MEZOPOTAMIA KURDISTAN DAILY INDEPENDENT NEWS SERVICE
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 TODAYS RELEVANT TWEETS & SHORT CUTS
MESOP : ELIJAH’S BIG SPECULATION
Elijah J. Magnier@EjmAlrai – U.S.A pushes Iran out of Iraq & leaves Syria to Russia w/ @JoelWing2 and @vvanwilgenburg My take http://alrai.li/34kgqp9 v @AlraiMediaGroup
MESOP : FORGET ABOUT THE UNITED NATIONS !
Kafranbel English@kafrev – Exclusive: The U.N. Knew for Months That #Madaya Was Starving #Syria @ForeignPolicy https://foreignpolicy.com/2016/01/15/u-n-knew-for-months-madaya-was-starving-syria-assad/ …
MESOP : TRUE STORY BY ARON LUND
Aron Lund@aronlund – ‘The Uncle’: The life and death of the Islamic State’s man in southern Syria http://bit.ly/206YeeA by @ummfeisal & @philsands #Syria
MESOP TODAYS BACKGROUNDER / GERMAN MAGAZINE “DER SPIEGEL” – Striking the Heart of Europe: Turkey’s Failed Anti-Extremism Strategy
The terrorist strike on a group of German travelers in Istanbul was an attack on Turkish stability and the West’s confidence. Is President Erdogan capable of stopping the Islamic State — and does he even want to? By SPIEGEL Staff – Christoph Reuter et.al : http://www.mesop.de/?p=70290
MESOP TODAYS OPINION : THE BROTHERHOOD BREAKS DOWN
By Eric Trager and Marina Shalabi – Foreign Affairs – January 17, 2016 – Although the group’s vision for establishing an Islamist state in Egypt won’t evaporate, the rigid internal discipline that defined its decisionmaking and mobilization is now a thing of the past. Read all http://www.mesop.de/?p=70292
MESOP Kurdistan – Israel justice minister: It’s time for an independent Kurdish state / INSS CONFERENCE
By Rudaw – 20 Jan 2016 – ERBIL, Kurdistan Region—Israel’s Justice Minister, Ayelet Shaked called for the establishment of an independent Kurdistan and regional cooperation between the two states.“It is time to help them,” said Shaked according to Times of Israel. She referred to the Kurds as “an ancient, democratic, peace-loving people that have never attacked any country.” The justice minister who was speaking at an annual INSS security conference in Tel Aviv on Tuesday, Read all http://www.mesop.de/?p=70308
MESOP SPECIAL : Factors Driving the Destruction of Syria’s Natural Heritage / FIRST SCIENTIFIC REPORT – By Amr al-Faham
20 Jan 2016 – MESOP – The Assad government has long neglected Syria’s environment and natural heritage in favor of actions that have short term gains but that have increased the rate of desertification and ruined agricultural land. The civil war has created a new set of problems: lack of protection for reservations, increased smuggling encouraged by a lack of law and order and government policies aimed at currying public favor, and the destruction of land as a military tactic.Before the revolution, Syria’s natural heritage was managed in a simplistic and shortsighted way. Read all http://www.mesop.de/?p=70302
SOUTH KURDISTAN (IRAQ)
MESOP TODAYS IRAQ SITUATION REPORT : By Patrick Martin & ISW Iraq Team
Key Take-Away: Iraqi Shi’a militias significantly escalated their confrontation with the U.S. by kidnapping three American contractors and an interpreter in southern Baghdad on January 15, reportedly from the apartment of the interpreter. While no group has claimed responsibility, Iraqi Shi’a militias proliferate both the neighborhood of abduction, al-Dora, as well as Sadr City, the northeastern neighborhood to which the contractors were reportedly taken. Read full report : http://www.mesop.de/?p=70286
Report: Kurds Displacing Arabs in Iraq in What Could Be ‘war Crimes’
By Loveday Morris –Washington Post –Posted 2016-01-20 -BEIRUT — Kurdish forces in northern Iraq, close partners of the United States, have burned and bulldozed the homes of Arab families in actions that may constitute war crimes, Amnesty International alleged in a new report.Kurdish forces under the regional government, known as the peshmerga, have spearheaded a “concerted campaign” to displace Arab communities in northern Iraq, Amnesty said. A spokesman for the peshmerga said the allegations were false and that the destruction was caused by their enemies, the Islamic State. Read all http://www.mesop.de/?p=70304
