Mezopotamian Development Society (Registered) GERMANY – FRANKFURT
THE MOST REQUESTED DAILY & ONLY INDEPENDENT NEWSSERVICE ON KURDISTAN FOR THE HIGHLY INVOLVED PEOPLE – Watch our website : www.mesop.de / mesop@mesop.de
MESOP LISTENING : Hey world, the reason there’s a refugee crisis in Europe is that there’s a mega-tragedy going on in the Middle East https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_e
MESOP TODAYS HEADLINE : STOP ALL YOUR CHARITY PROJECTS IN MIDDLE EAST ! – PEOPLE ARE LEAVING FOR EUROPE
Yazidi Students Abandon Arabic Script With Eye Toward Europe
By Mahmut Bozarslan – AL Monitor – 2015-08-29 – DIYARBAKIR, Turkey — In a tent city outside Diyarbakir, the largest city of Turkey’s mainly Kurdish southeast, efforts are underway to provide an education to the children of Yazidi refugees from neighboring Iraq. In one novelty for Yazidi children, they are now learning the Latin script, as many Yazidis are reluctant to return home and hope to make it to Europe. www.mesop.de
MESOP EXCLUSIVE
Syria Feature: Assad’s Media Claim Russian Military Personnel Inside Syria — But Is The Story True?
Scott Lucas – 30 Aug 2015 – EAWORLDVIEW – WATCH PHOTO: Russian BTR-82A infantry fighting vehicle, spotted in western Syria last weekSupporting President Assad’s claims of steadfast Russian support, regime outlets are declaring the entry of Moscow’s military personnel into Syria.The leading newspaper al-Watan asserted last week, “Russia Army Engages in Syria”. It said that Russia is building a new military base in Jablah, on the Mediterranean coast in Latakia Province and declared, “Many military advisors have reached Damascus.”Al-Watan continued, “Russia has begun to supply Damascus, for the first time, with satellite imagery,” and concluded: “Long-awaited over the past five years, this decision will turn the military situation on its head.” Read all: http://www.mesop.de/?p=64073
MESOP NEWS OF THE HOUR
Syrian refugee receives £40,000 in donations in 24 hours after viral photo selling pens | via @Telegraph http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/lebanon/11830463/Syrian-refugee-receives-40000-in-donations-in-24-hours-after-viral-photo-selling-pens.html …
MESOP : EYES ON EUROPE
Yazidi students abandon Arabic script with eye toward Europe http://almon.co/2i4t via @AlMonitor
MESOP : GREAT PROGRESS
Kurdish Fighters Seize Iraqi Territory From Islamic State http://www.voanews.com/content/kurdish-fighters-seize-iraqi-territory-villages-from-islamic-state/2937308.html …
MESOP : FIRST TIME
Pro-Kurdish MPs join Turkey cabinet @bbcworld #HDP http://bbc.in/1LB3sby
MESOP : INTRA-KDP – CONFLICTS ?
At the beginning, Nechirvan Barzani led KDP’s negotiation team, but now Masrour Barzani has taken the responsibility, intra kdp conflicts
MESOP BY JOEL WING (MUSINGS)
Emergence of new Sunni leadership in Iraq unlikely to happen & not likely to win over IS cadre http://musingsoniraq.blogspot.com/2015/08/csis-what-isis-really-wants.html …
MESOP : HEAVY STRIKES BY TURKS AGAINST IS
Pro-rebel Twitter account also said Turkey carried out airstrikes on IS-targets in Al-Bab
Turkish police detain 14 ISIS suspects in south – Daily Sabah http://sabahdai.ly/bSNlya More on : http://www.mesop.de/?p=64060
Turkish supported rebels continue to battle IS militants in Aleppo
Thomas van Linge @arabthomness – #Syria: #FSA rebels of Liwa Sultan Murad continue to battle #Daesh in Dalhah (N #Aleppo) https://youtu.be/VYzPE7KIeRI
MESOP : YPG DEMANDS
YPG Demands Apology from Turkish Newspaper http://www.basnews.com/en/news/2015/08/29/ypg-demands-apology-from-turkish-newspaper/ … via @EnglishBasNews
Turkish warplanes strike IS in Syria to protect Islamist militias north of Aleppo & “safe zone” by @mitchprothero http://www.mcclatchydc.com/news/nation-world/world/middle-east/article32746296.html …
MESOP RESEARCH : The Other Foreign Fighters
An Open Source Investigation into American Volunteers Fighting the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria – A bellingcat Investigation – http://www.mesop.de/?p=64079
MESOP : THEY ALL LOVE “MAMA MERKEL” / AN “ANGEL CALLED ANGELA!”
