MESOPOTAMIA KURDISTAN INDEPENDENT DAILY NEWSLETTER / WHAT NOW ? PKK ?
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
MESOP TODAYS FLASH
MESOP : THE OBAMA & PKK COALITION = STOP AND GO ! (NEW YORK TIMES)
“The backbone of these forces are the Kurdish groups because of their experience fighting ISIS and their numbers,” said Redur Xelil, a spokesman for Syria’s dominant Kurdish force, the Y.P.G. But he talked about how that could be a limiting factor in fighting for cities like Raqqa, the Islamic State’s headquarters in Syria: “We have to be realistic that the Y.P.G. can’t go by itself into Raqqa, or people will say, ‘What are you doing there?’ ”A newly appointed spokesman for the alliance briefed reporters in Syria beneath a yellow banner bearing its name in Kurdish, Arabic and Assyrian – Read all http://www.mesop.de/?p=67089
MESOP TODAYS COMENTARY
AMERICA’S LEAST-KNOWN MIDEAST MILITARY FORCE
By David Schenker – Politico – November 1, 2015 – A tragic plane crash should put a spotlight on the status of Washington’s commitment to an important Sinai peacekeeping force. Read all http://www.mesop.de/?p=67076
Charles Lister @Charles_Lister 5h5 hours ago – As strikes continue, there’s a lot of anger in #Douma these days, but this is no way to gain international favour: Jabhat al-Nusra (AQ) has captured an Iranian Safir jeep (equipped with 106mm recoilless rifle) in southern #Aleppo: www.mesop.de
WEST KURDISTAN (SYRIA)
MESOP : PKK/PYD TRIES WITH PUTIN – Syrian Kurds Exploit Russian Presence to Strengthen Hand
By Erika Solomon in Beirut and Geoff Dyer – Financial Times – Posted 2015-11-01 17:15 GMT – They have been the most valuable ally to the US-led coalition against Isis in Syria — but now Syria’s Kurdish forces could become its biggest headache. As the US-led coalition tries to step up its offensive on Islamist militants Isis, Syria’s dominant Kurdish faction is making its own plans. In recent weeks, it announced a new autonomous district in northern Syria, a decision that has riled neighbouring Turkey, a coalition partner that hosts airbases for US jets.
More worryingly, observers say, the Democratic Union party (known by its Kurdish acronym PYD) is also discussing its ambitions for greater self-rule in diplomatic meetings with Russia Read all: http://www.mesop.de/?p=67062
MESOP : A PYD/PKK COALITION JOINTLY WITH US COALITION
Syrian Democratic Forces Announce Plan to Secure Hasakah Province / Kurdish and Arab joint force will be supported by coalition jets
Basnews – 02.11.2015 16:04 – QAMISHLI – The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), “consisting of Kurds, Arabs, Assyrians and all others living in the geographical locations of Syria”, according to a statement which accompanied the announcement of its formation last month, has announced the start of an offensive that intends to eventually take the entirety of Hasakah Province back from Islamic State (IS).The group is made up of units of the Syrian Kurdish YPG and YPJ forces, the Syrian Arab Coalition and the Syriac Military Council and is backed with weapons and airstrikes from the US. Read all: http://www.mesop.de/?p=67082
MESOP : List of Russian Airstrikes in Syria – October 23 – November 1, 2015
By Genevieve Casagrande and Jodi Brignola (ISW) – Key Takeaway: The Russian Ministry of Defense (MoD) discontinued the release of daily airstrike reports from October 28 – November 1 amidst multilateral talks on the Syrian Civil War held in Vienna on October 30 and continued reports of civilian casualties. Nevertheless, credible local sources continued to report airstrikes in Dera’a, Damascus, Homs, Hama, Idlib, and Aleppo from October 31 – November 1. Russian airstrikes predominantly targeted rebel-held areas in Aleppo Province in conjunction with regime ground offensives against ISIS in the southeastern countryside of Aleppo and rebel forces southwest of Aleppo City. Local activist reporting claimed that Russian airstrikes and regime forces killed 64, including 28 children in Aleppo on October 31 alone. Read all http://www.mesop.de/?p=67087
MESOP : OBAMA’S BOOTS ON ROJAVA’S GROUND –
New U.S.-Backed Alliance to Counter ISIS in Syria Falters / NEW YORK TIMES
By BEN HUBBARDNOV. 2, 2015 – EIN EISSA, Syria — Weeks after the Obama administration canceled a failed Pentagon program to train and arm Syrian rebels to combat the Islamic State, American officials announced a new effort to equip newly named ground forces in Syria to fight the jihadists.But 10 days of interviews and front-line visits across northern Syria with many of the forces in the alliance made clear that so far it exists in name only, and that the political and logistical challenges it faces are daunting. Read all http://www.mesop.de/?p=67089
