For the Kurdish intelligentsia, there is far more at stake than the loss of land.
![The entrance of the newly restored Farah Hotel in the heart of the Sulaimania Bazaar, Iraq [Lara Fatah]](/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/511157e9e5f94b45962840ac38c30226_18.jpeg?resize=270%2C180&quality=80)
For the Kurdish intelligentsia, there is far more at stake than the loss of land.
![The entrance of the newly restored Farah Hotel in the heart of the Sulaimania Bazaar, Iraq [Lara Fatah]](/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/511157e9e5f94b45962840ac38c30226_18.jpeg?resize=270%2C180&quality=80)
Efforts are under way to salvage what remains of old Sulaimania, once a bastion of diversity and cosmopolitanism.
![An old building in Sulaimania [photo/Lara Fatah]](/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/7977a7d9cf7b4aa48b1e257d188eb9e6_18.jpeg?resize=270%2C180&quality=80)
A popsicle and a smile might not be a substitute for a psychologist, but it makes the conditions more bearable for IDP children.

In country torn apart by war, political settlements alone will not fix antagonism among ethnic and religious groups.

Threat of ISIL will live on even after they are pushed out of key territory, Iraqi Kurdish intelligence chief warns.
![Lahur Talabani, head of Zanyari Agency [Photo/Lara Fatah]](/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/c498864249e74aa1a61ea65b0ddd9773_18.jpeg?resize=270%2C180&quality=80)
Apathy and cynicism pervasive in Iraq’s Kurdish region as an unending series of crises and scandals unfolds.
![Two Kurdish men talking at the Sulaimania Bazaar in Sulaimania, northern Iraq [photo/Tanya Goudsouzian]](/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/1930f3b702b540c3b66179f9bc7c5c3f_18.jpeg?resize=270%2C180&quality=80)
A former Peshmerga fighter has swapped his rifle for a paintbrush as he relives battlefield memories.

As the battle for Mosul rages, in Sulaimania, there is a growing sense of despondency and apathy.

Iraqi Kurdish Foreign Minister Falah Mustafa Bakir speaks to Al Jazeera about the battle for Mosul and post-ISIL plans.
![Peshmerga forces advance in the east of Mosul to attack ISIL fighters in Mosul, Iraq [REUTERS]](/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/11361e9ee5ba49d5a536e06e95789266_18.jpeg?resize=270%2C180&quality=80)
Iraqi Kurdish leader’s wife is accused of trying to block oil exports, but some say she is being scapegoated by rivals.
![Hero Ibrahim Ahmad, wife of Iraqi Kurdish leader Jalal Talabani [Getty]](/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/ae505c94668f42cb8f4157844fdc2fd1_18.jpeg?resize=270%2C180&quality=80)