MESOPOTAMIA NEWS : THE BARZANI’S IN SOUTH KURDISTAN / IRAQ

Iraqi Kurdish court sentences photojournalist Qaraman Shukri to 7 years in prison in secret trial

Iraqi Kurdish recently sentenced photojournalist Qaraman Shukri to seven years in prison. (Photo: Qaraman Shukri)
New York, June 28, 2021 — In response to the sentencing of Iraqi Kurdish photojournalist Qaraman Shukri to seven years in prison in a secret trial, the Committee to Protect Journalists issued the following statement:

“Kurdish authorities in northern Iraq are making an appalling habit of sentencing journalists to prison without any regard for due process and for the rights and freedoms they claim to defend,” said CPJ’s Middle East and North Africa representative, Ignacio Miguel Delgado. “The Kurdish regional government should immediately release photojournalist Qaraman Shukri, drop the charges against him, and stop imposing harsh prison sentences on members of the press.”

On June 24, Shukri told his mother during a prison visit that he had been sentenced to seven years in prison during a closed trial without a lawyer present, according to news reports and the journalist’s brother, Zeravan Shukri, who spoke to CPJ today via messaging app. Shukri did not say when the trial took place or what laws he was convicted of violating, according to those sources. The journalist’s brother said the family is planning to send a lawyer to Zirka Prison, where Shukri is detained in the northwestern city of Duhok, to determine whether they can appeal the verdict.

Asayish security forces affiliated with Iraqi Kurdistan’s ruling Democratic Party of Kurdistan arrested Shukri, a freelance photojournalist who has contributed to the news website Rojnews and the broadcaster Sterk TV, on January 27, as CPJ documented at the time. In an email in February, Dindar Zebari, the Kurdistan regional government’s international advocacy coordinator, accused Shukri of violating Article 156 of the Iraqi penal code, a clause banning acts intended to violate the country’s unity, independence, or security; violations can be punished by life in prison.

Separately, the Kurdistan Region’s Court of Appeals yesterday upheld the six-year prison sentences of freelance journalists Sherwan Amin Sherwani and Guhdar Zebari, also for allegedly violating national security laws, according to news reports and the Metro Center for Journalists’ Rights and Advocacy, a local press freedom group.

Zebari did not immediately reply to CPJ’s emailed request for comment on the recent verdict.

MESOPOTAMIA NEWS FOCUS : DETERRING MILITIAS IN IRAQ: WHAT WORKS AND WHAT DOESN’T

by Michael Knights  – PolicyWatch 3506 – June 28, 2021

Striking back one time in twelve will not stop Iranian proxy attacks, so Washington must consider more consistent and painful retaliation in order to protect Americans in the Middle East.

On June 28, the United States struck three militia sites—two in Syria and one in Iraq—in retaliation for escalating drone attacks against U.S. sites in Iraq. The nighttime strikes appear to have hit drone storage and testing facilities, causing material damage and up to five fatalities. Yet the Biden administration needs to do much more if it hopes to repair U.S. deterrence—thus far, it has struck back just twice in response to twenty-four rocket and drone attacks over the past five months. If this response ratio continues, militias will simply keep escalating, and American lives will be lost.

The Deterrence Scorecard: Two Administrations

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MESOPOTAMIA NEWS : DAS LETZTE KAPITEL DER KURDISCHEN ARBEITERPARTEI PKK ?

Berichte: Kämpfe zwischen türkischer Armee und PKK verschärfen sich

27 Juni 2021 21:16 Uhr RUSSIA TODAY –Seit fast 40 Jahren tobt der Kampf zwischen der kurdischen Partei PKK, von der Türkei als Terrororganisation eingestuft, und den türkischen Streitkräften. Angesichts der Abhängigkeit des türkischen Präsidenten Erdoğan von Ultranationalisten ist ein Frieden nicht in Sicht.

Archivbild: PKK-Kämpfer im Norden Iraks

In den letzten Tagen ist es in den kurdisch besiedelten südöstlichen Gebieten der Türkei zu einer Eskalation des bewaffneten Kampfes zwischen den türkischen Streitkräften und Kämpfern der unter anderem in der Türkei und Deutschland als Terrororganisation eingestuften Arbeiterpartei Kurdistans (PKK) gekommen. Der bewaffnete Flügel der PKK, die HPG, meldete laut der PKK-nahen Nachrichtenagentur ANF, dass “mindestens 16 Besatzer bestraft” wurden.

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MESOPOTAMIA NEWS : THE BARZANI’S CONTRA PKK/PYD /SYRIA/IRAQ) PYD: arrest of our comrades is targeting of our party; they must be released immediately

The Democratic Union Party (PYD) considered the kidnapping of its members by the security forces in Erbil as “a targeting of the party and in implementation of the policies of the enemies who failed in all their attempts to liquidate the Kurds”, calling for their immediate release again.

POLITICS 27 Jun 2021, Sun – 17:43 2021-06-27T17:43:00 NEWS DESK  -The General Council of the Democratic Union Party (PYD) called, in a statement issued today, a copy of which we received, to end “these provocations that are far from the simplest rules of human rights and national values ​​and without any justification.”

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MESOPOTAMIA NEWS : Iraq Condemns US Airstrike on Shia Militia Facilities

Basnews English 2021/06/28 – 13:49 Iraq ERBIL — The Iraqi military has condemned the airstrikes by the United States which hit several facilities belonging to the Iran-backed Shia militias.

“We condemn the US airstrike that targeted a site on the Iraqi-Syrian border last night, which represents a blatant and unacceptable violation of Iraq’s sovereignty and Iraqi national security in accordance with all international conventions,” said Yehia Rasool, the spokesperson for the Iraqi commander-in-chief.

