On July 9, news spread through Sulaimaniyah governorate in the Kurdistan region of Iraq (KRI) of a “coup d'état.” It particularly raised eyebrows since, unlike the regional capital of Erbil—in which Masoud Barzani’s family is firmly in control—Sulaimaniyah is known to have a more democratic atmosphere and has tended to be a relatively quiet city politically.

It is said that Lahur Sheikh Jangi Talabany, the co-president of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) along with his cousin Bafel Talabani, was the source of these rumors...