SNIPETS ON KURDISTAN (PLEASE CLICK HEADLINES FOR FULL TEXTS)

PKK Peace Process on Track –  Al Monitor  – Two very important developments in recent days in military and political fields are allowing us to be more optimistic that the peace process the Justice and Development (AKP)-led government began with the Kurdish movement could actually reinforce democracy in Turkey…

Iraq parliament chief demands cabinet resign – Al Jazeera – The speaker of Iraq’s parliament has said the government should resign and hold early elections after a string of attacks ripped through the country. On Monday, Osama al-Nujaifi, a Sunni and leading member of the secular, Sunni-backed Iraqiya bloc, which has long been at odds with Nouri al-Maliki, the Iraqi prime minister, demanded that the government resign, reports the AFP news agency…

Clashes Carry Worries of a New Civil War – The New York Times – In the final days before the United States withdrew its troops from Iraq, American intelligence officers worried that a future Sunni insurgency here might be led not by Al Qaeda but by an organization whose leaders are former high-level members of Saddam Hussein’s Baath Party…

U.N. chief urges Syria to allow inspections by chemical weapons experts – The Washington Post – U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon renewed an appeal Monday to Syria to allow U.N. chemical weapons experts into the country, saying that on-site inspections are essential to “establish the facts and clear up all the doubts” surrounding the reported use of the banned weapons in Syria’s escalating civil war. Ban’s remarks — delivered the with chief U.N. chemical weapons inspector, Ake Sellstrom of Sweden, at his side — followed allegations by several countries, including the United States, that chemical weapons were likely used in Syria in recent months.…

The ball is in your court, Mr. President.? – The Daily Beast – The news that Washington and London finally believe Bashar al-Assad’s Syrian regime has used chemical weapons against its own people is both an opportunity and a series of traps. Both the opportunity and the traps are huge, and President Obama needs to tread carefully to quickly exploit the first and avoid the second.…