MEZOPOTAMIA KURDISTAN DAILY INDEPENDENT NEWSSERVICE
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 EXCLUSIVE : Exclusive: The U.N. Knew for Months That Madaya Was Starving http://foreignpolicy.com/2016/01/15/u-n-knew-for-months-madaya-was-starving-syria-assad/ … #Syria
MESOP TODAYS FLASH
Sajad Jiyad سجاد@SajadJiyad – Iraq oil sales at record, unaffected by Iran’s return to market – output target 4m+ bpd in 2016, cost is $10 pb http://www.thefiscaltimes.com/latestnews/2016/01/21/Iraq-oil-sales-record-unaffected-Irans-return-market …
MESOP TODAYS HEADLINE : Merkel, Isolated and With No Plan B
January 21, 2016 | Judy Dempsey – Carnegie Endowment – Without support from other European countries or an alternative plan for dealing with the refugee crisis, the German chancellor’s open-door policy is not sustainable. www.mesop.de
MESOP : / Announcement – The Role of Think Tanks and Policy Institutes in Iraqi Kurdistan
MERI is pleased to host and participate in a global event on Wednesday January 27, 2016 at 14:00 celebrating and highlighting the work of think tanks. In coordination with the Lauder Institute of University of Pennsylvania, and Think Tanks and Civil Society Programs in 60 countries, MERI will host a special debate on: “Why Think Tanks Matter to Policy Makers and the Public.” Key outcome will be promoting collaborative engagement between researchers and stakeholders. RSVP by email before January 25 to: events@meri-k.org. + www.mesop.de
MESOP : OPEN LETTER TO ERDOGAN BY AMERICAN ACADEMICS
Take Action: Letter to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan regarding academic freedom in Turkey
Last week, many APSA members wrote to us and brought attention to current developments in Turkey, where scholars – including scholars of politics – signing a petition calling on the Turkish government to end military practices in the southeastern provinces have faced detentions, criminal investigations, investigations from their universities, and threats from private citizens. With the advice and support of the APSA Committee on Professional Ethics, Rights, and Freedoms, we have written a letter expressing our deepest concern to the Turkish authorities, urging them to take all steps to fulfill its duties to protect free expression and academic freedom. Read all and watch full letter text http://www.mesop.de/?p=70362
MESOP : ANGRY KURDS SET FIRE ON KDP HEADQUARTERS IN SULI
More protests likely in Kurdistan with the financial crisis in Iraq worsening in 2016
Raz Salayi @razsalayi – #Kurdistan, #Suli: Demonstrators set fire to #KDP headquarters in Said Sadiq after apparent attempt at discussion: http://rudaw.net/sorani/kurdist – www.mesop.de
MESOP : VAN WILGENBURGS TREMENDOUS PERFORMANCE IN ISRAEL / INSS CONFERENCE – watch http://www.mesop.de/?p=70332
MESOP : THE KURDISH POINT OF VIEW ON REFUGEES / THE KURDISH POSITION :
“THE LAND IS ONLY FOR US – YOUR TIME HERE IS LIMITED” – IN EUROPE CLAIM KURDS FOR THEMSELVES THE OPPOSITE POSITION
An Inconvenient Problem: The Awarakan in the Kurdistan Region / “OUR SOIL & OUR LAND ONLY”
20/1/2016 – THE PASEWAN – Megan Connelly-Amin: – As the Kurdistan Regional government prepares for a referendum on the status of the Article 140 territories (and possibly on the Region’s independence), the arrival nearly 2 million, mostly non-Kurdish, refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs), or awarakan as they are referred to collectively, not only places a great strain on the region’s economy and infrastructure; it also raises urgent questions about the Region’s political stability and security. While the Kurdish leadership has been preoccupied with the idea that most of the displaced persons (DPs) will return to their lands, it is unlikely that this will happen in the near future, if at all. The KRG must now carefully address the crisis to ensure that the already desperate situation in the refugee and IDP camps does not escalate into ethno-sectarian conflict. Read all : http://www.mesop.de/?p=70350
MESOP TODAYS OPINION BY JONATHAN SPYER – ISIS Is Not the Main Problem in the Middle East
by Jonathan Spyer – RUBIN CENTER – PJ Media – January 19, 2016 – Originally published under the title “We’ve Got It Wrong: ISIS Is Not the Main Problem in the Middle East.”
