Orientul Mijlociu

Iraq’s Kurdish regional leader Barzani defends Turkey’s Syria operation

Nechirvan Barzani, a powerful Kurdish leader in northern Iraq, argues that Turkey is targeting terrorists, not ‘the Kurds’.

The international outcry against the Turkish operation, which aimed to eradicate YPG presence from border areas in northern Syria, was based on one false premise: that the operation is targeting ‘the Kurds’, not terrorists. Now, Nechirvan Barzani, a powerful Kurdish leader, in Iraq has said that the Turkish military action has nothing to do with the Kurds, but is aimed at the PKK.

“Turkey’s problem, in the beginning, was not Kurds in Syria, it was the PKK. They were clear in saying one thing: ‘We cannot bear seeing the flag of the PKK on our borders with Syria,’” Barzani said, during a panel organised by the Erbil-based Middle East Research Center (MERI).

The YPG is the Syrian wing of the PKK, which has waged a decades-long terror campaign against the Turkish state, leading to tens of thousands of deaths across the country.

“Turkey had one demand, for Kurds to distinguish themselves from the PKK. Unfortunately, the PKK wanted to get legitimacy through Syrian Kurds,” Barzani said.

Barzani believes that the Turkish operation eventually happened “because of this wrong policy” conducted by the YPG in northern Syria.

The YPG has claimed large territories across northern Syria, manipulating the Syrian civil war as a pretext to form so-called ‘cantons’ in mostly Kurdish-populated areas.

The terror group took advantage of its longstanding relationship with the Assad regime to rule over Syrian Kurds, whom Damascus trusted to limit Kurdish opposition to the regime after reaching a deal with PKK leadership, located in northern Iraq’s Qandil mountains.

Syrian Militant and Former Al Qaeda Leader Seeks Wider Acceptance in First Interview With U.S. Journalist

Over most of two decades, Abu Mohammad al-Jolani’s life has been a roadmap of Islamist militancy in Iraq and Syria. He joined the fight against U.S. forces in Iraq and was jailed by the Americans. He became a commander within the group known as the Islamic State of Iraq. He founded an Al Qaeda affiliate in Syria and then broke with Al Qaeda and ISI, striking out with his own group to oppose Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

Islamic State Increases Attacks on Iraqi and Kurdish Forces

The Islamic State terror group has increased its attacks on Iraqi and Kurdish security forces, killing nearly two dozen people in the last month, according to Iraqi officials.

Local government sources and public statements show that a wave of IS bombings and hit-and-run attacks, affecting largely the territories disputed between the Iraqi government and the Kurdistan Region, have killed at least 21 people and wounded dozens more.

US forces relocate Daesh members from camp in Syria to Iraq’s Mosul

The US military has secretly transferred Daesh families from the dangerous al-Hawl detention camp in Syria, which is run by allied Kurdish militants, to a facility in Iraq’s northern province of Nineveh, a report says.

A high-ranking Iraq security source, requesting anonymity, told Iraqi Arabic-language al-Maalomah news agency on Friday that American forces relocated scores of children and women to Jeddah camp some 65 kilometers (40 miles) south of Mosul.

The transfers took place under the supervision of authorities from the so-called Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria, also known as Rojava.

Ankara’s rejection of Kurdistan referendum unites Iraq and Turkey Kurds

Although the streets of Kurdish cities in Turkey were largely empty politicians took to social media to defend the Erbil government.

As pressure on the Kurdistan Region by the US, UK, France grew, with threats from Iran and Turkey and disapproval from the UN Security Council to postpone or cancel the Monday referendum on secession from Iraq, Kurdish factions across the region rallied to back the vote.

Kurds reject Baghdad ploy to divide Kurds with military threats

As the post-independence referendum fallout between Erbil and Baghdad reaches a dangerous juncture, Baghdad strives to divide the Kurds through military threats and conditions.

As the post-independence referendum fallout between Erbil and Baghdad reaches a dangerous juncture, Baghdad strives to divide the Kurds through military threats and conditions.

Syrian Kurdish enclave of Afrin: from forced conversions to demographic change

Monitoring groups and Kurdish media in Syria on Thursday said Turkish-backed Syrian opposition have transported thousands of families from Ghouta to the Kurdish enclave of Afrin over the last month.

Monitoring groups and Kurdish media in Syria on Thursday said Turkish-backed Syrian opposition have transported thousands of families from Ghouta to the Kurdish enclave of Afrin over the last month.