between the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) and the federal government. Baghdad is unlikely to pay salaries for both months. 

PKK ended armed struggle

Regionally, 2025 marked a historic shift for the Kurdistan Region and Turkey, as the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) declared its dissolution in May and formally ended its armed struggle against Turkey, following a February call by its imprisoned leader Abdullah Ocalan to renew the peace process with Ankara. PKK has had bases in the Kurdistan Region for decades and its war with Ankara had caused the evacuation of dozens of villages and numerous casualties among the Region’s population. 

In July, fighters publicly disarmed in Sulaimani province, and by October the group began withdrawing its forces from Turkey.

In return, the Turkish parliament has formed a committee to provide a legal framework for the peace process. A delegation from the committee also visited Ocalan. The PKK expects legal reforms from Ankara as well as cultural and political rights. 
 

Opposition leaders jailed in Sulaimani  

Political tensions peaked in August with the arrest of prominent opposition figures. New Generation Movement leader Shaswar Abdulwahid was detained on August 12, followed days later by the arrest of People’s Front (Baray Gal) leader Lahur Talabany and one of his brothers after heavy overnight clashes with security forces affiliated with the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) in Sulaimani.

Abdulwahid’s movement is the biggest opposition party in the Kurdistan Region; it performed poorly in the November parliamentary elections in Iraq. He will serve his six months sentence in January, but it remains unclear if he will be released as he is expected to face new charges. 

Security units surrounded the Lalezar Hotel where Talabany was staying after a court issued an arrest warrant, leading to heavy gunfire that lasted nearly four hours. Talabany’s detention, given his past role as co-chair of the PUK before his ouster by party's president Bafel Talabani in 2021, underscored the intensity of the party's internal political rivalries and heightened concerns over the use of force in settling political disputes.

Kurdish oil exports resume

A major economic breakthrough came on September 27, when Kurdistan Region oil exports resumed through the Iraq-Turkey pipeline after two and a half years of suspension. The process had been halted in March 2023 after Iraq won a case at a Paris-based arbitration court against Turkey.

The resumption of the exports came after Erbil, Baghdad and international oil companies reached a tripartite agreement following US pressure on Iraq. 

The federal oil ministry in a statement considered the development "a prominent step toward enhancing the management of national wealth in a spirit of partnership and high coordination, contributing to ensuring the sustainability of oil exports and supporting the national economy."

Under the agreement, the KRG’s natural resources ministry is committed to supplying at least 230,000 bpd to SOMO for export, with an additional 50,000 bpd allocated for domestic use within the Kurdistan Region, Natural Resources Minister Kamal Mohammed told Rudaw in mid-November.

According to Hamdi Shingali, deputy head of Iraq’s State Oil Marketing Organization (SOMO), around 13.5 million barrels of oil from the Kurdistan Region have been sold so far, generating an estimated $750 million in revenue. He told Rudaw on Saturday that the Region’s oil exports are being shipped to European and American continents, with both Iraqi and Kurdish crude being sold at an average price of around $60 per barrel.

US opens biggest consulate in Erbil

 

On December 3, the United States officially opened its new consulate compound in Erbil, believed to be the largest American consulate in the world. The $800 million facility was presented as a symbol of Washington’s long-term commitment to the Kurdistan Region.

“We have significant opportunities in the coming period to demonstrate the return on America's investment in this new consulate by delivering tangible outcomes that make America safer, stronger, and more prosperous through a partnership that delivers value for our America First agenda," Michael Rigas, US Deputy Secretary of State for Management and Resources, said during a speech he delivered at the opening ceremony in Erbil.

"The building we inaugurate today is a testament to our commitment and is a physical symbol of America's long-term partnership with Iraq and the Iraqi Kurdistan Region,” he added.

Kurdish leaders welcomed the move and hoped that it would contribute to the improvement of bilateral relations. 

Drone attack crippled key gas infrastructure

Security concerns escalated on November 26, when the Khor Mor gas field in Sulaimani province's Chamchamal district came under a drone attack which halted gas supplies to power stations and triggered widespread electricity outages across the Region for three consecutive days.

A week later, Baghdad announced that the attack was carried out by “two drones” and said air-defense systems would be deployed in coordination with Erbil to protect the facility.

Deadly floods sweep the Kurdistan Region

Natural disasters struck late in the year as flash floods between December 9 and 11 killed at least five people and injured 19 others across the Kurdistan Region and Kirkuk province. According to the Kurdistan Regional Government’s Joint Crisis Coordination Center, the floods damaged 2,225 homes, more than 215 shops, and 107 orchards, with Chamchamal district in Sulaimai province coming as the hardest-hit area.

Following the floods, more than $8.7 million - primarily donated by Kurdish businessmen - was raised to compensate the flood-stricken families. 

First Kurd at UN leadership

On December 18, former Iraqi president Barham Salih was officially elected to lead the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), becoming the first leader from the Middle East to head the agency since the late 1970s. Approved by consensus by the UN General Assembly, Salih is set to begin his five-year term on January 1, 2026.

“I am honoured to have been elected as the incoming United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees,” Salih said. “As a former refugee, I know first-hand how protection and opportunity can change the course of a life.”