MESOP : HAPPENINGS IN A WORLD OF SO CALLED “ISLAMOPHOBIA”
Iraq’s Oldest Christian Monastery Razed
ISIS militants have destroyed the oldest Christian monastery in Iraq, the AP reported Wednesday. Satellite photos obtained by the AP show St. Elijah’s Monastery on the outskirts of Mosul has been completely leveled after surviving attacks for 1,400 years. The 27,000-square-foot religious building has joined a list of more than 100 religious and historic sites in Iraq and Syria that have been destroyed at the hands of the terror group. “Bulldozers, heavy equipment, sledgehammers, possibly explosives turned those stone walls into this field of gray-white dust,” said imagery analyst Stephen Wood. “They destroyed it completely.” www.mesop.de
EAST KURDISTAN (IRAN)
MESOP MISSING – 3 Americans Taken by Iran-Backed Militia
20 Jan 2016 – MESOP The U.S. citizens kidnapped by gunmen in Baghdad last week are being held by an Iranian-backed militia, Iraqi and U.S. officials said late Tuesday. The men are the first Americans abducted in Iraq since U.S. troops withdrew in 2011. “They were abducted because they are Americans, not for personal or financial reasons,” Iraqi sources in Baghdad told Reuters reporters. The men were at the home of a translator when they were taken. U.S. officials said Tehran is not believed to be behind the disappearance. www.mesop.de
MESOP Iran Feature: Supreme Leader Supports Mass Disqualification of Election Candidates
January 20 – by Scott Lucas – eaworldview – Iran’s Supreme Leader has defended the disqualification of hundreds, possibly thousands, of candidates for February’s elections.
Over the weekend, as Iranians and the world watched ceremonies heralding the implementation of the July 2015 nuclear deal, the Guardian Council carried out a mass purge of those hoping to stand for Parliament and the Assembly of Experts, the body which chooses the Supreme Leader.Of Iran’s current 290 MPs, 50 were reportedly barred from seeking re-election. Only 30 of 3,000 reformists were approved, with others either banned or left in limbo. Read all http://www.mesop.de/?p=70317
WEST KURDISTAN (SYRA)
Kerry and Lavrov to Discuss Syrian Peace Talks
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov will meet today at the World Economic Forum to discuss the upcoming round of peace talks on the Syrian civil war. Russian officials have said that the meeting could clarify when the talks are set to start — the talks are scheduled for January 25, but the United Nations has not sent formal invitations due to differences among the parties about the Syrian opposition’s representation. The productivity of the planned negotiations could be affected by the modest gains made by the Assad regime and Russian airstrikes, the Washington Post reports. Read more : http://www.mesop.de/?p=70310
MESOP : For over 3 years all relevant human rights organizations blaming PYD/YPG (PKK) for serious violations of human rights – Human Rights Watch – Reporters without borders – amnesty et.al.
Amnesty International accuses Kurdish YPG of war crimes / Amnesty International is accusing the autonomous Kurdish administration in northern Syria of committing war crimes. / WATCH 38 pages amnesty REPORT
Amberin Zaman – AL MONITOR – A mid the bevy of armed groups fighting in Syria, none has received the sort of fawning heaped on the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) and its political arm, the Democratic Union Party (PYD). Their prowess against the Islamic State, embrace of secularism and non-Muslims and emphasis on gender equality have made them the darlings of the international media and top allies of the United States. So it may come as a shock that the London-based human rights watchdog Amnesty International is accusing the autonomous administration that runs the areas of northern Syria under Kurdish control known as Rojava of committing war crimes. Read full text http://www.mesop.de/?p=70296
Russia considering airbase in Syria’s Qamishli: SOHR monitor / PUTIN – THE NEW LNDLORD OF ROJAVA?
