1. REPUBLIC OF IRAQ
COUNTRY PROFILE
SÜMEYYE SAADET TOPDAŞ

2. GENERAL DEFINITION Official name: The Republic of Iraq
Capital: Baghdad
Major cities: Baghdad, Mosul, Erbil, Basra, Kirkuk
Official Languages: Arabic, Kurdish
Currency: Iraqi Dinar

3. HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
From 1534 to 1918 Iraq remained under the control of Ottoman Empire. In 1917 Britain seized the Baghdad and created the state of Iraq with the approval of League of Nations.
1920, Faysal, the Sharif of Mecca, became Iraq’s first king.
1930, Iraq became an independent state and joined the League of Nations.
During the WWII, Iraq remained under the control of Britain again.
1945, Arab countries created an Arab Union.
After WWII, Britain lost its power on territory and USA and Soviet Union filled its place. Iraq stayed beside the Soviet Union.
1958, Abdulkerim Kasım and Abdul Selim Muhammed Arif overthrew the monarchy and declared the republic..

4. February 1963, Kasım was overthrown by Arab Socialist Baath Party and Arif became the president, in November he and a group of officials overthrew the Baathist government.
1966, Arif’s brother, Abdulrahman Muhammed Arif, became the president.
1969, Arif was ousted by a Baathist led-coup and Ahmed Hasan al-Bakr became the president, Saddam Hussein became his vice president.
1974, Iraq gave limited autonomy to Kurdish region.
1979, Saddam Hussein became the president.

5. 1980, Iran-Iraq war broke out and lasted for eight years.
1981, Israel bombed Iraq nuclear research center at Tuwaythah near Baghdad.
1988, Iraq attacked the Kurdish people in Halabjah (Halepçe) with poisoned gas.
1990, Iraq invaded Kuwait and first Gulf Crisis broke out.
1991, Operation Desert Storm was started.
1993, 1996, 1998 and 2001, allied forces led by the USA launched air strikes on Iraq.

6. 1995, oil-for-food program, with UNSC resolution 986, Iraq was allowed to export oil for food.
October 1995, Saddam Hussein won the referandum and was re-elected for presidency for seven years.
1996, after a call for aid from Barzani, KDP, Iraq entered the no-fly zone and captured Erbil.
October 1998, Iraq ended the cooperation with UN Special Commission to Oversee the Destruction of Iraq's Weapons of Mass Destruction (Unscom). In December Operation Desert Fox was started.
1999, December, Iraq rejected the UNSC resolution 1284, the UN Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission (Unmovic).
2001, the USA and Britain started bombings to destroy Iraq’s air defense.

7. 2002, the president of USA, Bush warned the world leaders at the UN summit about possible Iraq danger and Tony Blair also published an intelligence document about Iraq’s military means .
2003, the US missiles bombed Baghdad.
14 July 2003, Saddam Hussein was captured.
June 2004, US hands sovereignty to interim government headed by Prime Minister Iyad Allawi.
April 2005, parliament selected Kurdish leader Jalal Talabani as president. Ibrahim Jaafari, a Shia, was named as prime minister.
June 2005, Massoud Barzani was sworn in as regional president of Iraqi Kurdistan.

8. April 2006, Talabani was re-elected and Shia compromise candidate, Nouri al-Maliki, was asked to form a new government.
December 2006, Saddam Hussein was executed for crimes against humanity.
March 2009, the US president, Barrack Obama, announced withdrawal of US troops by the end of August 2010.
July 2009, Massoud Barzani was re-elected for presidency.
March 2010, parliamentary elections were hold.
November 2010, the parliament re-appointed Jalal Talabani as president and Nouri al-Maliki as prime minister.

9. GEOGRAPHY
Strategic location on Shatt al Arab waterway and at the head of Persian Gulf.
The most important rivers are: Euphrates and Tigris
Natural resources:
petrolium,
natural gas, phosphates,
sulfur.

10. SOCIETY The population is above 30 million (July 2011)
Ethnic groups are; Arab 75-80%, Kurdish 15-20%, Turkoman, Assyrian or others 5%
The religious diversity is; muslims 97% /Shia 60-65%, Sunni 32-37%), Christians or others 3%
Education: Years compulsory--primary school (age 6 through grade 6). Literacy (2006 UNESCO est.)--74.1%.
Health: Infant mortality rate deaths/1,000 live births. Life expectancy yrs.