On Syria: Germany stands out, stands up / By Joyce Karam (AL ARABIYA NEWS)
28 August 2015 – Joyce Karam – They’re calling her “Mama Merkel,” sending her love messages on twitter and showing gratitude unseen recently for a Syrian or Arab leader. Germany’s chancellor Angela Merkel is being celebrated by many Syrians this week, for defying EU rules and showing compassion to a refugee population that’s been let down all too often in the last four years. Read all: http://www.mesop.de/?p=64044
MESOP TODAYS COMMENTARY: OBAMA AND MIDDLE EAST ? – NO – NO HOPE – NO FUTURE!
Fight to Save Iraq From Islamic State, Via Syria
By Greg Sheridan – THE AUSTRALIAN – 29 Aug 2015 – The US, as Barack Obama until quite recently was wont to freely admit, has no discernible strategy for the Middle East, either for the region as a whole or for Iraq and Syria specifically. It has some strategic intent. But intent is not strategy. It wishes, Kumbaya-like, that the folks in the region would just get along. Read more: http://www.mesop.de/?p=64052
WEST KURDISTAN (SYRIA)
MESOP REPORT : Syria’s Druze ‘Not Part of This War’
29 Aug 2015 – Syria Deeply had the rare opportunity to speak to Druze – who find it increasingly difficult to maintain neutrality in the ongoing civil war – in the city of Sweida. Despite disputes within the community about whether to take a position, Syrian Druze are united in their concern about their future in the country. Religious and ethnic minorities have been targeted by Islamist armed groups in Syria throughout the last four years of bloodshed, and theDruze community is no exception. Shawki, a 24-year-old university student, says that, although it has become increasingly difficult for Druze to stay neutral, he wants no part of the fighting. Read all: http://www.mesop.de/?p=64046
MESOP FOCUS : Pentagon Not Targeting Islamic State Training Camps / No airstrikes against 60 camps producing 1,000 fighters monthly (Updated)
BY: Bill Gertz – August 28, 2015 4:40 pm – FREE BEACON – The Pentagon has not conducted airstrikes against an estimated 60 Islamic State (IS) training camps that are supplying thousands of fighters each month to the terror group, according to defense and intelligence officials.The camps are spread throughout Islamic State-controlled areas of Iraq and Syria and are off limits in the U.S.-led international bombing campaign because of concerns about collateral damage, said officials familiar with planning and execution of the yearlong bombing campaign. Watch pics etc. http://www.mesop.de/?p=64067
MESOP : IRAN’S DEMOGRAPHIC CLEANSING
Iran seeking to expel 200,000 Sunnis from Damascus — reportAl-Quds al-Arabi says move is designed to shift capital’s demographics to more a pro-Assad Shiite population
BY TIMES OF ISRAEL STAFF August 29, 2015, 11:20 am 18 – Iran is working with the Syrian regime to clear hundreds of thousands of Sunni Muslim residents from Damascus in an effort to alter the demographic makeup of the city, according to the London-based Al-Quds Al-Arabi newspaper.According to the report, the overwhelmingly Shiite Iran is helping the regime to raze homes in the relatively plush Mezzeh neighborhood of Damascus, pushing out the Sunni residents in an effort to cement local support for the regime. Read more: http://www.mesop.de/?p=64069
NORTH KURDISTAN (TURKEY)
Turkey’s Counterterrorism Policies: Targeting ISIS and the PKK / BY AARON STEIN – The Atlantic Council
Turkey has recently launched a large-scale anti-terror campaign targeting Islamic State (ISIS or ISIL) networks and suspected members of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK)—a US, EU, and Turkish designated terror group. Turkish President Recep Tayyıp Erdoğan has argued that Ankara does not distinguish between these two groups, indicating that they both pose an equal threat to Turkish security. Read all: http://www.mesop.de/?p=64048
MESOP FLASH : Ali Haydar Konca will act as EU affairs minister and Muslum Dogan as development minister, Davutoglu said in a press announcement. Both are lawmakers from the HDP.
