Mezopotamian Development Society (Registered) GERMANY – FRANKFURT
THE MOST REQUESTED DAILY & ONLY INDEPENDENT NEWSSERVICE ON KURDISTAN FOR THE HIGHLY INVOLVED PEOPLE – email : mesop@online.de – Watch our website : www.mesop.de
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MESOP — Letter From Europe – Migrant Influx in Germany Raises Fears of Anti-Semitism
By ALISON SMALE – Apprehension is growing over the arrival of thousands of Muslims raised in countries where anti-Semitism and anti-Israeli sentiment are virulent. New York Times – 27 Jan 2016
MESOP : ROUHANI VISITING – Veiled statues in Rome – Open gallows in Tehran
Syrian children in bombed-out Aleppo ‘protest’ against Iranian intervention as President Rouhani visits Europe: – President Rouhani continued his European tour with a meeting with Pope Francis on Tuesdayhttp://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/syrian-children-in-bombed-out-aleppo-protest-against-iranian-intervention-as-president-rouhani-a6835066.html
MESOP BACKGROUND : Salih Muslim’s brother slams Syrian Kurdish PYD / A stalinistic System
PYD leader Salih Muslim’s brother, Dr. Mustafa Muslim, criticises PYD for intimidating other Kurdish groups in northern Syria
Dr Mustafa Muslim, the brother of Salih Muslim, the co-head of the Syrian Kurdish PYD, has said that the PYD represents only 10 percent of the Kurds in Syria and the reason for its strength is the fact that it has weapons. Speaking to Turkey’s Anadolu Agency, Mustafa Muslim said the PYD was detaining all those opposed to it and does not want to see different ideologies to it arising among Syrian Kurds.Himself an exile from the Kurdish regions of northern Syria, also known as Rojava, the 60-year-old theology professor who works in Zehra University in the southeastern Turkish province of Gaziantep was one of the critics silenced by his own brother. Read more http://www.mesop.de/?p=70581
MESOP TODAYS RELEVANT TWEETS & SHORT CUTS
MESOP : SENSATIONAL SUCCESS FOR ERDOGAN BY BRUSSELS
Raziye Akkoc Retweeted Burak Doğan – Turkish PM: Our citizens will be able to travel to Europe visa-free by October at the latest
Başbakan Davutoğlu: En geç ekim ayında vatandaşlarımızın Avrupa’ya vizesiz olarak seyahat etmesini sağlayacağız. www.mesop.de
MESOP : OLD PEACE PROCESS & NEW CIRCUMSTANCES
#Turkey – HDP calls for re-launch of Kurdish peace process – POLITICS http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/Default.aspx?pageID=238&nID=94399&NewsCatID=338 … via @HDNER
MESOP : FINISHING WITH KDP & PUK & GORRAN ?
Rawand @CawSor 5h5 hours ago – This article is poignant & captures my negative outlook on KRG so well. When will the people say enough is enough?
Rawand added, Denise Natali @dnataliDC
A sobering explanation of why Kurds are leaving their homeland en masse. Same article written in 2001, reprinted. http://ekurd.net/why-kurds-leaving-homeland-2016-01-27 …
MESOP : THE LAST DAYS OF EUROPE – SOLD BY LEFT ITALIAN GOVERNMENT
Foreign Policy @ForeignPolicy 14h14 hours ago
Italy wants business deals with Iran so badly they covered up nude statues. http://atfp.co/1ShYnJq .
MESOP : PREPARING GENEVA – BACKGROUND INFOS
Jihad @Makdissi has declined to attend the first round of #Syria talks in #Geneva & he hopes to “contribute later.”
PTs: The full statement issued by #Syria’s opposition team, requesting clarifications before deciding on #Geneva: www.mesop.de
MESOP : THE UN & WESTERN DIALOGUE PARTNER ASSAD
WHO’s Elizabeth Hoff: #Syria regime repeatedly removes medical equipment for children from UN facilities in #Homs
@UNICEF’s Hanna Singer: 2 million #Syria children out of school. 1/4 schools inoperable. Child soldiers rising.
UN #Syria Resident Yacoub El Hillo: 50% population displaced. 67% live in poverty. Schools & hospitals hit daily.