On a recent reporting trip to Iraq and northern Syria, two things were made apparent to me — one of them relatively encouraging, the other far less so. The encouraging news is that ISIS is currently in a state of retreat. Not headlong rout, but contraction. The bad news? Our single-minded focus on ISIS as if it were the main or sole source of regional dysfunction is the result of faulty analysis, which in turn is producing flawed policy. Regarding the first issue, 2015 was not a particularly good year for ISIS. Read all http://www.mesop.de/?p=70343
MESOP GOOD NEWS : Local brigades to step up as Islamic State withdraws from south Damascus
AMMAN: As the Islamic State prepares to withdraw from southern Damascus in the coming days, small local rebel brigades have agreed move in to its former stronghold of al-Hajar al-Aswad and sign a truce with the regime.
The brigade slated to take over al-Hajar al-Aswad is Duha al-Islam, which formed from two rebel factions that were driven out of the town by IS in mid-2014, Duha brigade commander Abu Nafia a-Dimashqi told Syria Direct Tuesday.Other groups, including Liwa Suqur al-Jolan and Kataib Jund Allah, will also take control of the neighborhood, but it remains unclear how exactly the different brigades will divide up the territorial pie. Read all http://www.mesop.de/?p=70328
MESOP STRATEGY DEBATE : The Institute for the Study of War and AEI’s Critical Threats Project Release – “U.S. Grand Strategy: Destroying ISIS and Al Qaeda” – Reports 1 & 2
Groups assess that “drifting along the current path…will almost certainly fail to achieve vital American national security interests”
WASHINGTON, DC — On January 20, 2016, the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) and the Critical Threats Project (CTP) of the American Enterprise Institute released the first two reports in a series titled: “U.S. Grand Strategy: Destroying ISIS and Al Qaeda.” The result of a multi-week planning exercise, these reports seek to help policymakers take a fresh look at the conflicts in Iraq and Syria and particularly the threat from Salafi-jihadi groups such as the Islamic State of Iraq and al Sham (ISIS) and al Qaeda. Dr. Kimberly Kagan, President and Founder of ISW, stated that a fundamental re-examination of this threat is needed because “our current policy will fail to achieve vital American national security interests.” Read all http://www.mesop.de/?p=70356
MESOP STRATEGY : AL QAEDA & ISIS: EXISTENTIAL THREATS TO THE U.S. AND EUROPE
The Institute for the Study of War (ISW) and the Critical Threats Project (CTP) at the American Enterprise Institute conducted an intensive multi-week exercise to frame, design, and evaluate potential courses of action that the United States could pursue to defeat the threat from the Islamic State in Iraq and al Sham (ISIS) and al Qaeda in Iraq and Syria. The planning group weighed the national security interests of the United States, its partners, its rivals, and its enemies operating in or influencing the conflicts in Iraq and Syria. It considered how current policies and interests are interacting in this complex environment: Read full pdf report . – See more at: http://www.mesop.de/?p=70354
WEST KURDISTAN (SYRIA)
MESOP : RUSSIAN AIRSTRIKES IN SYRIA 12 – 19 January (BY ISW)
By Genevieve Casagrande and Jodi Brignola (ISW) –Key Takeaway: Russian air operations shifted eastward on January 18-19, targeting ISIS-held terrain in Homs, ar-Raqqa and Deir ez-Zour Provinces following a major attack on Deir ez-Zour City by ISIS. ISIS launched an offensive against regime positions on the northwestern outskirts of Deir ez-Zour on January 17, seizing two villages and several military installations under the cover of a major sandstorm that reportedly grounded both regime and Russian aircraft. Russian warplanes subsequently shifted operations away from opposition-held