MESOPOTAMIA KURDISTAN DAILY INDEPENDENT NEWSSERVICE
Mezopotamian Development Society (Registered) GERMANY
THE MOST REQUESTED DAILY & ONLY INDEPENDENT NEWSSERVICE ON KURDISTAN FOR THE HIGHLY INVOLVED PEOPLE – email : mesop@online.de Watch our website : www.mesop.de
WATCH MESOP NEWSSERVICE DAILY ON FACEBOOK : https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100010720269863
MESOP TODAYS HEADLINE : A DAMNED GOOD JOB ! WE SALUTE IT !
Opinions – Trump could cause ‘the death of think tanks as we know them’
MESOP TODAYS QUOTATION IN A WORLD OF DECONSTRUCTION : ALSO FEMINISM CAN BE “FAKE”
Opinion – Ivanka Trump’s Dangerous Fake Feminism – By JILL FILIPOVIC – 16 Jan 2017 New York Times www.mesop.de
!KNOW BETTER WITH MESOP NEWS! – THE ANKARA – JERUSALEM – AXIS
The Moshe Dayan Center for Middle Eastern and African Studies is proud to present our latest issue of our monthly publication, Turkeyscope. This issue of Turkeyscope focuses on the attitude of the Israeli and Turkish media towards the bilateral relations. Israel’s Channel 2 Foreign Affairs Editor Arad Nir provides an insider’s perspective on the media’s gradual loss of interest in the Jerusalem – Ankara axis. – Sarah Jacobs contributed to this issue as assistant editor – Current Israel-Turkey relations as expressed by the media – Guest contributor Arad Nir examines the relative apathy expressed by the Turkish and Israeli media towards recent steps at normalization and reconciliation between the two countries. Read all http://www.mesop.de/?p=82086
WEST KURDISTAN (SYRIA)
MESOP BACKGROUNDER: US ZIG-ZAG DIRECTION – US supports Turkey’s campaign against PKK / JOHN KIRBY
ARA News – 16 Jan 2017 – Amsterdam – The United States backs talks between Turkey and Iraq, and also supports Turkish actions against the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), US State Department said. The Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim visited Erbil and Baghdad earlier this week to discuss the PKK withdrawal from Sinjar and the presence of the Turkish army on Iraqi soil.“We weren’t party to these meetings. Certainly, as we’ve said over and over again, we respect the sovereign right of the government in Baghdad to meet and discuss and have dialogue with neighbors and partners in the region, including Turkey,” John Kirby, the US State Department spokesperson said on Monday. Read all http://www.mesop.de/?p=82095
MESOP NEWS : WADI BARADA UPDATE – SYRIA / The killing of General Ghadban
January 16 – By Scott Lucas – eawordview – A deal to restore water supplies to Syria’s capital Damascus has collapsed after the killing of the lead negotiator and a renewal of a pro-Assad offensive. Hezbollah and regime forces have been attacking the Wadi Barada, 10 villages northwest of Damascus with between 50,000 and 100,000 people, since December 22. They have continued the assault despite a nominal ceasefire, brokered by Russia and Turkey, on December 29. President Assad has said the offensive will continue until “terrorists” leave the area.On Friday, a mutually-agreed negotiator, retired Syrian Army general Ahmad Ghadban, arranged a deal for an immediate ceasefire and access for engineers to repair the infrastructure for the al-Fija springs, damaged by regime airstrikes. The springs provide more than 60% of Damascus’s water, and their cut-off has limited supplies for more than 5 million people.Friday’s accord also set out terms for a rebel departure from Wadi Barada. However, Ghadban was shot to death on Saturday in contested circumstances. State media has said that “terrorists” assassinated him, but rebels and local activists say he was targeted by a Hezbollah sniper. http://www.mesop.de/?p=82088
MESOP NEWS ANALYSIS : What prompted Russia’s shift in stance on Syria opposition?
When 2016 was drawing to a close, Moscow surprisingly agreed to divide Syrian warring factions into “good” and “bad” guys and to recognize the idea of the “moderate opposition.”
Author Anton Mardasov Posted January 15, 2017 – AL MONITOR – On Jan. 10, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov announced the preparation of talks between the Syrian government and the armed opposition in Kazakhstan’s capital, Astana, on Jan. 23. The rebels are seriously preparing for the talks. On Jan. 11, Astana hosted a meeting between Syria’s opposition figures and the nonmilitary opposition to find common ground for the upcoming negotiations. Previously, they accepted the terms of a deal to cease hostilities and confirmed their commitment to United Nations Resolution 2254 (2015) endorsing a road map for Syria’s peace process.
