Kurdish Autonomous Region

Autonomous regional government for the three Kurdish governorates of northern Iraq. Elections in June 1992 led to a parliament evenly divided between the two main Iraqi Kurdish parties. Subsequent divisions between the Kurdish Democratic Party and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan led to the collapse of the institutions of the autonomous government. Fighting in May 1994, September 1996, and November 1997 left thousands dead and led to the de facto partition of the Kurdish Autonomous Region.

Established under the terms of the 1970 Autonomy Accord between Baghdad and Kurdish leaders, the Legislative Assembly convened in the city of Irbil was effectively controlled by Saddam Hussein until the establishment of the Safe Haven (a no-fly zone over northern Iraq) following the Kurdish refugee crisis at the end of the Gulf War.