11. POLITICAL SYSTEM
The president is Jalal Talabani, the prime minister is Nouri al-Maliki.
It is a parliamentary democracy with a federal system of governmnet.
Executive
Consists of presidency council (one president and up to three vice presidents) and a council of ministers (one prime minister, three deputy prime ministers and 43 cabinet members)
President is head of state, prime minister is directs executive authority and commander in chief.
President and vice-presidenets are elected by Council of Representatives and prime minister is nominated by the president.
The executive branch serves a 4-year term.

12. Legistation
Consists of a unicameral council of representatives.
At least one-quarter of the representatives must be female.
The responsibilities of the council includes enacting federal laws, monitoring the executive branch, and electing the presidenet of the republic.
Judiciary
It is a mix of islamic and civil law.
The judiciary under no authority but the law.
The federal judicial authority comprises the Higher Judicial Council, Federal Supreme Court, Court of Cassation, Public Prosecution Department, Judiciary Oversight Commission, and other federal courts.

13. There are 18 provinces and 1 region, Kurdistan Regional Government
There are 18 provinces and 1 region, Kurdistan Regional Government. (CIA)

14. ECONOMY
The economy is dominated by the oil sector which provides 90% governmne reveue and 80% exchange earninbgs.
The major industries are; petrolium, chemicals, textiles, leather, construction materials, food processing…
Most important trade partners are; Turkey, Syria, China and the US
2010, Iraq signed a new agreement with IMF and World Bank; both focused on to maintain Iraq’s stability.
Foreign assistance has been an integral part of Iraq’s reconstruction since US foreign assitance, since 2003: %58

15. The GDP
0.8% (2010)
4.2% (2009)
GDP Per Capita
$3,800 (2010)
$3,900 (2009)
GDP Composition to Sector
agriculture: 9.7%
industry: 60.5%
services: 27.3% (2010)
military: 8.6% (2006)
Labor Force
8.5 million (2009)
Unemployment Rate
15.3% (2009)

16. FOREIGN RELATIONS
Egypt: The relations were broken in 1990, when Egypt joined the coalition forces. Relations have steadily improved in recent years and Egypt is now, one of Iraq’s main trade partners. (oil-for-food programme)
Iran: The relations were cool since the Iran-Iraq war. But they appear to have improved since 2008, when president Mahmoud Ahmedinejad came to power
Syria: Political relations have seen difficulties in the past, but new diplomatic relations established in 2006, and described by both sides as “historic”.
Israel: The relations have been mostly turning around the Palestinian issue.
USA: After 2003, the relations are expected to remain paramount for the foreseeable future. US is helping Iraq for its reconstruction. Relations with the United States were strained in mid-2006 when Iraq criticized Israeli attacks on Hezbollah forces in Lebanon.

17. Turkey: The most important issues on relations have been the water issue and the Kurdish problem.
About water, two sides have not achieved a solution.
About Kurdish problem, it has been a fragile point between two sides.
PKK terorism also effected the realtions
Towards 2000s, the most important issue was Iraq invasion, US-Iraq cirisis. A triangle relationship between Turkey, Iraq and the US.
February, 2007, Operation Sun, was started towards the northern Iraq.
Turkey realized that she has to negotiate the Kurdish authorites to stop the PKK terorism.

18. Some organizations ; ABEDA( Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa), AFESD (Arab Fund for Economic ans Social Development), AMF (Arab countries Money Fund), CAEU (Council of Arab Economic Unity), G-77, IAEA, IBRD (International Bank for Reconstruction and Development), ICAO (International Civil Aviation Organisation), ICRM (International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement), IDA (International Development Association), IDB (Islamic Development Bank), (International Finance Cooperation), OAPEC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, INTERPOL, OIC (Organization of the Islamic Conference), OPWC, OPEC, PCA (Permanent Court of Arbitration), UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNWTO, WCO (World Customs Organization), WHO, WTO(observer) and so on.

19. THANK YOU FOR LISTENING…