Asayish (Kurdistan Region)

Asayîş or Asayish (Kurdish for security) is the Kurdish security organization and the primary intelligence agency operating in the Kurdistan region in Iraq. The organization was established in September 1993 and has been often referred to as an "intelligence agency", "security force", "security service", "security", "secret service", "secret police", or just "Kurdish police." Asayish coordinates and shares information with Parastin u Zanyari, the investigative arms and intelligence gatherers operating in the Kurdistan region in Iraq.

It acts under the command of the Kurdistan Parliament and the Kurdistan Regional Government.

Its official goals according to the Kurdistan Regional Government are the following:

• Counter-drug trafficking
• Counter-terrorism
• Counter-espionage
• Gathering intelligence
• Assessing threats to the region's national security.

The organization has jurisdiction over:

• Economic crimes
• Smuggling
• Political crimes
• Espionage
• Sabotage
• Terrorism.