Major General Qassem Soleimani, the commander of the notorious Quds Force division of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), has reportedly been seen in Iraq advising Shiite militias in their attack on the Kurdish Peshmerga, a major U.S. battlefield ally against the Islamic State.
Contents: Hundreds of ISIS fighters surrender as Iraqi town of Hawija falls; Tensions grow between Turkmens and Kurds in Kirkuk
Turkey launched a “security” operation in Syria’s Idlib province over the weekend that reportedly included artillery fire in support of rebels from the Free Syrian Army, who were fighting jihadists from al-Qaeda’s Syrian franchise. Turkey also expressed a desire to keep Kurdish groups from creating a “terror corridor.”
Contents: Turkey announces major military operation in Syria’s Idlib province; Turkey’s success in Idlib is far from certain
Yeni Safak, a Turkish newspaper known for its support of Islamist president Recep Tayyip Erdogan, accused the president of Iraq’s Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) of “support” for the Islamic State, despite the KRG’s pivotal role in fighting the jihadist group.
Contents: Kirkuk becomes the flash point after the Iraqi Kurdistan independence referendum; Significant differences in the three recent independence movements
The prime ministers of Iraq and Turkey spoke on the telephone on Wednesday to discuss the likely outcome of the Kurdistan’s referendum on independence, the results of which will be announced Friday.
Former U.N. Ambassador John Bolton joined SiriusXM host Raheem Kassam and co-host Steve Bannon on Thursday’s Breitbart News Daily to talk about Kurdish independence and the future of Iraq.
Contents: Iraqi Kurds’ independence referendum appears headed for big approval; Israel may be the only country recognizing the Iraq Kurdistan referendum
Iraq’s prime minister on Tuesday ordered the Kurdish region to hand over control of its airports to federal authorities or face a flight ban, as the Kurds claimed victory for the “yes” vote in an independence referendum rejected by Baghdad and Iraq’s neighbors.
The Iraqi government has announced it will not hold talks with the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) following Monday’s independence referendum, describing the process as “unconstitutional.”
The U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces, a militia alliance led by the Syrian Kurds, claims Russian warplanes bombed their positions in the Deir al-Zor province on Monday. Russia has denied the allegations, while U.S. commanders said they could not verify the source of the attack on the SDF.
ISTANBUL (AP) — Turkey’s foreign ministry has summoned Germany’s ambassador in Ankara to protest the country for allowing “terror propaganda” by Kurdish militants.
The government of Turkey confirmed this week that it had signed a deal to purchase a Russian S-400 missile system, alarming other fellow NATO members who discourage such military deals with Moscow.
Official campaigning has begun in Kurdistan for the region’s independence referendum scheduled to take place later this month.
The few Christians who remain in Iraq after losing thousands to genocide at the hands of the Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL) are once again urging Baghdad to allow them to establish their own independent state in Iraq.
American forces have clashed with Turkish-backed rebels in northern Syria, reports CNN, citing an unnamed military official with the U.S.-led coalition against the Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL).
Contents: Afghan and Eritrean migrants clash at site of ‘Jungle’ in Calais France; Authorities fear that a new ‘Jungle’ is forming in Calais France
The United States will remain involved in the fight against terrorism in Syria long after the Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL) falls, reportedly envisioned the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), a Kurdish led and dominated group fighting the jihadist group.
In an interview with Lebanese television on Thursday, a top adviser to Syrian President Bashar Assad, Bouthaina Shaaban, said the Syrian civil war has reached its “penultimate stage” after six long and bloody years. She described the capture of the long-besieged city of Aleppo as a “U-turn” in the conflict.
The president of northern Iraq’s autonomous Kurdistan region, in commemorating the 84th anniversary of the former Iraqi kingdom’s massacre of thousands of Christians in the country, declared that history would not repeat itself in an independent Kurdistan, vowing that the Kurds will protect the “demands and rights” of Assyrian Christians.
During a speech held in Duhok, Kurdistan Regional Government’s (KRG) Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani said the Kurdish people have “completely lost hope” in Iraq and must hold a referendum to decide their future.
An all-female fighting force from the Yazidi community known as the Sinjar Women’s Units (SWU) announced on Monday that it has joined the battle for Raqqa, the Islamic State’s capital in Syria. The Yazidi women made it clear they wished to avenge themselves for the hideous depredations inflicted on them by ISIS.
The Kurds in northern Iraq have accused the Popular Mobilization Units (PMU), a Baghdad-sanctioned umbrella organization largely made up of Iranian-backed Shiite militias, of carrying out an “Arabization” campaign in the disputed Kurdish areas in the region.
On the one-year anniversary of the failed coup against Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, it is clear that deteriorating relations with Europe and the United States are part of its legacy.
Turkey and the armed wing of the Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD) in northern Syria, both considered U.S. allies, have accused one another of firing first in recent weeks, claiming each has been forced to retaliate.
A Kurdish Peshmerga commander has accused a Baghdad-sponsored umbrella organization of mostly Iran-allied Shiite militias of arresting three of their fighters in northern Iraq’s predominantly Sunni Nineveh province amid flaring tensions between the two groups.
The Syrian Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG/YPJ) have warned that consistent threats from Turkey, which claims to also be fighting the Islamic State in Syria, “have reached the level of a declaration of war,” threatening to derail the ISIS fight just as the YPG have surrounded its “capital,” Raqqa.
Kurds marked the 30-year anniversary on Thursday of Saddam Hussein’s gassing campaign against the people of Kurdistan–which killed 140 civilians and wounded thousands more–as the region prepares to hold a referendum on its independence.
Iraqi officials are preparing for the arrival of Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi to the nation’s largest city, Mosul, to declare victory after three years of Islamic State (ISIS) control.
The Kurdish news outlet Rudaw and Turkish network Haberturk are reporting that members of the Syrian Kurdish Peoples’ Protection Units (YPG/YPJ) and the Turkish military have exchanged fire in northwest Syria.
Turkey’s defense minister, Fikri Işık, said in an interview Friday that his government is seeking to play a role in retrieving weapons that the United States has provided Syrian Kurdish militias for use in the liberation of Raqqa, the capital of the Islamic State “caliphate.”
The Turkish newspaper Hurriyet is reporting that supporters of the Iraqi Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) are organizing a political party to challenge the pro-Syrian Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP), whose leadership is largely in prison.
The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), a multi-ethnic coalition of militias in the country, have reportedly made gains on either side of the city of Raqqa, slowly surrounding an estimated 4,000 jihadists preparing to fight for their “capital.”
The autonomous Iraqi region of Kurdistan has announced an independence referendum to take place this September, in a move likely to anger officials in Iraq.
Following Turkish media reports last week, the U.S. military has confirmed that it has begun shipping weapons to the Syrian Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG/YPJ) to prepare for the battle to liberate Raqqa, Syria from the Islamic State.
The head of Syria’s Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD), Salih Muslim, says the United States has denied him a visa to enter the country for the first time during President Trump’s era, despite the Trump administration’s decision to provide the PYD’s armed forces with weapons to fight the Islamic State (ISIS).
Multiple Turkish media outlets are reporting that the United States deployed a new convoy of about 100 trucks to Syrian Kurds fighting the Islamic State in Rojava, or Syrian Kurdistan, this week.
Turkey summoned U.S. ambassador John Bass in Ankara on Monday to complain about “aggressive and unprofessional” actions taken by American security personnel against Turkish bodyguards in Washington D.C. last week.
Turkey is doubling down on its animosity toward the Syrian Kurdish YPG militia, promising it is ready to conduct military operations against the YPG if provoked and demanding the removal of a U.S. envoy for supporting the Kurds.
