IRAQ HALTS MILITARY OPERATIONS AGAINST KURDISH FIGHTERS

ISOF soldiers captured in Mosul, Northern Iraq, Western Asia. 16 November, 2016.

Sourced : The Wall Street Journal By Isabel Coles and Ali Nabhan Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi ordered his forces to halt an advance against Kurdish fighters for 24 hours on Friday after clashes between the two U.S. allies in the war against Islamic State raised fears of a new conflict in the north of… Continue reading IRAQ HALTS MILITARY OPERATIONS AGAINST KURDISH FIGHTERS

KURDISH CRISIS COULD BENEFIT IRAN-TURKEY-RUSSIA ENERGY DEAL

Sourced : Al Monitor By Olgu Okumuş Oil prices jumped last week with concerns over Iraq’s military operations against Kurds in Kirkuk. Media reports focused on several aspects of the operations, including the crucial role of Kirkuk’s oil for both sides, the support of the Iran-backed Popular Mobilization Units in the Iraqi government assault and… Continue reading KURDISH CRISIS COULD BENEFIT IRAN-TURKEY-RUSSIA ENERGY DEAL

IRAQ HALTS MILITARY OPERATIONS AGAINST KURDISH FIGHTERS

ISOF soldiers captured in Mosul, Northern Iraq, Western Asia. 16 November, 2016.

Sourced : The Wall Street Journal By Isabel Coles and Ali Nabhan Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi ordered his forces to halt an advance against Kurdish fighters for 24 hours on Friday after clashes between the two U.S. allies in the war against Islamic State raised fears of a new conflict in the north of… Continue reading IRAQ HALTS MILITARY OPERATIONS AGAINST KURDISH FIGHTERS

MOMENT OF GLORY ? KURDISH REFERENDA IN IRAQ, SYRIA EXPLAINED

Sourced : Asia Times By Sami Moubayed In 2005, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the then-Prime Minister of Turkey, visited Diyarbakir, a city in the country’s south-east and the scene of an ongoing conflict between Turkish authorities and Kurdish separatists, who consider it the unofficial capital of Turkish Kurdistan. Trying to cajole the Kurds, who make up… Continue reading MOMENT OF GLORY ? KURDISH REFERENDA IN IRAQ, SYRIA EXPLAINED

THE TIME HAS COME FOR IRAQI KURDISH TOMAKE ITS CHOICE ON INDEPENDENCE

Sourced : The Washington Post By Masoud Barzani, The president of the Kurdistan region of Iraq. On Sept. 25, the people of Iraqi Kurdistan will decide in a binding referendum if they want independence or to remain part of Iraq. The vote will resolve a conflict as old as the Iraqi state itself between the… Continue reading THE TIME HAS COME FOR IRAQI KURDISH TOMAKE ITS CHOICE ON INDEPENDENCE

TRUMP TRIES TO REASSURE ERDOGAN AFTER U.S. PLAN TO ARM KURDS OF SYRIA

Sourced : Bloomberg By Margaret Talev President Donald Trump sought Tuesday to repair relations with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who is alarmed about a U.S. plan to arm Kurdish fighters in Syria. Trump said he and the Turkish president would have a “long and hard discussion” as he welcomed Erdogan to the Oval Office… Continue reading TRUMP TRIES TO REASSURE ERDOGAN AFTER U.S. PLAN TO ARM KURDS OF SYRIA

SO TRUMP IS ARMING KURDS…THEN WHAT ?

Sourced : Defense One By Gayle Tzemach Lemmon Council on Foreign Relations An overnight decision months in the making is now official U.S. policy: America will directly arm the Syrian Kurds. NATO ally Turkey may see Syrian Kurdish fighters as terrorists, but the Pentagon sees them as the most effective local force in the fight… Continue reading SO TRUMP IS ARMING KURDS…THEN WHAT ?

U.S TROOPS DEPLOYED ALONG SYRIA-TURKISH BORDERS

Sourced : The Star By Sarah El Deeb U.S. armoured vehicles are deploying in areas in northern Syria along the tense border with Turkey, a few days after a Turkish airstrike that killed 20 U.S.-backed Kurdish fighters, a Syrian war monitor and Kurdish activists said Friday. Footage posted by Syrian activists online showed a convoy… Continue reading U.S TROOPS DEPLOYED ALONG SYRIA-TURKISH BORDERS

OPERATION EUPHRATES SHIELD : A POSTMORTEM

Sourced : Al Monitor By Cengiz Candar A day before the long-awaited March 30 visit of new US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson to Ankara, Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim dramatically announced that Operation Euphrates Shield, Turkey’s military intervention in northern Syria, had “successfully” come to a close. A precursory postmortem of the vaunted military… Continue reading OPERATION EUPHRATES SHIELD : A POSTMORTEM

ARE CONDITIONS RIPENING FOR IRAQI KURDISH STATE ?

Arap Birliği Genel Sekreteri Amr Musa, resmi temaslarda bulunduğu Irak'ın başkenti Bağdat'tan sonra Erbil'e geldi. Musa, Erbil'de Bölgesel Kürt Yönetimi Başkanı Mesut Barzani (resimdeki) ile görüştü.

Sourced : Council on Foreign Relations Author: Steven A. Cook, Eni Enrico Mattei The failure of Iraq, breakdown of Syria, and changes in Turkey have created opportunities for Kurds in all three countries. They are not quite the regional kingmakers that some Kurds have boasted they might become, but Kurdish political and military power is… Continue reading ARE CONDITIONS RIPENING FOR IRAQI KURDISH STATE ?