terrain in Aleppo, Idlib, Hama, Homs, Damascus, and Dera’a Provinces in order to target ISIS-held positions along the Euphrates River north and south of Deir ez-Zour City on January 18. The shift in Russian air operations serves to forestall the immediate defeat of regime forces in Deir ez-Zour City, one of the last remaining regime outposts in Eastern Syria. Russia previously carried out its first humanitarian aid drop in Syria on January 15, claiming to deliver over 22 tons of humanitarian aid to besieged regime positions in Deir ez-Zour City. The aid operation comes amidst renewed diplomatic pressure by the international community to lift sieges on civilian populations in Syria. Local sources could not confirm whether the aid was humanitarian or military supplies.http://www.mesop.de/?p=70345
MESOP FLASH : Over 1000 Syrians killed since beginning of Russian airstrike campaign
Albawaba news Jordan “! Jan 2016 – Since Russia began a series of airstrikes on Syria four months ago, more than 1,000 civilians haven been killed in Syria according to local monitor reports. The raids started on September 30 and killed 1,015 civilians, which includes more than 200 children, according to the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. The organization relies on sources present on the ground for its reports. These have reported that the strikes had also killed 893 Daesh militants, as well as 1,141 other opposition militants, including members of Al-Qaeda affiliate Al-Nusra Front. Read all : http://www.mesop.de/?p=70348
Palestine Must Stand in Solidarity with the Syrian People – Mariam Barghouti – January 18th, 2016 : MUFTHAH
When Syrians were chanting “revolution, revolution, Syria! Revolution of dignity and freedom” in the streets of Damascus in 2011, they undoubtedly expected suppression from the regime of Bashar al-Assad. What they probably did not foresee, however, is complacency from the international community, including from Palestinians.But, that is what they received. The Syrian conflict has uncovered disturbing shortcomings and contradictions among those who fight in the name of Palestine.When Palestinians are being assaulted by Israeli forces, we often cry out “Where are the Arabs! Where are you, oh Arabs?” Yet, now that it is our turn to extend solidarity, we have become as faceless as our revered Handala. Read more http://www.mesop.de/?p=70352
MESOP Syria Daily: Kerry & Lavrov Fail To Advance Towards “Peace Talks” / DETAILS
21 Jan 2016 – Scott Lucas – eaworldview – US Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov made no apparent advance towards Syrian “peace talks” during their meeting in Zurich on Wednesday. Watch details http://www.mesop.de/?p=70336
MESOP : SOCIAL & ETHNICAL CLEANSING IN DAMASCUS
Urban planning project obfuscates demographic shift unfolding in southwest Damascus, says LCC member
21 Jan 2016 – Syria direct – Greater Mezzeh, the southwest region of Damascus city, is comprised of more than half a dozen neighborhoods. Syrian regime military bases and installations sit to the north and west, with the Mezzeh military airport to the south.Though entirely under regime control, the loyalties of Greater Mezzeh’s residents are split.The western half is home to mainly regime supporters. Families of Alawite soldiers settled on the northwest mountain in the 80’s in what is now called Mezzeh 86.Regime officials and army and security officers live and work in the villas, government ministries, embassies, high rises and surrounding military installations that dot west Greater Mezzeh. Read all http://www.mesop.de/?p=70364