New Turkish interim government includes two pro-Kurdish MPs
ANKARA,— 29 Aug 2015 – MESOP – Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Friday approved the makeup of the provisional government that will run the country until November 1 elections, including for the first time pro-Kurdish MPs. Read all: http://www.mesop.de/?p=64050
MESOP : CLEVERNESS BY DEMIRTAS / STUPIDITY BY ERDOGAN
Renewed talks would secure PKK ceasefire: Demirtas
30 Aug 2015 – The joint leader of Turkey’s pro-Kurdish opposition People’s Democracy Party (HDP) Selahattin Demirtas said on Saturday he expected the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) to lay down its arms if Turkey resumed negotiations with the armed group.Speaking to reporters ahead of an election rally in The Hague, Demirtas said renewed negotiations would end the flare-up in clashes between Turkish armed forces and the PKK near Turkey’s southeastern border, Zaman daily reported. Read all: http://www.mesop.de/?p=64071
Germany sentences PKK politician to three years in prison
HAMBURG,— 30. Aug 2015 – MESOP – Hamburg Supreme Court has sentenced Kurdish politician Mehmet Demir to three years in prison on charges of “membership to PKK” (Kurdistan Workers’ Party).Hamburg Supreme Court has announced the verdict in the hearing of Kurdish politician Mehmet Demir who has been jailed for the past one year. The Court Board President Klaus Rühle defended that the judiciary had to abide by the decisions anticipated by the political ruling. Predicating the verdict on a decision made by German Federal Court in 2013, the court board evaluated the PKK as “a terrorist organisation committing murders abroad in line with its objectives”
SOUTH KURDISTAN (IRAQ)
KDP Official: KRG’s Current Political Situation “Part of Democratic Process” / Presidential issues have not affected Peshmerga
Basnews | Herman Khalid – 29.08.2015 – ERBIL – Secretary of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) politburo Fazil Mirani has declared that the people should decide the Kurdistan Region’s presidential issues if political parties fail to reach an agreement. Read more: http://www.mesop.de/?p=64065
MESOP REPORT BY JUDIT NEURINK – Yazidi Kurds doubt ‘Jewish Schindler’ Steve Maman bought their women’s freedom
ERBIL-Hewler, Kurdistan region ‘Iraq’,— A group of 20 prominent Yazidis have demanded proof from Canadian Jewish businessman Steve Maman of his claims that he has bought the freedom of 128 Yazidi women and children from the Islamist terror group ISIS. Amongst the signatories are the Yazidis’ religious leader, the Baba Sheikh, and Vian Dakhil, a Yazidi member of the Iraqi Parliament.Maman has recently been branded the “Jewish Schindler” after his organization, The Liberation of Christian and Yazidi Children in Iraq (CYCI) claimed on its website to have “singlehandedly helped save over 120 Yazidi and Christian women and children from ISIS-controlled territories in Iraq.” Read all: http://www.mesop.de/?p=64086
THE GERMAN KURDISH CHAPTER
MESOP: DIE ANTIFA-DDR WAR DEUTSCH & BRAUNER – Von Frey Klier
BRAUNES ERBE DER DDR – “Neger”, “Fidschis” und die Heuchelei der Linken
Die DDR-Bürger misstrauten Normabweichungen. Und die SED bereitete den Nährboden für Rassismus und Ausländerfeindlichkeit.