The SOHR said Russian officers and engineers have conducted studies on the civilian airport in northeastern Syria.
BEIRUT – 20 Jan 2016 – ussia has reportedly been studying the feasibility of converting the civilian international airport in northeast Syria into an airbase for its expanding aerial operations on behalf of the Bashar al-Assad regime. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights on Tuesday night cited activists as saying that in recent days they spotted Russian officers and engineers arriving at the airport in the Hasakeh city of Qamishli, where both Kurdish and regime security forces maintain an uneasy power-sharing agreement. Read more http://www.mesop.de/?p=70306
MESOP : THE KGB VISITS ROJAVA SOIL
20 Jan 2016 – #Hasaka reliable source asserted to LCC that 100 Russian soldiers, including 10 officers of different ranks, arrived yesterday morning 18/01/2016 to#Qamishli airport (far northeast Syria) on a special Syrian military aircraft, and moved afterwards amid a joint protection and guarding of the Kurdish Units and Military Security members of Assad’s forces to Regiment 154 of Assad’s forces and situated in the east of the airport and in the south of Qamishli city, in “Tartab Hill”. The Regiment mission was basically to protect the airport, and it contains radars and anti-crafts, in addition to artillery batteries.
The source confirmed also that consultants of KGB visited the city one week ago to settle upon military forces deployment in the city. Several meetings were held with military leaders of the Kurdish Units and security and military officials of Assad’s regime. While no information was leaked about the Russian troops mission, the source asserted to LCC that they will be deployed in under-Assad’s-forces-control areas, and not in under-the Kurdish-Self-Administration-control areas where American troops are . Source Syrian Organisation for Human Rights SOHR – www.mesop.de
NORTH KURDISTAN (TURKEY)
MESOP TODAS Headlines
- The Turkish government is targeting mayors and local representatives belonging to the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party for prosecution; 18 mayors and nearly 50 local representatives are currently facing charges brought in recent weeks. www.mesop.de
MESOP : UNCERTAIN ? – ASK KANDIL , they will decide
HDP Uncertain over Participating in Turkish Constitutional Amendment HDP Uncertain over Participating in Turkish Constitutional Amendment BasNews
ANKARA — As the Turkish ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) is still attempting to introduce some amendments to the Turkish constitution, the pro-Kurdish People’s Democratic Party (HDP) is hesitating on its position towards the issue. Read all http://www.mesop.de/?p=70319
Obama, Erdoğan speak & Vow Cooperation Against ISIS and PKK
Hawar Abdulrazaq – BasNews – 20 Jan 2016 – US and Turkish presidents spoke on the phone US and Turkish presidents spoke on the phone Supplied – ANKARA – United States President Barack Obama and Turkey’s President Tayyip Erdoğan pledged on Tuesday continued cooperation in the fight against Islamic State and Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militants, Turkish presidential told Reuters said. Read all http://www.mesop.de/?p=70321
MESOP PUBLICATION RELEASE
TURKEY & THE UNITED STATES Pursuing Common Interests in the South Caucasus
JOHN R. BARNETT – RESEARCH NOTE 30 • JANUARY 2016 – Russia’s summer 2015 entry into the Syrian war and Turkey’s subsequent shootdown of a Russian jet reportedly violating its airspace have upended previously smooth ties between Ankara and Moscow. Yet the ensuing tensions have given the United States an unprecedented opportunity to restore strong cooperation with Turkey, not only in Syria but also in Russia’s South Caucasus “near abroad” — namely, Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan. Read all http://www.mesop.de/?p=70314
THE GERMAN KURDISH CHAPTER
MESOP EMPFEHLUNG : Ralph Ghadban (Berlin/Libanon) mit der langjährigsten und konkretesten Kenntnis von Integrationsproblemen in Deutschland / Kenntnisreich + unideologisch
Mediathek: Ralph Ghadban zur Integration von Flüchtlingen
Was zur Integration von Flüchtlingen beiträgt und was nicht, darüber sprach nano am 18. Januar 2016 mit dem Berliner Islamwissenschaftler Ralph Ghadban. Video + speech . http://www.3sat.de/mediathek/?obj=56482