| MESOP FLASH SYRIA : U.S. Forces Operating from Syrian Airbase U.S. forces have taken control and are operating from Rmeilan airbase in Syria’s Kurdish-dominated Hasakah Province, near the Turkish and Iraqi borders. The United States secured access to the base under an agreement with the Kurdish People’s Protection Units, which has held Rmeilan for the past two years, and will reportedly use the facility to provide air and logistical support to the Syrian Democratic Forces coalition operating against the Islamic State.The United States is also working with Turkey to introduce new technology to assist in securing the country’s border with Syria, particularly along the 60-mile strip that has been an access point for the Islamic State Read more : |
SOUTH KURDISTAN (IRAQ)
Local leader threatens key Kurdistan gas pipeline / Gorran Politician
Abdullah Kwekha Mubarak, a local leader in Chemchemal, posted a picture on his Facebook page purporting to show an excavated section of a gas pipeline from the Khor Mor field. Read all http://www.mesop.de/?p=70338
NORTH KURDISTAN (TURKEY)
Turkish army enters Jarablus / SYRIA
21.01.2016 10:54 Headline, News – HAWAR NEWS – NEWS DESK – It was reported that Turkish troops have entered Syrian territory through Jarablus border crossing Tuesday evening. Read all http://www.mesop.de/?p=70358
EAST KURDISTAN (IRAN)
MESOP : VANISHED ? GOT LOST ? – FUNNY TALE BY US OFFICIALS
Iran Can’t Find Its American Hostage – 21 Jan 2016 – THE DAILY BEAST – BY Shane Harris – Former FBI agent Robert Levinson was kidnapped in Iran. But he wasn’t part of a recent prisoner swap. U.S. officials think that’s because Tehran doesn’t know where he is. www.mesop.de
THE GERMAN KURDISH CHAPTER
MESOP : DIE EUROPÄISCH/DEUTSCHEN KULTUREN GELTEN ALS “RANZIG” – DIE KOMMENDEN NEUEN DOMINANZ-KULTUREN SIND : JUNG-SELBSTGEWISS-KÄMPFERISCH-HANDLUNGSBEREIT & ZWEIFELLOS
„Deutschland ist türkisch, Großbritannien indo-pakistanisch. Aber der Dschihad ist ein arabischer. Die französischen Dschihadisten schämen sich, Französisch zu sprechen, sie lernen Arabisch“ (Gilles Kepel)
Islamexperte Gilles Kepel „Der Islamische Staat ist nicht die Rote Armee Fraktion“
Im Interview spricht der Islamwissenschaftler Gilles Kepel über den Dschihadismus in französischen Städten und erklärt, warum Frankreich mehr Dschihadisten hervorbringt als andere europäische Länder. Kann Frankreich den Krieg gegen den islamistischen Terrorismus gewinnen? – Volltext : http://www.mesop.de/?p=70340
MESOP : AUCH DIESE ALTE KAMELLE VERDÜNNISIERT SICH – Flüchtlinge lösen nicht unser Rentenproblem !
Von Sven Astheimer – FAZ – 20 Jan 2016 – Wer suggeriert, der Prozess der alternden und schrumpfenden deutschen Gesellschaft könne allein durch Zuwanderung gestoppt werden, agiert gefährlich. Und fahrlässig. Mehr http://www.faz.net/aktuell/wirtschaft/wirtschaftspolitik/alterung-in-deutschland-fluechtlinge-loesen-nicht-unser-rentenproblem-14024832.html
Türkei und Kurden: Amnesty spricht von exzessiver Gewalt
SPIEGEL ONLINE – 21 Jan 2016 – Die Menschenrechtsorganisation Amnesty International (AI) wirft der türkischen Armee kollektive Bestrafungen der Bewohner der Kurdengebiete in …
Kampf gegen die PKK: Amnesty wirft Türkei Kollektivbestrafung von Kurden vor – Tagesspiegel
Amnesty wirft Türkei Menschenrechtsverletzungen im Osten vor – Suedtirol News
MESOP : KÜNSTLER- AUS DEUTSCHLAND SCHREIBEN AN MERKEL / GERMAN ARISTIST OPEN LETTER TO MERKEL – PROTEST AGAINST DAVUTOGLU/ERDOGAN
Menschenrechte in der Türkei: Künstler schreiben offenen Brief an Merkel – Gorki-Theaterintendantin Langhoff: Offener Brief an die Kanzlerin
Die Unterschriftenliste ist eindrucksvoll: Hundert Kulturschaffende haben einen Aufruf an Angela Merkel unterzeichnet. Die Kanzlerin solle sich bei Gesprächen mit dem Ministerpräsidenten Davutoglu für Rechtsstaatlichkeit in der Türkei einsetzen.Einige der prominentesten Persönlichkeiten aus dem deutschen Kulturleben sind dem Aufruf von Shermin Langhoff, der Intendantin des Maxim Gorki Theaters in Berlin, gefolgt und haben einen offenen Brief an die Bundeskanzlerin unterschrieben. Volltext http://www.mesop.de/?p=70370