SOUTH KURDISTAN (IRAQ)
MESOP : RECOMMENDATION
Interesting piece on Ayatollah Sistani’s more interventionist role in #Iraq‘s politics. http://nyti.ms/1MAS9Ea
MESOP – THE STRANGE VAN WILGENBURG TRANSFORMATION : In earlier times a hard core active critic of PKK – Today APO’s intensive fellow traveler
Wladimir van Wilgenburg – Kurds divided over Sinjar
Nowmedia – 2 Nov 2015 – SINJAR, SYRIA — Kurdish forces are gearing up to take the city of Sinjar (aka Shingal), where thousands of Yazidis were massacred, the women enslaved by ISIS. But political rivalry between Kurdish forces could hamper advances and lead to tensions. Read all: http://www.mesop.de/?p=67068
MESOP : MEMRI Inquiry & Analysis Series Report – November 2, 2015Inquiry & Analysis Series Report No.1199
In Iraq, Public Debate Over Russian Involvement, Disappointment At U.S. Failure Against ISIS – By: Y. Graff*
Introduction – In late September 2015, prior to his departure for New York to attend the UN General Assembly, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider Al-‘Abadi announced the establishment of a joint intelligence center in Baghdad for Iraq, Iran, Syria, and Russia. The intelligence center, he said, would focus on collecting intelligence on the Islamic State (ISIS) so as to assist the Iraqi army in combating it, and would be staffed by military and intelligence personnel from these four countries. Read all: http://www.mesop.de/?p=67074
Iraq Situation Report: October 27 – November 2, 2015 BY ISW – By Patrick Martin and ISW Iraq Team
Key Take-Away: PM Haidar al-Abadi suffered a serious blow in his bid to reform and lead the government on November 2 when the Council of Representatives (CoR) unanimously ruled to withdraw his ability to launch reform packages unilaterally. CoR members voiced support for the reforms, but worded the motion as enforcing the separation of powers and keeping legislative powers within the CoR. PM Abadi’s loss is Maliki’s gain, as Maliki has capitalized on resistance to PM Abadi’s reforms by openly speaking out against them and using his allies within the SLA to spearhead criticism of PM Abadi’s governing style. PM Abadi has lost the confidence of the political blocs who supported his reform packages with his unilateral approach to introducing reforms, and the outcome of the vote was a response to his most recent and controversial reforms. http://www.mesop.de/?p=67093
NORTH KURDISTAN (TURKEY)
MESOP : TURKISH ELECTION ANALYSIS BY CFR / HURRIYET & FINANCIAL TIMES
“The outcome of the elections is irrelevant to the larger story in Turkey, which is how familiar the violence, tawdry politics, and economic uncertainty all feel. This is the astonishing irony of the AKP era. The president’s political needs in the service of personal and national ambition have actually brought Turkey full circle,” writes CFR’s Steven Cook.
“Although the June 7 elections were both free and equal, the conditions of Nov. 1 were much poorer than the previous one. In the last five months, the Turkish media was under growing pressure, with physically violent attacks on independent media outlets and journalists by the pro-government figures and newspapers,” writes Serkan Demirtaş for Hurriyet.
“But beyond President Erdogan’s personal triumph, the question now is whether a Turkey riven by division, and with the ethno-sectarian strife of Syria and Iraq spilling over its borders, is governable. The AKP has won back a clear majority. It will not have, however, the numbers Mr Erdogan needed to change the constitution from a parliamentary democracy to the one-man presidential rule he has in any case been seizing,” writes David Gardner for the Financial Times.
MESOP : HDP LOST MOST OF ITS VOTES IN KURDISH STRONGHOLDS / LIBERATE HDP FROM PKK – WHAT NOW – CEMIL BAYIK ?
MESOP : TÜRKEI WAHLEN – EIN GEWINNER & VIELE VERLIERER
HDP VERLOR IHRE MEISTEN STIMMEN IN KURDISCHEN HOCHBURGEN
Enttäuschung bei konservativen kurdischen Wählern – Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ)
(….) Doch die AKP hat auch davon profitiert, dass sich die Wähler in Massen von der türkisch-nationalistischen MHP und der kurdisch-nationalistischen HDP abgewandt haben. Viele frühere MHP-Wähler konnten Erdogan und Davutoglu durch die Bombardierung der PKK-Stellungen im Nordirak und durch ihre aggressive Rhetorik in der Kurdenfrage auf ihre Seiten ziehen. Noch bemerkenswerter sind aber die Gewinne der AKP in den kurdisch dominierten Provinzen Südostanatoliens und die gleichzeitigen Verluste der HDP in nahezu allen ihren Hochburgen. Volltet http://www.mesop.de/?p=67096