MESOP INTERVIEW : Saudi Ambassador To Iraq Thamer Sabhan Insinuates Iraqi Government Involved In Anti-Sunni Ethnic Cleansing Near Iran’s Border
Thamer Al-Sabhan: “Let me ask you: How come in some Iraqi areas – like the Kurdish areas and Al-Anbar – they refused to let the Popular Mobilization Units (PMU) enter?”
Interviewer: “Why?” / Thamer Al-Sabhan: “I don’t know. You can ask them.” / Interviewer: “Perhaps you know, but don’t want to tell…”
Thamer Al-Sabhan: “No. I just want to show you that the PMU are not welcomed by Iraqi society.”
Interviewer: “You must have followed or heard about what happened in Muqdadiyah and Diyala – it got a lot of press coverage in the Arab world. How do you view what happened? What conclusions did you draw from it?” – Watch all : http://www.mesop.de/?p=70552
MESOP TODAYS OPINION BY DAVID IGNATIUS / THE OUTCOME OF THE INSS CONFERENCE TEL AVIV
Why is Israel so cautious on the Islamic State? A recent war game explains why.
By David Ignatius Opinion writer January 26 – Washington Post – TEL AVIV – Let’s say Islamic State fighters attack an Israeli military patrol along the Syrian border. They try unsuccessfully to kidnap an Israeli soldier, and they kill four others. A Jordanian border post is hit, too, and the Islamic State proclaims it has control of Daraa province in southern Syria.
How do Israel and other key players respond? In a war game played here last week, they retaliated, but cautiously. The players representing Israel and Jordan wanted to avoid a pitched battle against the terrorists — they looked to the United States for leadership.This simulation exercise was run by Israel’s Institute for National Security Studies (INSS) as part of its annual conference. The outcome illustrated the paradoxical reality of the conflict against the Islamic State: Israel and Jordan act with caution and restraint, hoping to avoid being drawn deeper into the chaotic Syrian war, even as the United States escalates its involvement. Read all http://www.mesop.de/?p=70578
WEST KURDISTAN (SYRIA)
MESOP “NOW MEDIA – BEIRUT”: Putin’s OWN Oecalan (PYD/PKK) army at the Syrian COLONY ?
Al-Akhbar claimed that Moscow offered to help the Kurds seize the ISIS-held border town of Jarabulus.
BEIRUT – NOW MEDIA BEIRUT – 26/01/2016 01:26 PM – Top ranking Russian officers have met with Syrian Kurdish officials in northeastern Syria to hold preliminary talks on military coordination, according to a leading pro-regime daily. “At the beginning of last month a Russian general accompanied by four officers visited the city of Qamishli and met with Kurdish officials,” Lebanese newspaper Al-Akhbar reported Tuesday morning. Read all http://www.mesop.de/?p=70566
MESOP REPORT : France’s FM says Kurds won’t attend Syria peace talks in Geneva / PKK/PYD NOT INVITED TO GENEVA
January 27, 2016 by REUTERS / MESOP – PARIS,— France’s foreign minister said on Wednesday the United Nations’ special envoy to Syria had told him that he would not be inviting the most powerful Kurdish party in Syrian Kurdistan, the Democratic Union Party (PYD), to peace talks in Geneva and that a Riyadh-backed opposition group would lead the negotiations.
“Mr (Staffan) de Mistura sent invitations … the PYD group was causing the most problems, and Mr de Mistura told me he had not sent them an invitation letter,” Laurent Fabius told France Culture radio.Fabius said de Mistura had also confirmed to him that a Riyadh-formed opposition group would lead negotiations even though other opponents could also be present.“ Read all http://www.mesop.de/?p=70576
MESOP BACKGROUND – Syria Daily: No Opposition-Rebel Bloc at “Peace Talks” on Friday
January 27 – By Scott Lucas – eaworldview – Syria’s main opposition-rebel bloc has confirmed that it will not attend UN-brokered talks in Geneva on Friday.
