Jailed PKK leader visit ban lifted, Turkish minister says. How YPG manipulated the US to crush Kurdish opposition leaders. Syrian boy talks about forced YPG recruitment. SIRIA. «Agli sfollati di Afrin solo l’aiuto dei locali, il mondo non si muove» The Precarious Kurdish-Israeli Relationship, Post-Kirkuk. November 30, 2017 Photo: Israelis mainly of Kurdish origin take part in a gathering outside the American embassy in Tel Aviv, Israel October 26, 2017.
REUTERS/Amir Cohen With the Iraqi flag now flying above Kirkurk’s oil fields, a major pivot in the Kurdish-Israeli relationship threatens to isolate the KRG from its limited alliance system. In just four days, the Kurdish Regional Government (KRG) lost nearly all territory gained by Kurdish Peshmerga 2014 forces against the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) and the 2003 American intervention to Iraqi federal forces. Iraqi Kurdistan has now retreated to the national borders it occupied before the 1991 Kurdish uprising, and faces damage to its political and economic institutions that will take years to recover. When Iraqi Kurds took to the polls to vote in the September 25th independence referendum, a number of Israeli flags were hoisted alongside the Kurdish national flag in the streets of Erbil. Brookings. A sense of abandonment burgeons among Iraq's Kurds | Iraq News.
For the best part of a week now, talks have been on going between Baghdad and Erbil, with the presence of the international coalition, to figure out how to apply the former's demands. They include the re-deployment of federal forces in all of the disputed territories, which has already largely happened, and the more complicated issue of handing over of border crossings that the (Kurdistan Regional Government) KRG has administered since 2003. In the late hours of Wednesday night, a strongly worded statement was issued by Iraq's joint operations command. Baghdad accused Erbil of backtracking on its commitments and returning to square one. It also accused Peshmerga forces of building new defences and blocking the deployment of federal troops. The KRG's ministry of Peshmerga responded a few hours later "condemning in the strongest terms baseless statement by Iraq's joint operations command".
The Kurds do not want to give up the borders they control. We met one commander on Thursday morning. Clashes at Kurdish Parliament as Barzani steps down. IRBIL/BAGHDAD: Iraqi Kurdish leader Massoud Barzani said he would give up his position as president on Nov. 1, after an independence referendum he championed backfired and triggered a regional crisis. There was high drama at the Kurdish Parliament, which was stormed by armed protesters as it met to approve the veteran leader’s resignation as Kurdish president.
Some MPs were barricaded in their offices Sunday evening. In a televised address, his first since Iraqi forces launched a surprise offensive to recapture Kurdish-held territory on Oct. 16, Barzani confirmed that he would not extend his presidential term after Nov. 1 “under any conditions.” “I am the same Massoud Barzani, I am a peshmerga and will continue to help my people in their struggle for independence,” said Barzani, who has campaigned for Kurdish self-determination for four decades. The address followed a letter he sent to Parliament in which he asked members to take measures to fill the resulting power vacuum.
Can Kurdistan Sustain Independence? The Prime Minister of Israel has in the past called for an independent Kurdish state and his new Justice Minister, Ayelet Shaked, as well as a former Major General in the IDF, Amos Yadin, said recently that it was time for Kurdish independence and time for Kurdistan and Israel to join together. This relationship is natural, two peoples who have borne the brunt of hatred and the brutality of genocide. Both living in an area where they in fact have no friends or natural allies. Currently there is a rise in radical Islam and terrorism that is supported by the enemies of both people. The President of the KRG has been in discussions with the parties that make up the government of the Kurdish region and it looks like a referendum on independence is forthcoming. There are however difficulties that must be surmounted, the greatest is economic.
