Here is an interesting announcement from: www.yi9pse.com
YI9PSE is the first DXpedition to Kurdistan.
The YI9PSE team has received the approval and blessing of the Kurdistan Regional Government to conduct the first DXpedition from Kurdistan. The YI9PSE team has been invited to demonstrate amateur radio to the Kurdistan Regional Government Ministry of Interior officials, who will visit and observe the YI9PSE DXpedition team in action.
We hope to have a signal on the air late in the evening of the 2nd, and we must tear down our station on the evening of April 11th. We will have ten day visas issued by the Kurdistan Regional Government.
The Kurdistan Regional Government officials are very excited to learn more about amateur radio and see the first DXpedition from Kurdistan take place. They have reviewed, approved of our plans and blessed our operation.
Thank you,
The YI9PSE DXpedition Team.
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For those not in the know, Kurdistan is the northern portion of Iraq and the Kurds consider themselves an autonomous entity – which is seen as a contentious concept by the rest of Iraq (Turkey and Iran are also not excited about the idea of a “Kurdistan”). While I applaud the team’s effort, I question the judgment of an operation like this. I wish these gentlemen the best of luck and hope they remain safe but I think they are unnecessarily putting themselves in danger (although I would probably go with them if I had the opportunity).