After meeting on Tuesday, the bloc said that it was suspending involvement in the process because preconditions for discussions had not been met. These included ceasefires with a halt to Russian and regime bombing, release of detainees from regime prisons, and humanitarian aid for besieged areas. It reiterated in a statement and in letters to the UN that the confidence-building measures must be implemented to ensure a productive engagement with the Assad regime. Watch all : http://www.mesop.de/?p=70569
MESOP : NEITHER PUTIN nor OBAMA thank him – Saleh Muslim: PYD not Invited to Geneva Talks / PYD Leader says they have not received an invitation to the U.N.-mediated Syria peace talks
Hawar Abdulrazaq – BasNews – 27 Jan 2016 – QAMISHLO – Saleh Muslim, the leader of the Kurdish PYD party, has not received an invitation to the U.N.-mediated Syria peace talks in Geneva and is not aware of any Kurdish representatives getting an invitation, he said on Tuesday. Read more http://www.mesop.de/?p=70586
MESOP LATEST ON GENEVA : Syrian Opposition Requests Clarification after Invitation to Talks
U.N. Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura sent out official invitations yesterday to peace talks set to begin in Geneva on Friday, though he did not release the list of groups invited to participate, citing the sensitivity of the subject. The opposition’s High Negotiations Council, which is currently meeting in Riyadh, said it appreciated its invitation but has requested clarification from the United Nations about a resolution that called on the warring parties to halt certain tactics, such as sieges and targeting civilian areas, before the start of talks. www.mesop.de
MESOP : RUSSIAN AIRSTRIKES IN SYRIA 20 – 25 Jan 2016 – OVERVIEW
By Jodi Brignola (ISW) – The Russian air campaign in Syria enabled strategic gains in the regime’s longstanding effort to buffer its coastal heartland in Latakia from January 23 – 25. Russian strikes targeted opposition-held positions along the frontline in both Jebel al-Akrad and Jebel Turkmen mountain ranges in Northern Latakia, facilitating the regime’s seizure of the town of Rabi’ah, the last major opposition-held town in the province on January 24. The regime’s clearing operations in northern Latakia were enabled by Russian air support and were also reportedly guided by Russian advisers on the ground who likely contributed to the operation’s success. The regime’s consolidation of territory in northeastern Latakia comes after the seizure of Salma by pro-regime forces on January 12, which penetrated the opposition’s defensive line and left opposition forces vulnerable to further regime gains. The Russian air campaign has prioritized the preservation of regime-held territory, especially on the coast and in the central corridor, since its inception. Read all http://www.mesop.de/?p=70554
MEMRI Inquiry & Analysis Report No. 1221
Local Ceasefire Agreements In Syria: Capitulation To Regime’s Siege-And-Starvation Strategy Under UN Sponsorship
By: N. Mozes* – Introduction – For over two years, the regime of Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad has been implementing a policy of siege and starvation in areas of Syria where it encountered harsh resistance by armed opposition forces. But the main victim of this policy has been the unarmed civilian population. While it weakens the opposition forces, this strategy is also aimed at exhausting the civilian support and causing it to reject these opposition forces, which the regime can leverage to pressure the opposition into signing local ceasefire agreements. The regime calls these agreements, which are de facto surrender by the opposition forces, “national reconciliations” or “local reconciliations.” Read all http://www.mesop.de/?p=70560
MESOP SPECIAL
MESOP : PUTIN UNDER PRESSURE – THE ISLAMIC STATE COMES TO RUSSIA
By Anna Borshchevskaya – Journal of International Security Affairs – January 2016 – Moscow’s decision to intervene in Syria is spurring further radicalization and terrorist recruitment among Russian Muslims, and the government’s response at home and abroad has not helped the situation. Read all http://www.mesop.de/?p=70550
MESOP : NEWS FROM THE WORLD OF LBGTI – NO MORE GREEK OVID IN CLASSROOMS !