Moscow’s road to the recognition of large opposition movements, including Jaish al-Islam and Ahrar al-Sham, as negotiating partners was long and tortuous. In April 2016, at the UN, Russia insisted on blacklisting Jaish al-Islam and Ahrar al-Sham. Now Russia consents to the talks with them. When the Russian Ministry of Defense published the list of seven opposition factions Dec. 29, it raised many eyebrows among domestic and foreign experts. There have been very few Russian articles and commentaries expounding on this key step by the country’s military and political establishment and on the very selection criteria. Yet Russia’s move requires explanation, as something extraordinary has happened. Read all http://www.mesop.de/?p=82101
SOUTH KURDISTAN (IRAQ)
MESOP NEWS “BEST STORY” : A SUNNI TOWN – A KURDISH TOWN – A MEMBER OF PUK
SELF – AID ! SELF AID WORKS ! SELF AID ONLY WORKS ! / JALAWLA TOWN (DIYALA)
In Disputed Iraqi Territory, Rebuilding A City Means Doing It Yourself
January 11, 20174:59 AM ET – By Jane Arraf/NPR – Shopkeepers like Omar Najeeb have made repairs and reopened after the market in Jalawla was destroyed in fighting with ISIS. Some received $500 grants from aid agencies to help with repairs.For all of the terrible things that have happened to his city of Jalawla in northern Iraq, Yacub Youssef seems like a happy man.Youssef is the sub-district director – essentially the mayor — of this small city just a few miles from Iran and about 90 miles north of Baghdad. Read all http://www.mesop.de/?p=82092
MESOP MIDDLE EAST CHAPTER
MESOP NEWS : IT’S NOW ONLY IN JARED’S HANDS – Trump: Jared Kushner will ‘broker Mideast peace’ for the White House
ByMichael Wilner – 16 January 2017 08:20 – Kushner has no previous diplomatic experience, but steered Trump’s foreign policy throughout his presidential campaign and subsequent presidential transition.
WASHINGTON — While serving as a senior adviser in the White House, Donald Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, will work to “broker a Middle East peace deal,” the president-elect said over the weekend. – In an interview with the Times of London, Trump said that Kushner, Ivanka Trump’s husband, would to take on the task of negotiating peace between Israelis and Palestinians– an appointment Trump has previously floated due to the fact that Kushner “knows the region, knows the people, knows the players,” Trump described in a previous interview. Read all http://www.mesop.de/?p=82097
MESOP BACKGROUNDER: THE ISRAEL – US RELATIONS / A GENERAL SUMMARY
Out with the Old, In with the New
By Maj. Gen. (res.) Yaakov Amidror, January 16, 2017 – BESA Center Perspectives Paper No. 395 – BESA Center Perspectives Papers are published through the generosity of the Greg Rosshandler Family.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: President Barack Obama has eroded the US’s superpower status and is leaving behind a far more dangerous world than the one he inherited. A Trump administration gives Israel reason to be optimistic, although it must bear in mind that he is a very shrewd businessman.One cannot help but admire the American public, which eight years ago elected Barack Obama as the country’s first African-American president. The genuine elation and joy in the streets of New York City, where I was when he was sworn in, reflected the change American society had undergone.Obama assumed office with a very solid worldview. He believed many of the challenges the US was facing globally stemmed from its forceful conduct and ability to impose its will on other nations. In his view, many of Washington’s international failures stemmed from the fact that it had not tried to improve ties with its adversaries. Read all http://www.mesop.de/?p=82099
THE GERMAN CHAPTER
MESOP “BRAVE MODERN TIMES” : NUR NOCH DAS “WAHRE” – “GUTE” – “VORGEPRÜFTE”
FAZ 16 Jan 2017: Das Rechennetzwerk „Correctiv“ wird bei facebook in Kürze zur „Herausfilterung“ von „Falschmeldungen“ und „fake news“ zum Einsatz kommen. Die Bundesregierung will das mit „Bußgeldern“ unterstützen und einer Vorprüfeinrichtung von Meldungen beim Bundespresseamt in Berlin. Der Rechtwissenschaftler Rolf Schwartmann schlägt vor, Meinungen, Meldungen etc. mit einem Prädikat wie „Made in Germany“ zu versehen: „Classic Media Contest“!
Ganz große „Classic!“ – Wenn das der FÜHRER noch erlebt hätte! (www.mesop.de )