So what happens to an independent Kurdistan? Israel said it must help support the Kurds but how? Barzani’s dream and the division of Iraq are over and Abadi criticises Soleimani. Published here: via By Elijah J. Magnier: Kurdistan Iraq has announced that it had “frozen the results of the referendum for independence” and that it is ready to negotiate with the central government of Baghdad. Kurdish leader Massoud Barzani has ended the idea of dividing Iraq indefinitely and has succumbed to Baghdad’s determination to regain control of the country. Not only did Iraqi Prime Minister Haider Abadi recover all the land seized by the Kurdish forces who exploited the occupation of the “Islamic State” group (ISIS) to Iraqi areas in 2014, he is deploying the Iraqi forces along the lines and territories adopted in March 2003 as the borders of Iraqi Kurdistan autonomous area.
Masoud Barzani has lost all the privileges and gains he has made in the last 10 years that have given Kurdistan unparalleled prosperity. The Iraqi Prime Minister is flexing his muscles, not only with the Kurds but also with Iran. Like this: Like Loading... Iraq: Parlamento curdo rinvia elezioni - Ultima Ora. (ANSA) - BAGHDAD, 24 OTT - Il Parlamento della regione autonoma del Kurdistan ha approvato oggi a maggioranza il rinvio delle elezioni legislative che erano in programma il primo novembre, estendendo il proprio mandato per altri otto mesi. La decisione è stata presa mentre sono forti le tensioni con il governo centrale di Baghdad dopo il referendum sull'indipendenza curda del 25 settembre e dopo che, la settimana scorsa, le forze federali hanno ripreso il controllo di aree contese nel nord del Paese occupate negli ultimi tre anni dai Peshmerga.
Il rinvio è stato approvato con i voti del Partito democratico del Kurdistan (Pdk) del presidente curdo Massud Barzani, dell'Unione patriottica del Kurdistan (Upk), 'feudo' della famiglia Talabani, e da alcuni gruppi minori. Si è invece opposto Gorran (Cambiamento), che ha denunciato il rinvio giudicando che esso serva "interessi personali e di parte". RIPRODUZIONE RISERVATA © Copyright ANSA. Turkey quietly concerned with Russia’s Kurdish policy. Turkey is gloating over the humiliating defeat of Iraqi Kurdish peshmerga fighters in Kirkuk by forces attached to Baghdad following the independence referendum held by the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) on Sept. 25.
US and European opposition to the referendum in the name of preserving Iraq’s unity also pleased Ankara. Russia’s ambivalent position, however, was noted with silent disapproval. Following the referendum, Moscow underscored its “unwavering commitment to the sovereignty, unity and integrity” of Iraq, according to a press statement issued by the Foreign Ministry. Moscow also added, however, that it “respects the national aspirations of the Kurds,” which is not what Ankara wanted to hear. Speaking to the Kurdish daily Rudaw a few weeks before the referendum, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said, "The desires and legal goals of the Kurds must be fulfilled like that of all other peoples.
" Nevertheless, Ankara remains largely silent about Russian policies it dislikes. Intra-Kurdish Division and Abadi’s Options. October 17, 2017 Photo: A Kurdish Peshmerga fighter is seen in the Southwest of Kirkuk, Iraq October 13, 2017. REUTERS/Ako Rasheed In the wake of the September 25 referendum in Kurdistan, the Iraqi government announced on October 15 that it began a military deployment to reestablish authority in Kirkuk in coordination with the Peshmerga. It soon became clear that the Peshmerga mentioned belonged to the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK)—specifically, the Talabani family wing—which views aggressive moves toward independence with far more skepticism than its political rivals in the Kurdistan Regional Government dominated by Masoud Barzani’s Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP).
The PUK drew the ire of fellow Kurds who viewed the deal as facilitating the federal forces’ reclamation of the territory. The tension stems in part from the Kurdish government’s use of the referendum and the northern Iraqi oil resources as political leverage. So what’s next? Guido Olimpio - 16 ottobre, i curdi lasciano Kirkuk, foto... Iraq's reconquest of Kirkuk checks Kurdish secession | Iraq. Kirkuk, è iniziata la nuova guerra del petrolio. Il Medio Oriente non ha pace. Non si è ancora conclusa la battaglia di Raqqa che già si apre un altro fronte: quello di Kirkuk. Per uno "Stato" (islamico) che va spazzato via in nome della lotta al terrorismo, ce n'è un altro che va soffocato sul nascere affinché non produca un effetto-domino: è lo Stato del Kurdistan iracheno.