Our identities matter in Core classrooms – By Kai Johnson , Tanika Lynch , Elizabeth Monroe , and Tracey Wang
During a forum hosted by the Multicultural Affairs Advisory Board on Literature Humanities last semester, a student shared an experience with an audience of instructors and fellow students. This experience, she said, came to define her relationship to her Lit Hum class and to Core material in general.During the week spent on Ovid’s “Metamorphoses,” the class was instructed to read the myths of Persephone and Daphne, both of which include vivid depictions of rape and sexual assault. As a survivor of sexual assault, the student described being triggered while reading such detailed accounts of rape throughout the work. However, the student said her professor focused on the beauty of the language and the splendor of the imagery when lecturing on the text. http://columbiaspectator.com/opinion/2015/04/30/our-identities-matter-core-classrooms
NORTH KURDISTAN (TURKEY)
MESOP REPORT : ERDOGAN BOMBS CHRISTIANS IN NORTH IRAQ
Assyrian Confederation of Europe Calls for End to Turkish Bombings of Assyrian Areas
Stockholm (AINA) — A coalition of Assyrian organizations in Europe has issued a statement calling on Turkey to stop bombing Assyrian villages in Iraq. Under the pretext of fighting against Kurdish PKK forces, Turkey has bombed Assyrian villages in Iraq which it suspects harbor PKK fighters (AINA 2016-01-18). Some Assyrian villages have been forcefully occupied by PKK fighters, as well as Muslim villages, but Turkey has only bombed Assyrian villages to date (AINA 2015-12-03).Here is the statement by the Assyrian Confederation of Europe: Read all http://www.mesop.de/?p=70571
Turkey Destroys 15 PKK Shelters in Southeast
2016-01-27 Hurriyet – The Turkish military has destroyed 15 areas used as shelters by outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) militants in southeastern Turkey in a comprehensive military operation targeting the militant group. Following a series of raids early Jan. 25 on 50 separate homes believe to be used by militants, the counterterrorism unit of the police department in the southeastern province of Siirt raided 120 separate areas, 15 of which were later determined to be used as shelters by militants from the group and demolished, the state-run Anadolu Agency reported. Read all http://www.mesop.de/?p=70574
SOUTH KURDISTAN IRAQ)
MESOP : TURMOIL IN KRG COUNTRY – Protesters halt oil tankers in Erbil
Oil tankers driving along a torn-up road, on Jan. 26, 2016, that has become the subject of protests in Qush Tappa, Erbil. (REBIN FATAH/Iraq Oil Report)
By REBIN FATAH AND PATRICK OSGOOD of Iraq Oil Report – Tuesday, January 26th, 2016
Around 50 protestors are blocking an oil trucking route south of Erbil city, the latest sign of growing public discontent over Kurdistan’s economic problems and unpaid salaries. The rally, staged by residents of villages in and around Qush Tappa, around 20 kilometers south of Erbil city, blocked a road between Erbil and Kirkuk, hampering the daily procession of oil tanker trucks that barrel down the road to and from a cluster of small, private refineries. www.mesop.de
MESOP – Iqtisadi: How the KRG Quasi-State Built an Independent Oil Industry / Moshe Dayan Center
The MDC Steinhardt-Israel Institute Intern Eliyahu Kamisher explains how the Kurdish quasi-state managed to sidestep Baghdad and construct an independent oil industry that exports to the international market. – Author: Eliyahu Kamisher
Although the Kurdish Regional Government (KRG) is not independent, it has managed to create an independent oil industry resembling that of a sovereign state. Oil revenues from the Kurd’s independent oil exports, totaling over $3.2 billion between June 2015 and November 2015, have further solidified the KRG’s quasi-state status. Read all http://www.mesop.de/?p=70584
MESOP : BETTING ON TRUMP ? – Barzani demands referendum for Kurdish state before US polls
27 Jan 2016 – MESOP – Kurdistan Region President Massoud Barzani told political parties on Tuesday that a referendum on the region’s independence from Iraq should take place before the US presidential election in November. Read all http://www.mesop.de/?p=70590
THE GERMAN KURDISH CHAPTER
MESOP : CHRISTO VERHÜLLT SICH / ABENDLAND IN BURKA – ROUHANI IN ROM
26 Jan 2016 – # In Italien lässt man Statuen im Vatikan verhüllen, um beim Staatsbesuch die „religiösen Gefühle“ des iranischen Präsidenten und Geistlichen Hassan Rohani nicht zu verletzen. Es geht um Geschäfte im Wert von 17 Milliarden Euro – da kann man die eigene Kultur schon mal verleugnen! Am gleichen Tag vermeldet Amnesty International, dass Dutzenden Jugendlichen im Iran die Todesstrafe droht und so viele Urteile wie noch nie vollstreckt wurden. In der Amtszeit Rohanis waren es knapp 2000. – Seit Juni 2013! www.mesop.de