Im Jahre 1993 füllte der Bundesvorsitzende der Republikaner, Franz Schönhuber, die zu dieser Zeit dünne westliche Personaldecke seiner Partei mit Kadern aus dem Osten auf. Für besonders förderungswürdig aber hielt er einen Professor, der zuvor langjähriges SED-Mitglied und Leiter des Bereiches Soziologie an der Sektion Wissenschaftlicher Kommunismus der Karl-Marx-Universität Leipzig war. Dieser wurde sächsischer Landesvorsitzender der rechtsradikalen Republikaner. Im Juni 1993 stand ein Parteitag in Augsburg an und mit ihm ein “Akt der nationalen Versöhnung”.Dementsprechend schwärmt der Parteichef von der DDR. Mal fand er: “Die DDR war viel deutscher als die Bundesrepublik. Hier herrschte noch Familiensinn und nicht diese Ellbogengesellschaft.” Read all: http://www.mesop.de/?p=64056
MESOP WORTE UNSERES FREUNDES SADEK AL AZM : “Kurden, Schiiten und Sunniten bekämpfen sich. Es erscheint vernünftig, daß sie eines Tages einsehen, daß die Regierung nicht kurdisch, sunnitisch oder schiitisch sein kann, sondern säkular sein muss, technokratisch – jedenfalls neutral gegenüber der schiitischen, der kurdischen, der sunnitischen Loyalität. Auch Europa hat das irgendwann begriffen und mit dem Westfälischen Frieden besiegelt. Und die Geschichte arbeitet!”
Der syrische Philosoph Al-Azm – Die Regierung muss säkular sein – Von Henry Bernard Levy
Der Krieg in Syrien, aber nicht nur dort, sei vielleicht ein notwendiger Prozess, sagt der syrische Philosoph Sadiq al-Azm über die Konflikte im Nahen Osten. Irgendwann, so seine Hoffnung, würden Sunniten, Schiiten und Kurden einsehen, dass nur ein säkularer Staat Frieden bringen könne. Dem Islam fehlt, um den Schritt in die Moderne gehen zu können, der Prozess der Aufklärung, der Schritt aus der “selbstgewählten Unmündigkeit”. Volltext : http://www.mesop.de/?p=64058
MESOP : KARL AUGUST WITTFOGEL UND DIE SCHWIERIGKEITEN DER ENTWICKLUNG DER DEMOKRATIE IN IRAQ UND MITTEL OST
Die hydraulische Gesellschaft
Lässt man ein gutes Jahr danach noch einmal die Argumentation der deutschen Regierung Revue passieren, mit der sie sich gegen den Irakkrieg ausgesprochen hat, und destilliert die ideologischen Untertöne heraus, so bleiben im Wesentlichen zwei praktische Argumente bestehen. Das erste besagt, dass eine Besatzung durch ausländische Truppen, zudem amerikanische, keine gerechten Verhältnisse schaffen könne, weil sie die Souveränität des irakischen Staates untergrabe und alte Feinde zu neuen Verbündeten im Kampf gegen die Befreier mache. Demokratie könne nicht einfach geliefert werden wie Waffen, und wenn die Iraker sie wollten, dann müssten sie diese selbst schaffen. – Das zweite Argument knüpft daran an, wenn auch deutlich pessimistischer. Mit Verschwinden des einenden und starken Staates würden die inneren Widersprüche zwischen Volksgruppen und Religionen offen ausbrechen, das Land würde im Bürgerkrieg versinken. Die Menschen im Irak seien nicht bereit für den schnellen Übergang in die Demokratie; vielmehr müsse diese – mit internationaler Unterstützung – als langwieriger Prozess aus dem Irak selbst erfolgen. Volltext : http://www.mesop.de/?p=64088