Il Grande Kurdistan: è lo spettro che agita la Turchia, che impensierisce l'Iran, che mette in crisi l'unità dello Stato iracheno sotto il governo (sciita) di Baghdad e che potrebbe reclamare un suo spazio anche nella spartizione della Siria. La battaglia di Kirkuk segna dunque l'inizio di una nuova guerra in Medio Oriente: la "guerra del petrolio". Cronaca di guerra. Nel comunicato si legge inoltre che le forze della sicurezza irachena hanno preso il controllo di tre zone industriali, di Tarklan e della città di Baiji. Delusione e guerra. La tv curda pubblica anche una mappa della Siria delineando i confini amministrativi della prospettata Federazione curda. The Kurdish referendum has shown a yearning for independence, but also the lack of strength to carry it out | The Independent.
The Iraqi government has banned international flights to the Kurdish capital Irbil from 6pm this Friday, isolating the Kurds in Iraq to a degree they have not experienced since the overthrow of Saddam Hussein in 2003. The isolation is political as well as geographical as traditional Kurdish allies, like the US, UK, France and Germany, have opposed the referendum on Kurdish independence while near neighbours in Turkey, Iran and Baghdad are moving to squeeze the Kurds into submission. The referendum succeeded in showing that the Kurds, not just in Iraq but in Turkey, Iran and Syria, still yearn for their own state. Paradoxically, the outcome of the poll has demonstrated both the strength of their demand for self-determination and the weakness of their ability to obtain it. The referendum has ended, perhaps only temporarily, these delicate balancing acts at which the Kurdish leadership was very skilled. But the price of this could be high. Reuse content. Arab24 - Iraq - More than 92% vote "yes" to the independence of Kurdistan.
Referendum Blues: The Issue of an Independent Kurdistan. By Dr Can Erimtan | 21st Century Wire | September 26, 2017 Recep Tayyip Erdoğan (aka the Prez) and his Justice and Development Party (or AKP) have been steering the state founded by Mustafa Kemal [Atatürk] (1881-1938) into distinctly Islamic waters for quite some time now… and as Turkey houses the largest percentage of Kurds in the region (14.7 million according to the CIA), solving Turkey’s Kurdish issue had been part and parcel of the AKP’s policy of Sunnification. The Prez and his AKP henchmen had namely devised a plan to transform the country into a nation of believers, firmly dedicated to Sunni Islam and moving away from Turkish nationalism.
A Nation of Muslim Immigrants versus an independent Kurdistan And finally, there is also a notable Kurdish presence in Iran, supporting its own separatist terror group, known as PJAK and which Turkey also sees as being organically linked to the PKK. The Spectre of a Greater Kurdistan: 25 September 2017 Turkish Reactions: War in the Offing?!?? Iraqi MP: Like Israel, Kurdistan will cause years of war. BAGHDAD, Iraq – An Iraqi official has accused “racist” Kurds of trying to establish a second Israel that will throw the region into years of conflict. “The step that was taken by some racists in Kurdistan will bring instability to the entire region for years to come. The representatives of such efforts had established the state of Israel in 1948,” Mowaffak al-Rubaie, an MP from the ruling Shiite National Alliance told reporters in the Iraqi parliament.
There have been three wars since the creation of Israel, he added. Rubaie is a former National Security Adviser. “The one who loses the most is our beloved Kurdish nation,” he continued. On Monday, the Iraqi parliament requested Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi to deploy troops to the areas that have come under Peshmerga control since the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003, the latest in a series of measures announced by Abadi. Rubaie warned that all the achievements made by Kurds in Iraq since 2003 are now under threat. Uncertainty among Kurds as polls open | Iraq | Al Jazeera. Sulaymaniyah, northern Iraq - Walk into a cafe in the capital of Iraq's semi-autonomous Kurdish region, Erbil, strike up a conversation about the referendum, and you will find customer after customer waxing lyrical about voting "yes" to the region's bid for independence.