He noted that Baghdad refuses any moves which could turn Iraq into an arena for settling disputes of others.

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CRIMINAL ERDOGAN : ! MESOPOTAMIA NEWS KURDISTN-IRAQ : CRIMINAL ERDOGAN ! – Turkish airstrikes in Duhok kill dozens of livestock, damage villages

Halgurd Sherwani  – Dozens of sheep were killed in a Turkish airstrike in the Amedi district of the Kurdistan Region’s Duhok province, June 24, 2021. ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – More than 80 sheep were killed in the Kurdistan Region’s Duhok province in one of five Turkish airstrikes that also caused significant material damage, according to a local official.

Starting at dawn on Thursday, Turkish aircraft carried out raids throughout the day on Spindar and Mizhe villages in the Amedi district in northeast Duhok, Ismael Mustafa, the head of Amedi district, told Kurdistan 24 on Friday.

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MESOPOTAMIA NEWS : Iraq 2021-2022: A Forecast – By Institute for the study of war (ISW)

The United States cannot stabilize—or safely deprioritize—the Middle East without first stabilizing Iraq. Regional powers treat Iraq as a battleground to carry out proxy conflicts that harm US interests and exacerbate instability through the region. Stability begets stability; strengthening the Iraqi state such that foreign proxy wars cannot easily take place within its borders would reduce tensions in the region. A more resilient Iraqi state will be better protected from future foreign interference like internationally sponsored militia activities, political influence, and jihadism. A stable and sovereign Iraq could provide a physical and political buffer between its heavyweight neighbors: Iran, Turkey, and Saudi Arabia, and between Iran and its projects in Syria and Lebanon. That buffer could help enable a desired pivot in US policy and security focus away from the Middle East and toward pressing concerns elsewhere in the world.

 Iraq’s stability is, in many ways, outside its control; its difficult internal dynamics are likely to be overwhelmed by larger and more threatening regional ones. Iran, Saudi Arabia, other Gulf states, Israel, and Turkey each play out their conflicts on Iraqi territory, destabilizing Iraq and the broader Middle East. Of these conflicts, those involving Iran are the most dangerous and carry the highest risk for Iraq and the region. The United States must work to manage or suppress the most negative external conflicts, thereby creating room for Iraq’s domestic system to evolve into one that is stronger, less corrupt, and more representative.

Read full report https://www.facebook.com/antje.hein.372/posts/4382170308480397?comment_id=4387403231290438&notif_id=1624395065174183&notif_t=feedback_reaction_generic_tagged&ref=notif

MESOPOTAMIA NEWS –  IRAK 2021-2022: EINE PROGNOSE / Institute for the study of war (ISW)

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 

Die Vereinigten Staaten können den Nahen Osten nicht stabilisieren – oder sicher depriorisieren –, ohne zuvor den Irak zu stabilisieren. Regionale Mächte betrachten den Irak als Schlachtfeld, um Stellvertreterkonflikte zu führen, die den US-Interessen schaden und die Instabilität in der Region verschärfen. Stabilität bringt Stabilität; Die Stärkung des irakischen Staates, so dass ausländische Stellvertreterkriege nicht ohne weiteres innerhalb seiner Grenzen stattfinden können, würde die Spannungen in der Region verringern. Ein widerstandsfähigerer irakischer Staat wird besser vor künftigen ausländischen Einmischungen wie international gesponserten Milizenaktivitäten, politischem Einfluss und Dschihadismus geschützt werden. Ein stabiler und souveräner Irak könnte einen physischen und politischen Puffer zwischen seinen schwergewichtigen Nachbarn iran, türkei und Saudi-Arabien sowie zwischen dem Iran und seinen Projekten in Syrien und im Libanon schaffen. Dieser Puffer könnte dazu beitragen, einen gewünschten Dreh- und Angelpunkt in der US-Politik und dem Sicherheitsfokus weg vom Nahen Osten und hin zu drängenden Sorgen in anderen Teilen der Welt zu ermöglichen.

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MESOPOTAMIA NEWS : PKK Commander Surrendered to Peshmerga Reveals PKK’s Plots against Kurdistan

BasNews 2021/06/21 – 20:19 –  ERBIL — Kurdistan Region’s Security Council (KRSC) on Monday published the confession of a surrendered regional commander of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) about the party’s provocative plans against the Peshmerga Forces of Kurdistan.

Inan Ahmed Mirza Chelik, known Ozgur Jiyanda, 31, abandoned the PKK earlier in June after the party carried out an attack on the Peshmerga forces in Matina Mountains of Amedi area and killed five Peshmerga soldiers while several others were injured.

In a video recording, in which Jiyanda appears unstressed and comfortable next to a Kurdistan flag, he said he could not continue with the PKK after it insisted on pointing its weapon at fellow Kurds.

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MESOPOTAMIA NEWS : THE INNER-KURDISH WAR GOES ON

Former PKK commander describes Asayish assassination, Peshmerga killings in Kurdistan Region Security Council video

Hiwa Shilani   –  Inan Ahmed Mirza Chelik explains that he is a former PKK commander in a video released by the Kurdistan Region Security Council (KRSC). – ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – The Kurdistan Region Security Council (KRSC) on Monday released a video showing a man describing his personal history as a commander of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) who speaks of witnessing the party’s aggressive policy against the autonomous region of Iraq.

The video, similar to some confession videos released by the KRSC in the past, showcased the commander, named Inan Ahmed Mirza Chelik, who explains that he witnessed multiple PKK plots against the Peshmerga or other security forces, including the October assassination of an Asayish security official at the Sarzeri border-crossing and the killing of five Peshmerga near mount Matin in early June.

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