Finding a "no" voter, or someone who will boycott the vote altogether is near impossible in the Kurdish region's capital of Erbil, controlled by President Masoud Barzani's Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP). In the city, voters largely see the referendum as history in the making and an opportunity to rid the region of a fraught and deadly shared history with Iraq. Much of the Iraqi-Kurdish minority's animosity stems back to an "Arabisation" campaign led by late Iraqi President Saddam Hussein's Baathist government, which aimed to shift the demographics in favour of the country's Sunni population.
But not all Kurds are in agreement with the likes of Goran. READ MORE: Iraq parliament votes to remove Kirkuk governor. Il Kurdistan iracheno sfida Baghdad, sì al referendum sull'indipendenza | Euronews. Il parlamento autonomo del Kurdistan iracheno ha approvato l’organizzazione del referendum sull’indipendenza del 25 settembre, fra le critiche nazionali e internazionali. Sessantacinque su 68 deputati presenti a Erbil hanno votato a favore della consultazione, mentre altri 43 boicottano l’assemblea. Il parlamento non si riuniva dal 2015 a causa delle divisioni fra i partiti. “È da oltre 100 anni che aspettiamo di avere uno Stato”, dice Omed Khoshnaw, deputato del partito democratico curdo. “Speriamo di realizzare il nostro sogno il 25 settembre e di avere uno stato democratico”. Contrario il movimento di opposizione Gorran.
Il referendum voluto dal presidente Barzani è stato definito “destabilizzante” dagli Stati Uniti perché ostacolerebbe la lotta contro il sedicente stato islamico. "Le PKK porte un beau projet qui a peu de chances de se réaliser" Dans le Rojava, la préparation d’élections municipales pour septembre 2017 révèle les ambitions du Parti des travailleurs du Kurdistan (PKK) à créer un Etat dans l'Etat. Mais alors que la suprématie politique et militaire du PKK/PYD dans la région ne fait plus question, de nombreuses incertitudes demeurent quant à la nature même de cette organisation.
Parfois présentée comme un avant-poste des progrès de la démocratie au Moyen-Orient et dans le monde, elle est pourtant classée par l'Union européenne parmi les organisations terroristes. Olivier Grojean, fort d’une quinzaine d’années de recherche sur la question kurdes en Europe et au Moyen-Orient, résume dans un ouvrage extrêmement dense les paradoxes de la "mouvance PKK". Entretien. Pourquoi ce livre ? Depuis la bataille de Kobané en 2014, la question kurde suscite un engouement réel dans la sphère scientifique, mais également de nombreux fantasmes véhiculés par les médias ou certaines organisations de gauche.
Non. The Kurdish Connection: israel, ISIS And U.S. Efforts To Destabilize Iran. Is Barzani backing away from independence referendum? Not all Kurds on board with Kurdish independence vote. Iraqi Kurdistan’s risky independence referendum. Perché i curdi sciiti sono contro l'indipendenza del Kurdistan. Defense Secretary Mattis: Weapons we gave to Kurds are just loaners. Syrian Kurds will be the biggest losers: America and Russia on the verge of the abyss in Syria | Elijah J M | ايليا ج مغناير. Kurdish-backed militia launches Raqqa operation as another declares war on Turkey. Kurdish oil is another Netanyahu-Obama head-to-head front. Wings of the terrorist organization #PKK in Syria, Iran and Iraq: #PYD #PJAK #PCDK. Foreign volunteers for syrian kurdish forces 2017.02.23. □IRAQI #TURKMENS PROTEST DECISION TO RAISE KURDISTAN FLAG IN #KIRKUK.
BBC News | Europe | Charges mount against Ocalan. PYD Governance in Northeastern Syria. Why did Russia offer autonomy for Syria’s Kurds? Why the Turkey-KRG alliance works, for now. Hammond: 'Disturbing Evidence' PYD is Coordinating with Assad and Russia. Jailed PKK leader says ‘this is a war no side can win’ Kurdish Region of Iran - Map, History and News | The Kurdish Project. Il risveglio armato del Kurdistan iraniano. 11 police officers killed, 78 wounded in PKK bomb attack in Turkey's southeast. ANALYSIS: Kurds see 'no friends but the mountains' after US rebuke in Syria.
PKK twin bombing in Turkey kill several | Times of Islamabad. Turkey's PKK Conflict: The Rising Toll. Does PKK Care about Its Nation? - BasNews. Turkey PM Erdogan apologises for 1930s Kurdish killings. How new alliance among Iraq's Kurds might actually deepen divisions. Could an alternative Kurdish party succeed in Turkey? Kurdish Rebels Clash With Iran’s Revolutionary Guards. Kurds worried war crime accusations could ruin Kurdish image. Drug trafficking funds PKK: Ministry report. Why Syria's Kurds are cooperating with Russia. La Turchia e la questione curda. Why Have the Kurds Supplied ISIS With Weapons?
Syria's Kurds take control of oil fields, now what? PKK: arnese per “sirianizzare” la Turchia ? Amnesty International accuses Kurdish YPG of war crimes. I Curdi nella proxy war dell’ Occidente. Don't conflate PKK terrorism with the Kurdish people. Erdoğan Must Act Quickly to Solve Turkey’s Kurdish Problem. The forgotten child soldiers recruited by Kurdish militants in Turkey and Syria. The PKK always targets civilians: A grim timeline. Moscow stresses Syrian Kurds should understand Syria is indivisible. I Curdi: come e perché un intero popolo viene strumentalizzato e continua a morire | Eric Salerno. Turchia: quello che nessuno dice sul PKK - Lookout News. Syrian Kurds declare their own region, raising tensions. KCK ateşkesin bittiğini açıkladı: Bundan sonra tüm barajlar gerillanın hedefinde olacaktır. After Ankara bombing, questions over PKK-TAK ties resurface.
After Ankara bombing, questions over PKK-TAK ties resurface. Nasce "Rojava": secessione curda o passo verso Federazione siriana? Kurdish group claims responsibility for Ankara bombing. Is Rojava’s model the awaited solution for Syrian crisis? Syrian Kurds' agenda simmers on back burner. Under Kurdish Rule. Russia uses PYD and its armed wing as tool in Syria: Minister. Turkey's PM blames Kurdish militants for Ankara blast; six soldiers killed in separate bombing. Colpito convoglio militare a Diyarbakir - Europa. Turchia: 3 militari uccisi in scontri con Pkk. Kurdish militant group claims responsibility for car bomb attack in Turkish capital. Il PKK verso il “colonialismo democratico”?, Stefano Zecchinelli. Kurdish Anger Simmers as Turkey Accused of Killing Unarmed Teenagers.
Major Kurdish factions. TURQUIE EN BREF - PKK, Droits de l'homme, Groupe Dogan, Fashion week et lutte anti-drogue. PKK terrorism and moral clarity - İbrahim Kalın. Erdogan and Syria’s Kurds: Who is the Cat and Who is the Mouse? | Middle East Briefing. Chi sono i curdi fascisti-sunniti che menano i curdi in Turchia. The Die Is Cast: The Kurds Cross the Euphrates. Il Grande Kurdistan ed Erdogan. PKK kills civilians, blames Turkish army, minister says. Kurdish leader warns of civil war in Turkey. PYD persecuting Assyrians in Syria. PYD prosecutes Assyrians in Syria, uses Daesh to alter demography: Assyrian Federation head. Under Fire: Translating the Growing Crisis in the Kurdish Cities of Turkey’s Southeast. Turkey's PM blames Kurdish militants for Ankara blast; six soldiers killed in separate bombing. Turkey's Kurdistan Freedom Falcons TAK claims responsibility for Ankara attack.
Kurdish militant group claims responsibility for car bomb attack in Turkish capital. Mitigating US-Turkish Disagreement over the PYD.